Slowest Trainer

[Wingman]

Hi All!

I want to spend some more time flying "under the hood," so I'm curious... what's your favorite slow fixed-wing aircraft (payware or freeware) with autopilot that could be used as a stable ADF/DME/VOR/GPS navigation trainer?

I'm looking for something that prioritizes:
- Easy to fly
- Multitude of navigation radios (and their respective instruments)
- Moving-map GPS
- Autopilot with Nav/GPS hold capabilities
- Ideally, an HSI (in conjunction with one or two CDIs)
- SLOW flight
- Good on frame rates
- Good-looking virtual cockpit

[Razor]

I would(and do) go with the A2A Cessna 172 for any instrument training I do, although it doesn't have a digital CDI it has a great cockpit, and is pretty forgiving, plus the 60 knot approach speed makes it great for learning "on the fly"-see what I did there?.

[Cube]

I would recommend the bay tower RV-7
It looks great and everything works as it should.

[Coloradojack]

I think the Lionheart Piper Pacer Super Pack may cover all your requirements. Granted, it's not as accurate as the A2A C172 but worth a look, has nice retro look, cushy seats, sliding windows and extremely stable at low speeds. No visible autopilot interface on the dash but works for direction and altitude nonetheless with keyboard input. The models look very nice as well. $25-$30 Link: http://www.lionheartcreations.com/Piper_Pacer.html

Neglected to mention, it does have 2d pop up of radios, GPS, etc., with Fifty Five X autopilot with nice hdg/nav alt & vs control, just no view of it in the virtual cockpit.

[Storm]

Whichever you choose, I recommend training along with using Plan-G. Helps you plan more easily and shows your track afterward. You can hide it to be fully blind.

[Waterman981]

I would(and do) go with the A2A Cessna 172 for any instrument training I do, although it doesn't have a digital CDI it has a great cockpit, and is pretty forgiving, plus the 60 knot approach speed makes it great for learning "on the fly"-see what I did there?.

Another vote for the A2A 172. Since I got it the 172 has been the plane I did most of my flying in.

[Dragonscoils]

I would be remiss if I didn't mention this one. I'm having a blast with it flying around the world. It meets all your requirements, but if you open up the throttle it definitely isn't slow.

Real Air's Lancair Legacy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMb2q7koswI

[Wingman]

Man, those are some beautiful airplanes! Like... everyone needs to have each of these in their hangar, or they won't know what FSX is really capable of.

Having looked at the various cockpits, I'm thinking in favor of A2A's 182. It's got the full suite of diverse navigation instruments:


See: HSI, CDI, ADF, GPS! (HSI configuration selectable from in-game 2d panel/menu)

It's still a little faster than I would have liked, but I suppose there's no harm in keeping it in the white arc with some flaps down for controlled slow flight.

I haven't used Plan-G since the Microsoft Flight! days, but maybe it is time to dust it off again. I like the idea of self-tracking for performance review.

[Cube]

The a2a 172 has the same gps suite as the 182 unless you get the flight 1 gtn 750 and the 172 is a bit slower.