First Solo · Get started

From empty field to first landing

Follow the game’s First Solo objectives in order. Each action makes the next one possible, so you always know why you are doing it.

On iPhone: Airfield contains the Bridge, Build contains the Hangar, and Research has its own hub. A smaller row below the resource rail switches screens inside each hub. On iPad, the same screens appear in a sidebar.
On Mac: choose Bridge, Hangar, Research, and Fleet in the left sidebar. Use ⌘G to crank fuel and ⌘1–⌘9 to jump among the main screens.
1 Crank the pump about 1 min

On the Bridge, use Crank Fuel ten times. This reserve pays for your first producer and housing.

Do not spend down to zero. A little spare fuel lets recruitment begin as soon as housing is ready.

2 Build a Fuel Depot 1–2 min

Open the Hangar and build one Fuel Depot. It provides a small automatic fuel flow and raises storage.

The depot is a safety floor, not your whole economy. Refuelers will soon provide most of your early fuel.

3 Pitch a Tent Camp 1–2 min

Build a Tent Camp to create one crew berth. Keep a positive fuel reserve and your first recruit arrives automatically.

If the arrival timer is not moving, add fuel. Empty housing alone is not enough when the field cannot feed another person.

4 Staff fuel and research 2–4 min

Assign the first recruit as a Refueler. Build another Tent Camp, welcome a second recruit, and assign that person as an Engineer.

Watch the fuel rate in the resource rail. Keep it green before moving more crew away from fuel work.

5 Research deliberate flight staffing-dependent

Buy Principles of Flight, then Aerodynamics, then Glider Design. This is the first longer wait; add Engineers when Research is the constraint and an Airframe Carpenter when timber is.

Research cards tell you their prerequisites. If a technology is dim, read that line before waiting for more Research.

6 Complete your First Solo 3–6 min

Build a Grass Airstrip, assemble a Glider in Fleet, and assign one crew member to the Pilot role on the Bridge.

Put the glider on Training Flights. Your First Solo completes when the aircraft lands, not when it takes off.

The one rule that prevents an early stall Keep fuel production above crew upkeep before adding housing. If fuel reaches zero while the rate is negative, recruitment stops and crew begin to leave.

Read the field at a glance

Resource rail

Amount, storage cap, and net rate. A red fuel rate needs attention now; a full cap means production is being wasted.

Flight Plan

Your live objective chain. Follow its highlighted target before consulting a full reference list.

Affordability hints

Nearby purchases show progress and an ETA. No ETA usually means you need another producer or prerequisite.

Activity log

Confirm arrivals, unlocks, landings, promotions, and resource failures here.

After the first landing

Continue the Propeller Program: build a Workshop, feed a Smelter from Mines, and research Internal Combustion. That opens the Propeller Age and turns the small field into an aviation business.