How do you know when to upgrade your planes?

[Opala]

Do you guys have any strategy/preference when buying new planes? Do you guys 3 star every standard destination for the previous model before doing so? Do you complete all of the collections that require that plane before replacing it? Or do you just buy as soon as you have the money/buildings to do so?

Also, do you guys only play with a couple of models at once or do you play with several different planes? I would love to know how everyone does it!

 

[Chloe11111]

Everybody will be different.

I don't try to go too fast. I'm newly level 80 but still only flying giants.

Before I incorporate the next size plane , I want to
- make a decent dent on stars in the largest planes I currently have
- make sure I have the buildings to produce necessary items
- make sure I can repair the planes
- wait until I can afford to buy and support 2 of the planes (makes it much easier to complete alliance tasks)

 

[deepgreensea]

Chloe’s advice is sound as you need to make sure you have the infrastructure to run the next plane type before you get them. My strategy is to run a balanced fleet, so my planes range from Owls to Falcons with 2 or 3 planes of each type, plus enough space in the reserve hanger to accommodate the planes I’m not running. The reason I do this is to ensure there’s never too big a demand for any one flight item (such as flight catering or landing lamps), which in turn means I can focus the gifts I receive on F20s, which ultimately leads to me being able to fly more, especially to the special map destinations in my weekly map runs.

As Chloe implies there’s no ‘right answer’ as everyone ultimately finds their own way that suits their frequency of play and game goals.

 

[Chloe11111]

Chloe’s advice is sound as you need to make sure you have the infrastructure to run the next plane type before you get them. My strategy is to run a balanced fleet, so my planes range from Owls to Falcons with 2 or 3 planes of each type, plus enough space in the reserve hanger to accommodate the planes I’m not running. The reason I do this is to ensure there’s never too big a demand for any one flight item (such as flight catering or landing lamps), which in turn means I can focus the gifts I receive on F20s, which ultimately leads to me being able to fly more, especially to the special map destinations in my weekly map runs.

As Chloe implies there’s no ‘right answer’ as everyone ultimately finds their own way that suits their frequency of play and game goals.

I do this as well. 2 swifts, 2 owls, 3 hawks, 2 ravens, 2 eagles, 2 jumbos, 2 giants. I'm getting close to having all the infrastructure for falcons, but would like to complete 3 stars/10 items on each of the swift destinations before I sell them. I had 3 owls for a few weeks - but 343 flights for alliance tasks was brutal

 

[deepgreensea]

I did the same with my swifts, 3* the Alliance destinations before I sold them. I actually run 5 Owls on my main but not with the intention of completing the third alliance task. The perfect storm for me is Turkish Coast as the first task and an Alliance destination for the third, of which I typically get 100 - 150 completed. Once the Owls Alliance Destinations are done I’m moving onto Hawks - I’ve completed the green space maps and owl Adventure maps.

 

[Opala]

That's interesting. A lot of the higher level players I visit usually have a lot of planes from the same model and then a couple more of others. And I'm pretty much going the same way as you guys, making sure I have all the infrastructure before actually buying the planes.
Do you both also complete 3 starts on the purple maps before selling the planes?

 

[Tito]

For me, I would keep all my planes because you never know they might be useful to use in events. I have 2 of every plane, eventually you'll needs Swifts ,Owls. Hawks and Ravens to use in quests. I use my heavies each day I play on the regular to get great drops and awards. I am fortunate enough that I can purchase more slots in my Reserve Hanger to store the planes I am not using at a certain time. But, now that I have reached this level, it's getting more expensive to play. This game is so addicting I might say.

 

[Barkmi4 (Mike)]

That's interesting. A lot of the higher level players I visit usually have a lot of planes from the same model and then a couple more of others. And I'm pretty much going the same way as you guys, making sure I have all the infrastructure before actually buying the planes.
Do you both also complete 3 starts on the purple maps before selling the planes?

When you visit a neighbour and see their planes, it shows the highest level/best planes they own. Not what they are currently using. That could be throwing you off.

 

[deepgreensea]

That's interesting. A lot of the higher level players I visit usually have a lot of planes from the same model and then a couple more of others. And I'm pretty much going the same way as you guys, making sure I have all the infrastructure before actually buying the planes.
Do you both also complete 3 starts on the purple maps before selling the planes?

For Swifts and Owls I’ve decided not to complete the purple maps figuring the planes are so cheap to buy that I’ll come back to them if I want the stars that badly. From Hawks upwards I intend to 3 star them all. I’m currently flying a rotation of purple maps for Eagles, Ravens and Hawks on my weekly map runs with the blue space maps thrown in when I have accumulated 100 Additional Radars. Initially I focused on getting Falcon S3s and Giant S3s but as soon as I had 2 of each I switched to the lower planes.

I’ve also built but not completed the sleeping pill labs and furniture factories in preparation for when I start to fly Thunderbirds and Condors, though I suspect that might be a couple of years hence.

 

[DXB]

My advice:
- Infrastructure; think about the effect the new planes will have on this (do you need more pax buildings? Upgrade your oil refineries? Flight catering (etcetc)?). What is the effect of the new planes on when you send your planes off in the morning? I prefer I am able to send all planes off and in the end have some PAX to spare.
- In crossing off stars you can go planetype per planetype which sort of works for lower level (until Raven I guess, that's what I did). After that the planes get big and it's more challenging to handle everything. I have still to see an airport with i.e. 7 giants.
I would keep 2-3 levels of planes operational in which you're obviously the most advanced in the lowest level.
And sort of work through the levels in that way

Anyway, that's how I've done it so far, but I am yet to finalize the Eagles so not such a seasoned player compared to other players here on the forum

 

[Madge59230]

The only thing not mentioned anywhere is Alliances. The choice of plane and number of planes will be influenced by alliance tasks. To have a wide range of planes but only 1 or 2 of each level is spreading yourself very thin. There is NO correct answer to your question, or people’s replies. it’s personal. I run 3 plane types at once, but have a minimum 5 of each. My most planes TBird I have 9. Lowest plane 7. That way tasks aren’t a long going slog.
The question do you fly everything possible with 1 type before upgrading, personally I’d say no. Boredom would set in. Lower level planes are not that pricey so I’d do standard flights and clear the 1000 alliance flights and then upgrade. Once you get to Eagle and above you have to plan more to avoid selling planes.

 

[Harcourt]

I always upgrade my planes when it is a full moon

Regards
Harcourt