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+--- Thread: Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts (/showthread.php?tid=1423)
Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts - Airliner - 21-11-2005
FIrst, this is very likely the best add-on for Flight Simulator to come down the pike in a long time! Very good job! So far, I've only used the
demo but I suspect that I'll be logging in to unlock the full today. SFO is fine but, I can't wait to try to build up an airline near my location in
the NE USA.
There was a TV show called Wings, that was based on a small commuter airline on Nantucket Island (KACK). Actually, the real airline is
Nantucket Air, a part of Cape Air. Anyway, the guy who ran the airline had a little Cessna 402 and ran flights around the cape and islands,
trying to make it big. This add-on will be great in setting up there see if poor old Joe can ever get to flying jets!
Okay, quick point:
I saw this in another post somewhere, concerning buying multiple aircraft of the same type. During my "testing," I ran into this with a
Piper Cherokee 300. Simple solution? I went into the aircraft config file and altered the name and variation - that's it. All I did was add in
the registration #. So now, when I select an aircraft, it comes up as:
Piper
Cherokee 300
N001AW
Piper
Cherokee 300
N002AW
etc.
All I do is load up 001, buy it, load up 002, buy it, etc.
You can also make different texture folders and physically put the registrations on the aircraft as well but, not neccessary.
Now, a couple suggestions:
I love the idea that you can build a fleet and that you get cash for flights that they fly but, maybe a little more detail would be fun here.
Here's a thought - After you fly a route to a certain level of satisfaction for the pax, and/or a certain number of flights, you can then assign
an aircraft in your fleet (same model) to fly that route for you while you go out and get others. Then, everytime you fly a route, you will affect
other, specific flights throughout your network, not just a random bonus.
Also, when you want to upgrade an aircraft tye on a route, you must first take that model yourself and fly the route to a certain satisfaction
and upon completion, you can change the model.
Another idea would be to be able to have the program generate AI flight plans for your airline, so that you could see your other aircraft with
you at your hub, etc. Of course, anyone can do this themselves.
I have been working on and off on an airline simulation for some years now but this just beats that idea because you can actually fly the
stuff! Anything I can contribute, I'm more than willing to help!
Re: Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts - Airliner - 21-11-2005
One more thing. If I'm reading the final reports right, you only get charged for the fuel that you actually burn during the flight, right?
Shouldn't you get charged for how much fuel you dump into the tanks BEFORE you even take off? This way, you would really want to
manage your fuel well, as you don't want to pay for more fuel than you're going to use.
Example: In a flight from KSFO-KOAK, my report shows:
Total fuel used: 30lbs.
Total Not used: 122 lbs.
But in the Financial report:
Fuel Cost: -$16 (30lbs. 100LL)
Shouldn't it have been about $80 for the total fuel that I loaded up with in KSFO? Then, I guess you'd want to keep track, somehow, of
how much fuel is in each of your aircraft so that you just top off at each stop.
Re: Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts - Shady - 21-11-2005
Some nice ideas, but about this fuel thing.
I understand that you want achieve some higher level or realism but if we are talking about paying for loaded (and not burned) fuel
the program should record the quantity of loaded fuel. Because what happens when I fill up my tanks, pay for the juice (in whole),
burn 20% of it and the rest is lost after I quit FSPax. So I say bye bye to money and fuel. Or maybe is the unused fuel sucked out of the
planes tanks after the filght in real life?
Cheers
Re: Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts - Airliner - 21-11-2005
Yeah that's the point - to get you to figure out how much fuel you need, plus a cushion and then only take that much so you have to plan
better. Of course, the down side is you lose what you don't use, unless the FsP keeps track of your tanks after the flight. It was just a
thought.
By the way, it DOES have consequences. I just unlocked my version and took my first real flight from KACK to KHYA. I used the built i
flight planner and took the recommended fuel load, plus a cushion - guess it wasn't enough because they rereouted me to a different
runway and the circling caused me to run out of fuel over the bay! I called it in but had to ditch in the drink! Too bad there isn't a water
landing visual like the belly landing on the runways.
At least my 3 pax and pilot all walked away from it.
Re: Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts - Anastasios - 21-11-2005
They walked away from a ditch?!!??!?!
How did you survive a ditch in MSFS???
I ALWAYS crash..
Tasos.
Re: Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts - Airliner - 21-11-2005
"remain seated until Captain Kangaroo..."
Ah, you caught that one too, huh?
Yeah, I completely ran out of gas on final, around 1800 feet up on approach to ILS rwy 15 at KHYA. Called it in, then settled gently into the
bay. The screen reported the generic green "crash" banner. BUT, when I ended the flight with FsP, it reported that there were no
fatalities. Actually, the pilot WAS injured - the pax were fine. Go figure...
Re: Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts - Shady - 22-11-2005
Well, I absolutely agree that it is a good thing to make the pilot think about fuel planning before the flight.
I'm still a begginer and very often I don't have a clue how do I have to calculate the the fuel cause I don't know what is the planes's fuel
consumption. Then I make a short flight to figure it out (more or less). And sometimes it is really "less" cause I didn't make it once
from Warsaw to Frankfurt am Main (is there an airport in Frankfurt and der Oder?) and had to land about 50 km away from there
(and with 30 mins delay). The pax were not delighted and so wasn't the management. Fuel miscalculated completely. Oh, it was my 'beloved'
DC-3, by the way...
Cheers
Re: Great Add-on! Plus, a couple random thoughts - Airliner - 22-11-2005
DC-3's rule! Well, at least they did about 50 years ago! :D
If you use the built in flight planner in FS, just look at the navlog. It gives you the fuel consumption and also the estimated fuel load for the
trip as you have it planned. Also, remember to add in a cushion for traffic pattern, taxi time on both ends and a possible diversion. I think
the general rule is something like 1.5 hours reserve fuel so if you burn say, 65gph, take an extra 98 gallons (100LL would be 588lbs., Jet-
A is 670lbs. - 100LL = 6lbs per gallon and Jet-A is 6.84 lbs. per gallon).