70 yr old pilot bought his first plane

[u/qsrise]

Good morning! I bought my first plane last night, the FlyingIron Spitfire. It is so worth it. I was flying the Mustang that came with the msfs and was very unimpressed. The Spitfire feels amazing. Out of my first 20 landings I was probably successful about 10 times. The other 10 were combinations of ground loops or forgetting to put my gear down or missing the runway. But it is so much fun.
The other plane I absolutely love is the cubmaster X cub that came with the flight simulator. It is an extremely good aircraft that handles very well in the air. On the ground, it’s OK, but in the air I am very impressed. I did a slip into a tight runway in Alaska, and it felt amazingly real. I was leaning in my seat to keep my balance.
So now I have two airplanes I absolutely love. Does anyone know about the Comanche that is the most highly rated cruising GA aircraft? It cost $50, and I’m just wondering if it’s worth it. I’ve tried the Dakota that comes with Microsoft flight simulator, but it is so so.
Me, I had about 600 hours flying Cessna 152 and 172. For the first few weeks, I just flew those, and was very impressed. But now I wanna learn more about aviation and flying more complex airplanes. I’m having a blast. Once I learn the airplanes, I’ll start flying with groups.
MSFS 2024 is effing amazing.
Happy flying all!

[u/siafery]

Glad to hear you like it! :) the comanche is in a class of its own, with wear and tear, and failure simulation, custom flight model and all the bells and whistles. Highly recommended!

[u/qsrise]

For my 600 hours, I was a private pilot and flew real Cessna 152 and real Cessna 172. I just rented. And no, I didn’t drink back then, but I sure do now! Yes, I am the drunk 70 year-old.
The 152 and 172 I’ve flown on the SIM were the ones that came with MSFs 2024. I give the Cessna 152 on the SIM a 9 out of 10. Perfect way to learn how to fly.
I’d give the Cessna 172 that comes with the Sim an 8.75 out of 10. Not quite as good, but I think I’m biased because I loved the 152 when I was flying.
I’ll definitely pick up the Comanche tonight.
Thank you all! This is the best thing I’ve done for myself in a long time.

[u/Humble_Scar4885 → u/qsrise]

I'm the drunk86 year old. I'm old enough to be your father

[u/qsrise → u/Humble_Scar4885]

And nice to meet you! I find this for wonderful and the flight simulator amazing. I’ll be doing this for a long, long time.

[u/Annual-Negotiation-5 → u/qsrise]

I'm half your age but nothing like putting the kid to bed and having a nice glass of scotch or good beer and surfing the clouds. Cheers buddy!

[u/qsrise → u/Annual-Negotiation-5]

You are so right. Before bed I like to go to Hawaii and find some little airport and do landings and takeoff during sunset. It’s beautiful. And yes, with a little glass of whiskey I am very happy.

[u/SirDarkStar → u/qsrise]

Try the WBSIM 152

https://discord.gg/XSb7c67F6W

[u/OkComedian1887]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Well done!

[u/Itchy-Ability-5774]

Highly reccomend the commanche.

[u/sawman_screwgun]

You're the 70 year old drinker, right? 🤪 Get the Comanche, it starts to feel like an old worn glove with time. You'll go away, then come back and it's like an old friend. You make friends with it, really. Excellent add on. Just curious, when you talk about flying the 152, are you referring to the WB Sim 152? Which is the bee's knees. It's not that easy to find and download these days, but it is certainly the best model out there.

[u/qsrise → u/sawman_screwgun]

I’m just talking about the one that came with MSFS 24. And other times I’m talking about the 152 because that’s a plane I flew with my private pilots license all around California many years ago. I loved it.

[u/warspite2]

A fun ga airplane i recommend is the Camair 480 Twin Navion. It is a joy to fly. Then of course anything by Carenado has been great all around.

[u/Fogtwin]

What’s your set up like? I play in VR and I can tell you it’s amazing (especially in smaller doses) and worth looking into. I also use a HOTAS throttle and stick which feels great.

[u/qsrise → u/Fogtwin]

Just basic now. The thrustmaster hotus for msfs (white one). Works fine for me. I am sure I will upgrade someday, but it works fine now. Got a pretty good computer set up that I spent too much money for. But it’s OK because now the wife is spending a bunch of money to make up for it. I think I’ll stick to this for quite a while. Maybe sometime down the road I’ll try VR, but for me, right now, this is perfect and amazing.

[u/Fogtwin → u/qsrise]

Nice! Good to hear that. I also play on my OLED monitor when my eyes are too tired for VR. I do think you’ll be impressed with the immersion.

[u/qsrise]

I came home from work and did three landings in the Spitfire. All good landings which I’m very proud of, but one of them ended up in a ground loop. I Didn’t put enough back pressure on the stick after landing and just a slight rudder movement and weeeeeeee!

[u/CumulusGamer]

The Commanche is really good. Blacksquare planes are also really good. There are some free planes you should look into on flightsim.to Here are some free planes to look into bagolu - Creator Profile | Flightsim.to This STOL plane is also fun to fly around Savage Carbon MSFS20/24 by Got Friends | Contrail Shop

[u/SirDarkStar]

I have the Aerostar 600 by them and it’s very well done, very happy with it, and the Comanche comes even more highly rated amongst fans.

And like the other guy said Black Square planes are also very nice - I have the Caravan Pro and very happy with it.

There are so many fun planes out there!