However, as lovely as they are, fighter jets aren't exactly the best way to enjoy the scenery as they tend to move too fast to enjoy said scenery. You need something a bit slower, but you need to get there faster than a helicopter can do the task as well. This is where a good turboprop plane comes in handy. It can get you where you want to go reasonably fast, yet still get into the tight spots that fighter jets and even a good bizjet or jetliner couldn't dream of landing at.
I've had the pleasure of coming across one of the finest examples of these in FS 2004 - the AFG Beechcraft King Air 300. I know many of us have had a hand at the game's default King Air 350, and if you're like me you weren't necessarily impressed. The AFG King Air is in a totally different class than the default King Air however. Everything I've found about the aircraft is top-notch - from the flight model to the visual model to the cockpit/interior. It even has a custom soundset, and a top notch one at that - even the most untrained ear can tell the difference between this one and the default King Air sound files. This plane screams "Payware quality" in a freeware package. You read right: It's freeware, which means there is no excuse not to give it a try.
The AFG King Air 300 uses many of the default King Air 350 gauges (which were about the only good part of the default King Air), albeit arranged a bit differently than default, though still recognizable as a King Air cockpit. Both the 2D panel and Virtual Cockpit are very readable and have good side/rear/diagonal views with appropriate window panes ect. AFG has even gone into the detail of adding a working cabin pressurization system in the VC. The plane is also easy to fly from the VC, yet is surprisingly frame rate-friendly despite it's detail. The same goes for the external visual model: frame rate-friendly but of outstanding quality.
It can be found on Avsim and Simviation, along with a number of repaints.
Enjoy
