Not owning a cargo plane I can’t see how much cargo fits in a cargo plane. I know a big plane has around 100000 max cargo weight, but how does that translate to cargo units? One unit of something like a ford 150 does not compare in weight to one unit of a bag of marshmallows.
I would like to know how to calculate cargo units so I can plan if a cargo route, for example pineapples from south America to california with a return trip of rainbow scarves, will make any money.
Assuming there is a set conversion it would seem like a good idea to run max range the plane can handle for a full load so each cargo unit costs a lot to ship.
In the game, cargo units are blocks of 100kg. Only specific aircraft models can carry cargo, and these models have cargo capacities listed on the model specifications page.
For example, a 737-900ER HGW with winglets can carry a max of 215 passengers (in an all-economy config outfitted with standard seats) and 1795kg cargo. A scheduled flight will have a maximum of 17 cargo units available for sale, meaning 95kg of cargo space will always go unused because the game works with 100kg units.
For payload calculations in the aircraft performance tool, a passenger is worth 95kg of payload, a cargo unit is 100kg. If the payload calculation for your configuration is less than the calculated payload that the performance tool gives, then the flight will be able to fly at full capacity.
Example: I fly B737-900ER BGW(with winglets) which are always payload restricted at maximum capacity (215 passenger and 20 cargo), but since I use economy and business advanced seats instead of standard, I’m able to fly these planes without restricted, but have far fewer than 215 passengers aboard.