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On a rainy June day in Holland i was sitting at home and suddenly felt that my job was not suited for me, accounting; which will probably not sound appealing to any of you either.

Half an hour later i decided to call my boss to quit my job.

Years ago on an outing in Alaska i got my pilot license and flew the dehavilland twin otter for a few months. I decided that i wanted to do something with my license, since it had been lying at home collecting dust.

Having some experience in the cargo and express business i decided that i wanted to start an air cargo company in the Netherlands. The only problem is that i do not own a plane and i don't have any money to buy one.

Having flown in the DHC6 as my only experience i wanted this to be my first plane, but this plane is at least 3 million dollars, leasing it would be the best thing to do, but i would still need money for the payment.

I decided to call Fedex for advice since i had a friend working there, they decided to help me out and help me with the finances. I didn't have to pay anything back as long as i was flying in the Fedex paint and house colors.

This is a small thing to do, so all my aircraft should have a Fedex livery which was fine by me.

I started of with a 1,3 million bankaccount and a 50% reputation, flying with the Fedex liverie gave me a 10% bonus over the normal 40%.

Since i didn't have enough money to buy my dhc6 i decided to lease one.

With all the downpayments done, i had 800k left and was leasing a beautifull DHC6-300 Twin Otter which is one of my favourite airplanes.

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The next thing on the list was choosing a base airport, i wanted to start in the Netherlands without having to pay too much. Since i might be flying during evening as well, i needed an airport with lights.

The cheapest airport to start was Drachten Airport in the north of the Netherlands. The only downside is that the runway is not that long only 3100 feet. Since i wanted to keep flying with STOL turbo prop planes i figured this was fine.

People warned me that this runway was too short for my Otter, but having flown the beast for many times and landing on tougher terrain and shorter runways i decided to set up base on this small airfield.

With an asphalt runway with lights and only an opening cost of 5000 with a 500 monthly payment this was a bargain

Since this airfield is hardly been used the manager was happy to welcome somebody to his airfield.

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Having some money left i wanted to buy a small cessna 208c cargo plane to do the smaller cargo runs, but i found myself being unable to find a pilot since i was not well known enough, i need to build up some reputation first and that will be my main priority, making money and build up some reputation, with 700k on my account i need 1.3 million to buy my otter, i wonder if it would be better to make enough money buying the otter or build my rep and hire another pilot, well worries for later, first i need to get my first flights going and make my first money, my first flight will be in a couple of hours, i will keep you guys informed.

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Today was the first day of business. A cargo flight to a small airport in Germany near Dusseldorf and picking up some cargo on Dusseldorf Int. on the way back.

It was an evening flight returning back to base at 11 in the evening, despite some rough weather i had 3 easy greaser landings, and ended up needing only a quarter of my 3000ft (1000meter) runway,

As far as planning concerned, the main goal is to hire an extra pilot and buy a small cessna for him, as i will let nobody fly my trusted otter!

Coming home i found a letter in the mailbox signed by a Chief Clown, saying he gives me an ultimatum to stop my business. I reckon it's just the neighbours kid with some sort of practical joke!

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Coming home i found a letter in the mailbox signed by a Chief Clown, saying he gives me an ultimatum to stop my business. I reckon it's just the neighbours kid with some sort of practical joke!

Looks like another one of Mad Mikes little tricks, take my advice and stay away from him! he'll throw a spanner in your works at the first opportunity he gets.

BTW: Welcome to the world of airhauler, come on over to Rotterdam sometime if your ever looking for some fun and games :) .

Cheer's...Sir mr PanzerFodder Sir...

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Welcome fellow cargo hauler. I hope your business does well and I send well wishes to that effect. Thanks for sharing your story with us in the Mutley Hanger AirHauler Gazzette. :thum: Great job.

If you get a chance to run across a (sir)Mr.Fodder(sir) in your area tell him I said hi. He's a fun fellow and I think you'll like him. Throws great parties but don't put your drink down for a second and put your wallet in your front pocket. :P

Any advice from MAD Mike about AI pilots should be headed, he has all of his well tamed. :D

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After only a day of work i got bored by the flat landscape and got annoyed by the enormous competition of the road parcel service who are much cheaper..

With this in mind i decided to close my business and start off in a brand new location where aircraft are much more needed for transportation, ALASKA...

i decided to leap into this adventure and open base in Anchorage, i mountanious area... Lake Hood strip only needed a small fee and this is where i will start my new business,,...

A much more demanding area and people where in need of a good air parcel service altough competition is fierce over here...

My base has a narrow 2100ft runway but is equiped with lights... i start business in Alaska with a leased Grand Caravan Cargo Master, ofcourse i decided to call Fedex once again and got the same deal, with 600k left in the bank i start my Air Cargo Service in the wilderness of Alaska, an easier start being it the summer, but i am looking forward to all challenges coming up in winter.. small strip landings will make this a rewarding adventure!

I'll keep you guys up to date

Lake-Hood-frozen-in-winter.jpg

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.....With this in mind i decided to close my business and start off in a brand new location where aircraft are much more needed for transportation, ALASKA...

Good blocking move against MAD's power hungry plan to take over the North West. :thum:

Welcome to the US, I'm sure you will like it here. The mountains up there are breathtaking. Don't forget your long john's and some heavy caliber iron. Oh...and stay away from 4th Street :whis:

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Don't forget your long john's and some heavy caliber iron.

.30-06 should do the trick. Just fire a warning shot in the air.

Remember, MAD's henchmen certain not to be named individuals are more afraid of you as you are of them :)

Good job on selecting Alaska for your company. Should be interesting :thum:

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Off topic: Are you using any real world weather apps? REX, Active Sky?

If so, remember to check te weather before flying. You could wind up in a lot of trouble over there ;)

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Keep up the good work! :D

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This is really my last change, lol Alaska Scenery just didn't do it for me and fps was terrible and it also looked bad, now i remember buying african airstrip adventure a while ago.. so my final and real startup will be in Kenya on Nanuyiki Airfield on Mount Kenya....

I will start up the career mode the hard way, selling my standard C172 and buying the C182Q, I will keep you guys posted about my progress on this rough terrain with small dirt/sand/grass and other bumpy airstrips.

i am using REX btw, and Air Hauler is not doing the weather, so i manually start with real world weather in FSX,

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