Client 2.6 ideas.

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joefremont
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Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by joefremont » Tue May 16, 2023 1:21 am

Not sure I am ready to start on this yet but wanted a place to right down some ideas for the next version of the client. I am not thinking of any big features, more bug fixes and refinements.

Some features I am considering are:

- Read total fuel quantity when using SimConnect (the FSUIPC interface already does this) (a).
- Record as a crash any landing with a VS > 3000 FPM even if the sim does not record a crash (this year that would have effected 48 flights). (a)
- Do not record as a crash if on the ground and taxi speed less than 25 knots, some other lesser penalty will apply. (a)
- Do not record "exhausted fuel supply" penalties before takeoff. (a)
- If the client looses contact with the sim after landing or otherwise wants to abort the flight, try to record it instead (this may be not be possible)
- Fix display of units in kg rather than selected unit time. - Can't reproduce this issue
- Auto submit flight report five minutes after flight end in case the pilot forgets it. (a)
- Extend time on runway before taxi penalty to 2 minutes. (a)
- Preload more airport data so we get fewer wrong airport issues. (a)
- Support P3Dv6 (a)
- If after landing at any point within 5nm of airport center, record as arriving there. (a)
- Some form of log rotation/cleanup for the clients debug logs. (a)
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AdySmith
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by AdySmith » Tue May 16, 2023 9:30 am

Exhausted fuel supply, even on the ground, is a clear sign on poor fuel planning, or not deciding to divert early enough.

Leave that one alone.

Current client has a habit of misreading the fuel weight or aircraft weight, cure is to click "BACK" and then try again, but it is a bug.

Photos attached.
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joefremont
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by joefremont » Tue May 16, 2023 4:13 pm

Hi Ady, good point on the fuel penalty, I have seen a number of times where as the flight is getting set up the fuel goes to zero and then to the correct level and the client records the penalty, but that is before takeoff so it will just be then and I have updated the text above to reflect that.

Interesting that you screenshots show crew on one page but not the other. What sim/AC/client options are you using?

Edit: And your budget went up by about 8m, are those from the same session? The more I look at it the more I see that the first screen shot must have be old, its defiantly a different flight.
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AdySmith
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by AdySmith » Thu May 18, 2023 10:15 am

Yes, they are from two different flights.

I am using WIN7, FSX.

First one was client 2.3.3 so very old, second is with current 2.5.1
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cs611
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by cs611 » Wed May 31, 2023 5:27 am

joefremont wrote:
Tue May 16, 2023 1:21 am
- Do not record as a crash if on the ground and taxi speed less than 25 knots, some other lesser penalty will apply.
Would you consider less than 35 knots? In some Airbus aircraft it is quite common to get above 25 knots taxi speed at idle thrust. 30ish knots is not uncommon. Whether that's allowed is operator-specific from my understanding. Going that fast and hitting a sudden scenery defect (also common in MSFS) might trigger the crash detection.

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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by AdySmith » Wed May 31, 2023 9:34 am

35 knots is a ridiculously fast taxi speed.

If the flight model does that at idle thrust then simply use the brakes to control ground speed.

Simples
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by joefremont » Wed May 31, 2023 4:15 pm

i agree that 35 knots is too fast. 35 knots is also 40 mph which is famous as the average speed for fatal automobile crashes. IF I do it its going to use the same limit as the taxi speed penalty, which is not changing, even if your on the runway. (Sam/Cat our former airline pilot confirmed the way we are handing that is correct)
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by cs611 » Sat Jun 03, 2023 4:28 am

What about making it an operator configurable option? I think this would be the most realistic.

Here's a link to Airbus's website where they recommend allowing the aircraft to accelerate to 30kts of taxi speed. I don't have access to an FCOM but my understanding is it's in the FCOM for the A318/19/20/21 and the A220. My 35kt recommendation is just to allow a buffer as it's not uncommon when flying in a sim to look down and see your speed at 30-35kts before you go to tap the brakes. Again, this is at idle thrust, and it happens fairly quickly. Happy to demonstrate in a video if you'd like.

https://safetyfirst.airbus.com/take-car ... ur-brakes/
Reducing brake use during taxi

Flight crews should reduce the number of brake applications during taxi to limit brake wear. The FCTM and A220 FCOM recommend that on long, straight taxiways, and with no ATC or other ground traffic constraints, the PF should allow the aircraft to accelerate to 30 kt of ground speed, and then use one smooth brake application to decelerate to 10 kt.

Keep thrust at idle

Maintaining idle thrust during taxi enables a reduced number of brake applications to keep the aircraft below the 30 kt maximum taxi speed.

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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by joefremont » Sat Jun 03, 2023 2:54 pm

I found this.
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Right now our official speed limit is 25 but like so many things there is a 'margin of error' built into it so there is really no reason to change it.

If your idle speed is pushing you faster than 35 kn then its probably set too high on your sim model. In MSFS look for the engines.cfg file and the min_throttle_limit within it and set it lower. Note for most jetliners it has a negative number so you can use thrust reversers.
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by cs611 » Sat Jun 03, 2023 4:39 pm

Again, 35 knots was recommended as a buffer because 30 knots is acceptable as a taxi speed. Even referenced in the Boeing doc you posted. If you don’t agree with 35 knots as the limit, I understand your point. The basis of my original point is that the intent of crash detection above 25 knots is not taking into account that 25-30 knots is an acceptable taxi speed. It probably won’t happen often (by your own data only 48 flights recorded 3000fpm on the ground without a “crash”) however if it’s going to be implemented I think 25 knots is too low of a threshold. Plenty of legitimate taxis are happening between 25-30kts. Maybe 30kts is more agreeable than 35?

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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by khakans » Sun Jun 04, 2023 3:22 pm

Hi. If possible, I think adding these two features to the client would be very useful on long flights. Simrate increase and decrase + pause xxx nm before destination.
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by joefremont » Mon Jun 05, 2023 2:40 am

Buttons for sim rage is an interesting idea. MSFS has made the changing the sim rate more difficult and having away to update in the sim might not be a bad idea. If I was to do that I might just have 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x buttons rather than + or -.

BTW I found a tool that brings back the shift-Z info in the sim so you can see what the current sim rate is, its here https://flightsim.to/file/16358/shift-z-stats

I also mapped the Control-R and Shift-R buttons on the keyboard to increase and decrease the sim rate and that is how I deal with it now.

Not sure how I feel about the pause at x miles from destination. There are those who over time have companied about pilots using higher sim rates as they though it was wrong and that I should do something to stop it, and I reply that at least they are not leaving the cockpit unattended on a long flight, and now you are asking me to make an update that will make leaving the cockpit unattended for long periods easier.

I would rather make a change that randomly turns off the autopilot on long flights at 1x, but that would be mean so I wont.
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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by khakans » Mon Jun 05, 2023 12:25 pm

Yes, I am using that ad-on. It has very nice features. It restores a good old feature of FS9 and FSX. (Sometimes I miss them so much.)

In real life, on long flights, pilots leave the cockpit to rest. Reserve pilots take over the plane. But unfortunately we do not have a reserve pilot. Imagine, an 8-10 hours flight and you are always at the computer. This is already against real aviation rules also our health.

Moreover, carbon emissions should also be considered. You know, our computers use electricity and we pollute nature in many places to produce this electricity.

Also, some people (like me) don't like long cruise flights. They enjoy the legs of the flight as SID/STAR, landing and take-off. However, for this reason, they have to fly to short-haul airports constantly. And of course, some of us also have a limited time problem.

That's why I thought these features might be useful. Mine is just an opinion, the decision is yours of course.

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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by khakans » Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:36 pm

Actually, I have one more suggestion :lol: . There should be 4 more folders under the client main folder. Let them be called boarding, pushback, cruise and landed. Client play the mp3 files we will put in them according to the phases of the flight. For example, let the boarding music play during the boarding phase, the cabin announcement at the pushback phase, the captain announcement at the cruise phase, and the cabin announcement again during the landed phase. The client already defines these phases. I think this feature will adds a different pleasure to the flights. We create mp3 files ourselves from sources such as Youtube.

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Re: Client 2.6 ideas.

Post by joefremont » Mon Jun 05, 2023 3:22 pm

I am all for helping reduce our carbon emissions and in using time acceleration helps in that way. Does the idea of pause an XX nm from destination help or hurt that effort? Maybe at XX nm from destination reduce to 1x would be more appropriate, what do others think?

Currently we have functions in the client that can play .WAV files, not sure the old library we use in the client can do MP3 files, that is one of those window dressing features that have little functional impact what do other think? BTW, we don't currently have a pushback stage that we observe, most pilots start on the runway.
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