Would Air Hauler 2 suit me?

[Guest]

I like to fly short flights with (at this moment) the A2A Comanche in (FTX) Norway. Short being 50 to 100 nm hops. I am having a blast with it in P3D v4. But after years of flying I am thinking some sort of purpose to it all would be nice. A while ago I read about Air Hauler 2, could be someone even suggested it to me on this forum. That would probably give some purpose to my flights. I have some questions though.

First of all I am afraid AH2 will take a lot time. I mean, getting and keeping business going, companies, money... It sounds like a game of its own. While I just want to spice up my flights.

Secondly: can I fly my Comanche all around Norway or am I limited to a home base from which I have to take off all the time? And can I limit flights to 50 to 100 nm?

Is AH2 useful if you only have one Comanche for just a few passengers? Or do you really need more and bigger planes? I absolutely hate flying in planes I don't like and right now I only like the Comanche.

Next: can I forget about AH2 for a while if I don't feel like using it or are you forced to use it frequently? I read something about things being real time? I don't want to be forced to use if I don't feel like it.

In short: is AH2 suited for me or should I be looking at something else?

[YukonPete 586]

you are forced to continue using because if you are not doing jobs your company has no cashflow. and you have to pay company expenses 

[ryebred2 23]

I have been using Air Hauler 2 for a while now and previously used the original Air Hauler for a long time as well. My thought is that you can make it as easy or as complex as you want. If you want to set up a bunch of bases and have a fleet of planes and AI pilots, it can take on more of a managerial simulation role. If you want to focus on GA flying with a base or two and no AI, you can do that as well.

 

To answer you second question, you can specify a starting base in Norway and you can drag a slider for flight duration. It will generate a random variety of flights that meet your specifications. That being said, I find it more profitable to find a commodity to transport from one airport to another on my own, rather than flying the generated cargo missions. You could also do passenger operations but those are far less profitable, however you get to pick your exact point of departure and arrival.

 

You can fly in just the Comanche if you like. You wont make a lot of money, especially doing passenger ops but if that is what you like then there is no limitation.

 

If you have a minimal amount of bases and no AI pilots then you wont have many monthly expenses. You could probably cover all expenses with a few flights a month. But yes, if you take several months off, your account will go down by your monthly base rental charge each month.

[EGNR 3]

You can fly as much or as little as you want, all you need is a couple of AI pilots and you can give them jobs to keep the company going, or set up a passenger route which they will keep flying to the schedule you give them.

The company works in real time, but it only takes a few mins each day to check on your pilots, repair or maintain aircraft, pick jobs, etc. You don't have to check every day, especially if you have scheduled AI flights set up that generate income on thier own.

All of this can be in any aircraft that you have installed, large or small, funds permitting. I have an AH2 company with 2 x A2A Piper PA28 180's, 2 x Carenado DO228's and a Realair Turbine Duke. I love flying them all. You chose what aircraft your company operates.

You could take your Commanche all over Norway, one the aims of AH2 is that it encourages you to go to airports that you wouldn't normally go to by generating jobs around your base, or bases. So pick your home base in Norway and that's where most of your jobs will be generated.

I'm thoroughly enjoying it, and as you have mentioned, it gives you a real sense of purpose that takes you to airfields you wouldn't normally see.

 

 

[Nyxx 6,993]

1 hour ago, J van E said:

give some purpose to my flights. 

When you move on from GA, I like you only fly short flights around 1 hour to 1:30 max.

The biggest change to my flying was when I joined a VA. Evey fight counts for something, your landing rates count for something. It give a purpose to your flights.

If you want to fly in Europe when the FSL comes out the best  VA's to join imo are EasyJet and surprisingly is Delta. If you want to take it to a higher level then BA as you will only be able to fly the A320 for your first 100 hours.

But frankly the choice of routes with Easy and the code sharing of Delta ( Air France, BA, Alitalia, KLM) gives you all the short flights you need.

By far my #1 fav route is Naples to Corfu. 

For the last year I have not done one flight without it being a VA flight.

Give you siming a real meaning!

GA flying is to me so simple and very unrewarding.

[Guest JustanotherPilot]

I employ a couple of virtual pilots after I have set up my bases. They keep the cash flow coming to pay my costs. Every now and then I do a flight myself to build up my reputation for other benefits. As already said, flow as much or as little ad You want.

[zmak 331]

there are some others to look at

FS passengers

FS captain

FS economy.

I think FS passengers is the easiest . You go where you like and you have the immersion of a crew and passengers and a rating system

[gregda 21]

Air Hauler 2 also now has a 'nomad' mode where you can use it just like FS Economy and go fly to different destinations each flight (instead of the sometimes tiresome out-back to base).  It is quite fun.  The jobs are obviously a lot easier to see also where you are going to pick from the map unlike FS Economy's list.

[branks737 29]

3 hours ago, zmak said:

there are some others to look at

FS passengers

FS captain

FS economy.

I think FS passengers is the easiest . You go where you like and you have the immersion of a crew and passengers and a rating system

Fs passengers is not yet compatible with P3Dv4, however on their forums it appears the Dev is working on it and will take some time. 

I just recently bought fscaptain. You need to go in their forums to get the 1.8 beta version to be able to play it in P3Dv4. I'm still trying to get my head around it but looks interesting. 

[GCBraun 2,392]

I am using FSEconomy with P3Dv4 right now. You can use the FSUIP client out of the box or the SimConnect with some little tweaks.

Also bought AirHauler 2, but did not enjoy it so much. I am also getting crashes when I try to do check rides with the PMDG 747. Very frustrating that they require this.

[Chock 17,769]

Air Hauler 2 is very flexible and can be pretty much customised to exactly what you require, from it being a simple random flight generator for a single pilot, to a complete airline/freight company simulation, and all points between those two preferences.

There is no need to crank it up every day,  yes your AH2 company does have stuff to pay out such as base costs, aircraft checks etc, but most of these can be sorted out once a month.

As far as using a small GA plane in it goes. I have two companies in AH2, one which flies big freight airliners and one which does air taxi stuff with me as it's single pilot, and that is in the A2A Piper Commanche.

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, Chock said:

and one which does air taxi stuff with me as it's single pilot, and that is in the A2A Piper Commanche.

Sounds good to me. Maybe I should watch some more video's but I might as well ask it here: does AH2 give you any feedback during the flight? Like with audio or something? Or do you only look at AH2 before take off and after landing and is there no interaction...? Would be nice if AH2 would also let you hear or experience something during a flight. But well, as I said, I think I will watch some video's.

 

8 hours ago, gregda said:

Air Hauler 2 also now has a 'nomad' mode where you can use it just like FS Economy and go fly to different destinations each flight (instead of the sometimes tiresome out-back to base).  It is quite fun.  The jobs are obviously a lot easier to see also where you are going to pick from the map unlike FS Economy's list.

That nomad mode sounds interesting indeed. Out-back to base all the time sounds tiresome indeed. I might have to look at FS Economy and FS Captain too though...

[zmak 331]

FSeconmy is the best deal = free so may as well give it a try nothing to lose. They also have a thriving forum community

[oriusmagus 4]

8 hours ago, zmak said:

there are some others to look at

FS passengers

FS captain

FS economy.

I think FS passengers is the easiest . You go where you like and you have the immersion of a crew and passengers and a rating system

I also looking for a tool which simulate some economical stuff. For me Im flying more the big birds, so less GA. I want a tool which simulate a pax airline and gives you feedback on flight datas (sink rate...)

Dont really want to join a VA, but which tool comes a VA the closest?

[zmak 331]

8 minutes ago, oriusmagus said:

I also looking for a tool which simulate some economical stuff. For me Im flying more the big birds, so less GA. I want a tool which simulate a pax airline and gives you feedback on flight datas (sink rate...)

Dont really want to join a VA, but which tool comes a VA the closest?

You want FS captain. It gives all feed back and monitors your flight, everything including pref flight and loading, fuel flow , real time icing, making all the correct crew and pax announcements at the correct times, slowing down in turbulence and pax seat belts , position reports,  and ton of other stuff. It really keeps you on your toes..no napping in cruise with this one

you get rated on each flight and they even have advice on areas you need to improve on

very professional especially for flying tubes