Curious Question

[Lloyd Boyette]

So as Vector Airlines is about to enter a new year I have a curious question. If you were to design an airline and had to pick only 5 airframes to run it... what would they be? What airframes do you fly most?

[Merik Nanish]

My 2 cents: definitely use default airframes for the most part. By default I mean things that come with the most commonly used flight sim software. Nothing is a bigger deterrent for the occasional simmer to face a list of airframes where 4 out of 5 are payware or otherwise airframes that he doesn't have readily available.

[Scott DeWoody]

I'm pretty sure there is a freeware version of any aircraft his question is about, but to answer your question Lloyd, A320, B738, B752, B763, B777, B744.  I know what's 6, but those are the aircraft I fly the most.  If you had to drop one, I'd say the 752

[Davor Kusec]

737-600, 737-700, 737-800, 737-700, and the 737-700  

[Merik Nanish]

I fly the CRJ a lot; in real world (in the US) CRJs are also very common. So when I looked at Davor's list, I was thinking: why are they all Boeings?

So I did an experiment for you: I got the list of every pilot online on VATSIM a few times, put it together, identified the aircraft types, counted them, and averaged them over the multiple times I repeated the experiment. Here are the most commonly filed aircraft types on VATSIM:

B738     101
A320    41
B773    37
B772    34
B737    26
B744    20
A319    18
B763    16
A321    12
B752    10

Out of hundreds of flights, only 2 were CRJs on average! I am the minority.

Point is, if you want to create a VA, it would be smart to include aircraft types on your roster that are mostly used on VATSIM anyways. And those will be variants of B737, variants of A320 family (319, 320, 321), variants of B777, variants B767, and of B747. If you want a sixth one, add variants of B757 to the list! I am sure controllers would love to see B757s (because they demand special wake turbulence separation).

[Brian Sommers]

five airframes

pmdg 737 ngx any model doesnt matter.. they are all pretty much the same; this is your main workhorse.. domestic flights I would personally go with the 700 model and fly the crap out of it.. this will be your bread and butter plane. this will fly the medium to smaller domestic routes.  for example.  KBOS-KLGA-KPHL-KIAD-KCLT-KATL-KMCO-KMIA, etc etc.

pmdg 777 either 200 or 300 or both.. doesnt matter. this will be used for your international flights. across both ponds etc.

qw 787   - when it comes out.. i think that will be a winner. this you could use for your long domestic flights. think coast to coast.. like KJFK to KLAX, or KLAX, TO KMCO, etc.

majestic q400   - you will need a good commuter that will go from your major hubs to the little regionals. out and back.


now your last slot..  there are many ways to go..
you could do a bizjet.. if you want to do a little charter division, etc.

or

you could bring something like the B1900D. I'm thinking Carenado's.

this would be a great area for pilots who sign up and don't have any experience flying the more complictated airplanes. It could also appeal to people like myself. who wouldnt mind flying for a larger organization without having to comitt to such a steep learning curve.

if it be up to me.. I'd go B1900D

and then add a charter division and a cargo division down the road..

but anyway, there is  your five.

[Lloyd Boyette]

five airframes

pmdg 737 ngx any model doesnt matter.. they are all pretty much the same; this is your main workhorse.. domestic flights I would personally go with the 700 model and fly the crap out of it.. this will be your bread and butter plane. this will fly the medium to smaller domestic routes.  for example.  KBOS-KLGA-KPHL-KIAD-KCLT-KATL-KMCO-KMIA, etc etc.

pmdg 777 either 200 or 300 or both.. doesnt matter. this will be used for your international flights. across both ponds etc.

qw 787   - when it comes out.. i think that will be a winner. this you could use for your long domestic flights. think coast to coast.. like KJFK to KLAX, or KLAX, TO KMCO, etc.

majestic q400   - you will need a good commuter that will go from your major hubs to the little regionals. out and back.


now your last slot..  there are many ways to go..
you could do a bizjet.. if you want to do a little charter division, etc.

or

you could bring something like the B1900D. I'm thinking Carenado's.

this would be a great area for pilots who sign up and don't have any experience flying the more complictated airplanes. It could also appeal to people like myself. who wouldnt mind flying for a larger organization without having to comitt to such a steep learning curve.

if it be up to me.. I'd go B1900D

and then add a charter division and a cargo division down the road..

but anyway, there is  your five.

For the most part you've read my mind.

Looking at trimming down to the Q400, CRJ-700 ( when the Aerosoft CRJ comes out ), the 737-8 & 9 and the 753. Later down the road the 77W and the 787-8 ( or 9.. haven't decided )