Airpcraft Instruction and Reliance Issues.

[tsunamisurfer]

Hi all,

A couple of aircraft questions please.

I am noticing something funny with my game right now. I had 2 small airports, say airport A and B.

I had my orders for a plane to do the following :

1) Go to Airport A - Full Load.
2) Go to Airport B - Unload.
3) Go to Airport B - Full Load.
4) Go to Airport A - Unload.

What happens at 1) and 3) is that everytime the plane unloads, it TAKES OFF and LANDS at the same airport to LOAD the next cabin of clients!

To counter this I did the following :

1) Go to Airport A - Full Load.
2) Go to Airport B - Unload.
3) Service @ Airport B Hangar.
4) Go to Airport B - Full Load.
5) Go to Airport A - Unload.
6) Service @ Airport A Hangar.

This seems to work as it no longer takes off and land to pick up clients from the same airport, but still it will go to the hangar in between (hopefully to get serviced).

Does anyone else have the problem of the take off and land at the same airport problem?

My second issue is with Airplane's reliability.

I started my game in 1950 and when I bought the planes they were around 75% reliability.

However they keep breaking down (and going slow).

I thoguht that if I had put them in the hangar before every flight they would improve but no.

I don't use the service days option as I thought if I force the plane to go into service it would 'override' the need for the service days option.

Does anyone have any advice on this issue?

Help appreciated.

[3iff]

You can do the orders as

1) Go to Airport A - Full Load.
2) Go to Airport B - Full Load.

The unload command is unnecessary in this case... I never use unload unless I have a cargo transfer.

[Rainer]

Hi 3iff,

The unload command is unnecessary in this case... I never use unload unless I have a cargo transfer.

Even in that case, I use "transfer" and not unload. Which leads to the question: What good is "unload" ???

cu
Rainer

[3iff]

Rainer,

Agreed...for transfers (something I rarely do), I use a transfer and leave empty...so unload isn't required.
Unload is in fact completely useless (but what's the betting someone will find a use for it!)

It possibly continues to be used because the AI adds it to orders and novice players possibly suspect that the unload order is required.

3iff

[phil88]

I have a use for the unload order



On a game I'm playing at the moment, I have about 90 long oil trains all taking oil to the same refinery. Problem is, I'm using pikka's industries, so the oil refinery quite often decides it won't accept oil any more because the stock piles are too high. So, I force the trains to unload using the unload order, then use road vehicles to take any left over oil from the station to another nearby refinery.

I don't know if that can be achieved with transfer, because I'd assume if I told the trains to transfer at that station, none of the oil would make it to the refinery - it'll all just be sitting at the station waiting for the road vehicles.

[Rainer]

Hi phil88,

On a game I'm playing at the moment, I have about 90 long oil trains all taking oil to the same refinery. Problem is, I'm using pikka's industries, so the oil refinery quite often decides it won't accept oil any more because the stock piles are too high. So, I force the trains to unload using the unload order, then use road vehicles to take any left over oil from the station to another nearby refinery.

I don't know if that can be achieved with transfer, because I'd assume if I told the trains to transfer at that station, none of the oil would make it to the refinery - it'll all just be sitting at the station waiting for the road vehicles.

The situation is the same with George's ECS implementation. In that case I don't switch vehicles but use a conditional order to direct the trains also to the second industry...

Ok, I perhaps would use unload if there were no other industry.

cu
Rainer

[tsunamisurfer]

Hmmm...the replies are interesting...I shall do just the full load x 2

What about the servicing at the hangar at every landing ...does that have any impact / value?

[phil88]

Hmmm...the replies are interesting...I shall do just the full load x 2

What about the servicing at the hangar at every landing ...does that have any impact / value?

If you don't have breakdowns enabled, then there's not much point in servicing.


I just let the aircraft service themselves as and when they feel like it.

[soldyne]

I was asking the same question about unload and transfer in another topic. one situation I thought of for unload might be if you have a very complex chain of goods.

for example if you had 1 train that picked up oil and wood in one station and took both to a refinery you could unload all at the refinery thus selling the oil and letting the wood get picked up as a transfer to another train going to a mill near a city, which could pickup the wood and the goods from the refinery. if you used the transfer command the oil would not get sold.

sure, there are better ways to do it (like using two trains on different lines) but I guess that is one way to make use of the unload command. although having 1 train service both industries gives less congestion.

I guess it is something to experiment with.

[Willsims]

I also have a use for the unload order. If you are replacing or upgrading passenger / mail trains, there is no problem with loco hauled trains; you send them into the depot and replace the loco. If you are running EMU's or DMU's, and you do this, you loose the passengers and mail on board the train. Send the train to the nearest station to the depot, use the "unload" order to empty it, then send it to the depot for replacement. It can then return to its "leave when full" cycle between the stations.

[3iff]

I knew there were uses for the unload command...I also do it when I want the manually replace wagons without losing the content...but I think the main point is that the unload command is for specialist occasional use only and it's better not to use it as default.

However, if anyone wants to use unload for their orders then I have no problem with that...

[audigex]

I sometimes use unload with cargodest when I want to force one station to be the transfer point.

Eg I have a big hub station A which has 4 through tracks in each direction, but no tracks a train can reverse on.

My small train comes up to hub A, unloads, goes to the next station B and uses its bay to snap a quick U-turn, then goes back and unloads at A. Otherwise the train would unload at B which I don't want (because the mainline train is faster for starters, and because I try for some realism.

It's not a big use, but it's still a use.