Your 1st Flight
Overview
This section outlines how to select and fly a basic FSEconomy assignment. Before starting, make sure you have everything installed as outlined in the Installation section.
This tutorial is targeted at the brand new FSE player. It will step through the process of completing a successful, one-leg flight. It is designed so that you can either follow along with your flight simulator, or simply read through the tutorial to visualize how it works.
Note: You do not need any money to start. All of your expenses will be deducted from your income after you complete your flight.
Step 1 - Determine an aircraft make/model
When you're first starting out in FSE, it is highly recommended that you start flying in something small, and something that you're familiar with. A small aircraft provides much less opportunity to lose money if something goes wrong, and an aircraft you are familiar with (or that is not complicated to fly) provides much less opportunity for something to go wrong.
For this tutorial, we will be flying a Cessna 172.
Step 2 - Find a suitable aircraft in the Game World
Now that we've decided which airplane we would like to fly, let's go looking for one in the FSE GameWorld. If you have a specific airport, or an area of the world, that you are familiar with inside your simulator, you should use that area when completing this step. For this tutorial, we will be looking for a Cessna 172 within the vicinity of Portland, Oregon (USA) -- KPDX.
Search for an aircraft
Bring up the "Airport Search" form by clicking on the Airports link on the GameWorld menu. If necessary, scroll to the very bottom of the page. One thing to note is that this form does not search "for aircraft" - it searches "for airports" (that match given criteria). In this case, we will enter the following criteria:
Airports that have this aircraft: Cessna 172 Skyhawk
Rentable: yes
Airports that have: assignments
Airports that are within: 50nm From: KPDX (Portland Oregon, USA)
In our tutorial search, we see that there are 12 airports that meet our criteria, and how far away they are from KPDX.
If your search result does not contain any airports, either try expanding the distance-from parameter, or selecting a different Airport to search near.
Search Results
Suitability Checklist
Rental Price - is it a fair price?
Bonus Amount and Direction - will you lose money?
Avionics Equipment - are the right avionics installed for your needs?
1st Airworthiness Check - is the aircraft broken?
2nd Airworthiness Check - is the aircraft within 100hr and TBO allowance?
Fuel Level - does have enough fuel to get where you're going?
Max Rental (Rental Timeout Timer) - will the aircraft timer allow enough time to get where you're going?
Rental Price - Ensure that the rental price rate is reasonable. Some aircraft owners might set their rental rates to a higher amount if they believe they have a popular aircraft in a popular area. While there is nothing wrong with this practice, you probably have other options if there are competitive rentals available.
Note: Wet Rental vs. Dry Rental – In simplest terms, wet rental price includes the hourly aircraft rate and the expected fuel consumption all in a single price. With a dry rental, your fuel consumption is calculated separately and you will pay for the exact amount of fuel used on the flight. For more information, see the "Wet vs Dry" section of the "Renting an Aircraft" page.
Bonus Amount and Direction - If you are unsure how the distance bonus works, try to find an aircraft with a distance bonus under $100. A high bonus amount can be devastating to a new pilot's bank account. Or, it can be very lucrative. Generally, if you direction of flight is roughly in the same direction as the Bonus Arrow, you will make extra money. If the arrow points in the opposite direction, you will have extra expenses. For more information, see the Distance Bonus section of the Renting an Aircraft page.
Note: if there is no arrow next to the Bonus Amount, you will pay extra expenses. No arrow means the aircraft is at its home base. You can recover these expenses by returning the aircraft home on a subsequent flight.
Avionics Equipment - Make sure the aircraft has what you need. All aircraft in FSE have three possible avionics packages installed. If a package is not installed, that set of equipment will be disabled in your flight simulator. When looking for a suitable aircraft to rent, make sure that it has all of the avionics packages you might want or require for your flight. A full description of all avionics packages is available in the Avionics Equipment Restrictions section of the Renting an Aircraft page.
Airworthiness Checks - You must check for airworthiness in two different places. A non-airworthy aircraft cannot be flown with assignments on board.
1st Airworthiness Check. The first check is next to the aircraft registration on the Airport page, looking for a "Tools" symbol. A tool symbol means the aircraft requires maintenance and you will not be able to use this aircraft for your flight. A tool symbol with a green background means you can repair the aircraft at the owner's expense before your flight if there is a maintenance station on the airport, so this aircraft can (probably) be used. If there is no "Tools" symbol, then the aircraft is at least partially airworthy.
2nd Airworthiness Check. The next check is the aircraft's logbook to ensure that it has not exceeded it's "100 hour inspection" or "Engine TBO" requirements. If the aircraft has 100 hours or more since it's last inspection, it cannot be flown with assignments on board. If the Engine Hours are more than the TBO allowed hours, it cannot be flown with assignments on board. You check this by clicking on the registration number and looking just above the flight log history.
Fuel level - It's very important before you get too far in the planning process to determine if the airplane has enough fuel to get where you're going, but not so much fuel that you can't load passengers or cargo. Click on the Registration# to view the fuel level information.
Looking at the image, we see our selected C172 has 32 gallons on board - with a consumption rate of 10gph and a cruise speed of 100kts, the "rough guess" is that we have a current range of about 300nm. With this fuel load, we also see a enough remaining Payload Capacity for 3 passengers OR 270kg of cargo OR a combination of each. When you look for a suitable assignment, make sure it is 3 passengers or less, and that they want to go less than 300 nautical miles. (maybe make it 250nm to be safe!)
Rental Timer - The final check on the Aircraft Information page is the "Max Rental" rental timer. On the checklist image, we see that our selected C172 has a Max Rental of 3 hours. For this aircraft, we have exactly 3 hours from the time we click "start flight" until we set our parking brakes at the destination.
Appropriate Assignments - Although you may find a plane with a very good rental and a very good bonus, these don't do you any good if there are no assignments that you can take. In the more advanced tutorials, you will learn how to find assignments at other airports and work your way there by conducting multi-stop flights. However, that is beyond the scope of this tutorial. If there are not appropriate assignments, go back to Step 2.
Rent the Aircraft
Once you have selected an appropriate aircraft at an airfield that has suitable assignments, click its "Rent Dry" or "Rent Wet" link to rent it. You will not pay for rent until you land at your destination.
Step 3 - Claim an assignment
Having rented an aircraft, we now need to book an assignment and add it to your My Flight loading area. To do this you need to pick and choose one or more assignments from the "Assignments" list on the same Airport page as you rented your aircraft.
You claim your assignments by clicking the "check box" in the first column. You can select multiple assignments at a time by clicking multiple checkboxes. For the purposes of this flight, do not select more assignments than can be loaded into your aircraft at one time.
Once all of the assignments you want have been checked, scroll to the bottom of the Assignment Section and click on the "Add Selected Assignments To -->" button.
By default, this will add the assignments to your "My Flight" page.
Step 4 - Verify My Flight Details
Once you have selected an aircraft and an assignment, click “My Flight” in the top menu of the Game World page. This page lists the aircraft and the assignment(s) you have selected for your flight.
Check the following details carefully:
Correct aircraft rented
Assignment is indicated as "Ready to Depart". If the assignment is not in the Ready to Depart area, that assignment is not onboard your aircraft. This usually occurs due to too much fuel, causing the aircraft be over the maximum allowed take off weight (MTOW) with the assignment on board, or the assignment having more passengers in the group than available seats.
Check Fuel Level - Be sure to verify the fuel level in your aircraft. Checking fuel levels and adding more if needed is handled on this page. Keep in mind that fuel quantity affects total Payload Capacity. For example, the Cessna 172 has four seats but it cannot carry four people with a full tank of fuel. To check the Capacity use the Payload Chart on this page. You can load as much fuel as the aircraft will handle but not so much that the assignment cannot be taken.
Step5 - Add fuel if required
If you decide the fuel level is too low, you will need to add more. The aircraft owner will be billed for any fuel you add at the pump. Use the Fuel Calculator at the bottom of the "My Flight" page to determine the maximum fuel load for your current aircraft at various levels of passenger and cargo weight, or distance needed.
Step 6 - Load your simulator
If you haven't already, start your simulator and load the correct aircraft model at the correct airport that matches what you have selected in the FSE Game World.
Step 7 - Load Client
If you haven't already, start your FSE Client application
Step 8 - Start Flight
Use the FSE Client application to "Start Flight". At this point, the FSE Client will load fuel into the aircraft. Depending on your client of choice, your payload weight might be auto-loaded also.
Step 9 - Final Aircraft Checks
Do your normal pre-flight checks. Walkaround, startup, warmup. Check your weight distribution - your FSE Client has possibly loaded your Passenger and Cargo weights automatically, but might have done a poor job. As the Pilot in Command, you are responsible for accurate weight and balance of the aircraft.
Step 10 - Verify!
Go back to the Game World website and refresh the "My Flight" page. This can even be done on a different computer or device. Ensure you have a "Flight in Progress" and double check the assignment status - the status will have changed from "Ready to Depart" to "Airborne".
Step 11 - Fly to your destination
Enjoy the scenery
Step 12 - End Flight
Once you land at the destination airport, you need to "End Flight" using client. Generally, depending on your client and settings, you will need to apply Parking Brakes or shut down the engine.
Tip on fuel levels: Unless you own the aircraft, try not to leave the aircraft with more than 50% fuel upon arrival. Doing so makes the aircraft less useful to the next pilot since it will have limited passenger/cargo capacity. 50% or less is considered an ideal amount to leave.
On the flip side of that coin, do not leave an aircraft with almost no fuel at an airport with no refueling service!
Once your flight has ended and FSE has completed recording, your flight log can be viewed on the FSEconomy Game World (see ‘Logs’ in the menu). In addition to flight time, departure and destination, these logs will detail the financial elements of the flight.
This concludes the basic introductory First Flight in FS Economy. Once you are comfortable with the basics of flight assignments, you are ready to start exploring other areas of FSE. If anything here is unclear, be sure to visit our forums. There are many pilots who will be able to help with just about any issue.