Jumbo, Giant, Thunderbird, or none?

[SUPERDON]

I’m a new user to this site so apologies if this questions been asked before, or asked in the wrong place, etc...

I’m looking to increase my fleet after gaining a couple of slots vacated by my Santa jets and wondering what to go for, or should I just carry on with what I’ve got and save space for Condor aircraft once I level up.

For info, I’ve got 20 aircraft, 2 Swift, 5 Owls, 6 Hawk, 2 Raven, 2 Eagle, 3 Falcon, plus a condor in the warehouse that I can’t use yet as I’m only level 65

I have 11 stands and maxed out the Level 2 reserve hanger to 12 slots...

All opinions welcomed...

 

[Chloe11111]

What are your goals? Are you in an alliance?

Your fleet should be based on your goals. One of my goals is to earn the Tower of London. So I structure my fleet to be able to accommodate those goals.

If you goal is to fly the most passengers you can each week, your fleet should be different.

Some background would help here.

 

[aBRx]

Not a thunderbird, they are expensive and don’t help pax for the time commitment. I have two S1s still in my warehouse

 

[SUPERDON]

What are your goals? Are you in an alliance?

Your fleet should be based on your goals. One of my goals is to earn the Tower of London. So I structure my fleet to be able to accommodate those goals.

If you goal is to fly the most passengers you can each week, your fleet should be different.

Some background would help here.

I am in an alliance, I am usually capable of ticking those commitments off in two to three days with what I’ve got at the minute.

My goals are to level up and rack up as much cash as I can in the shortest possible time... I am slowing working through the maps from the rocket launches, although not gained much from those to date.

I asked the question as I rushed in to buy a falcon as soon as I could but then found I didn’t have the infrastructure in place, sweet factory, repair base etc, I just wanted to be aware of any pitfalls with Jumbo, Giant aircraft, I think I can rule Thunderbird out, thanks

 

[Chloe11111]

I am in an alliance, I am usually capable of ticking those commitments off in two to three days with what I’ve got at the minute.

My goals are to level up and rack up as much cash as I can in the shortest possible time... I am slowing working through the maps from the rocket launches, although not gained much from those to date.

I asked the question as I rushed in to buy a falcon as soon as I could but then found I didn’t have the infrastructure in place, sweet factory, repair base etc, I just wanted to be aware of any pitfalls with Jumbo, Giant aircraft, I think I can rule Thunderbird out, thanks

First and most importantly, don't rush to buy a bigger plane until the infrastructure is in place AND you can support two at a time. Once you have one, you will get alliance tasks for that one.

Even at level 80, I delayed including falcons until all infrastructure was in place AND I had completed lots of giant flights. Now, about 4 months later, I still haven't introduced T-birds. I have a long way to go with falcons first. Besides, giants and falcons are fantastic for coin and passenger efficiency.

If gathering coins is your goal (depending on your level), here is a good place to start https://www.airportcitygame.com/threads/starting-fast-gathering-coins.30564/.

What kind of alliance? Are they prioritizing tasks to get to 50%? If not, you might want to look for a new alliance. Are you chasing stars? Adventure buildings? Alliance destinations?

BTW, with 11 stands, you should prioritize CT upgrades to fully build out your stands.

It would be helpful if you created a signature to let us know what level you are at.

 

[Nayeon]

As Chloe points out infrastructure is key. There is no point having jets sitting while waiting for lollipops or beds. Even after building 6 of each building type, you have to then calculate how many of each bird you can support, also taking in to account overlap. Mogadishu requires *both* a blanket and a lollipop, so if you are mixing Giants in then those blankets have to support two different aircraft types.

You will also need to decide strategy. For example is your preference to:
1) Get 3 stars of each destination, moving from one destination to the next sequentially and worrying about Missions later.
2) Work on completing the Missions first, then going back and thinking about stars (or not)
3) Get 1 star at each destination, then 2 stars at each destination, etc. until you have completed 3 stars at all destinations
4) Not caring about stars or missions at all, caring only about pax count or something else.

Example: Falcons flight time is 3 hours each so if you get a lot they can go through fuel and lollipops pretty quickly, especially if you are also flying Thunderbirds.

Spreadsheets may end up being your ally, or at least some napkin math. Regardless, Chloe is the queen on this and if you listen to her you can't go wrong.

🤗 👧 ⛽ 🐲

 

[SUPERDON]

Thanks for your advice Chloe, I will take a look at that thread, thanks

I’m at level 65 so 11 is the most stands I can get, next CT upgrade is level 70, so probably ages away! Skill stars are at 178, they’re not going up too quickly as I’m prioritising alliance missions first, then either going to cape canaveral for rocket launch stuff or map locations like Edmonton, Berkeley etc next...

There’s different types of alliances?!?!?... Its got an 8 on the badge, I’m guessing level 8 alliance. My alliance is currently 4 people, we nearly always get the 50%, the alliance owner doesn’t contribute too much in that, we have been down to 3, and up to 6 people but if they don’t contribute the owner ditches them sharpish, I can’t recall off hand but 50% seemed to be a better reward than the next higher one, so maybe he’s holding off deliberately.

I only started playing in June, I know I’ve still a lot to learn, but thanks very much for your imput...

 

[SUPERDON]

OMG Nayeon... You‘ve made me realise I have no plan at all...

I don’t prioritise Stars... or Pax... I seem to be prioritising launch ready kits if I’m totally honest...

I have one sweet factory and three falcons... They don’t fly too often!

Today I’ve learned not to buy any more aircraft yet!

 

[Chloe11111]

Thanks for your advice Chloe, I will take a look at that thread, thanks

I’m at level 65 so 11 is the most stands I can get, next CT upgrade is level 70, so probably ages away! Skill stars are at 178, they’re not going up too quickly as I’m prioritising alliance missions first, then either going to cape canaveral for rocket launch stuff or map locations like Edmonton, Berkeley etc next...

There’s different types of alliances?!?!?... Its got an 8 on the badge, I’m guessing level 8 alliance. My alliance is currently 4 people, we nearly always get the 50%, the alliance owner doesn’t contribute too much in that, we have been down to 3, and up to 6 people but if they don’t contribute the owner ditches them sharpish, I can’t recall off hand but 50% seemed to be a better reward than the next higher one, so maybe he’s holding off deliberately.

I only started playing in June, I know I’ve still a lot to learn, but thanks very much for your imput...

WOW, then you are doing amazing to keep your CT up with your level!

There is nothing wrong with doing launches. Some people play for the launches and that's okay.

When I was still relatively new, somebody mentioned fleet management to me. So I thought about what I wanted first. I decided I would go after one of the tougher achievements and get all stars for alliance destinations and work towards Tower of London and Eiffel Tower. So this has guided my fleet - had swifts until I finished all swift alliance destinations and got at least 10 of every item. Then, I got rid of swifts (you can buy and sell those easily for events) and had Owls as my smallest plane (still working on those because they take landing lamps so takes much longer than swift or hawk). My middle of the fleet plane (task 3 for most planes) has changed from owl to hawk and I'm almost done all hawk flights so then I will move to ravens. It went like this

Task 1	Task 2	Task 3
Swift	Hawk	Owl	until I finished swift destinations
Owl	Raven	Hawk	until I got more stands and wanted bigger planes
Owl	Eagle (then Jumbo then Giant, then Falcon)	Hawk	Once I'm done hawk destinations i will go to next line
Owl	Falcon	Raven	until I 3 star raven destinations

So the moral of the story is - determine a goal and we can all help you work towards it.

 

[SUPERDON]

WOW, then you are doing amazing to keep your CT up with your level!

There is nothing wrong with doing launches. Some people play for the launches and that's okay.

When I was still relatively new, somebody mentioned fleet management to me. So I thought about what I wanted first. I decided I would go after one of the tougher achievements and get all stars for alliance destinations and work towards Tower of London and Eiffel Tower. So this has guided my fleet - had swifts until I finished all swift alliance destinations and got at least 10 of every item. Then, I got rid of swifts (you can buy and sell those easily for events) and had Owls as my smallest plane (still working on those because they take landing lamps so takes much longer than swift or hawk). My middle of the fleet plane (task 3 for most planes) has changed from owl to hawk and I'm almost done all hawk flights so then I will move to ravens. It went like this

Task 1	Task 2	Task 3
Swift	Hawk	Owl	until I finished swift destinations
Owl	Raven	Hawk	until I got more stands and wanted bigger planes
Owl	Eagle (then Jumbo then Giant, then Falcon)	Hawk	Once I'm done hawk destinations i will go to next line
Owl	Falcon	Raven	until I 3 star raven destinations

So the moral of the story is - determine a goal and we can all help you work towards it.

Here’s a new word for you Chloe, fleet mismanagement, if you need any tips on it just give me a shout!

The maps for the alliance missions are locked, it appears I’m not doing well enough to unlock them, I’ve never heard of the Tower of London and Eiffel Tower missions... I need to go search these threads, it’ll all be here somewhere I’m sure, thanks so much for you time and your help

 

[Chloe11111]

Here’s a new word for you Chloe, fleet mismanagement, if you need any tips on it just give me a shout!

The maps for the alliance missions are locked, it appears I’m not doing well enough to unlock them, I’ve never heard of the Tower of London and Eiffel Tower missions... I need to go search these threads, it’ll all be here somewhere I’m sure, thanks so much for you time and your help

To complete Tower of London, it will take a year but probably way more and there is a randomness built in because you may not be assigned the destinations you need. You need to be laser focused on alliance destinations. If you don't get alliance destination for a specific task, you can change 1 destination for free. Changes after that are 20 greenies. So maybe you get assigned singapore (regular destination) but you would rather have hawk alliance destination. You can click "change" but no guarantees you will get a destination you want.

If the alliance task says you need to do 93 flights, do 250 instead - or 1000 if you can do that. But it's really about the drops you get from the flights - they are rare. 5 different destinations for each plane type. And you need 10 of each item from each destination from swift to eagle to collect the Midsummer Night's Dream collection 10 times to get the Tower of London. I've been pretty fortunate - generally I don't have a problem getting to 10 items in 1000 flights.

And after the Tower of London, there is the Eiffel Tower for giant to condor flights

 

[Maverick68]

Was it also mentioned adventure\excavation maps can help keep planes aloft? They can be used during periods awaiting collection of required flight items but do however require to be purchased.

 

[Mirandair]

I love my thunderbird and got one immediately when I could. And I love the excavation buildings for it I'm working on and that it takes not that many passengers. I skipped giant altogether. Depends what your goals are I guess! So far I've bought every corresponding plane when I level up when it's available and only skipped giant. One of each type. It's going great 👍

Edit: I always research before leveling up and then buy all infrastructure first and make sure I have the cash available before buying the plane.

I also buy and sell swifts for events since they're cheap.

Generally I go in order for destinations and plane type but also not really. Like I did the falcon new york excavation right away because I liked the building reward. I don't complete all destinations for a plane before buying a new one. Always just keep working on them for whichever destination I feel like at the moment. I'm level 68 and 296 stars though, so I'm doing okay ☺

 

[SUPERDON]

Thanks Maverick and Mirandair, I’m starting to realise I’ve only just scratched the surface of this game... It really should come with a hand book!

I’m going to try to start enjoying the game instead of just chasing cash and levelling up, it’s all about the journey, right... thanks for taking time to reply, it’s appreciated

 

[SUPERDON]

To complete Tower of London, it will take a year but probably way more and there is a randomness built in because you may not be assigned the destinations you need. You need to be laser focused on alliance destinations. If you don't get alliance destination for a specific task, you can change 1 destination for free. Changes after that are 20 greenies. So maybe you get assigned singapore (regular destination) but you would rather have hawk alliance destination. You can click "change" but no guarantees you will get a destination you want.

If the alliance task says you need to do 93 flights, do 250 instead - or 1000 if you can do that. But it's really about the drops you get from the flights - they are rare. 5 different destinations for each plane type. And you need 10 of each item from each destination from swift to eagle to collect the Midsummer Night's Dream collection 10 times to get the Tower of London. I've been pretty fortunate - generally I don't have a problem getting to 10 items in 1000 flights.

And after the Tower of London, there is the Eiffel Tower for giant to condor flights

View attachment 46822

Thanks for this, Chloe, I get it now!

 

[Maverick68]

Thanks Maverick and Mirandair, I’m starting to realise I’ve only just scratched the surface of this game... It really should come with a hand book!

I’m going to try to start enjoying the game instead of just chasing cash and levelling up, it’s all about the journey, right... thanks for taking time to reply, it’s appreciated

Yes, some on here have been playing this game since around 2012 when it debuted. The game is much larger than first glance. I found playing the game leisurely to begin with makes for more fun and help guide over time with the addition of this forum. But, everyone's approach is different. Avoiding burn out is also key so good luck!

 

[Chloe11111]

Thanks Maverick and Mirandair, I’m starting to realise I’ve only just scratched the surface of this game... It really should come with a hand book!

I’m going to try to start enjoying the game instead of just chasing cash and levelling up, it’s all about the journey, right... thanks for taking time to reply, it’s appreciated

There is no handbook ... only guidance from great people in this forum.

This is a game for the long haul and there are so many different ways to play.

 

[Mirandair]

Thanks Maverick and Mirandair, I’m starting to realise I’ve only just scratched the surface of this game... It really should come with a hand book!

I’m going to try to start enjoying the game instead of just chasing cash and levelling up, it’s all about the journey, right... thanks for taking time to reply, it’s appreciated

You're welcome! And absolutely, just enjoy it. You'll find that if you have small goals, you'll end up achieving other stuff along the way anyway (like having a comfortable float in the bank so that you're ready to purchase infrastructure when needed). And sometimes I do really arbitrary stuff like pick a destination to get 3 stars in because I miss it in real life 😂 But there's totally not only one way to play.