I think I have the cargo system ready to the point where I am ready to open up to limited beta testing. If your interested in trying it out send me a PM or support ticket and I will send you the link to the beta client.
For now you must use https://beta.fsairlines.net to test the cargo system, If you add packages to an aircraft you won't be able to fly it using the old client.
The Basics:
The new cargo system is centered around the idea of 'Packages', Packages are containers of various sizes that need to be delivered to a specific airport. You can claim a package by loading it into an aircraft, once claimed you are responsible for delivering to its destination. Once claimed you have four days to deliver a package before the payment begins to decrease. It will continue to decrease until the end of two weeks (the amount of payment can go negative). At the end of two weeks if the package is not delivered the airline is charged an amount equal to what they would have earned had it been delivered on time.
There are ‘priority packages’, with these the payment is twice as much as normal packages but you have half the time to deliver them.
You can load packages onto an aircraft up to the cargo capacity of the aircraft but the system will reserve enough cargo space so that a full load of passengers can be carried with there baggage.
You do not have to deliver a package in a single flight, after flying it to a different destination, you can transfer the package to another aircraft, or to a warehouse, or continue to another destination. Once the package arrives at its destination all the flights that helped get it there will receive a share of the payment based on the distance they carried it. (Example if a package would pay 1000 v$ and the first of two flights carried it 1000nm and the second flight carried it 3000nm the first flight would be payed 250 v$ and the second 750 v$).
The sizes of the different packages, and the types of aircraft that can carry them.
40 kg
- Distance Range: 100-500 nm
- Carried by any aircraft than carry it. Aircraft with a payload capacity of less than 40kg are assumed to not be able to carry commercial cargo.
200 kg
- Distance Range: 300-4,000 nm
- Carried by any aircraft that can carry at least 400 kg of cargo.
2000 kg
- Distance Range: 500-12,000 nm
- Dedicated cargo aircraft and wide body jets that can carry at least 4000 kg of cargo.
20,000 kg
- Distance Range: 1,000-12,000 nm
- Carried by specialized cargo aircraft that have either nose or tail doors than can carry at least 20,000 kg of cargo. These include the 747F, L-100(C-130), IL-76, etc.
100,000 kg
- Distance Range: 2,000-12,000 nm
- Special very large cargo aircraft that are limited to the AN-124 and AN-225. These package are here really as a bonus to those who operate the large Antonov's. I have not included the 747F here, because there are too many of them around. These packages represent those rare large bulky items that you really need specialized aircraft to transport.
Warehouses:
Airlines can now establish warehouses at airports where they can store packages. Maintenance centers will have small warehouses added to them so they can store a limited amount of cargo.
Things you can do
Load them into an aircraft:
A pilot at an airport may load packages into an idle aircraft if they have permission to fly that aircraft. If an aircraft is booked only the pilot who has booked that aircraft can move cargo on or off it.
Transfer it to a warehouse:
A pilot at an airport can transfer packages to a warehouse if they have permission to fly aircraft of that fleet.
Deliver packages:
If a package is close to its destination you can deliver it using ground transportation. You have to be within 100nm of the destination and the cost of doing so is 1% of the value of the package for each nm travelled.
Release packages:
It may turn out packages have been selected that you don’t really want or are unable to deliver. If the package is still at is starting point you may release the package within for days of claiming it. If released within the first 2 hours there is no penalty, but after that you will pay a penalty that will increase until four days when the penalty is the same as the package payment.
Where to do it:
Book Flight -> Select Packages
After booking a flight from the briefing document there is a ‘Select Packages’ option on the right side options menu. This screen shows available packages at the departure airport whose destination airport is close to the destination airport of your flight. This is a simplified page intended for pilots about to go on a flight.
VA -> Packages
This page is a more advanced page for maintaining packages at an airport.
At the top you can select the airport you want to manage,
Then you select the action you want to do, choose an aircraft or warehouse you want to load, release or deliver packages.
Below that you can select packages in aircraft or warehouses or available packages that are not yet claimed.If you have booked a flight only packages going to you destination are shown but you can search for packages going to any destination from the airport,
DB- >Packages
This is a search tool that allows you to search by size, location or destination and distance from them. So if your AN-124 needs a 100,000 kg package to transport, you can find it here,
Known Issues:
When the client shows the income at the end of the flight, the totals do not include income from package delivery.
