I know I’ve been away from KSP for a little bit, but since a lot of people seem to be finding their way here looking for a nice KSP rover, I thought I’d give them one. Finally.
Dover is your friendly little rover for Kerbin or planetary discovery. If you can get him to stay on a rocket.
Delivered in only 12 parts for easy assembly (I’m joking, it’s ready built… This isn’t IKEA!)
Right then, let’s start things properly this time!
After having been restarted to allow for me to have two subsidiaries under one holding company, Jetto airlines has been struggling, suffering from low load factors and poorly set ticket prices. However, although this week has seen the worst losses on record, the next week should be the best week yet for Jetto Airlines, with load factors getting to around 92%, much higher than the 85% load factors of the last few weeks; a lot of this is thanks to the cutting of unprofitable or unpopular routes. Jetto has also corrected prices, so now all routes are at least slightly profitable.
Jetto has never expected high profit margins as increasing prices would not make them competitive, and the decision to use older (but cheaper) aircraft means that maintenance costs are higher.
Start value: $4,000,000
Current total value:……………………..$3,622,860
Current cash:……………………………….$2,755,538
Current value without cash:…………$0,867,322
Profits at week-end closing:………..$-0,085,091
Profits last week-end closing:……..$-0,073,740
Fleet:…………..Dornier 328 – 7 Leased/ 7 Total
SardiniAir is clearly doing much better than Jetto Airlines, having just had its first profitable week, and having had very minimal losses overall since foundation. However, because restructuring is still taking place, profits are also currently minimal as large amounts of them go to compensating passengers of cancelled flights; around $20,000 per month currently, though hopefully in the next few weeks this number will decrease or disappear.
SardiniAir has also joined Euralliance, a small alliance, and is currently very happy there.
Start value: $5,000,000
Current total value:……………………..$4,584,745
Current cash:……………………………….$1,210,471
Current value without cash:…………$3,374,274
Profits at week-end closing:………..$+0,003,422
Profits last week-end closing:……..$-0,011,165
Fleet:…………..Dornier 328 – 5 Leased/ 5 Total
……………..Sukhoi Superjet – 2 Leased / 2 Total
Bahrain World International is the Bahraini Flag Carrier, and has just started a secondary experimental phase after a primary experiment showed the possibility of good profits and load factors on some routes.
Start value: $9,000,000
Current total value:……………………..$9,000,000
Current cash:……………………………….$2,256,850
Current value without cash:…………$6,743,150
Profits at week-end closing:………..$±N/A
Profits last week-end closing:……..$±N/A
Fleet:…………..Bombardier CRJ-700 – 1 Leased / 1 Total (Replacing CRJ-900)
…………………..Bombardier CRJ-900 – 2 Leased / 2 Total (To be phased out for the CRJ-700)
……………………………….Airbus A321 – 2 Leased / 2 Total
Well, looks like my next batch of models have arrived!
First up, A Virgin Atlantic A330-300 by Phoenix.
This model is mostly very well made, and I like the little detail of the ‘bulge’ above the forward cabin.
I don’t like how the cockpit windows seem quite short and wide though, the Gemini A332 and A346’s seem to be in much better proportions than this Phoenix model’s. There is also the discrepancy in the base colour between this and Gemini’s models, however I actually prefer the colour of this aircraft. I don’t understand why both manufacturers seem to be using sparkly silver/beige-y paints though , the real aircraft is White, I’m sure (even if it does look very slightly silver here http://www.airliners.net/photo/Virgi…afebb3ff896e68, this is what it looks like in most photos: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Virgi…afebb3ff896e68 ). Then again, sparkly models do look nice! 
I do also have my concerns about this model; it appears this has also been hit with a case of bendy-front-gear-itis, as can be seen here:
The bend seems to be right on the thinnest part of the gear too, so I’m pretty nervous about it. It does feel a bit more solid than my Gemini BA B777-300ER whose wheels broke off after standing on them for a week. Fortunately Airspotters were great about it and will be replacing it; I sent the damaged one back today.
I’ve e-mailed the Aircraft Model Store about it, hopefully things will work out but for now G-VSXY is on a stand; I don’t trust it on its own gear!
Continental (United) B757-300
Picked this one up cheap with the VS A333. A nice little model, and freakishly long for a narrowbody! I like it though, and for the sakes of canon with the rest of my collection I’m saying that United’s management just forgot to paint this one aircraft!
Virgin Atlantic B747-400 G-VROC
Massive thanks to Jetboy2012 from the Scale Aircraft Forum for this wonderful model! I’m glad to say she arrived safely and certainly looks the part in my new Virgin Collection!
And as always, here is a picture of all my 1:400 models. I’ve actually re-arranged them from this since there was no space for my SkyMarks A380 anymore, but thankfully having an abundance of stands really made things a lot easier. I did like this configuration, hopefully when I get a diorama made I can have some aircraft like this and some parked at stands.
Thanks for reading, as always!
Jiggyb2
Well, my Virgin A346 turned up yesterday, entirely out of the blue; I was expecting it on Wednesday. I would have appreciated being notified when it was dispatched, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. Without further ado, here it is (and once again, sorry for the poor photography skills I possess!):
This is yet another great model from Gemini, and it will be interesting to at least partially compare it to Phoenix’s A333, which should arrive Thursday. I do love the A340, it is even longer than I imagined but still very pretty! Another plus is that this is the first model I have of an aircraft I’ve actually been on; I flew aboard her on the return journey from LAX to Heathrow, although at the time (and still today, interestingly enough, making this a semi-fantasy model) she was painted in the old, pre-2007 livery.
I’m glad to be getting a decent collection now, but my shelves are really filling up fast…
This next week is looking like it will be an exciting one for my collection! I should have a Virgin Atlantic B744 (courtesy of Jetboy) arriving on Wednesday, and hopefully this week there will also be appearances from a Virgin A333 and a United/Continental B753 (Which was forgotten by United management and so is still in CO colours… Not that I mind, I flew on something similar, if not that very aircraft, to NY a few years back).
I’ll post pictures here and to the scale aircraft forum as soon as they arrive!
On another note, I shall be doing AirlineSim updates on a Thursday now, since the financial week for the Jetto Group, my main set of airlines, starts late on Wednesday evening.
Recently I started a new Airline, Bahrain World International (BWI), in the AirlineSim world Meigs, in order to provide a new setting for the game, with a completely new set of rivals. I will be re-starting the AirlineSim reports on Sunday, with BWI, Jetto and SardiniAir all included. In the meantime, click on the logo below to view more information on BWI, and look at the livery, which I feel is one of my best designs yet!
So then, the latest two models arrived just in time for me to take a quick snap before heading off on “holiday” in sunny North Yorkshire… fun.
Still, here are my two newest models, both brand-new, pre-ordered Geminis.
I adore this model; It has fast become one of my favourites (not that I have many models in the first place!). This thing is lovely, my only gripes being that the main gear doesn’t rotate, unlike the DAL A330 I own, and that it doesn’t have quite the wonderful detailing of the Qatar 787 shown below.
Boeing B787-8 – Qatar
I really like this model too! The detailing is the best out of all the Gemini Jets models I own, as it has aerials which I didn’t think Gemini ever did on their 1:400 models! I was surprised at how white the wings were though; I’m not sure if this is a slight error by the manufacturer or whether 787s really do have wings like that!
And, of course, here is my full collection as it stands for now!
So recently I’ve started collecting 1:400 scale die-cast model aircraft, and I thought I might as well do a small post to show them as I’ve been quiet for a while with exams and such. So, Without further ado, here are the models I have so far (I have more coming hopefully tomorrow, I’ll make a post about those as soon as they arrive)!
And of course, There has to be a shot of them all together. Hopefully that gap in the back will be filled tomorrow!
If you’re interested in the hobby, take a look at stores such as airspotters.com and also at one of the many die-cast aircraft forums; The one I usually visit is the Scale Aircraft Forum!
Safe flying,
Jiggyb2
Hello again!
Last time I posted here I had just finished my first solo, over a month ago. Since then, I’ve been on holiday to Iceland (On which I intended to post a trip report, which will appear in time; I haven’t collected all the images and videos I need/want yet), soloed once more (which was brilliant), and done a tonne of revision. However, I have still been able to do a few things in my spare time, and I have lots of plans for when my workload drops down quite a bit, in a few weeks time – so watch this space (as if I’m not cheesy enough already). Oh, and those of you who keep washing up here as Google seems to suggest that I provide many KSP rover designs, I will release one eventually! Check back later to get it.
Anyway, now I have a bit more on AirlineSim, something I plan on making a regular feature.
Now, you may remember that I did an AirlineSim review a while ago, and also created some liveries for Jetto Airlines, my first airline. Well, I’ve learned a lot since doing that quick look and have become more addicted than ever! I also started again when it became too difficult to fix the disastrous decisions I made while learning.
Therefore, the ‘new’ Jetto Airlines (JTO) on the Croydon Server is much, much better than ‘old’ Jetto. I now have two profitable hubs, in Belfast and Jersey, with a fleet of 7 Saab 340s which are very profitable and were very cheap. Jetto has been consistently profitable for the last 3 weeks, and although those profits have been diminishing, restructuring can be to blame which will, hopefully, mean that the next weeks will be Jetto Airlines’ most profitable yet, more so as Jetto has a new Interlining deal with Air Phil, a very established airline based in Liverpool.
Current cash: $3,781,422
Current value: $9,134,825
Fleet: Saab 340 – 5 Owned, 2 Leased
Cape Verde Air (CVA) is a brand-new airline I created last night after noticing a promising market as the national carrier of the Cape Verde Islands. With a hub in Sal, the largest airport in Cape Verde, CVA serves domestic routes to Sal with Bombardier Q400s (carefully planned to make transfers onwards to other destinations very easy), as well as international routes to Western Africa, operated mainly by Sukhoi Superjets. Hopefully in the second installment of the AirlineSim report there will be plenty of good news to hear from this airline, but for now here is an example of the CVA livery on Sukhoi Superjet D4-AAH, “Cape Verde”. Click on the image to see examples of the livery on each different model of aircraft in the fleet!
Current cash: $05,446,544
Current value: $10,000,000
Fleet: Bombardier Q400A……2 Leased
. Sukhoi Superjet…………2 leased
SardiniAir is another brand-new airline I created to take advantage of the busy Mediterranean low-cost market. Based in Cagliari, Tunisia, it is perfectly located to serve Europe and North Africa using a modern fleet of Sukhoi Superjets. These are supplemented with a smaller fleet of Bombardier Dash-8s for shorter, thinner routes within Sardinia and Corsica.SardiniAir is owned by Sardinian Holdings, in my first attempts at using a subsidiary as opposed to a holding company; This could allow for a possible IPO at a later date.
Below is Sardiniair’s livery on their third Sukhoi Superjet, I-AAHA “Tre”.
Current cash: $03,501,582
Current value: $09,000,000
Fleet: Bombardier Q400A……2 Leased
. Sukhoi Superjet…………3 leased
I finally got to do my first solo yesterday (31/03/2013) after several weeks of bad weather stopping me from having any useful flying time. My father managed to get some footage of the event, although sadly he did it with his iPad’s awful camera… Still, a video to remember the occasion is better than no video, especially for someone with an awful memory of events like me!
Those not interested in a bit more detail, run away now!
The flight was rather smooth in the end and a lot less terrifying than I expected (Although I was grateful Netherthorpe was quiet; I spent about 5 minutes at the hold for the runway trying to chill out about it). The take-off was very nice, I was surprised at how quickly the aircraft climbed even after my flight instructor (James) had told me… I was at about 700 feet at a point where during the flight before, with James, I was only at 500 ft; this is a big difference when the highest you get in a circuit at Netherthorpe should be 800ft!
After climb-out, things were pretty nice along the downwind leg, although I did let the aircraft climb a little to 900ft while performing checks, which I easily corrected before turning onto the base leg for my descent; the real test.
For the most part I did OK, although I didn’t start descending soon enough meaning I was quite high at first, but I just added more flaps in earlier and pulled the power to a very low setting in order to glide in at a steeper angle to correct. By the time I got close to the runway, I was back on track and fed a bit of power in to counteract a mysterious drop in speed that always occurs just before the airfield when landing on the particular runway in use (06), which James and I think is caused by a small dip in the terrain from a stream. The landing was a little fast as I took the power off quite late but I touched down very close to the numbers at the end of the runway (which is where I wanted to be). The touchdown itself was a little bumpy but I was entirely to blame because of the power change mentioned earlier, and I didn’t help it when I forgot to hold the yoke right back (otherwise the front wheel gives an uncomfortable ride at higher speeds).
In the end, I think I did rather well, with a few areas where I think I could probably improve (Primarily, remembering to use trim when on approach and holding the nose up for as long as possible).
Thanks for reading, and as always, safe flying!
Jiggyb2
Since I’ve rather been enjoying AirlineSim (Which I looked at HERE), and was rather missing the good old days of making liveries for X-Plane, I thought I’d have a crack at designing the livery of my fictional airline ‘Jetto Airways’ (What else would it be called?). After designing it for the single aircraft type I have in AirlineSim currently (the ERJ-140ER), I realised it was a very quick and easy process; so of course I made a big batch of them to see how it would look on a variety of aircraft!
A318
A340-600
A380-800
B737-800 (Winglets)
B747-400
ERJ-140
EMB-170
So that’s all I’ve made so far. I do plan on adding more so I’ll keep updating this album with them as I complete new liveries, and I may create a new blog post on this subject if I create enough.
Personally, I think this livery works best on aircraft which have shorter ratios of hull height to length, simply because of the ‘billboard-style’ logo which takes up lots of vertical room. I’m also quite pleased with the soft, metallic greys of the fuselage; originally I was planning on having it white but it was too boring! The only part of my new livery that I’m not so sure about is the tail. Any ideas for what I could put on there?
For now however, Safe flying!
Jiggyb2
Jetto Designs 