Still new to AC and alliance- Seeking advice for what planes to have in fleet - Help!

[Husker4ever]

Okay, so I started playing Airport City in December. Can I just say how addictive this game is, but I love it, so I don't care. And I've just been adopted into a top-100 alliance and want to make sure that I pull my weight, but I also want to make sure that I don't overextend my capacity, which I've already made the mistake of doing a couple of times.

So here's my present situation:

Level: 41
Stars: 118
Town Hall: Level 7 - 1100
Terminal: Level 4 - cap. 180 w/increase to 272 due to parking lots, which are maxed out until I reach level 42
Reputation: 12 hearts - Gift exchange focused on Fuel 20
Stands: 7
Fleet: 2 Owls, 3 Hawks, and 2 Ravens
Reserve Hangar: Empty
Fuel Max: 131
Coins: 512,529 (which I've been saving up to work towards a Level 8 Town Hall to increase population by 100 at a cost of 950,000 coins)
Passenger Production: 740/hr. (plus two wing houses that produce 3 every two minutes)

Recently, I becoming an expert in all Owl flights, so I'm considering dropping them because I feel like owl flights aren't progressing me in the game at all anymore. Is that a good idea? If so, what should my plane mix be? Also, the game wants me to by an Eagle, giving me that as a mission, along with a mission to go to Vegas and a mission to go to Hong Kong, both requiring an Eagle, but I think the game's asking me to bite off more than I can chew right now. I think it's because my level is inordinately high because of 50% experience bonuses I've been getting for weeks on end, which in the end, seem less like a bonus and more like a disservice, but I digress.

On one hand, I'm thinking about selling my Owls and replacing them with Hawks until I become an expert in all Hawk missions and then reevaluating. On the other hand, I'm wondering if that's not smart because I should do at least one more Raven. On a third hand, I'm wondering if that's not smart because of quests, which seem to be furthered by completing numbers of flights and somewhat hindered by having to fly more passengers, which completing quests is how I've been able to increase my city's population, because of the buildings you can get that increase population. Also, the buildings are quite beneficial, like winning those Carriage Houses in the last quest was awesome because for only 10 population and a 2x2 square, they generate 40 passengers every 4 hours, which I get bumped up to 70 by dropping them into a 74%-increase square I have set up, so I really don't want to shoot myself in the foot when it comes to quests, and while I could always sell and go back, that's a big waste of coin.

My objectives are:

1. Maximize number of passengers flown per week for my alliance
2. Be able to readily put and keep my planes in the air given my fuel and passenger constraints and a city whose population is maxed out
3. Continue successfully participating in quests to completion

Given all of the above, what would you recommend my fleet of planes comprise of? And should I add another stand? If so, what should the added plane be?

Wow, that was long-winded. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[VdW]

If your objective is rising pax count, dont buy Eagle just yet. Its pax count per hour is not very effective.

And dont buy Town Hall to increase max population. Grand Hotel is by far the best. My town hall is still level 5, and I’m almost 2 years playing this game.

Instead of Town Hall, I’d prefer to save the coins for Terminal and Control Tower upgrade.

You want to fly bigger planes right? Seriously, upgrade your terminal first. Terminal 4 is waaayy too small to fly bigger planes. I remember upgrading to terminal 5 helped me a lot during my early days.

Don’t forget to make sure you can repair your plane before you buy it. Make sure you have the right level of repair base.

Don’t get stuck on level and the side missions you get. Just keep growing steadily without going over the board.

 

[Jenn B]

Just wanted to say THANKS for this post! Like you, I've been playing since December and have many of the same questions. This is my first post to the forum, but I've been reading the forum threads for months to get a feel for the game. Just sent you a neighbor request, BTW. Happy flying!

 

[Husker4ever]

If your objective is rising pax count, dont buy Eagle just yet. Its pax count per hour is not very effective.

And dont buy Town Hall to increase max population. Grand Hotel is by far the best. My town hall is still level 5, and I’m almost 2 years playing this game.

Instead of Town Hall, I’d prefer to save the coins for Terminal and Control Tower upgrade.

You want to fly bigger planes right? Seriously, upgrade your terminal first. Terminal 4 is waaayy too small to fly bigger planes. I remember upgrading to terminal 5 helped me a lot during my early days.

Don’t forget to make sure you can repair your plane before you buy it. Make sure you have the right level of repair base.

Don’t get stuck on level and the side missions you get. Just keep growing steadily without going over the board.

Thanks for the advice. Sorry I didn't reply for so long. I read it and thought I had replied, but I guess I didn't and noticed your response was still in my alerts today. Anyway, I took your advice. I'm flying all Ravens right now-- apprehensive about upgrading to Eagles, but I think I will once I complete all three skill levels in each flight, which will be a while yet. I'm nervous about my passenger count going down, though. I'm in a top-100 alliance now and passenger count matters. Anyway, thanks for your response, and, again, sorry I didn't send you something back when I read it. I'm thinking that maybe I previewed it and then closed it without sending it or something. Just didn't want to think I ignored you or was ungrateful.

 

[Cosmic Blue]

You should upgrade your repair base before you upgrade your planes as there is only one city you can fly to get repair base items where your plane does not breakdown. all other locations every 10 or so flights you are guaranteed to have reakdown.

Then the only way to fix is to pay greens for repair.

 

[Wired Parrott]

Is anyone else wondering what all those hands look like?

I would always drop smaller planes once I had "finished" them. It gets harder to do as costs get
higher but eventually you will be able to buy and sell those at will. It is not necessarily a bad idea
to have 1 or 2(if you can support) planes above your main fleet. I generally try to keep my main fleet
(hawks/ravens for you presently) equal or similar in size.

Keep increasing terminal and tower as stated. Watch for pitfalls by observing ahead of time what is needed
to do an action. Needing a building or items for a building or its upgrades, proper runway and repair support etc.
If possible build a bonus pad(they call it a magic something here ) basically it is a place to move your passenger
buildings to be collected using bonuses. Great at higher levels but will cost some greens to get highest bonuses.

That overly inflated level has always been an issue. Even without a 50% bonus. You have to manage it or just ignore
the higher level stuff....it will come in due time. I digress in here often, however I better stop my babbling before I need
to digress and can not because you already did. 😬