Your favorite airliner?

[Mac_Maddog88]

Saw there was a thread about bush planes, so i thought it'd be interesting to see what we all like in the world of airliners.

 

I'll start, and I may get some hate for this. It's pretty much a toss-up between the Coolsky DC-9 and the Captainsim 757.

I love the old, torn up, grimy look of the DC-9. It's a great plane for when I don't want to have to deal with setting up a CDU and just want to get in, run through some procedures, and fly. While not down-playing the complexity of the plane (It is nearly on and above the level of the PMDG 737), the systems were much easier to learn and operate than that of a Boeing. I personally feel like the DC-9 is one of those planes that goes under the radar in our community; you never really hear much of it despite how great of an aircraft it is. It's a little hard on FPS, but I don't have a 4.4 GHz processor for nothing! 

 

Now, the Captainsim 757. Say what you want about it, but I get the same enjoyment out of it that I get out of my DC-9 and NGX, and in the end, that's what matters. Every system I need for normal procedures works perfectly for me and the plane is beautiful both inside and out, especially with the McPhat exterior texture packs. The 757 has some amazing history behind it too. Did anybody ever know how it was developed from the 727 and originally was supposed to have a T-Tail? This was however changed to the way it is now late in the design process, which cost Boeing a ton of money and gave the 757 a bit of a rocky start in it's service as an airliner. My favorite part is how even though the 757 is quite a large plane, I can get it out of smaller airports like Bozeman and Jackson Hole. 

 

So, what are all your favorite airliners? Let's hear it!

[kiwi stu]

Quality Wings RJs for me.

I know every system..and they all work...even auto land.

and its good on FPS...heaps of liveries around.

 

Stu

[pilottj]

To sound like the Dos Equis guy....I don't always fly airliners, but when I do I prefer the PMDG 777..... lol, I am not much of a tubeliner person but in those rare instances, the PMDG 777 is really good.  I don't fly real airline routes or anything like that, I just go where I please...personal charter service lol....ie Alice Springs to Area51   I know I will really enjoy the PMDG DC-6 when it comes out.  The Sibwings AN-2 is fantastic for something totally different.

 

Cheers

TJ

[Stillwater]

For me it is PMDG´s 777. I like to master the beast. And, well, she is also a real beauty.

[Doug Sawatzky]

The LevelD 767 is my Fav....not too big, not too small....just a good all round airliner .

[prattpt6]

Majestic's Dash-8 Q400 with Aerosoft A320 close 2nd..

[Jetstream1]

You can't go wrong with Majestic Dash 8. I'm a turbo prop lover. If only someone would do the ATR-72 for P3D and I would be a happy bunny!

[Mikelab6]

From all my Tubeliners :

 

PMDG 737NGX

PMDG 777

Coolsky DC9

Aerosoft new A318-319

Captain Sim L1011

Majestic Q400

Quality Wing BAE146 & RJ

 

My best 2 are : Coolsky DC9 & Aerosoft new A318-319

[lawrence aldrich]

Douglas Dc-3.

[Mac_Maddog88]

You can't go wrong with Majestic Dash 8. I'm a turbo prop lover. If only someone would do the ATR-72 for P3D and I would be a happy bunny!

Razbam is!

 

I'd love to get the Dash 8, but I have enough airliners already... Still have the Captainsim 707 and DC-8 that I've barely touched. Both great planes, wish I could get the motivation to learn them!

[birdguy]

I'm with you Lawrence. It's a no brainer. Definitely the DC-3 with the Connie a close second.

Noel

[Matthew Kane]

Majestic Q400, PMDG 737 and Carenado B1900D 

 

Perfect for Alaska and New Zealand routes which are my focus and with these three you pretty much have it covered

[ShawnG]

PMDG NGX, Aerosoft Airbii, Q400, QWBae146

 

I have the T7, its really well done, and a superb achievement.

 

but it's a 777.  long haul just ain't my thing,  let alone all the weird conversations you have online with people who look down their nose at sim acceleration as unrealistic, and then tell you that they put it on autopilot at TOC and go to bed and wake up to it paused at TOD.  

[Ken Terry]

PMDG 777 no contest

Ken

[Christopher Low]

PMDG 737NGX......by a country mile.

[John Dow]

Interestingly, apart from the Q400 and the Milviz 737-200, I get a lot of satisfaction out of flying the Captain Sim 707 and 727 that I picked up on sale a while ago.  Steam driven, great for hand-flying training circuits, and resisting the urge to simply push buttons and rotate dials )

[lawrence aldrich]

I'm with you Lawrence. It's a no brainer. Definitely the DC-3 with the Connie a close second.

Noel

Right, I have connie too.

Primitive autopilot, none of this hands off ILS approach in Weather.....hum of old piston engines.....beat up cockpits.

 

Just like I remember flying in 1950s.

[Mickel]

J-41, then DC-9, followed by the MD-11 and the 146/RJ.  NGX has the most hours, but VNAV/LNAV/AP will do that...    The various A318-321s are rapidly gaining hours.  I'd love to make the T7 work, but the last two flights over land have OOMed on me on approach.  Across the oceans seem to be OK, but I'm irritated at being limited like that.  Going to play with winding down the settings a bit.  The CS 737 has grown on me a lot since they updated it to the point it should have been at release (not perfect, but thoroughly flyable).  I want to like the DC-8, but that's a struggle.  Happy with the DH8D too.  Must learn the B-377.  Not finished a flight without breaking something yet.

 

But none achieve the same joy as settling into my Cub...

[olli4740]

A "minority report" here:

Digital Aviation Fokker 70/100 - 2D panel only, but pretty good systems, authentic flight model, and a copilot doing a couple of flows. The "missing" VC results in a low VAS footprint and very high frame rates - an airliner with GA sim performance for higher autogen settings, higher texture resolution and stuff in "ORBX land".

[pilottj]

You know, flying a 777 over night, turning on the AP, going to bed, waking up, and landing isn't all that unrealistic.  Real long haul flights have relief crews who take over after the primary crew takes off and gets to cruise.

 

Cheers

TJ

[ridinroun]

PMDG 737 and 777. Still working on the Majestic Q400 which I struggle with. Looking forward to playing with the new 747 coming from PMDG. It looks real sweet and it sounds like they are getting close. Would like to see QW's 787 release but I about givin up on them.

[birdguy]

Lawrence,  there is no sweeter sound than the snap, crackle, pop of a radial starting up.  While jets only suck and blow, recips suck, squeeze, bang, and blow.

 

Noel    

[jabble]

It's about time I got into this airliner craze, just in case it's not a mere flash in the pan.

 

So where can I get a decent Dakota for P3D?

[lawrence aldrich]

Just about any freebee download site has 'em all over.

Just search DC-3 or C-47.

Mamm sim has a beauty.(payware)

Nearly all the fsx types work in P3d...

[ShawnG]

You know, flying a 777 over night, turning on the AP, going to bed, waking up, and landing isn't all that unrealistic. Real long haul flights have relief crews who take over after the primary crew takes off and gets to cruise.

Cheers

TJ

That's true enough, but they have a relief crew. They don't leave the flight deck completely unmonitored for 8 of the 9 total flight hours, and the plane doesn't stop in the air to wait for the captain to wake up and initiate the descent.

[Rodger Pettichord]

Regionals for me. Dash8 100/200/300/400s, Fokkers, ATRs, CRJs, ERJs, etc...all the stuff I see coming and going out of local airports.

[Mac_Maddog88]

Interestingly, apart from the Q400 and the Milviz 737-200, I get a lot of satisfaction out of flying the Captain Sim 707 and 727 that I picked up on sale a while ago.  Steam driven, great for hand-flying training circuits, and resisting the urge to simply push buttons and rotate dials )

Great to see some love for Captainsim! I own their 757 and 707 and couldn't be happier, I dunno where all the hate comes from! The only issue I've ever had with the 707 is the sensitivity of the trim, do you have any idea how to fix that and make it less sensitive?

 

 

J-41, then DC-9, followed by the MD-11 and the 146/RJ.  NGX has the most hours, but VNAV/LNAV/AP will do that...    The various A318-321s are rapidly gaining hours.  I'd love to make the T7 work, but the last two flights over land have OOMed on me on approach.  Across the oceans seem to be OK, but I'm irritated at being limited like that.  Going to play with winding down the settings a bit.  The CS 737 has grown on me a lot since they updated it to the point it should have been at release (not perfect, but thoroughly flyable).  I want to like the DC-8, but that's a struggle.  Happy with the DH8D too.  Must learn the B-377.  Not finished a flight without breaking something yet.

 

But none achieve the same joy as settling into my Cub...

I feel the same way about the DC-8. Love the plane, it's beautiful, but I'm just not a fan of the systems in general due to having to hop between flight engineer panel and captain's seat.  About your OOMs, I solved mine by setting my autogen buildings to sparse and trees to normal. While some may not me happy with lower settings, this is in fact more realistic when compared to real flight simulators, as they barely even have scenery in them besides a few generic buildings on airport grounds. Besides, once you get up to 30,000, ORBX scenery is so well done that it ground textures look perfectly 3D. 

[pilottj]

That's true enough, but they have a relief crew. They don't leave the flight deck completely unmonitored for 8 of the 9 total flight hours, and the plane doesn't stop in the air to wait for the captain to wake up and initiate the descent.

 

Lol well its kind of a pick your poison thing, either go to sleep and fly with unmoitored cockpit, or watch the 777 follow a magenta line for 10+hrs, exceeding any real world duty time limits.  There is nothing wrong with using time compression, tho I like the forecast weather & time to match.  It was nice that PMDG included the auto step climb thing which kind of simulates a relief crew.

 

Cheers

TJ

[ShawnG]

yeah, long haul requires a lapse of realism no matter what way you do it.  you can time accelerate.  you can go to bed and wake up and finish the flight.  you can fly the whole thing yourself hardcore style, which is not realistic, or advisable for anyone with a life, or you can fly the whole thing in segments, saving your flight midpoint and resuming it.  Particularly if you don't have random failures enabled,  you arent getting any action, or knowledge benefit at any point in the cruise, unless you enjoy flipping ATC frequencies.  I actually find time acceleration to be the best all around solution for the problem, but suggest that over at avsim and people will come out of the woodwork to ridicule your supposedly inferior ways.

 

I avoid the whole scene by only flying short haul.

 

but you could have a really realistic long haul solution.  maybe FS2Crew will come out with a version that, in addition to providing you with a copilot for your section of the flight, will also provide a relief crew, who may or may not screw things up while you are in crew rest, the program will alert your real life mobile phone when your shift is back due, or if they encounter a problem (have fun with the 2:30 AM wakeup to run emergency procedures because number 1 flamed out!)

 

THAT would be realism.  do that every flight, and these flight sim elitists can feel free to thumb their nose at my 4x cruise, until then, they can pound sand.

[Capt Pugwash]

PMDG NGX 737 & ifly 737, although I recently purchased the Aerosoft Airbus SP3 bundle and love it, great virtual first officer and sounds, really enjoying the latest bus especially the 318 & 319!

[coolgovind180]

currently..qualitywings..757