Alternatives for FSPassengers and Air Hauler?

[Guest]

Are there any more programs like Air Hauler and FSPassengers...? I want to fly in my C185F from small (bush) airfields, carrying things and get rewarded for doing it properly. FSPassengers seems cool for that, but I think it is heavily overpriced, specially when compared to for instance Air Hauler. It also seems geared more towards airliners. Air Hauler is interesting too, it seems to give you a lot more for less money, but you can't fly to and from very small bush strips, you can't really choose any plane you like, it is more or less meant for people who want to build a company with AI pilots and it is (sort of) real time and apparently takes a lot of time. All in all the philosophy of the dev isn't mine.Are there any other options...?

[JSkorna 137]

Free:http://www.fseconomy.com/

[kvk1 2]

I don't know about FSPassengers but it is not likely you will find a better freight related alternative to Air Hauler.It is near flawless and has the best customer support (by the developer himself) of any FS add-on in the community.

[darem 84]

http://www.fscaptain.netLove it :-)

[Guest JamesMc]

Free:http://www.fseconomy.com/

Exactly the right thing for someone interested in GA!

[Randall 82]

http://www.fscaptain.netLove it :-)

Ditto!

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestions. However, none of them gives me the freedom I want, I think... Seems that only FSPassengers allows you to fly where you want and with a plane of choice... Pity it's geared towards airliners. Now it seems FSPX will be a costly addon to tell me if I landed well or not. Simply put. ;)

[Paul_Yorks 97]

Thanks for the suggestions. However, none of them gives me the freedom I want, I think... Seems that only FSPassengers allows you to fly where you want and with a plane of choice... Pity it's geared towards airliners. Now it seems FSPX will be a costly addon to tell me if I landed well or not. Simply put. ;)

Only if you forget the voices added, the various economic models you can use or custom-make, the scoring systems and pilot progression, the failures modeled including bird strike/flame out on take off, stuck gear (which you can "bounce" down on landing), blown out tyres, stuck flaps etc, the "war zone" and acrobatic modes, the passenger/cargo loading systems... and so on. Frankly I think it's one of the best addons there is. It might not do quite what you're after, but it deserves a better write up :)

[Guest WarpAir]

For what its worth, as far as FSX is concerned, FSpax is the Best.Keeps hitting you with suprises , just like FSX.Took off on a flight with small buss jet, and all was well through climbing, and intiial cruise.Then went out in spot view, and along with the contrials i noticed another contrial coming out the back of one engine, but just put it off as part of the high altitude contrial.Went back in VC and noticed i was getting fuel inbalance warning, am no pro so could really figure the picture. In any case checked a/c manual and closed off a fuel tank that seemed faulty , and used fuel pumps to correct fuel inbalance.it was only when i landed and checked the Fspax flight report reading "Fuel Leak during flight " that i realised that other white stuff coming out the back of the plane besides contrails was fuel leaking out one of the plane's tanks. Only tehn i knew why the white stuff stopped whwn i closed the offending tank.The plane in use was Eaglesoft Citationx V1.Fspax could be better, but by far a must have for any simmer.You can select Normal Passenger flightTourism / Sight Seeing flightSo its not just for Airliner, but its geared towards passenger flights with everything from ultra light to A380.And another cool thing is, if there is anything you dont like about fspax, go the config and change it, options are limited but still many.

[Randall 82]

Thanks for the suggestions. However, none of them gives me the freedom I want, I think... Seems that only FSPassengers allows you to fly where you want and with a plane of choice... Pity it's geared towards airliners. Now it seems FSPX will be a costly addon to tell me if I landed well or not. Simply put. ;)

FSCaptain gives that freedom.

[Guest]

Bought FSPAX today... ;) Tried the demo and liked it!

[JRMurray 214]

Ditto!

Ditto² :( I hadn't heard of FSCaptain until I read this thread a day or so ago. I downloaded the program to try out as a demo, and I liked it so much, I bought it.In some ways, it's similar to FSPassengers, without the micro-managing-an-airline component. It's also similar to Air Hauler, without the starting-with-small-aircraft-and-working-and-working-and-working-your-way-up-to-flying-the-aircraft-you-really-want-to component. :-)

[JohnE 0]

I actually own all 3, AH, FsPAX & FSCaptain. I don't think you could go wrong with any of them but in your case I would say Air Hauler would be best suited for the C185. You can change the slider to generate airports of any size and depending on where you fly bush strips will definitely be available. I chose FTX's wonderful Australian scenery and get a lot of jobs into small strips such as Cessnock and Warnervale. Also you can start with and add any aircraft you wish, you just need to import it. My current fleet consists of 3x Piper Navajo's 2x Piper Cheyennes 2x Jetstream 41's and 1x ATR. All of which are payware AC and relatively light. Heck you can stick with your 1x C185 and just fly enough to make your airport lease payments, landing & fuel fees and whatever maintenance fees you might incur, ah you'll still make a few bucks just as long as you fly!

[Guest]

I bought FSPAX after trying both the FSPAX and Air Hauler demo. My main reason for not getting Air Hauler was that in FSPAX I can chose which airport to take off from and where to go (I am not forced to start at my base or to fly a plane to a specific airfield to start a job) and I found that Air Hauler is all about what happens before you take off and after you land and you spend more time in the program itself, while with FSPAX it's actually about the flying itself and you don't have to spend (almost) any time 'in' FSPAX. I also found the flights in Air Hauler to be too long for my taste (yes, I like them short). In FSPAX I can simply make my own plan according to the time I have to spend flying. FSPAX is the most flexible and it actually does it's thing while flying and that's what I like. I did a demo flight in Air Hauler and it didn't care at all that I used time accel, that I slammed the plane out of the air on the runway in a totally unrealistic manner. I had the feeling that during the actual flying Air Hauler did nothing. FSPAX surely did, I can tell you...! And THAT'S what I like. I am only interested in what happens during the flight itself.I didn't know there was a demo of FSCaptain. I did look at the site and the manual and it looked very complicated to set up and the boring interface (looked like default Windows 98 tabs...) put me off totally, I have to say... Anyway, FSPAX gives me what I want: a simple but effective addition to make sure I fly well, making things a bit more realistic and worthwhile without limiting me at ALL in what I want to do.

[simfan1983 185]

Are there any other options...?

Cargo Pilot will do everything you need. It's similar to AirHauler, but perhaps a litlle more straightforward. I've never tried AirHauler but have used Cargo Pilot a great deal. You start with a limited budget, which effectively means selecting one airport as a base and one aircraft to begin (from your FS database). The system then generates random flights to all airports in the FS database which are within range of your aircraft. Once you have enough money in the bank you expand by purchasing more bases and aircraft. Cashflow is generated weekly, depending largely on the length (i.e. time taken) of the flights you have completed. Various options are available to adjust the level of difficulty. Your flying is monitored to assess the amount of wear and tear (and damage if applicable) that your aircraft suffers. You will need a little patience to begin with, but if it was too easy it wouldn't be so rewarding.It might be worth downloading the demo to see what you think. I would be interested to know if AirHauler is significantly better than Cargo Pilot. I have heard some positive feedback, but as you say, it is a little pricey.Lawrence