I always wondered peoples standards for aircraft they download, whether it be freeware or payware. What decides if it is an aircraft you like? For me its usually the textures, and for that reason, I can't stand PAD's aircraft(no offense to them), they just look so unrealistic. Another thing would be the landing gear animation. I have not found an A330 for fs that accurately simulates the gear animation for it. I really hate when landing gear sinks into the runway. After all, touchdown is the most fun part, and the gear are the star of the show. Anyway, lets hear your thoughts.

I'm a huge pain in the @*s when it comes to pick models. I look for any fault on the model, texture or Flight Dynamics. I guess that's due to my 6 years of modeling aircraft for FSX and having to have something like a watchmaker's eye to spot any mistakes from my part. A smoothing problem is enough to keep me from saving the plane in my hangar. Like Kaz Ito's models. They are gorgeous when you open them up in gmax and take away the smooth excess, but the man keeps pushing the smoothing to high and then they look all bumpy and weird. It looks like they're made out of plastic...

I'm partial to realistic, clickable vc's and cockpits that are modeled with a 360 degree view. Most craft I keep in my hanger are made for FSX and not portovers from previous sims. Saying that, my hat is off to all freeware developers because I couldn't even so much as draw up a door handle in GMax.

Yeah, I forgot to mentions, that if an airplane has no VC, its a no go for me. I do all of my flying out of the VC except for looking around during cruise and landing. Also, usually occurring in portovers, the glass is either missing or transparent, and if its a prop, chances are they are transparent too. And one thing that I've wondered is that why don't most payware products airplanes, particularly airliners, come with touchdown smoke effects, instead of using the boring default ones?

I am easy-going when it comes to aircraft!... ..!

For me, all it needs is a good, practical, 2D cockpit, (for me to improve with my FS Panel Studio), and is suitable for the particular flight I decide to experience.
The external appearance is of no particular importance to me, as I spend most/all of the time inside the aircraft, looking out of the windscreen!
I use most of the aircraft in my Hangar as a simple means of exploring the scenery below me....
...I am an Explorer first....Pilot second... ...!
Only a few different types of aircraft fulfil all my needs, for my type of flying....

Microlight: Sunday afternoon fun.
Cessna 150/152: Low level exploration.
Beech Baron: A bit faster than the Cessna. Tours!
Beech King Air: A few passengers, short hops (shopping).
Learet45: Fast, Personal Jet.
Boeing 737-400: Lots of passengers with Bermuda shorts, and straw hats!

That about the lot...and all of them default/freeware!

...its all about FUN!... ...!

Paul....Indiana Jones of the air... ...!

i only  download when they have the following:
good textures.
vc(mostly clickable and good textures)
if apliable:working and good-looking afterburners,not ones that you turn on with the light.
and if they have extras like ground service,bombs etc i will DEFINETLY download them.

and i only use freeware,i just don't want to pay.

that reminds me,i have to do a cleanup of old crappy aircraft in my MASSIVE hanger...

FoxThree wrote on Nov 30^th, 2011 at 12:46pm:


that's what always said , why spending so much time making the exterior when you re really inside the airplane most of the time ?
personally I spend the 80% of the hard time developing the VC, other modelers spend all their energy in the exterior AND THEN the VC is not so good ,see what I mean ?

fps is also one of my necesities,if its under 6 then its most likely gone soon,unless it looks great.