Trick is do not d/l just any old thing
Couldn't agree more, Smithy. Look before you leap.
One thing worth watching is the download amount in MBs - if it's very low, you'll probably find yourself with an aeroplane that looks fine from the outside, but only has a panel, sounds, and flying characteristics lifted straight from a default aircraft, and is no fun to fly. Conversely, if it's very high, you may find yourself with something that is so complicated that it slows the game down to a crawl.
Just found myself a beauty on Simviation - a Hawker Hurricane IIA, which takes me back to being a kid avidly reading books on the Battle of Britain. Flies like the single-seat fighter that it is, but - unlike a lot of 'military' downloads - behaves like a perfect lady on the approach.
The other thing that endears it to me is that it has a full handbook and some proper 'realism' built in - not just random failures, if you leave the cowl flaps closed in the early climb, or get the mixture too lean, it overheats and tells you in no uncertain terms that it is going to seize up if you don't mend your ways!
It's 'book' range is about 600nms. but you can stretch that to around 800 if you're careful with the revs and boost. Being