Air Hauler 2 recommended for MSFS 2020?

[ptr1959w 8]

Hi there, Is Air Hauler 2 worth $50.00? Is there a learning curve? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Los 416]

I’m sure Chock will be by soon with the info on AH2, but look into SkyPark too, no learning curve and much more noob friendly... my ✌️🪙

[69Yanks 33]

I like it alot. Have used it in Prepar3d and now MSFS.  BTW,  You can do separate companies and also there is a nomad mode.  The manual is available if you  have a JustFlight account and log in. 

 

See this review and there are others:

 

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by 69Yanks
added

[69Yanks 33]

There are other reviews on Youtube. 

[Flic1 976]

I can definitely recommend it and used it in P3D a while back to fly cargo runs in a few A2A aircraft.  I am now using it in MSFS with the WT CJ4 and really enjoy it.  I have been flying places I would never have visited before which has kept me from getting bored with the sim.  I think it is pretty easy to use.  I did a trial for ONAIr and that seemed more complicated to me.  Never really looked at SkyPark.  It can be more complicated if you want it to be but I started in 'Easy' mode where you get cash and a CJ4 to start with.  You can start from scratch as well with a 172. Different options for everyone!  Support is very good too!

[NismoRR 191]

Been using it since release and am really enjoying it. Last few days I hired my first pilot, bought my first plane (DA-62) to go along with the Caravan,and started construction on my first base, KSAN, which will be ready Friday. Picked up KSAN scenery on the sale and it’s gorgeous. My main goal is my own flying in areas I want to fly in, which is where I will build bases. Maximizing profits and efficiencies are much lower on my priority list. I did FSE on and off for a decade and AH2 has been fun for me thus far. 

[Chock 17,769]

It's no secret that I've always been a bit of a fan of Air Hauler, since the first version came out. There are two reasons for that, the first is that I like what it does very much indeed, and the second is that i think the developer of it (Slopey) is one of the best and most accessible developers there is.

On this video linked below, you can find a 'quick and dirty review of it' which I did on my youtube aviation channel, Chock's Hangar. It quickly covers literally everything it does, and you get to hear me singing and playing too, although you can fast forward past that if you like, obviously (FFWD to 1:47 for the review itself):

That review is for the P3D version of Air Hauler 2, but feature-wise, the MSFS is pretty much identical. There is one caveat to this - currently there are some (not all) payware add-on aeroplanes which have locked config files and this can stop you from importing them into Air Hauler, meaning you cannot have them in your company. This is going to be patched in the early new year, but right now, it means that you can't have the Carenado 182, M20 and PA44 in your Air Hauler fleet. You can however, have the new ATS Piaggio P.149, so it isn't something which affects all payware, just ones which use that stupid config lock option. Oddly enough, it doesn't lock out any Premium Deluxe aeroplanes, and even more oddly, if you have the Standard version of MSFS, you can still import the Premium Deluxe aeroplanes even though you don't own them, so you can use these in Air Hauler 2 with your AI pilots - so much for that security measure eh?

Check out the review - I've tried to be fair and honest with it, even though I am a fan of the add-on. and to answer your other question, it does a lot, but like the good old 'how do you eat an elephant? joke, the punchline is the same as with figuring out Air Hauler - in small chunks, because it will let you get into it as much or as little as you like, either dive in and do everything, or just do a few things, or use it as an 'interesting flight destination generator' if you like. So it is very easy to suss out with a gentle learning curve which will see you up and running in a minute or two of installing it.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Chock

[Los 416]

27 minutes ago, Chock said:

It's no secret that I've always been a bit of a fan of Air Hauler, since the first version came out.

See I told ya...😜

[ptr1959w 8]

Thanks guys for the information.

[Chock 17,769]

From the developer's discord this evening:

'You'll be pleased to know that encrypted aircraft importing is now working - it'll be in the next update (or I might pop out a hotfix earlier)'

[P_R_S 18]

21 hours ago, Chock said:

From the developer's discord this evening:

'You'll be pleased to know that encrypted aircraft importing is now working - it'll be in the next update (or I might pop out a hotfix earlier)'

Well! time to try it

[NismoRR 191]

21 hours ago, Chock said:

From the developer's discord this evening:

'You'll be pleased to know that encrypted aircraft importing is now working - it'll be in the next update (or I might pop out a hotfix earlier)'

You just cost me at least $17.99. Lol Now which plane(s) should I get? I am a fan of small twins...holds three pax....I did just buy a DA-62 for my AH company and changed pax to six as that’s what-it is in FSE. Three pax for the DA seems off. What do you think Chock? 

Edited December 30, 2020 by NismoRR

[Chock 17,769]

39 minutes ago, NismoRR said:

You just cost me at least $17.99. Lol Now which plane(s) should I get? I am a fan of small twins...holds three pax....I did just buy a DA-62 for my AH company and changed pax to six as that’s what-it is in FSE. Three pax for the DA seems off. What do you think Chock? 

That's one of the things I like about the developer of Air Hauler that I have had cause to make use of once in the past - if there is anything which seems a bit 'off', if you contact him, either in the Discord Server (link in the Just Flight Air Hauler forums) or in the Air Hauler forms (link on the Air Hauler interface itself), and he will happily help, tweak things in AH etc, in order to get things working right. I have never come across another FS add-on developer more willing or speedy to do this kind of thing, and it is a big factor behind why I am a fan of the program besides me liking the program itself.

The interface for Air Hauler scans your installed aeroplane's config file and from that, it then lists a few stats of the thing such as max speed, flap damage speed, capacity, range etc. You can tweak these, however, occasionally developers will fudge these things to have the aeroplane behave well in the sim, but this can cause problems for things such as the way Air Hauler monitors stuff. so if you have any issues along those lines, contact the developer (Slopey) and you will see how helpful he is.

In the interim, yeah, the DA62 is a larger capacity development of the DA42 TwinStar, and is also related to the single-engined DA50-JP7 SuperStar, with which it shares some cabin components. So the DA62 can (in real life) genuinely carry seven people including the pilot. I never had the seat numbers issue, since I configured mine straight for cargo incidentally, although that might still have affected its MTOW and thus its cargo capacity, but it is decent enough in capacity in AH2 for me to not be too concerned about any such ill effect. So I am finding that apart from its slightly slow speed, the default DA62 in MSFS is a pretty good Air Hauler plane, although I am mostly letting one of my AI pilots utilise it now with myself flying the King Air 350.

[NismoRR 191]

4 hours ago, Chock said:

That's one of the things I like about the developer of Air Hauler that I have had cause to make use of once in the past - if there is anything which seems a bit 'off', if you contact him, either in the Discord Server (link in the Just Flight Air Hauler forums) or in the Air Hauler forms (link on the Air Hauler interface itself), and he will happily help, tweak things in AH etc, in order to get things working right. I have never come across another FS add-on developer more willing or speedy to do this kind of thing, and it is a big factor behind why I am a fan of the program besides me liking the program itself.

The interface for Air Hauler scans your installed aeroplane's config file and from that, it then lists a few stats of the thing such as max speed, flap damage speed, capacity, range etc. You can tweak these, however, occasionally developers will fudge these things to have the aeroplane behave well in the sim, but this can cause problems for things such as the way Air Hauler monitors stuff. so if you have any issues along those lines, contact the developer (Slopey) and you will see how helpful he is.

In the interim, yeah, the DA62 is a larger capacity development of the DA42 TwinStar, and is also related to the single-engined DA50-JP7 SuperStar, with which it shares some cabin components. So the DA62 can (in real life) genuinely carry seven people including the pilot. I never had the seat numbers issue, since I configured mine straight for cargo incidentally, although that might still have affected its MTOW and thus its cargo capacity, but it is decent enough in capacity in AH2 for me to not be too concerned about any such ill effect. So I am finding that apart from its slightly slow speed, the default DA62 in MSFS is a pretty good Air Hauler plane, although I am mostly letting one of my AI pilots utilise it now with myself flying the King Air 350.

Indeed, Slopey seems to be a great guy. I mentioned the DA pax issue in a thread that someone else asked for an increase in the TBM which was set at four pax. The next update, I think two days later, had changed the TBM to five pax. Still low I think, but ultra quick response from Slopey. After one or two messages back and forth he suggested I change it myself. Didn’t realize I could do that so I’m all set now. Been flying this plane for years. I really liked the DA in XP with the Aerobask add on which I thought was excellent. Rob Young has been working on a major upgrade to the DA-62 which I can’t wait to see already. 

[JeffChrisope 67]

Has anyone okayed quite a bit with both Air Hauler 2 and OnAir?  I’m becoming quite invested in OnAir, have found the feature set to be easy to use, and the developers to be quite active and responsive.  Is there a cribsheet somewhere that highlights how the two differ?