Brief background:  bought AirHauler 2 a month ago or so and it's just not what I had hoped for.  It's really 99% airline company focused and I had fantasies that it was a little more pilot-focused, but that piece is a bit stunted compared to what I'm used to in FSCaptain which is not yet available for MSFS but is under development..  

So wondering how you like PACX if you do, or not.  Does it 'score' each flight like FSCaptain does, according to how well you met certain monitored criteria looking at your piloting behaviors?  Pros/Cons if you feel like it.

Thanks in advance

Hi Noel,

PACX and FSCaptain are quite different. FSCaptain focuses on jobs and dispatch, as well as conducting the flight as a pilot. PACX concentrates on passengers and their comfort. There is some overlap, in that pax aren't happy if you don't fly well, but I believe PACX only monitors a few flight parameters, not as many as FSCaptain. Having said that, if you like some interaction with your pax, PACX is a good program.

So far, the closest experience to FSCaptain that I found in MSFS are

1) The new Milviz Cessna 310. It is not available yet, but I am one of the beta testers. There is actually a strong connection between both pieces of software, and you can really tell. Just like FSCaptain, the 310 makes you pay attention to details when conducting a flight. It probably won't be much longer until it will be published.

2) OnAir is doing a pretty good job in making you fly properly as well. Generally, it focuses more on running an airline and the economic aspects of it, but in Thunder mode you don't have to deal with that aspect a lot. It encourages you to fly in real time and with real weather, and your airline's reputation depends on that you fly well and follow some basic aviation rules (when to set landing lights, beacon lights etc, landing speed, ... ). They have a trial period, so you can just check it out and see if it works for you.

Cheers,

Peter

I was interested in PAC X as a tool to make announcements for my Concorde. The idea was for the flight attendant to make announcements and to play the safety video (audio part.) I still have not decided, but I am considering it.

This video gave me the idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR50AoO4Vsc

Edited April 8, 20224 yr by DJJose

45 minutes ago, DJJose said:

I was interested in PAC X as a tool to make announcements for my Concorde. The idea was for the flight attendant to make announcements and to play the safety video (audio part.) I still have not decided, but I am considering it.

This video gave me the idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR50AoO4Vsc

There is actually a freeware tool that includes many announcements, https://flightsim.to/file/652/lukeairtool . When it comes to announcements alone, this may be the best option. LukeAirtool is similar to PACX and is freeware, but not as advanced yet. A third tool similar to PACX is Self Loading Cargo, but it hasn't been updated in about 2 years.

25 minutes ago, qqwertzde said:

There is actually a freeware tool that includes many announcements, https://flightsim.to/file/652/lukeairtool . When it comes to announcements alone, this may be the best option. LukeAirtool is similar to PACX and is freeware, but not as advanced yet. A third tool similar to PACX is Self Loading Cargo, but it hasn't been updated in about 2 years.

Thanks for the reminder on the freeware. I forgot about that one.

1 hour ago, qqwertzde said:

that pax aren't happy if you don't fly well,

Thanks for the details!  Are there any consequences beyond pax complaining when this happens?   

I checked out OnAir and it's not for me either.  I think maybe I will try PACX it's only $29 and perhaps along w/ AH2 will add enough to tie me over until FSCaptain arrives.  I really learned to appreciate the balance FSCaptain offers it's just right on a very simple career/airline tracking, reasonable piloting monitoring, and the cool FMS-like interface.  Hurry!!!!

Edited April 8, 20224 yr by Noel

43 minutes ago, qqwertzde said:

There is actually a freeware tool that includes many announcements, https://flightsim.to/file/652/lukeairtool . When it comes to announcements alone, this may be the best option. LukeAirtool is similar to PACX and is freeware, but not as advanced yet. A third tool similar to PACX is Self Loading Cargo, but it hasn't been updated in about 2 years.

What an excellent freeware. I had no idea it was so customizable. THANK YOU!

48 minutes ago, qqwertzde said:

LukeAirtool is similar to PACX and is freeware, but not as advanced yet.

Can you speak to how it's less advanced than PACX?  If cost was not an issue which would you choose if you could only choose one?

I enjoyed FScaptain and Airhauler years ago in FSX.  I know what you mean about Airhauler 2... it does its job very well, but if want less of a "running the company" and more of a "I'm just a pilot here" vibe, it's overkill and can seem like a bit of work. 

Might look at Neofly as well, if for no other reason than it's free.  Very simplified in the "running the company" aspect, but plenty of "you're a pilot here" vibe.  Many different kinds of missions, and the pax ones require you to fly kindly haha. You also can break your airplane if you beat it up and don't maintain it; the software gives you systems failures in that case. I've been using it with the Milviz Porter to do some bush strip flying in Papua and it's been great for that. 

Just an idea. 

5 hours ago, Noel said:

Thanks for the details [about PACX]!  Are there any consequences beyond pax complaining when this happens?   

I don't use PACX (ore LukeAirtool, or Self Loading Cargo) regularly. PACX has an online component and your performance is tracked there, and even published if you like. It does not have an economic simulation. Hence, if I correctly remember, there are no consequences beyond getting a low score for each flight.

 

5 hours ago, Noel said:

Can you speak to how it's less advanced than PACX?  If cost was not an issue which would you choose if you could only choose one?

All three tools are more geared towards airliners and are of limited value for smaller planes, which I currently prefer. In airplanes carrying between 6 and 19 passengers, it can feel odd that a flight attendant gives a safety briefing and serves a meal. Most often I use LukeAirtool because you can simply play whatever announcement you deem fit at whichever time. Strength and weaknesses of the three products are:

PACX: maybe the best balanced pax simulator overall. It works smoothly and the amount of errors it dings you for feels right to me. You can adapt it to work with whatever airplane you like, but you cannot influence the general routine during a flight very much. I would say it is the best for airplanes with more than 19 passengers (those airplanes require a flight attendant and a copilot).

LukeAirtool: it is freeware and very simple to use. It does not follow a particular routine, which makes it more flexible to use. It also has an online component, which is more similar to PACX. You have to register to use it. LukeAirtool is early access and has not as many pax events as PACX for now, but the developer provides regular updates. If I recall correctly, the online component, or specific features, may become payware at some time, but since I mostly use it in offline mode, I haven't tracked this development. I am not sure if that is still the case, but editing airplane seating plans is not as flexible as with PACX. I think I did not succeed in creating a reasonable plan for airplanes like the BN-2 Islander because of certain restrictions in how you can place seats, doors, and flight attendant spaces. But again, LAT is still in development.

Self Loading Cargo: generally very similar to PACX, but with some different options. It seems to track your flight more closely, but I must admit I did not enjoy this. For instance, you get points deducted if you land too softly, and after your flight you get a briefing that explains that you shouldn't try to grease a landing by floating over the runway for too long. While that is true, I didn't do that, I can grease landings in the normal landing zone of a runway. I gave up on SLC after a few flights and would reconsider it after the next update. However, as said before, this program is not as well maintained by the developer as are LukeAirtool and PACX.

1 hour ago, qqwertzde said:

LukeAirtool: it is freeware and very simple to use. It does not follow a particular routine, which makes it more flexible to use. It also has an online component, which is more similar to PACX. You have to register to use it. LukeAirtool is early access and has not as many pax events as PACX for now, but the developer provides regular updates. If I recall correctly, the online component, or specific features, may become payware at some time, but since I mostly use it in offline mode, I haven't tracked this development. I am not sure if that is still the case, but editing airplane seating plans is not as flexible as with PACX. I think I did not succeed in creating a reasonable plan for airplanes like the BN-2 Islander because of certain restrictions in how you can place seats, doors, and flight attendant spaces. But again, LAT is still in development.

I visit AVSIM everyday to find gems like this tool. Thank you!

It looks like this works with audio that it's streamed from an online server. I'm hoping that they will consider the opportunity to download the files just in case the server is not available. I can record my own audio & use my own music. This is fantastic!

I'm having an issue playing from LiveATC with Firefox. Any idea of how to get Live ATC to play the stream using Firefox. This is also preventing the stream to play using the Luke Air Tool.

Maybe, I'll just stick with my trusty ATC Chatter add-on.

BTW, all these add-ons can easily be enabled before loading the sim thanks to @Bad_T amazing Add-on Linker. 😀

I want to make aware that Self Loading Cargo (SLC) has not had an update for over 2 years. It's not even officially ready for MSFS. I'd consider it a dead product, even if the dev every once in a while chimes in to talk about why he wasn't able to do anything and what his great plans for the future are.

As for PACX I found it quite underwhelming in 2020 (when I bought it), but I think it might warrant another look, since people talk positively about it.

Thanks all, I took the plunge on PACX and I think it's good enough to supplement that glorified spreadsheet that is Air Hauler 2.  It's essentially plug n play and that is about all I'm good for these days!  It's well organized, simple but reasonably effective, integrates nicely w/ its HUD and main interface in MSFS.  I fly only airliners and biz jets 95% of the time so it works fine for this.  About the only things I will change are to add a couple of .wav files for annoucements and swap in some better music for boarding.  So I can start my flights in AH2 which gets me the pax number for PACX, and after that PACX largely takes care of itself which is great, especially as I master the CRJ700 which I purchase just a few weeks ago and am loviing so far--keeps me plenty busy enough!

All of this will change if n when FSCaptain arrives and I know the devs hope to get there and I think this will tie me over.   It really has the ideal balance of career ladder, piloting monitoring, cabin announcements etc.

Cheers