SoHigh Air Services "Staying High to Serve You Better"

[brett 2,314]

SoHigh Air Services have been started up and are ready for business in the Pacific North West. I have set up in Career Mode and stayed with the default C172 with my base at Concrete Mun(3W5). Beautiful spot for work and play. I did have a slight glitch when trying to change the aircraft to a different texture after takeoff with a cargo load on board(won't do that again) and had to restart. I also had a popup that said the sim was generating new AI Traffic that lasted a really long time and it would not open up the flight. This happened after I loaded up and hit the fly myself button. I did get it to finally show up but am not sure what I did. This could be because I put the AH patch in after I had started the company and excepted the two jobs.

For some reason I was oddly nervous flying and making all the landing's for the first time in this sim, although I have been flying in FSX for quite a few years. Other than that I had a pretty good short first flight in AH. I set up for a load of live poultry from my base to be delivered to Cle Elum(S93), then a positioning flight to Yakima Air Terminal(KYKM) to pick some memory sticks and then flew them back home again. Earned $7,862 and netted $7,460.17 after fuel and fees for a short 2hrs and 13min of flying time. With that comes an added 1% of respect.

So here I am, sitting in my brand spanking new office, still smelling of fresh paint and painters that don't shower, feeling totally satisfied with myself after my first day at work. Did I mention that I greased(this is good, right?) all my landings and have no damage to date. I know it will be a long road but I am looking forward to building up the company to be something I can be proud of.

Current Cash: $97,460.17

Net Worth: $202,460.20

Monthly OverHead: $1,681.82

Reputation: 41%

Can I change the texture of the aircraft that loads in FSX at this time to something different or do I need to just wait untill I buy or lease a new plane?

[PanzerFodder 0]

Brett, go to your fleet menue, and right click on your aircraft, a pop up list will appear, just scroll down untill you see paint job (it costs 5% of the value of your plane to change it) .

Congrats on you new company

Good Luck....Graham...

[PanzerFodder 0]

Did you warn Brett about Mrs SAD?

Not only that! but it looks like mr SAD's daughter has arrived on the scene as well, I wonder if she takes after her mum

Cheer's...Graham...

[brett 2,314]

Did you warn Brett about Mrs SAD?

Not only that! but it looks like mr SAD's daughter has arrived on the scene as well, I wonder if she takes after her mum

Cheer's...Graham...

As long as the daughter dosen't take after me I'll be ok. I sowed some wild oats in my time and Mrs. SAD does look familer.

I plan to stay as a small company and I am sure I will not take away much business from the area, so not to worry. I don't remember hearing about the Cowpats brothers but will do some reasearch on them. It would be good to be able to give their pictures to my twin brother, Rufus. I have hired him as armed security and he will be guarding my office and aircraft. This in response to some pretty nefarious goings-on I have read about in the local papers, from the area.

[Sabre 28]

*Cough* *Cough* That's my family your talkin' 'bout :D

Just ignore these two freeloaders Brett

Great news that another Hauler arrives on the scene, the quality of services offered by SAD competitors is sure to rise now the opposition has a bit of class :whis:

Hope you enjoy it Brett - I can't see why you won't - it's provided us with lot and lots of entertainment these past few months. Keep us posted on your adventures :thum:

[UKJim 502]

It's nice to see you on board brett - your monthly overhead made me giggle - mine it currently over half a million

It may take some time to tweak the settings as you want them and also finding out bout how AH does things, but once you know this its all flying and story making!

I started out small and only wanted to do short trips (70nm max) this meant your 7k might be quicker and easier to get than flying for 2hrs? You can go on aircraft details in fleet and change the range to be woteva you want - then new jobs will be no more than this.

If you do this it might reduce number of jobs available though so be warned (can always change it back)

It's gud to do your own plane repaint too with company logo etc

Happy flying

[brett 2,314]

Thanks for all your heartfelt welcomes, I feel at home already. I will, of course, take all comments and advice under consideration. Plans for a new paint are already in the planing stages but are on temporery hold while I sort out some rather nasty logistical nightmares that I have created. Weight restrictions have cost me some money and it is time to buckle down and get serious with my before flight planing. I kept my overhead low for just these emergencys.

After a closer look at a picture of Mrs.Sad I can now say that it wasn't her and her virtue is still intact.(Rumors are just that) I would love to meet her though, she sounds nice. As far as the competitors quality of services going up...well that is yet to be seen, it's hard for some folks to changes there ways.

Rufus the security guard did have a little altercation with some creeps near my aircraft and he got the worst of it(They stripped him and took all his things after tying him to the tail section). He's swears it was two men but witnesses are split in their discription of the assailants. I told him he needs to work out more, stay alert and buy a new gun.

Back to work,

Brett

[rosariomanzo 545]

Congrats Brett, keep us informed!

[brett 2,314]

Company update for SoHigh Air Services

Well it's been a little more than a week since opening my new company. I flew the C172 for seven days and had enough. Granted its a fine AC but even with an engine improvement it was a bit boring and slow. One thing it was good for was it's ability to land smoothly with no load damage while in use. I missed flying my dh2 so went out on a limb and leased a sweet Beaver with tundra wheels(Aerosoft). Much nicer to fly in, with a big load handeling ability. Sold the C172 as there was no need for it. I have kept most of my flights to a limit of about 150nm for each leg. First couple of flights, in the dh, did not go well with over 12,000 bucks in repair fees to fix flap damage, untill I put the proper specs for my new aircraft in the AH AC info section. Landings in the taildragger are a bit tougher and have caused minor damage to a few loads.

The local supply companies have been great and there are always plenty of jobs to choose from. I have also put in candy and soda vending machines in the office for folks to enjoy. It's not my fault that the candy machine is mostly filled with peanut butter crackers, I will have a talk with the vending machine owner. I did fail two jobs so far, due to being late, although I did complete them and took a big hit on my reputation as a result. The first was early on and the second was caused by thinking I could grab another close by load and still be on time. Unfortunetly time waits for no man and I miscalculated and took the hit. Still got partial payments to cover expences at least. I went out of my way to reasure the companies that it will not happen again. Even offered them some free pb crackers as an apoligy, only time will tell if this stratagy worked. Sabre from SAD came by Concrete Muni with a load and I offered to buy him lunch, he ordered two lobsters and many rounds of top shelf liquor. Man that boy can eat and drink but he's a great guy and I had a good time. I haven't had any more vandalism problems and whenever I look outside Rufus is half asleep. I have resorted to sneaking up behind him and blowing a boat horn to keep him on his toes. I enjoy working out of a main base and am starting to learn all the different routes through this mountainous region and finding cuts in them to save fuel by not having to accend so much. Most of my flying in the past has always been from many different places so it is nice to have a place to call home. My customers are happy that I have come to Concrete and complained that some of the other freight companies in the surrounding areas can be hard to work with but wouldn't give me any names. Hmmm I wonder which ones they are.

Future plans are to just keep flying the loads myself and getting my reputation higher. Then adding a pilot or two might be in the cards.

I did invest $10,000 in the stock market for S***s and giggles but now is not the best time for investments and have lost 330.00 bucks. Maybe I need to diversify.

Here are my stats to date:

Net Worth= $336,577.

Cash= $321,786.

Reputation= 54.50% (i did reach 55% but failed a job)

41 total jobs with 39 completed

average job income $5,700.

job fees vs payments 95%

average load condition 99.8%

Here is the new aircraft, I have to learn how to repaint and am still looking at creating a logo.

So far this has been a fun program to fool around with, except maybe the cheesy clapping sound upon completion of a job. It gives you a wealth of information on your company, is easy to use and choosing jobs is well rounded for ease of picking the jobs. I just found where you can change the colors of the route lines and that has made things eaiser. The only thing that I wish they did was not place the popup OK button, that tells you to proceed by hitting Alt-Tab to return to game, even with the finish up flying button. My laptop can be a bit slower than my finger and a doubletap will close out the game. The first time I fly in AH it will not go to the MFFS screen and I have to hit the maxamise button for it to appear, which is no big deal once I figured it out. All these things are just a problem with me and not the game. It does seem to use alot of computing power even with default scenery and adding the ORBX PNW scenery slows me way down but I enjoy the scenery too much, even at low settings, so for now will just live with it. fps are only in the 6.0 to 11 range.

[PanzerFodder 0]

oh! nice beaver you have there m8y.

BTW: Talking about Beavers, If your looking for another one my local hockey team tells me that there's one going really cheep at Darrington right now, should be able to get her for half a bottle of burbon and a packet of chips

Cheers...Graham...

[Sabre 28]

Super update Brett, you seem to be getting established quite nicely indeed.

Enjoyed our meal the lobsters were tremendous and the company was great. I'll be glad to reciprocate when you are passing Darrington just don't tell the Mad Birdman and that Clown those two freeloaders would take your eyes out - oh yes and lock up your women two more lecherous old fellas you'll never meet, you'll note tey have a penchance for employing young women pilots seemingly whether they can actually fly or not

Keep up the good work and keep us posted and remember the drinks are on me next time your passing

[brett 2,314]

That was a great party Mr,B, I don't remember much from that nite and wondered why my back hurt and my clothes were a mess. Nothing like free booze to make you forget. That Emily is a toe curler for sure.

I'll be sure to drop by Darrington one of these days, Sabre and take you up on your offer. I have flown over it a few times but haven't had a job send me there yet.

Some folks would be offended when you complement their Beaver, but not me, thanks Mr. Fodder. She's a sturdy work horse for sure.

BTW I forgot to metion that I was promoted to 2nd Officer.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

AirHauler

I noticed that after I purchased the new AC, AirHauler no longer gives me an estimated range under the fuel load bar. I did look up the USG/Hr and entered it in the manage aircraft section. Does it take a while to get it to generate?

Just to be sure:

AH does not allow you to operate in windowed mode?(takes some getting used too!)

AH takes over your fuel tanks when you have multible ones that are switchable in your aircraft?(The first time out I almost crashed into a accending valley floor while changing to another tank, it shut down my engine with a full load on board and I only had about 300' below me. The change in pitch made it hard to get the cursor back on the fuel selector, then because I wasn't fast enough with the switch I had to do a restart (just made it )) Airplanes sure do drop fast with no power and a full load on board.

[allardjd 1,853]

I did look up the USG/Hr and entered it in the manage aircraft section. Does it take a while to get it to generate?

Do it again in the Fleet screen. It's because you didn't have the range data entered when you bought/leased it. Changes made to the Manage AC screen do not carry forward to AC already purchased or leased.

John

[brett 2,314]

Thanks John, I'll give that a whorl. It's a nice feature to have working. AH has so many features it's hard to take it all in at one time.

Edit That was it John, thanks a bunch. Nothing like asking the experts. Some of the actual data is hard to find and conflicting when you do find two or more sources. I think it would be best for me to make a test run in perfect weather and record the fuel usage myself. I did notice you have posted, on the procedure, in another thread on how to do this and will give it a try. I could even use the MEBAR test flight for the test. I also found this online calculator for fuel consumption that looks like it might come in handy in the future for math dummys like myself.

[rosariomanzo 545]

Great update, Brett.

[PanzerFodder 0]

Invitation

To the CEO of SoHigh Air Services.

Big knee's up at Pincher Creek tonight. 20.30 hrs.

Formal dress code, and remember to bring you own beaver this time please.

end of message

[brett 2,314]

Reply:

Dear Mr. Fodder,

CEO PanzerFoddersFlyingCircus

Invitation recieved and accepted with gratitude. I have, myself, knobby knee's and hope that will be acceptable. Unless you are speaking of biscuits and cheese, please pardon my lingustical naïveté. By formal dress, I take it this means a brand new black T-shirt and jeans less than six months old? I shall be there, beaver in beaver, as requested.

Looking forward to seeing your new base. I also have the dirt information on TheAvian(codename) from my informants at the Kamloops Kourier that you asked for. Wait till you see what I have, it will knock him right off his high perch.

Best regards,

Brett SoHigh

Owner/Operator SoHigh Air Services

[brett 2,314]

I refuse to be insulted for having morals and ethics in my buisness dealings. Mr.B's ramblings are just that. They are just a way to make a small bird like creature feel better about himself.

For now, I have better things to do....where is that number for that Brazilian guy Panzer gave me........

[brett 2,314]

Stop it, your killing me. I just spit out the water I was drinking all over my wife.(didn't want to ruin my laptop) She was pi**ed and I just kept laughing. It seems my explanation fell flat and I now need to go out and buy a more expensive Moms day gift for her. I'm sending you the bill.

[brett 2,314]

Company update for SoHigh Air Services

Well, it's been about a month since I opened the doors of my new company so I figured it would be a good time for an update. Things have been going real good for me and I have reached my goals through hard work and perseverance. I did fall off the wagon one night over the border, the more I think about though I feel like a was set up by a wanton women, drugged and beat up. I do not have any proof of this as the perpetrator is very crafty and cunning(like a crow). My goal was to make a million bucks before thinking of expansion or hiring other pilots. That day has arrived with a final two loads worth a smidge over 30,000. for an outgoing load of seafood and an incoming load of computers. At this point I am still leasing a de havilland Beaver and am happy with it's performance.

I also have had the pleasure of meeting some movers and shakers in the cargo hauling business that operate in this scenic portion of the pacific northwest and have been in contact with others that operate all the way across both oceans. Their help in starting this company has been invaulable and I would like to personally thank them for the kindness they have shown. You guys know who you are. There is one nefarious character across the border that has caused me a bit of trouble by spreading lie and innuendo but I believe (or wish ) his days are numbered. Unfortunately it seems that the bad bird seeds of this world never get punished(in this world anyway) but thrive amongst the good, God fearing folk that always have to clean up the mess they leave in their wake. Enough of that for now, no need to have this bad cloud ruin a super day.

Lets get to the good news, here are my stats to date:

Net Worth= $1,043,992.

Cash= $1,029,392.

Reputation= 70.20%

92 total jobs with 89 completed

average job income $10,640.

job fees vs payments 96%

average load condition 99.3%

hours logged 112

My overhead is $28,326.

No bank loans at this time have allowed the cash to stay were it belongs, with me. I have been invited to a party up at Pincher Creek to help celibrate Mr Fodders, from PFFC, new base and am looking forward to a great time under the big top.

[brett 2,314]

What a great party we had at Pincher Creek last night, fun was had by all. Mr.F's new base is in great shape and I wish him the best of luck. He also just purchased a sweet looking Azul Embraer 195 that is in beautiful condition.

There was a big rucus behind the big top though during the festivities, it seems some sleazy character was found doing things that he shouldn't have. He was found with a can of fuel, some empty bottles with rags and a large caliber hand gun. When confronted by one of the Circuses pilot's, one very capable person, introduced to me as Randy, he/she(?) single handedly took the perpetrator down and held him untill the police arrived. I did manage to snap a picture of the guy and will sell it to the local newspaper. We later learned from police that the bad guys name was "Big Jon" Wayne, a pilot for a rival cargo hauler. I didn't even need to hear which one because deep down I already knew who he worked for. That dastardly CEO of MAD. The police are working in concert with RCMP to investigate further.

The authorities also let slip that the operator of MAD, where the above beat down pilot worked, is under investigation for bribery, extortion, tax evasion and being a ****. If they can make the charges stick he will be "plucked" from society and brought to justice. Wispers confirm that the investigation was temporarily stalled because some evidence was stolen from the precinct locker. It was also rumored that a local newspaper up there(owned by Rubert Murdoch) is known to take payoffs in return for printing lies in it's pages, it is now also under investigation after some recently fired reporters went to a large well known newspaper and spilled the beans about what was going on there behind the scenes. So my advice to you readers is not to believe anything you read in the Kamloops Kourier since I now think it's day's are numbered due to tainted content.

Any other rumors you have heard about my health are also false, I am fine and in good health. My girlfriend , who joined me at the party, is the best women that money can buy anyone can ask for. We had a hoot of a good time at "The Creek" and left under our own power. We look forward to a return visit in the future.

[Menno 0]

Sound like an epic party!

Hope I will be invited next time. I'll have to refuel a few times en route, but I bet it is worth it hahaha

[brett 2,314]

Keep haul'in that cargo Menno and you can fly there First Class next time.

[brett 2,314]

From his hospital bed, at an undisclosed hospital, where Mr Sohigh has been admitted for minor dehydration from working so hard, he has adamantly denied all accusations that have flown his way. Also adding that he will be back to work as soon as possible and that there will be no delays on any shipping orders.

PS...Thanks Mike, not easy keeping up with you guys! to you.

[Sabre 28]

Just got caught up with this tale - some great updates - and a large degree of plot thickening by the MAD old Bird.

Well Done Brett a very worthy addition to the Air Hauler Tales of the Unexpected - Good job

PS Good work too Mike (a special talent)