Your 2nd Flight

Now that you have one flight under your belt and have read the basics of aircraft and assignments (everything above this section of the guide), let’s do another flight. This flight guide will detail different points and skim over others.

We’ll start with the flight itself so go choose an aircraft and assignment and come back here.

Ready? Good. It's time to fly!

Start up MSFS and situate yourself in the correct aircraft at the starting airport. Before you move your aircraft, start the FSE agent program (“Start Flight"). The program will check your current position in Flight Simulator and see if you have rented the proper aircraft and are at the correct airport.

Tip: There are a few airfields within MSFS that are very close together (Anchorage's Stevens International and Lake Hood for example). Depending on where your aircraft is located on the field, FSE may ‘think’ you are at the other airport. FSE looks at your LAT and LONG and calculates the closest airport to your location.

The only way to solve this is to taxi your aircraft to a different location. Generally, the runway or waterway is the safest place to start your flight or shut down even though this is not a realistic procedure. (this is only the case when two or more airports are within a mile of each other).

You can also find the LAT and LONG of the airport in FSE on the airport page and then taxi to that location as best you can. FS Navigator for FS2004 has a graphical overlay that allows you to see your location as compared with the closest airport, which can help you as well.

The agent program will also check your payload and fuel. FSE will automatically add/delete fuel from the aircraft and the program may prompt you to adjust you cargo/passenger weights to match your mission. You are not obligated to adjust the weights in MSFS, but if you want realism, we recommend it.

Once you've configured the aircraft settings, click ok (or ‘Ignore’ if you want do not want to adjust weight). Verify your flight assignments in the agent window. You will also see the aircraft's registration in the status bar of the agent program. If all looks good, the flight is now in your hands - pull the wheel chocks, do your pre-flight checks, and get underway.

Completing the Flight

A flight is completed by parking your aircraft at the destination airport, setting the parking brake, and shutting off the engine. The FS Economy agent program will then do a quick calculation and log the results in the FSE database. If you have incomplete assignments at that airport, the Agent will tell you that your aircraft is still rented. If you have no other assignments at that airport, your rental automatically ends.

Remember to check ‘time remaining’ in the FSE agent during your flight. Rental times vary from aircraft to aircraft and if you do not land and shut down before the timer hits zero, the flight will be automatically cancelled and the aircraft returned to where it was rented.

Landing somewhere else

You are not compelled to land at the destination airport. In the real world, you may have to land at an alternate airport due to mechanical failures, lack of fuel or bad weather. FSEconomy allows for this. If you do not land at the assignment destination, you will be charged for aircraft expenses but you will have earned no revenue (your customers will not pay you unless they get to where they want to be).

These incomplete assignments will still be available for a maximum of 21 days. If you did land at an alternate airport, the FSE agent will tell you the aircraft is still rented. You can either resume the flight or cancel the aircraft rental (rentals will self-cancel after the maximum rental time is reached but you are only charged for time between ‘start flight’ and ‘shut down’.).

Important: If you land at an alternate airport to refuel, be sure to use the FSE website to purchase more. Never add/delete fuel manually using the FS2k2 / FS9 / FSX fuel option. The FSE agent will adjust the aircraft fuel levels.

Regardless if this is your final destination or not, you may look on the FS Economy webpage in the Logs section to see information about the flight you just took. Your rental charges, assignment incomes (if any) and other items will be available for your review.