The game is starting to get routine -- and boring -- at this point. I have traversed the ground between my three bases. I find out what the missions are at each base, then have my factories in Alamosa produce whatever is in demand. The items are then flown to the base where they are in demand.
Bases have been added in Fort Collins, Laramie Wyoming, Akron Colorado and Colorado Springs. Eventually, a bases may be added to Albuquerque and El Paso. In the meantime, I may look for other promising productions centers. Laramie, Wyoming offers some good possibilities, but is not as good as Alamosa, meaning that I may have to fly in some raw materials to do productions.
While bases are limited in how much can be held, the same is not true for factories. This means a large stockpile of raw materials can be held in factories.
Flying between the cities is pretty routine. Like most jobs, it is not so interesting. I guess a lot depends on how one wants to play the game. If one wants to fly to a wide variety of different airports, probably flying cargo jobs is the best way to do this. If one wants to make money, flying missions to larger airports is the way to go.
The number of missions an airport offers seems related to the size of the city it serves. Jeffco, for example gets a lot of business. But it is considered to be part of Denver, even though it is really much close to the city and county of Broomfield and is a more suburban part of Jefferson County, Colorado.
I may add additional factories to cities, just because it is easier to produce commodities at the airport where they are in demand. Ultimately, this requires fewer flights.
I have hired one AI pilot to do a lot of the routine flying. After he does his route, production begins in Alamosa, and deliveries can begin the next day. Customers really can't complain about a 24 hour turn around on orders.
As orders get larger, I will purchase cargo planes with a larger capacity.
A passenger service will be explored. A passenger plane has been purchased. Eventually, I will switch to jets, for faster passenger service.
I don't plan on giving blow by blow accounts of each flight, or even each round of flights. Those reading this blog should have some ideas on one way of playing the game. However, Air Hauler can be played many different ways. It is a very flexible game.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Clothing
Leaving Jeffco, my base in Pueblo was about a half hour from completion. I built a fashion factory there which makes clothing, designer clothes and jewelry. Pueblo has textiles; Alamosa does not. Pueblo also has precious metals at a decent price for jewelry making.
I flew from Jeffco to Pueblo with 3115 pounds of beef. I only made $3 per pound when I sold it in Pueblo. It was about the best I could do with arbitrage on this flight. But it was better than nothing. And better than what most regular cargo jobs would pay.
Clothing was loaded in Pueblo and flown to Alamosa to meet the demand there.
I flew from Jeffco to Pueblo with 3115 pounds of beef. I only made $3 per pound when I sold it in Pueblo. It was about the best I could do with arbitrage on this flight. But it was better than nothing. And better than what most regular cargo jobs would pay.
Clothing was loaded in Pueblo and flown to Alamosa to meet the demand there.
Televisions
Jeffco wants 285 pounds of televisions. Alamosa already has an electronics factory with the ability to make televisions, and Alamosa has all the supplies needed to do it.
But can more money be squeezed out of this?
Of course! Jewelry can be made in Pueblo, and sold in Jeffco. Currently, jewelry is a Tier 2 commodity which is listed as a tier 1 commodity. Who knows how long it will be until this bug is fixed. But jewelry can be made inexpensively in a factory, and sold for a good profit.
With only three bases, I can start doing runs of Alamosa to Pueblo to Jeffco, and back again. Alamosa is my primary manufacturing center and Pueblo is a secondary manufacturing center. Jeffco is a population center with lots of wants.
But can more money be squeezed out of this?
Of course! Jewelry can be made in Pueblo, and sold in Jeffco. Currently, jewelry is a Tier 2 commodity which is listed as a tier 1 commodity. Who knows how long it will be until this bug is fixed. But jewelry can be made inexpensively in a factory, and sold for a good profit.
With only three bases, I can start doing runs of Alamosa to Pueblo to Jeffco, and back again. Alamosa is my primary manufacturing center and Pueblo is a secondary manufacturing center. Jeffco is a population center with lots of wants.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Booze, Computer Games and Cows
The Pueblo base is still under construction, leaving several orders for clothing yet unfilled.
Jeffco wants cows (livestock). And Jeffco wants them now. There are no cows in any of my bases. But eastern Colorado is the place to go for cows. Akron offers some arbitrage opportunities: I can purchase cigarettes in Alamosa for $109 per pound, and sell them in Akron for $122 per pound. Meanwhile, I can buy just about anything in Akron for less than what it sells for at Jeffco. I can make a nice but not exhorbitant profit by buying wine and spirits in Jeffco and selling them in Akron. After all, the Coors brewery is located in Jefferson County!
The plane is filled with booze at Jeffco, and it is off to Akron. It is sold for $294,313. Livestock is purchased in Akron for $61.750 and is sold at the mission price of $209,040. Additionally computer games are purchased in Akron for $217,536 and sold for $252,144.
Jeffco wants cows (livestock). And Jeffco wants them now. There are no cows in any of my bases. But eastern Colorado is the place to go for cows. Akron offers some arbitrage opportunities: I can purchase cigarettes in Alamosa for $109 per pound, and sell them in Akron for $122 per pound. Meanwhile, I can buy just about anything in Akron for less than what it sells for at Jeffco. I can make a nice but not exhorbitant profit by buying wine and spirits in Jeffco and selling them in Akron. After all, the Coors brewery is located in Jefferson County!
The plane is filled with booze at Jeffco, and it is off to Akron. It is sold for $294,313. Livestock is purchased in Akron for $61.750 and is sold at the mission price of $209,040. Additionally computer games are purchased in Akron for $217,536 and sold for $252,144.
Aircraft Engines and More
Aircraft Engines are another lucrative tier three product. Jeffco next ordered 732 pounds of aircraft engines and 298 pounds of designer clothing.
A new factory was built in Alamosa, the San Luis Aerotech, which produces aircraft engines, avionics and computers. Avionics are one of the components of aircraft engines. The other components are machine parts and electronics.
Avionics are a complex product, requiring electronics, battery packs and plastics. The battery packs were produced in another factory located in Alamosa and were made with batteries and electronics. I probably should have included battery packs in the Aero Tech factory instead of computers.
The battery packs were completed first, then moved to the Aero Tech factory to be used in the avionics. The factory produced avionics and airplane engines simultaneously. By a little after midnight, 732 pounds of aircraft engine were completed and loaded on the Kodiak along with 814 pounds of jewelry and 1403 pounds of perfume for delivery at Jeffco the next day.
The company was paid $1,967,616 for the aircraft engines, $116,400 for the jewelry and $375,446 for the perfume. All in a day's work, literally.
A new factory was built in Alamosa, the San Luis Aerotech, which produces aircraft engines, avionics and computers. Avionics are one of the components of aircraft engines. The other components are machine parts and electronics.
Avionics are a complex product, requiring electronics, battery packs and plastics. The battery packs were produced in another factory located in Alamosa and were made with batteries and electronics. I probably should have included battery packs in the Aero Tech factory instead of computers.
The battery packs were completed first, then moved to the Aero Tech factory to be used in the avionics. The factory produced avionics and airplane engines simultaneously. By a little after midnight, 732 pounds of aircraft engine were completed and loaded on the Kodiak along with 814 pounds of jewelry and 1403 pounds of perfume for delivery at Jeffco the next day.
The company was paid $1,967,616 for the aircraft engines, $116,400 for the jewelry and $375,446 for the perfume. All in a day's work, literally.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Haggis, Scooters and Watches
A few hours after completing the first round of missions, the game generated a second set. Alamosa (KALS) wanted pilot watches and emergency supplies (the latter do not appear to be present in the game). Jeffco (KBJC) wanted haggis and scooters. In Alamosa, there was a demand for pilot watches. There were no missions out of Pueblo.
The haggis mission is easy to do. The cargo plane already is at Jeffco, where enough sheep could be purchased to fill the order, fly them to the Alamosa haggis plant, and then fly the haggis back to Jeffco. 176 pounds of haggis sold for $121,792.
A haggis plant could not build at Jeffco at this time because tje base there is still being built. One must have a finished base before one can build a factory. So far, my mistaken build of a haggis factory in Alamosa has actually paid off. Two orders of haggis were made in succeeding mission cycles. The money has not been wasted. However, an order be received after the Jeffco base is completed, I might build a second factory at Jeffco.
Motoscooters are a highly lucrative mission, a mission one does not want to pass up. Unlike haggis which might only yield a couple hundred thousand dollars in profits, motoscooters can result in million dollar profits. Fortunately, much of the infrastructure of motorscooter production already exists in Alamosa. First of all, a base already exists there. Second Alamosa has factories for radios and plastic. Radios and plastic are tier two commodities used in making motorscooters. I do have to build a motorscooter factory in Alamosa. It's pricey, but worth the price.
Alamosa is home to a plastic factory to build all of the plastic I will need to make my motorscooters, including the plastic which will go in the radios. There is an electronics factory start making the radios that go into the motorscooters. Other commodities can be bought to make motorscooters.
Since I am avoiding night flights at the moment, given my bad experience with the last one, I will wait until morning to deliver both the haggis and motorscooters to Jeffco. My factories are actually done producing by midnight. The flight to Jeffco is uneventful. 515 pounds of motorscooters sold for $1,771,136
Pilot watches are more problematic. In the region where San Luis Enterprises operates, there is one place ideal for making pilot watches: Raton, New Mexico. Raton has all the commodities needed to make pilot watches. Locations like that are very rare in the game.
However, building in Raton will be both time consuming and costly. A new base will have to be built there. Fortunately, no other factories will be required to build any of the other components for these watches; there are no tier two commodities in pilot watches.
A second alternative is to build a pilots watch factory in San Luis Enterprises home base of Alamosa. Alamosa lacks both the precious metals and watches needed to make pilots watches. These two components can be flown in from Pueblo, where my base will be done in another 33 hours. But components can be purchased without a base.
This is an important decision because a pilots watch factory does cost about $300,000. However, pilots watches also are the most profitable commodity in the game. Again, this is another mission I do not want to pass up.
There are certain efficiencies in having all or most manufacturing in one location. For example, multiple cargos can be flown, including cargos to different locations. It also makes for a nice hub and spoke operation: all raw goods flow into one location, and all manufactured goods flow out of that same location.
While another base might be useful, Raton is not a big population center. The arbitrage opportunities are limited. The commodity prices on expensive items are not all that different from Pueblo. Besides, Pueblo is right on the path from Alamosa to all of the front range cities. Stopping there does not take me far out of my way. So I will build my chronograph factory in Alamosa -- when I get the money. But I should have that after selling haggis and motorscooters in Jeffco. On the way back I can pick up watches and precious metals in Pueblo and might even find a half decent arbitrage opportunity with goods from Jeffco.
I stopped in Pueblo and picked up a load of precious metals. Originally, these were to be used for the watches, but they were used for making jewelry instead.
Meanwhile, I purchased a new cargo aircraft with some of the money I made: a Quest Kodiak. This plane holds about twice the cargo of a Bonanza. I failed my first test flight; something happened during the landing; probably a random failure. Second test flight went fine.
By this time the jewelry was finished, which was then loaded on the plane and sold in Pueblo. 500 pounds of jewelry sold for $106,000.
Even though I swore off of night flights, I was going to try again with the Kodiak. After selling off the jewelry, the plane was loaded with 650 pounds each of watches and precious metals for the pilots watches. The rest of the plane was filled with precious metals for more jewelry production.
Finally with the watches and precious metals arriving in Alamosa, production of the pilots watches began. 650 pounds of watches were sold in Alamosa for $959,075.
The haggis mission is easy to do. The cargo plane already is at Jeffco, where enough sheep could be purchased to fill the order, fly them to the Alamosa haggis plant, and then fly the haggis back to Jeffco. 176 pounds of haggis sold for $121,792.
A haggis plant could not build at Jeffco at this time because tje base there is still being built. One must have a finished base before one can build a factory. So far, my mistaken build of a haggis factory in Alamosa has actually paid off. Two orders of haggis were made in succeeding mission cycles. The money has not been wasted. However, an order be received after the Jeffco base is completed, I might build a second factory at Jeffco.
Motoscooters are a highly lucrative mission, a mission one does not want to pass up. Unlike haggis which might only yield a couple hundred thousand dollars in profits, motoscooters can result in million dollar profits. Fortunately, much of the infrastructure of motorscooter production already exists in Alamosa. First of all, a base already exists there. Second Alamosa has factories for radios and plastic. Radios and plastic are tier two commodities used in making motorscooters. I do have to build a motorscooter factory in Alamosa. It's pricey, but worth the price.
Alamosa is home to a plastic factory to build all of the plastic I will need to make my motorscooters, including the plastic which will go in the radios. There is an electronics factory start making the radios that go into the motorscooters. Other commodities can be bought to make motorscooters.
Since I am avoiding night flights at the moment, given my bad experience with the last one, I will wait until morning to deliver both the haggis and motorscooters to Jeffco. My factories are actually done producing by midnight. The flight to Jeffco is uneventful. 515 pounds of motorscooters sold for $1,771,136
Pilot watches are more problematic. In the region where San Luis Enterprises operates, there is one place ideal for making pilot watches: Raton, New Mexico. Raton has all the commodities needed to make pilot watches. Locations like that are very rare in the game.
However, building in Raton will be both time consuming and costly. A new base will have to be built there. Fortunately, no other factories will be required to build any of the other components for these watches; there are no tier two commodities in pilot watches.
A second alternative is to build a pilots watch factory in San Luis Enterprises home base of Alamosa. Alamosa lacks both the precious metals and watches needed to make pilots watches. These two components can be flown in from Pueblo, where my base will be done in another 33 hours. But components can be purchased without a base.
This is an important decision because a pilots watch factory does cost about $300,000. However, pilots watches also are the most profitable commodity in the game. Again, this is another mission I do not want to pass up.
There are certain efficiencies in having all or most manufacturing in one location. For example, multiple cargos can be flown, including cargos to different locations. It also makes for a nice hub and spoke operation: all raw goods flow into one location, and all manufactured goods flow out of that same location.
While another base might be useful, Raton is not a big population center. The arbitrage opportunities are limited. The commodity prices on expensive items are not all that different from Pueblo. Besides, Pueblo is right on the path from Alamosa to all of the front range cities. Stopping there does not take me far out of my way. So I will build my chronograph factory in Alamosa -- when I get the money. But I should have that after selling haggis and motorscooters in Jeffco. On the way back I can pick up watches and precious metals in Pueblo and might even find a half decent arbitrage opportunity with goods from Jeffco.
I stopped in Pueblo and picked up a load of precious metals. Originally, these were to be used for the watches, but they were used for making jewelry instead.
Meanwhile, I purchased a new cargo aircraft with some of the money I made: a Quest Kodiak. This plane holds about twice the cargo of a Bonanza. I failed my first test flight; something happened during the landing; probably a random failure. Second test flight went fine.
By this time the jewelry was finished, which was then loaded on the plane and sold in Pueblo. 500 pounds of jewelry sold for $106,000.
Even though I swore off of night flights, I was going to try again with the Kodiak. After selling off the jewelry, the plane was loaded with 650 pounds each of watches and precious metals for the pilots watches. The rest of the plane was filled with precious metals for more jewelry production.
Finally with the watches and precious metals arriving in Alamosa, production of the pilots watches began. 650 pounds of watches were sold in Alamosa for $959,075.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Sheep are Baaaaad!
One thing Jeffco has are sheep. And sheep are the only ingredient in the game for making haggis. It's sort of funny, Hispanics have called the San Luis Valley home for 400 years. I did not know they liked haggis.
In any case 732 pounds of sheep are loaded into the Bonanza for a trip to the haggis plant. I will need to make two such trips to fill this order. The first trip was uneventful, and my haggis factory quickly made up for the cost of building it.
Jeffco had a need for 678 pounds of live poultry. I also found I could buy perfume in Alamosa for $216 per pound, and sell it at Jeffco for $262 per pound, for a gross profit of $46 per pound. Since I had a little over 300 pounds of excess capacity, I bought and loaded 300 pounds of perfume. Best smelling chickens ever!
On the return flight, another 732 pounds of sheep were loaded on the plane. Jewelry can be purchased at Jeffco for $200, and sold in Alamosa for $ 225, so I bought and loaded another 343 pounds of jewelry on the plane. Sheep look great with necklaces and earrings!
Jeffco also needs televisions. I built a personal electronics factory in Alamosa. It makes televisions, cell phones and personal electronics. After opening the factory and buying cargo for my flight, I didn't have any money left over. In fact, I was in the hole. Jewels are not cheap!
Another flight back allowed me to add more sheep to my haggis run. I now also had the cash to start television production for Jeffco. It looks like Jeffco did not acknowledge my delivery of live poultry, so I will add more to my next run.
The next outbound flight to Jeffco carried newly made televisions and the leftover live poultry The flight was uneventful. The airport would not take my chickens. But three of the four missions was complete, and the fourth could not be completed.
In any case 732 pounds of sheep are loaded into the Bonanza for a trip to the haggis plant. I will need to make two such trips to fill this order. The first trip was uneventful, and my haggis factory quickly made up for the cost of building it.
Jeffco had a need for 678 pounds of live poultry. I also found I could buy perfume in Alamosa for $216 per pound, and sell it at Jeffco for $262 per pound, for a gross profit of $46 per pound. Since I had a little over 300 pounds of excess capacity, I bought and loaded 300 pounds of perfume. Best smelling chickens ever!
On the return flight, another 732 pounds of sheep were loaded on the plane. Jewelry can be purchased at Jeffco for $200, and sold in Alamosa for $ 225, so I bought and loaded another 343 pounds of jewelry on the plane. Sheep look great with necklaces and earrings!
Jeffco also needs televisions. I built a personal electronics factory in Alamosa. It makes televisions, cell phones and personal electronics. After opening the factory and buying cargo for my flight, I didn't have any money left over. In fact, I was in the hole. Jewels are not cheap!
Another flight back allowed me to add more sheep to my haggis run. I now also had the cash to start television production for Jeffco. It looks like Jeffco did not acknowledge my delivery of live poultry, so I will add more to my next run.
The next outbound flight to Jeffco carried newly made televisions and the leftover live poultry The flight was uneventful. The airport would not take my chickens. But three of the four missions was complete, and the fourth could not be completed.
Second Commercial Flight
When I crashed the second time, Air Hauler put me on a grass field near Beaula, Colorado. I set this as a dawn flight. Even though it is the middle of the night in real time, once one goes into the flight simulator, one can change the flight. don't like the time of day, the airplane you are flying, the weather, or whatever? Just change it. Air Hauler doesn't care!
I also did something stupid before the flight. I built a haggis plant in Alamosa. I recalled seeing sheep on the commodities list, but I was mistaken. I should have double checked before spending $100,000 for making haggis. Air Hauler is not forgiving of such mistakes. Once you commit, you are really committed. Correcting errors is impossible.
So if someone wants haggis, I guess I will have to fly sheep into Alamosa. It is an unnecessary trip. But I don't think there will be a huge demand for haggis.
Anyway, I decided to do another arbitrage run. This time it was from Pueblo to Jeffco Airport with watches. The profit was only $10 per pound, so with 1,000 pounds of watches on board, I get a $10,000 gross profit.
Jeffco is one of my favorite Air Hauler airports in the State of Colorado. Maybe its because I have driven by it a gazillion times? During game three, it was my home base.
Jeffco does have a lot of different commodities. The big one it lacks, however, is electronics. I could get electronics from nearby Buckley Air Force Base. But this was something of a pain in the butt for such a commonly used commodity. However, being near Denver, it tends to generate a lot of highly profitable missions. So I will build my third base there, even if I have to beg, borrow or steal to do it.
Plus, there is a nice Orbix global scenery for this airport, unlike Alamosa and Pueblo.
The cruise altitude for this flight was set at 10,500 feet because Monument Pass is actually pretty high. When one flies over it, it looks fairly flat. But when one approaches the Denver metroplex from the south, it becomes apparent it is considerably higher than the Mile High City.
The landing was smooth. I sold my watches, and started another base.
Then I bought some sheep for a trip back to Alamosa.
I also did something stupid before the flight. I built a haggis plant in Alamosa. I recalled seeing sheep on the commodities list, but I was mistaken. I should have double checked before spending $100,000 for making haggis. Air Hauler is not forgiving of such mistakes. Once you commit, you are really committed. Correcting errors is impossible.
So if someone wants haggis, I guess I will have to fly sheep into Alamosa. It is an unnecessary trip. But I don't think there will be a huge demand for haggis.
Anyway, I decided to do another arbitrage run. This time it was from Pueblo to Jeffco Airport with watches. The profit was only $10 per pound, so with 1,000 pounds of watches on board, I get a $10,000 gross profit.
Jeffco is one of my favorite Air Hauler airports in the State of Colorado. Maybe its because I have driven by it a gazillion times? During game three, it was my home base.
Jeffco does have a lot of different commodities. The big one it lacks, however, is electronics. I could get electronics from nearby Buckley Air Force Base. But this was something of a pain in the butt for such a commonly used commodity. However, being near Denver, it tends to generate a lot of highly profitable missions. So I will build my third base there, even if I have to beg, borrow or steal to do it.
Plus, there is a nice Orbix global scenery for this airport, unlike Alamosa and Pueblo.
The cruise altitude for this flight was set at 10,500 feet because Monument Pass is actually pretty high. When one flies over it, it looks fairly flat. But when one approaches the Denver metroplex from the south, it becomes apparent it is considerably higher than the Mile High City.
The landing was smooth. I sold my watches, and started another base.
Then I bought some sheep for a trip back to Alamosa.
My First Commercial Flight
As indicated in a prior post, I really would like to set up a base in Pueblo, Colorado. It has a lot of the makings for a good aerospace industry. Perhaps a factory for aircraft parts, avionics and aircraft engines?
Plus it will provide me with another market to sell stuff in.
It is getting late in the day, and likely will be dark when I get to Pueblo. I certainly do not want to try a night landing on a grass runway! I want lights and even an ILS. Pueblo has both. Although the VS does not seem to work on my Carenado Bonanza!
I don't see many cargo loads to Pueblo, so I am going to try some arbitrage. DVD players sell for $101 per pound in Alamosa, but $121 per pound in Pueblo. That means I can turn a $20 gross profit on every pound of DVD players I can sell in Pueblo. My plane can hold 908 pounds of cargo. This means I can turn a gross profit of $18,160 by flying a load of DVD players to Pueblo. It is certainly better than any of the cargo flights offered at my home base!
I really should not do night flights yet. There were problems. I crashed twice. First crash was into the side of a mountain. The second was getting to low as I cam into Pueblo. I guess one really has to know the local airport and terrain pretty well before flying blind!
Air Hauler did not pick up the crashes. Instead, Prepar3d just reset and Air Hauler was none the wiser. Since this was my first flight in a while, I will take the do over!
Plus it will provide me with another market to sell stuff in.
It is getting late in the day, and likely will be dark when I get to Pueblo. I certainly do not want to try a night landing on a grass runway! I want lights and even an ILS. Pueblo has both. Although the VS does not seem to work on my Carenado Bonanza!
I don't see many cargo loads to Pueblo, so I am going to try some arbitrage. DVD players sell for $101 per pound in Alamosa, but $121 per pound in Pueblo. That means I can turn a $20 gross profit on every pound of DVD players I can sell in Pueblo. My plane can hold 908 pounds of cargo. This means I can turn a gross profit of $18,160 by flying a load of DVD players to Pueblo. It is certainly better than any of the cargo flights offered at my home base!
I really should not do night flights yet. There were problems. I crashed twice. First crash was into the side of a mountain. The second was getting to low as I cam into Pueblo. I guess one really has to know the local airport and terrain pretty well before flying blind!
Air Hauler did not pick up the crashes. Instead, Prepar3d just reset and Air Hauler was none the wiser. Since this was my first flight in a while, I will take the do over!
Getting Type Rated
It's time to start flying!
In fact, isn't that the underlying purpose of the game. Besides, I need to start exploring other cities where I can sell products made in my factories. However, to get those lucrative missions in other cities, I must first build bases there.
The first target of interest is the City of Pueblo. Pueblo is an old industrial town known for its steel industry and labor strife in the early 20th century. If my plans go right, it is in for some modernization.
But before I can start setting up in business, I must be type rated in the Bonanza. I set up the flight in Air Hauler, then fire up Prepar3d, the flight simulator sold by Lockheed Martin. My new Colorado photo scenery was just installed as my factories were completing their first missions.
After takeoff, I am instructed to climb to 12,640 feet. Alamosa is at 7500 feet, but still this is a long slow climb in a Bonanza at this altitude. After reaching altitude, I am directed to a heading of 153, and then directed to increase my altitude to 13,343 feet at a heading of 072; Then back to a heading of 166 at am altitude of 12, 640. Finally, I am directed to make a good landing at my home airport.
After an OK landing, I past my type rating for the Bonanza.
In fact, isn't that the underlying purpose of the game. Besides, I need to start exploring other cities where I can sell products made in my factories. However, to get those lucrative missions in other cities, I must first build bases there.
The first target of interest is the City of Pueblo. Pueblo is an old industrial town known for its steel industry and labor strife in the early 20th century. If my plans go right, it is in for some modernization.
But before I can start setting up in business, I must be type rated in the Bonanza. I set up the flight in Air Hauler, then fire up Prepar3d, the flight simulator sold by Lockheed Martin. My new Colorado photo scenery was just installed as my factories were completing their first missions.
After takeoff, I am instructed to climb to 12,640 feet. Alamosa is at 7500 feet, but still this is a long slow climb in a Bonanza at this altitude. After reaching altitude, I am directed to a heading of 153, and then directed to increase my altitude to 13,343 feet at a heading of 072; Then back to a heading of 166 at am altitude of 12, 640. Finally, I am directed to make a good landing at my home airport.
After an OK landing, I past my type rating for the Bonanza.
Building Factories
Even though Air Hauler nominally is about flying cargo from place to place, it is also a game about making money, and making it as quickly and efficiently as possible. As stated in an earlier post, the fastest way of making money is becoming an industrialist.
So rather than worrying about flying my Bonanza, I was going to build factories and start producing products. (Of course part of my motivation was downloading and installing photo scenery for the State of Colorado. This gave me something to do while the photo scenery was being downloaded.)
To determine what factories would be built first, I looked at my available missions. The first mission was for 434 pounds of radios. Radios are made with one part plastic and one part electronics. Thus, my first two builds would be for a chemical factory and an electronics factory.
The first order of business was my chemical factory. Each factory can produce three products. I selected plastics, fertilizer and fireworks. The fireworks were 3/4 of the cost by the way, but eventually someone will want to set off fireworks somewhere. I spent $200,000 to build this factory. I immediately put it to work making 434 pounds of plastic. This required the purchase of 868 pounds of chemicals.
The second factory was an electronics factory. This factory would be used to make Radios, Memory Sticks and Personal Electronics. Each of these items would require 1 pound of plastics and 1 pound of electronics to manufacture one pound of product. I put this factory to work making the required radios. I would used the radios produced by the chemical plant along with electronics purchased at the airport.
The radios sold for $101,205.
My second mission was for 623 pounds of furniture. One pound of wood products and one pound of leather products are required to produce one pound of furniture. Even though wood products were not on my essential list of six commodities, they were available at the Alamosa airport. So I built a wood products factory which would create furniture and musical instruments. By the way, musical instruments require one pound each of wood and machine parts. Machine parts were part of my essential six commodities.
I did have to take out a loan to afford this new factory. Hopefully, this investment will pay off.
The 623 pounds of furniture sold for $119,242.
Thus the first two missions were successfully completed with me making a single flight. In fact, I had not yet even been type rated on the Bonanza.
With gross earning of over $220,000 in my pocket, it is now time to start exploring new markets
So rather than worrying about flying my Bonanza, I was going to build factories and start producing products. (Of course part of my motivation was downloading and installing photo scenery for the State of Colorado. This gave me something to do while the photo scenery was being downloaded.)
To determine what factories would be built first, I looked at my available missions. The first mission was for 434 pounds of radios. Radios are made with one part plastic and one part electronics. Thus, my first two builds would be for a chemical factory and an electronics factory.
The first order of business was my chemical factory. Each factory can produce three products. I selected plastics, fertilizer and fireworks. The fireworks were 3/4 of the cost by the way, but eventually someone will want to set off fireworks somewhere. I spent $200,000 to build this factory. I immediately put it to work making 434 pounds of plastic. This required the purchase of 868 pounds of chemicals.
The second factory was an electronics factory. This factory would be used to make Radios, Memory Sticks and Personal Electronics. Each of these items would require 1 pound of plastics and 1 pound of electronics to manufacture one pound of product. I put this factory to work making the required radios. I would used the radios produced by the chemical plant along with electronics purchased at the airport.
The radios sold for $101,205.
My second mission was for 623 pounds of furniture. One pound of wood products and one pound of leather products are required to produce one pound of furniture. Even though wood products were not on my essential list of six commodities, they were available at the Alamosa airport. So I built a wood products factory which would create furniture and musical instruments. By the way, musical instruments require one pound each of wood and machine parts. Machine parts were part of my essential six commodities.
I did have to take out a loan to afford this new factory. Hopefully, this investment will pay off.
The 623 pounds of furniture sold for $119,242.
Thus the first two missions were successfully completed with me making a single flight. In fact, I had not yet even been type rated on the Bonanza.
With gross earning of over $220,000 in my pocket, it is now time to start exploring new markets
San Luis Enterprises
To start the game, I needed to set up a company. I decided to play at the hard level, which gave me an A36 Beech Bonanza, $500,000 in cash, and a reputation of 40. This reputation allowed me to hire pilots and take out loans.
One of the first decisions I had to make was where to locate my home base. This is actually a very important decision in the game. In fact, it may be the most important decision. Since I have lived in Colorado most of my life, have travelled around the state, and am familiar with the geography of the state, I wanted to start my new game in Colorado.
Costs can vary quite dramatically at different airports. There is a huge difference in the start up costs of a small local airport, and a major international airport. For example, the cost of opening a base at Denver International Airport is $710,000; this is more than my beginning cash. If I take out the maximum bank loan of $320,00, I can afford it, and still have $110,000 left over. But this is not going to be the best use of my money.
In contrast, the airport I selected for my opening base was in Alamosa, Colorado. The opening cost at Alamosa, in contrast is $175,000.
Now, it might actually make sense to use Denver International Airport as my starting airport. The game gives players their first base for free. So I could get a base at DIA for free, basically another starting bonus of $710,000. But there are other reasons for selecting a smaller airport to begin with.
First of all, players pay monthly rent at their airports. The monthly rent at DIA is $87,136; in Alamosa it is $26,409. Every time one lands an aircraft, the airport charges a landing fee. At DIA, the landing fee is $3,976; at Alamosa, it is $790. The cost of fuel at DIA is $1.40 per pound; at Alamosa it is $1.20. Clearly, it costs a lot less to operate out of a small airport. At the beginning of the game, costs are very important.
What really drove my decision, however, were the commodities available at my home base. I compiled a list of six basic commodities that are used to make tier two items: chemicals, electronics, machine parts, batteries, leather and glass. The tier two items created by these commodities can then be used in creating tier three commodities.
For example, one of the most useful commodities is chemicals. Two pounds of chemicals are used to create one pound of plastics. In the game, plastics are in important component for many products. However, since it is a tier two commodity, it is not available on the market. It must be manufactured.
Other of these basic commodities are used in many tier two and tier three products. For example, electronics, along with plastics, are used to make radios. Radios in turn are used to make scooters, which are a highly profitable tier three product. In fact, plastics and electronics are found in many products like televisions, computers and avionics.
There are also other basic commodities which are used to make a limited number of secondary products. Sheep are made into Haggis. Textiles are made into clothing and designer clothing. Perfumes are used to make cosmetics.
In choosing a home base, I was looking for an airport which offered what I considered to be the six most important commodities: chemicals, electronics, machine parts, batteries, leather and glass. Very few airports offer all six of these commodities. I was able to rule out all of the front range airports. In fact, only one airport in the state bought and sold all six of these items: Alamosa KALS in the San Luis Valley. So this was the site of my first base.
Since Alamosa is located in Colorado's San Luis Valley, I decided to name my new company San Luis Enterprises. I chose the word "Enterprises" because I was going to be more than an airline or cargo hauler; I was creating a business empire.
One of the first decisions I had to make was where to locate my home base. This is actually a very important decision in the game. In fact, it may be the most important decision. Since I have lived in Colorado most of my life, have travelled around the state, and am familiar with the geography of the state, I wanted to start my new game in Colorado.
Costs can vary quite dramatically at different airports. There is a huge difference in the start up costs of a small local airport, and a major international airport. For example, the cost of opening a base at Denver International Airport is $710,000; this is more than my beginning cash. If I take out the maximum bank loan of $320,00, I can afford it, and still have $110,000 left over. But this is not going to be the best use of my money.
In contrast, the airport I selected for my opening base was in Alamosa, Colorado. The opening cost at Alamosa, in contrast is $175,000.
Now, it might actually make sense to use Denver International Airport as my starting airport. The game gives players their first base for free. So I could get a base at DIA for free, basically another starting bonus of $710,000. But there are other reasons for selecting a smaller airport to begin with.
First of all, players pay monthly rent at their airports. The monthly rent at DIA is $87,136; in Alamosa it is $26,409. Every time one lands an aircraft, the airport charges a landing fee. At DIA, the landing fee is $3,976; at Alamosa, it is $790. The cost of fuel at DIA is $1.40 per pound; at Alamosa it is $1.20. Clearly, it costs a lot less to operate out of a small airport. At the beginning of the game, costs are very important.
What really drove my decision, however, were the commodities available at my home base. I compiled a list of six basic commodities that are used to make tier two items: chemicals, electronics, machine parts, batteries, leather and glass. The tier two items created by these commodities can then be used in creating tier three commodities.
For example, one of the most useful commodities is chemicals. Two pounds of chemicals are used to create one pound of plastics. In the game, plastics are in important component for many products. However, since it is a tier two commodity, it is not available on the market. It must be manufactured.
Other of these basic commodities are used in many tier two and tier three products. For example, electronics, along with plastics, are used to make radios. Radios in turn are used to make scooters, which are a highly profitable tier three product. In fact, plastics and electronics are found in many products like televisions, computers and avionics.
There are also other basic commodities which are used to make a limited number of secondary products. Sheep are made into Haggis. Textiles are made into clothing and designer clothing. Perfumes are used to make cosmetics.
In choosing a home base, I was looking for an airport which offered what I considered to be the six most important commodities: chemicals, electronics, machine parts, batteries, leather and glass. Very few airports offer all six of these commodities. I was able to rule out all of the front range airports. In fact, only one airport in the state bought and sold all six of these items: Alamosa KALS in the San Luis Valley. So this was the site of my first base.
Since Alamosa is located in Colorado's San Luis Valley, I decided to name my new company San Luis Enterprises. I chose the word "Enterprises" because I was going to be more than an airline or cargo hauler; I was creating a business empire.
Factories
The real money in Air Hauler is made in owning factories and producing goods. Theoretically, these goods can be transported to various locations around the world where one can make money.
The production of goods is centered around missions. Generally, the game has certain cargos one can transport from point A to point B, for a modest sum. However, missions are different. With missions, a merchant at one of your bases wants certain products. Your job is to either find these products, or manufacture them, for delivery to your customer.
The game has three tiers of products. The first tier of products can be found at many airports around the world. Most airports, however, do not allow for the purchase or sale of products. Usually only the more prominent named airports offer goods for sale, or have a demand for goods. The market price for goods can vary from airport to airport.
As stated in the prior post, it is quite possible to make money simply by buying products at an airport where they are inexpensive, and selling them at an airport where they are expensive. Your money is made on the spread. However, the amount you can make this way is limited.
Missions are like these arbitrage jobs on steroids. The customer at the destination will pay an amount many times what the player would get paid by simply buying low and selling high in the markets. As a result, seeing paydays in the hudreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions of dollars, is not unusual with missions.
Generally, I have only found missions offered at bases. Here is the incentive to build bases. Each base will typically generate two missions on a fairly regular basis.
The production of goods is centered around missions. Generally, the game has certain cargos one can transport from point A to point B, for a modest sum. However, missions are different. With missions, a merchant at one of your bases wants certain products. Your job is to either find these products, or manufacture them, for delivery to your customer.
The game has three tiers of products. The first tier of products can be found at many airports around the world. Most airports, however, do not allow for the purchase or sale of products. Usually only the more prominent named airports offer goods for sale, or have a demand for goods. The market price for goods can vary from airport to airport.
As stated in the prior post, it is quite possible to make money simply by buying products at an airport where they are inexpensive, and selling them at an airport where they are expensive. Your money is made on the spread. However, the amount you can make this way is limited.
Missions are like these arbitrage jobs on steroids. The customer at the destination will pay an amount many times what the player would get paid by simply buying low and selling high in the markets. As a result, seeing paydays in the hudreds of thousands of dollars, or even millions of dollars, is not unusual with missions.
Generally, I have only found missions offered at bases. Here is the incentive to build bases. Each base will typically generate two missions on a fairly regular basis.
Custom Jobs
One way of breaking free from the jobs created by the game is to create one's own jobs. Different commodities can be found at different prices at different airports. A very basic way of creating a custom job is to find a commodity which is sold at one price at one airport and at another price at another airport. Then it's simply a matter of buying that commodity in quantity at the low price, transporting it to the airport where it sells at a higher price, and then selling it at the higher price.
Assume one's home base is Adana Airpark, where self sealing stem bolts sell for $74. However, in nearby Sarpeida, the going rate for self sealing stem bolts is $93. One can buy a load of self sealing stem bolds in Adana and sell them at Sarpeida, at a tidy profit of $19 per pound. Then assume one can buy reverse ratcheting router planars in Sarpeida for $325 and sell them in Adana Airpark for $371. One has the basis for a very lucrative business by simply making flights between Adana and Sarpeida.
The money to be made by the custom jobs is much greater than that typically offered by the game generated jobs. If one has the money, one is usually better off purchasing more expensive items for trade simply because the spread tends to be greater with more expensive items on a pound for pound basis.
These custom jobs have another advantage: one can select the airports where one does business. This means no more grass runways or runways without lights. In fact, these smaller airports typically do not buy and sell commodities. So one gets to fly to airports with asphalt runways, runway lights, and ILS signals.
Assume one's home base is Adana Airpark, where self sealing stem bolts sell for $74. However, in nearby Sarpeida, the going rate for self sealing stem bolts is $93. One can buy a load of self sealing stem bolds in Adana and sell them at Sarpeida, at a tidy profit of $19 per pound. Then assume one can buy reverse ratcheting router planars in Sarpeida for $325 and sell them in Adana Airpark for $371. One has the basis for a very lucrative business by simply making flights between Adana and Sarpeida.
The money to be made by the custom jobs is much greater than that typically offered by the game generated jobs. If one has the money, one is usually better off purchasing more expensive items for trade simply because the spread tends to be greater with more expensive items on a pound for pound basis.
These custom jobs have another advantage: one can select the airports where one does business. This means no more grass runways or runways without lights. In fact, these smaller airports typically do not buy and sell commodities. So one gets to fly to airports with asphalt runways, runway lights, and ILS signals.
Basic Gameplay
At its heart, Air Hauler is a game where you, the player, own and operate an air transport business. The game starts the player off with a plane and some start up money. The type of plane the player gets and the amount of start up money depends on the difficulty level the player starts with. Players also get to pick a home base, which is provided at no charge.
The game ties in with the most common flight simulators, Microsoft Flight Simulator (FSX), Lockheed Martin's Prepar3d, and X-Plane. Until recently, most of my flying has been done in FSX. Several weeks ago, I finally switched to Prepar3d version 3.
The idea of the game is to give the player placed to go and things to see in their flight simulator. Now, most of your flights have a purpose: to make money. Your airplane is the main tool of your business.
At the outset, there are cargos which need to be taken and delivered to various locations. Most of these loads begin or end at one of your bases, although there are a few which do not. At its most basic level, the game has you flying cargos from point A to point B. If you are lucky, there will be a return trip back.
In this way, Air Hauler is like other games, like FS Economy, which is an online game where players run cargos from point A to point B.
These jobs, at least at the hard level of the game, do not pay particularly well. Some jobs may offer $8,000 or more, but it's more likely one will find jobs in the $1,000 to $3,000 range. These jobs tend to take players to difficult approaches: grass airstrips with no lights, no ILS and no charts.
I played my first company just flying cargos from Point A to Point B. However, there is a lot more to Air Hauler. For example players can make their own jobs and move their own cargos. These are far more lucrative than the cargo jobs the game provides. Eventually one can build factories, and produce their own cargos, which need to be moved to customers around the world.
The game ties in with the most common flight simulators, Microsoft Flight Simulator (FSX), Lockheed Martin's Prepar3d, and X-Plane. Until recently, most of my flying has been done in FSX. Several weeks ago, I finally switched to Prepar3d version 3.
The idea of the game is to give the player placed to go and things to see in their flight simulator. Now, most of your flights have a purpose: to make money. Your airplane is the main tool of your business.
At the outset, there are cargos which need to be taken and delivered to various locations. Most of these loads begin or end at one of your bases, although there are a few which do not. At its most basic level, the game has you flying cargos from point A to point B. If you are lucky, there will be a return trip back.
In this way, Air Hauler is like other games, like FS Economy, which is an online game where players run cargos from point A to point B.
These jobs, at least at the hard level of the game, do not pay particularly well. Some jobs may offer $8,000 or more, but it's more likely one will find jobs in the $1,000 to $3,000 range. These jobs tend to take players to difficult approaches: grass airstrips with no lights, no ILS and no charts.
I played my first company just flying cargos from Point A to Point B. However, there is a lot more to Air Hauler. For example players can make their own jobs and move their own cargos. These are far more lucrative than the cargo jobs the game provides. Eventually one can build factories, and produce their own cargos, which need to be moved to customers around the world.
Saturday, August 6, 2016
A New Blog and a New Company
Welcome to my new blog!
This blog is devoted to my adventures in Air Hauler 2. While I had Air Hauler 1, I hate to admit I never used it. I played a similar game, FSEconomy, for a while, but grew tired of it.
This is actually the fourth Air Hauler company I have started. Two of the earlier companies locked up on me. After all, this game is sort of in a public beta, and it is possible to do dumb things which ruin the game.
The second company I started was going well, but the developer made some major changes to the public beta, which really messed up my strategy for the game, so I started over.
With my fourth company, I am hoping to make use of some of the lessons I learned from my earlier efforts in the game.
This blog is devoted to my adventures in Air Hauler 2. While I had Air Hauler 1, I hate to admit I never used it. I played a similar game, FSEconomy, for a while, but grew tired of it.
This is actually the fourth Air Hauler company I have started. Two of the earlier companies locked up on me. After all, this game is sort of in a public beta, and it is possible to do dumb things which ruin the game.
The second company I started was going well, but the developer made some major changes to the public beta, which really messed up my strategy for the game, so I started over.
With my fourth company, I am hoping to make use of some of the lessons I learned from my earlier efforts in the game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)