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Air Cargo Hawaii


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5/4/2012

Developments - Part II

Well, I got to my appointment.......just! :mellow:

I flew from Dillingham towards Princeville and had Dave, a local Dillingham mechanic, tag along to do a quick mechanical inspection of the bird. And just as we were about to land I noticed the flaps were malfunctioning....

Luckily Princeville airport is quite long and paved so a flaps up landing in a 172 is no problem. Pure luck that Dave was along for the ride, so while I was meeting with Michael he checked out the flaps on the 172.

He said it was not a big problem. In the end he managed to fix it for the flight back after which I had to have it fixed permanently. Thanks to Dave for the fix or I had to swim home :P

Coming back to the meeting. What a machine. It was a little dusty, but in excellent condition. It turned out to be a 1981 Cessna U206G Stationair 6 II powered by a Continental IO-520-F producing a maximum of 300 hp. Much more than the 180 from my 172 engine.

The U206G landplane version has a MTOW of 3600 lbs and an effective maximum cargo capacity of 1059 lbs fully fueled. Range is comparable to my 172 and is about 680 nm. Maximum cruising speed is 147 knots. Luck would have it that it was even a cargo version with the cargo pod hanging under the cabin. Good for large volume cargo loads. Sure, the airplane is old, but it would serve me well for years to come! Dave was also impressed with the condition of the plane and that's good enough for me!

Sure enough, I wanted to sign the purchase contract on the spot, however I knew I wasn't in a good enough financial position to just buy it. I already discussed this with Michael on the phone so we arranged it that I can rent the airplane for the indefinite future with an option to buy whenever I wanted. This is a sweet deal, because we both profit from it. Princeville corporation gets its money for an airplane they are hardly using and Air Cargo International about triples its cargo carrying capacity! :thum:

After some paperwork (sigh... <_<) I arranged for the 206 to be transferred to Honolulu the same afternoon. There it will be totally overhauled and repainted in Air Cargo Hawaii livery. This will take some time, so until then back to my trusty 172...

Walking back to my 172 with Dave, we spotted a brand new turbocharged version of the Cessna 210M with retractable landing gear on the apron at Princeville. We couldn't resist to take a peek inside. What a beautiful plane. Brand new and equipped with the latest avionics and GPS units. I said to Dave, 'One day I will own one of these'. :D

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Does anyone know if it is true that when you have multiple airplanes in Air Hauler and you start to fly a job with one of them, the others will be visible in-game, either parked and idle on the ground or flying a job of their own with an AI pilot?

That would be very, very cool :)

[/off story mode]

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Very nice commentary, good luck with the new bird. And yes, the Centurion will be a great choice, even if you will have to double check the cargo arrangement or you will find yourself with your nosewheel hanging and the tail on ground.

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If you have it switched on, other aircraft show on ground if at same airport - and you see your AI take off for example if you are live at same time. Not tried following my AI in yet!

What exactly do you mean by 'switched on'. Is there a option in a menu somewhere I have to activate? Or do you mean, the airplane has to have an active job at the moment, loading cargo before a flight or unloading cargo after a flight or something like that?

EDIT: you answered my question with an edit to your post :)

Thanks, I am going to try that!

Respectfully,

Menno

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Weird, I don't have that option available. Are you perhaps running a different version of Air Hauler? I am currently running 1.28 (SP3.3)

It might be that I have an old version. I had Air Hauler lying around for a while now and have only started really using it recently...

Respectfully,

Menno

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5/6/2012

May I present...

...my 'new' airplane! :)

After being completely overhauled and repainted at a facility in Honolulu I went to pick it up today.

I flew the short distance in my trusty 172. The plan was to fly the 206 back and leave the 172 behind. Since Air Cargo International is still a one man operation and I can't fly two airplanes at the same time :P I decided to use the opportunity to get the 172 checked out and repainted in the new Air Cargo Hawaii livery as well.

Flying the 206 really takes some getting used to. It is bigger (at least on the inside, not in overall wingspan), heavier and just a little more of a handful because of its age. Also the old Cessna one-axis autopilot means the pilot has to trim the airplane for flying at a constant altitude. This just takes some getting used to after being spoiled by the much newer Bendix-King autopilot in my 172.

Ah well, I like a challenge. This is actual 'real' flying :cool:

Now the most important part. Pictures! :)

I made them after arriving at Dillingham for the very first time. The 206 is sitting in front of the Corporate headquarters of Air Cargo International (read: rented storage unit / makeshift office :P).

My mechanic Dave is at the controls doing some final checks on the avionics just to be sure everything is functioning properly after the overhaul. I took the fifth photograph after climbing on the roof to show the top view as best as I could.

206_1.jpg

206_2.jpg

206_3.jpg

206_4.jpg

206_5.jpg

206_6.jpg

206_7.jpg

I hope you like the paint job. A friend of mine back in Holland though it up, and together we adapted it for use on the airplane. I added the Air Cargo Hawaii logo and some Hawaii specific graphics (see if you can spot them). 'The paint job is certainly different' I hear people say when the see it. Personally I love it! I think it looks fantastic and perfect for the islands of Hawaii! :D

The last two pictures are of the interior. I had the who interior redone, because it was worn out from age and a horrible red color. It didn't fit the paint job even remotely, so I chose a light brown color instead. As you can see the aircraft is still in passenger configuration and can carry six people in this way. I intend to take the aft four seat out to create a permanent cargo hold.

Hope you like my new acquisition. I have my first cargo flight with the 206 scheduled for tomorrow, so we will see how it handles it then :)

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Did you do the interior paint yourself or download from somewhere? I like it and hate the red - can you tell me where I can get it?

Brilliant repaint and its gona look gud in the sunny summer :)

Jim

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Thank you all for your great responses. Its gives me the confidence to go through with the same paint job for the 172 :)

@ Brett, ...babes you say... I hadn't though about that actually. I think I am going to test that theory today :cool:

@Jim,

[off story mode]

I did the repaint myself, including the interior. Was really simple actually. Simple color replacement on the interior in Photoshop. If you like these colors I can send you the files you need. You need the files 'Carnado VC 206', 'Carnado VC 206B' and 'Carnado VC 206C'. If you send me your e-mail address by direct message (or whatever it is called here) I will send you the files. If you prefer another color I can make that for you also.

I assume you know how to replace the files?

[/[off story mode]

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[off story mode]

Just received a TrackIR 5 + TrackClip Pro I ordered yesterday :)

I guess many of you know what that is, but just in case. It is a 6 degrees of freedom head tracker from a company called NaturalPoint.

Great piece of kit. I tried it just now and downloaded a profile just for FSX from the NaturalPoint forum. I have to fine tune it a bit more and I am experiencing some motion sickness, but that is apparently normal in the beginning :P

I also installed some more freeware scenery packs for Oahu and some islands around Hawaii to improve my gaming experience.

Also finally going to update to the latest version of AirHauler.

Due to all these things, I can't get much flying done these days, so an update will probably have to wait untill the end of the week. I am still repainting my 172 anyways :th_blush:

[/off story mode]

Respectfully,

Menno

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Hehe yes I am very experienced in PhotoShop and painting aircraft but thanks for the offer. I thort I would save some time but ill just do a repaint too :)

Just a little head ups for the color replacement. Make sure you don't repaint the fire extinguisher on the bottom on the A texture and the fuel switches somewhere in the top middle on the C texture. Made that mistake myself the first time and had to redo it :P

Respectfully,

Menno

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5/9/2012

Running a business...

Just a quick update this time seeing as I am incredibly busy with the business!

Got the 172 back yesterday after its repaint. Looks great, but I haven't had the chance to take pictures. The workload has about doubled with two airplanes in operation. I really really hate paperwork. I really should hire someone to do that for me but it just isn't in the budget at the moment :(

I did hire a pilot to operate my second airplane. His name is Elliot and is also part of the sail planing community here at Dillingham. He used to be a commercial pilot for Hawaiian Airlines for over 25 years, but decided he wants to spend more time with his family on Oahu. Because he can't stop flying entirely he agreed to come work for me part-time. Elliot is extremely experienced in a wide range of aircraft and knows the area around Oahu very well. He actually learned how to fly on an old 206 so he will spend most of his time flying that one.

Elliot is receiving a hefty paycheck, but I think he is worth it for his experience and his island mentality which had made Air Cargo Hawaii what is is right now!

Also, I am running out of space in my rented unit at Dillingham. The boxes of goods and paperwork are stacked to the roof... :wacko2: I am going to have find some more room somewhere...

Until next time :)

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