Time for an Often Repeated Thread Topic...

[rdaniell]

....Paul's thread got me to thinking it's been awhile since there's been a "favorite" aircraft thread. So I thought I'd see how a new one would go.

OK...If you had to pick one aircraft from three separate categories what would they be? Boy oh boy I'm glad we really don't actually have to do this.

Anyway here's mine....

General Aviation: Full's Ercoupe...Mine because that's the last airplane that I owned and flew.

Military: Carenado's T-34....Mine becuase of a very early memory of getting to ride in the back seat of one when I was about 12 years old.

Helicopter: Flysimware's Bell 47....Mine because after all I just spent about three weeks working on the MASH scenery.

RD

[Marvin Carter]

Dees one, "Ich liebe dieses Flugzeug"

[TheGrunt]

For me it is completely impossible to nominate just few, there are so many good AC. If I'd had to choose only one plane that I could keep on my hangar, I think it would be A2A B377 with CotS.

[SeanTK]

My choices:

Jetliner/Commercial Aviation: Project Tupolev's "Tupolev Tu-154B-2"
It's both unique, and incredibly complex. Not many seem to be familiar with this systems simulation of a classic Soviet jet, and learning how to operate it truly is a rewarding experience.
http://files.protu-154.net/pt-154b2_fsx.html
http://www.protu-154.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=39&sid=7a796a70feff94c03d283f965918747d

Turboprop/Piston: Aerosoft's "De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Extended"
A recent purchase, the Twin Otter possesses thorough systems depth, excellent visuals, and significant versatility. It fits the regional flying that I most often do, and I predict that it'll get a lot of use in the future, especially as more repaints become available.
http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showdsearchtwin+otter:010010!0,,12679

Rotary-wing: Right now, I'm having a lot of fun with my recently purchased "Aerospatiale SA 315B Lama" from FSHeli.ch.
A true "hot and high" helicopter, this five seat turbine helicopter addon has a wide variety of variants included in the package. This addon has a surprisingly good system depth with a realistic turbine start-up procedure, and very accurate flight dynamics, including properly simulated rotor torque. Additionally, the variants included, along with a series of missions, allow one to actually practice long-lining and rescue activities in Switzerland.
http://www.fsheli.ch/0339d79c180d15799/0339d79c180beee3e/0339d79c190c82ed3/index.html

[Matt Wynn]

mine are well... eclectic to say the least

General Aviation: the Edgely Optica, BD-5/5J and Silence Twister (the latter 2 from IRIS, and the last i just flew from Seattle to Salt Lake city in one hit, no refuels needed! i'm an ultralight guy at heart, when not simming or working i'm likely down the local farm strips getting my hands dirty, and assisting tinkering with some old Rotax 912's)

Military: for me there is only one choice, well 2 really.... F-16's both Aerosoft and IRIS (relive the past where i had a PAX ride in a HAF Viper with an old neighbour)

Helicopter: a tough call, i don't fly Helos much but when i do it's usually an Apache or Chinook, anything that can carry some passengers NOE style (Nap Of the Earth) and yes the apache can carry pax, as was finely demonstrated by the Royal Marines in rescuing a brother, it's actually becoming a common practice for British troops now... you strap yourself to the side and hold on, brace against whatever possible :icon_lol:

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9305/apacherescue12rr9.jpg90250

[Chunk]

Hmmm...I don't fly any rotorcraft, so my list will differ slightly.

GA: Baytower Sims Van's RV-7 - This little beauty has gotten a TON of my FSX time since I bought her.

Warbirds: (1) Classics-Hangar Fw190 Anton Series & (2) A2A P-47 Thunderbolt - In that order as well. The Würger is my favorite WWII aircraft, and the aircraft which I have studied the most, bought the most reference material on, have my largest collection of scale models of, and have the most sim time in.

The Jug would rank right behind it. It's big, fast, sounds great, and looks extraordinarily cool. It's not the newest Accu-Simmed bird, but it is just enthralling to fly. I also get a kick out of making sure I keep her running right, then thinking how daunting that task would be as someone was actively trying to shoot you down.

BTW, I just looked at all the aircraft I have for FSX, and wish I had some of that money back. ;)

[pilottj]

Hmmm so many 'favorites'

GA, lots of great planes to choose from depending on the mood. Favorites such as the Taifun, Legacy, Civil P-51, Cub, Scout, Waco, so many great planes, so little time. I think out of all the GAs in my inventory, the one that fits my personality the most is the RV-7. It's character and 'jack-of-all-trades' type of flying really appeals to me.

Since I did a Turbine Duke paint, I have come to enjoy the T-Duke again. I think if I were only allowed to keep two of my GA planes, it would be a really tough choice but I think I would end up with the RV-7 for fun flying and Turbine Duke for fast complex stuff. I simulated adding a ferry fuel bladder to the Duke's forward baggage compartment, now I can fly it from SFO-HNL even with a moderate headwind. As great as this latest F1 King Air is, I think still prefer the T-Duke's smaller size and uniqueness.

For Military stuff, this is another difficult choice. I love the CH FW-190A, and all the A2A warbirds. I think the one that fits my personality best is the A2A P-40. I really enjoy its bush plane like ruggedness, and Wild Bill Kelso attitude. If I were only allowed to keep two warbirds, it would have to be the P-40 and FW-190A I really enjoy switching between the western and German VCs.

Another category might be transports/tubeliners. I don't fly these as much, but sometimes I like to put on my freight dog cap and fly a long haul freight tube. The PMDG MD-11F is excellent...I think I will end up getting the 777 because the base package will include the Freighter. Looking forward to the PMDG DC-6.

I don't know fly choppers enough to really have a favorite. I suppose if I really wanted to learn choppers, I would have to go with the Dodo 206.

Cheers
TJ

[MCDesigns]

My fav aircraft is the Nemeth AS355 twinstar, been wanting a detailed version for the past 3 sims. A very close second is the Nemeth/MilViz Huey, love the detail and the textures and the VC is great for immersion. better looking and flys better than the Aerosoft wannabe version.

Next would be the A2A P-40, my fav warbird and a joy to fly.

I really like most of the Carenado aircraft since visuals/immersion are most important to me and they deliver, but I find myself flying GA less and less and military more and more

I get alot of use out of the Alphasim Apache, Ka-50 and Blackhawk still.

I find I don't buy aircraft much lately as it seems that no matter what you fly, if the scenery is the same, the experience is also.

Aircraft I am looking at are the majestic Dash 8 Q400, the Carenado bizjet and the MilViz Bell 407 when released

[jetstreamsky]

Realair Lancair flies real nice and has good legs on it.
A2A Spitfire Mk.I superb for aeros and you have to work a little to keep everything ticking over nicely.
Lotus sim L-39, a total blast to fly well.
Majestic Q400 turboprop goodness.
Dodsim 206, not as pretty as a lot of other helo models, but it flies right and bites right.

[WarHorse47]

The nice thing about this hobby is that there are so many good addon aircraft. The bad thing about this hobby is just sticking with one or two favorites as I have a tendency to change my "favorite" on a frequent basis.

For the GA category I'm going to cheat a little and name the Sibwings Antonov An-2 or Cessna L-19/0-1 Birddog

In the military category I'm going to pick the Milviz F-15E Eagle. Or was that the F-86 Sabre?

As for the Helo category I'll agree with McDesigns and go with the AlphaSim helos with the smooth gauge technology. That would be the Blackhawk or Ka-50 for me.

[Kiwikat]

Commercial: PMDG NGX. Nothing else even comes close. Almost two years later, this is still the best addon aircraft ever made for FS, bar none. The PMDG 777 may dethrone it, we'll see...

GA: This is a tough one. There are quite a few very nice GA birds nowadays, especially the new Twin Otter Extended, TBM 850, and Cessna T206H. I'll go with the RealAir Lancair Legacy though.

Warbird: A2A P-51D (civilian) Mustang (Accusim). Another extremely easy one.

Military: VRS F/A-18E Super Hornet. Still the "PMDG" of military jets. Can't tell it is several years old.

Helicopter: Honestly I don't feel there is any helicopter addon worthy of being mentioned among these others. Maybe the Dodosim Bell 206?

Fun/Value: Alabeo Gee Bee Z. It may not have all the bells and whistles of an Accusim or PMDG aircraft, but I don't think I've ever had more fun in the sim than with this little thing. It is the best $20 you can spend on FSX.


Honorable Mentions: Majestic Q400, Carenado Cessna 337, A2A Spitfire Mk I and II (Accusim)

[TuFun]

http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/images/2013/07/14/GIv1F.jpg

http://www.fsfiles.org/flightsimshotsv2/images/2013/07/14/SaBIf.jpg

[Naki]

Thinking about this the other day on a new install and what aircraft I can't go without:

Baytower RV-7

Lotus L-39 (still after all these years)

Flight1/Virtavia Islander

Ant's Tecnam Sierra

[Naismith]

Payware - I love my Carenado KingAirs and my C152 scenery checker.

Freeware - I keep going back to Maltby's BAC1-11's and Tridents.

[expat]

These "polls" yield widely varying results, and my favorites come and go over time in waves and "kicks" eventually repeating themselves when rediscovering an aircraft. At the moment, my list of overall most satisfying aircraft to fly would be:

GA: Turboprop: F1 Pilatus PC-12 - the ultimate flying SUV; Piston: Howard 500

Airliner: Jet: Captain Sim 707 or 727; POSKY 737/767/787 (mostly flown as BBJ's); Piston: CalClassic Connies or B377/KC-97.

Warbird: A2A Corsair; Piglet's A-1 Skyraider (a remarkable freeware achievement); Payware Wildcat and Hellcat.

Military: older jets, e.g. Alphasim F-8, F-4, A-3, RA-5C, F3H; Virtavia Skyhawk

Chopper: Don't like 'em - except if I'm a downed pilot and they're comin' to fish me out of the drink.

[dhazelgrove]

Let me see.....

Lightning F6, Lightning F6, Lightning F6, F-104, F-4, Hawk, Auster.

Not biased in any way.

Dave

[ThinkingManNeil]

Wow. Toughie. Lemme see...

GA.
I've got Carenado's Cessna C-152, Alabeo's WACO YMF-5 and Cessna C-188 AgTruck, Bill Ortis's Piper Pacer/Tripacer pack, Flight 1's Cessna C-177B Cardinal, and Just Flight's Piper PA38-112 Tomahawk, as well as several freeware offerings. I'm a big fan of Alabeo's WACO, and I'm eagerly awaiting to see what they come up with in their rendition of the Piper Tomahawk (I would LOVE to see Alabeo do a Cessna A152 Aerobat with a tailwheel conversion), but out of this group I'd have to say the Just Flight Tommy is my personal favourite so far. The VC looks great - as do the externals - she flies nicely and is easy to trim out for level flight, and I'm a big fan of the real world aircraft to start with. A very close second is Rick Piper's freeware Aeroprakt A22 Foxbat, just because it was modeled so well.

I'd really like to see some more LSA's, though, as that segment of sport aviation has just exploded. If William and his Lionheart team decided to this little number below, the Tomahawk might have a serious rival for my affections...

90269

Military:

Not much into military stuff anymore. I have a couple payware examples (RealAir's Spitfire - the PR.XIX surprised and punished me for my inattention for not throttling back after takeoff by blowing up its Griffon and doing something rude with its oil all over my windscreen, but lesson's learned...), and I have a couple of other pay and freeware pieces, but my go-to warbird has become the revived Wozza/FSDS AT-6 Texan/Harvard/SNJ ever since John Terrell worked his magic on the FDE file, as well as producing some spectacular paint schemes and paint kit for it. Bravo, John! And thank you!

The Six is also a personal, real world favourite having spent several memorable flights in them...

Helicopters:

Don't really fly them much in FSX or FS9 for that matter. I am debating getting the Aerosoft Bell 205/UH-1 Huey as I'm such a fan of that iconic aircraft; just the sounds of the start-up gives me the shivers. I'm sure other Huey-philes will agree...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRd-yMT_5NE

The big reservation I have with FS helo's of any description is, of course, control set-up and limitations. Short of having a rig with cyclic, collective, and anti-torque pedals, I kinda feel helo's are something of an odd man out, FS-wise. But that being said, I'd love to see someone model the Rotorway 162 with a JetExec turbine conversion (Rotorway had announced their own certified, Rolls-Royce turbine-powered 300T back 2009, but little seems to have come from the project. Current 162 Exec turbines commonly employ 150 shp Solar T62 surplus turbines which led previous lives as APU's and ground power units). An FSX native of the gargantuan Russian Mi-26 would be nice, too.

So there's my list. But no exercise like this would be complete without a personal wish list:

GA.

1) Ultraflight eLazair (http://www.elazair.com/) electric-powered ultralight
2) Aeronca 15AC Sedan (http://www.n1331h.com/) (Hint, hint GAS :applause:)
3) Zlin Savage Cruiser (http://www.zlinaero.com/eng/cruiser.php)
4) FK Light Planes FK14 Polaris (Le Mans version) (http://www.fk-lightplanes.com/aircraft.php?af=3&ln=2&pg=19)

And just for good measure...

5) Micco SP26A (http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/aircraft/pilot-reports/micco/micco-sp26a-capable-aerobat.html)

N.

[Dave22]

General Aviation: D18SVC by Milton Shupe. Mostly because my friend up the street flew the plane commercially back in the 50's & 60's out of SoCal, I think it was Santa Monica for Bill Lear. I'm always asking him about procedure and tips and I always get that, plus dissertations on engines and engine performance and whatnot, since he was also a talented mechanic. Extremely interesting conversations about engines.

Military Aviation: Grumman F6F Hellcat by Vertigo Studios, always been in love with the plane. It will always be my one and only first choice.

Helicopters: Alpha Sikorsky S-55 freeware with a modified VC. Don't fly it much since I cain't land helicopters except as an un-controlled crash.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I chose 3 and like most here it was very difficult to choose only 3. However, the F6F Hellcat rules above all others for me.

[vora]

A real hard choice. I try to make it short:

GA: A2A Cub accusim

Military: Virtavia A-4

Helicopter: Aerosoft UH-1D


P.S: honourable mention... Turboprop: Aerosoft Twotter Ext. / Tubeliner: A2A B337 accusim / Seaplane: Aerosoft Catalina