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.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
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.
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