Helpful Tips
Experience Points and Promotions
The "currency" of the site is "Aeros," abbreviated "AE." The amount of virtual money you accumulate has no bearing whatsoever on your rank. Just like in real life, the only reason for having money is to fly airplanes!
Experience points are awarded after each flight you log. Promotions are done automatically when you log the hours and experience required. The FS Airpark rank structure is as follows:
Rank | Hours | Experience |
---|---|---|
Ramp Rat | 0 | 0 |
Hangar Bum | 5 | 40 |
Pro | 50 | 400 |
Old Crow | 150 | 1,500 |
Eagle | 500 | 7,500 |
Golden Eagle | 1,000 | 20,000 |
When it comes to getting experience, it matters what kind of flying you do. There are different categories of aircraft, and each one will give experience at a different hourly rate.
Category | Rate |
---|---|
Piston Single | 10 |
Piston Multi | 15 |
Turboprop | 20 |
Light Jet | 25 |
Heavy Jet | 25 |
Helicopter | 20 |
Transport | 5 |
Vintage Piston Airliner | 25 |
Transport category aircraft give experience at a lower rate because it's assumed that you're getting paid to fly them.
General Strategy
So, the point of the game here is to move up through the ranks by gaining experience points as quickly as possible. This will require more Aeros than you start out with, so you have to figure out how to make enough virtual money to keep flying.
One way to get a virtual paycheck on FS Airpark is to fly for a virtual airline of your choice and simply report your hours here. You'll get paid at whatever the current "union rate" is, and you can use the money to put gas in your virtual airplane, and buy bigger virtual airplanes that gain experience faster.
The other option is to earn your virtual cash within the FS Airpark system. To do this, apply for a job at an FBO and then follow the instructions of the FBO's manager. Or, talk to site administration and find out what it takes to set up your own FBO.
Easter Eggs and Special Flights
Occasionally, the site administration will create special events which will automatically award additional experience points for logging a flight to a certain airport ("Easter Eggs") or establish provisions to log flights in special aircraft at specified locations and times, and in return get a special amount of experience and/or cash. Some of these events will be announced, and some will be left hidden for you to discover. Usually, they'll correspond to interesting current or historical events in real-world aviation, such as EAA Airventure and other points of interest.
Getting Around
In addition to flying yourself around, you can also move around the FS Airpark universe by getting a ride with another user. Once you've accepted a ride offer, the user will be able to load you into his/her airplane as a passenger on the preflight page, and you'll automatically be moved when the flight is logged.
From any location in the database, ground transportation is available to any other known destination up to 100 nm away, at a cost of AE 0.50 per nm.
If a location is designated as an airport serviced by commercial airlines, an "airline terminal" option will be available on the Flight Line page. You can instantly transport yourself (for a cost) to any other airline service location.