FSAirlines

Hi Flyers, getting ready to start on v2.4 of the client and wanted to write down what I plan to do on it. So here it is

Co-pilot support - Not much to do but to tell pilot you are co-pilot or crew on a flight and record that they have checked in.

Divert Airport - When the divert button is pushed the pilot will be asked to enter the code of the airport they are going to divert to.
Note: Entering a code is not required, its just so that if there are other airports close by it knows which one you are going for.

Parking brake at end of flight should not end the flight until your going less than 5 kn, this was asked for by a pilot using X-Plane where the auto brakes were were triggering the parking brake at touch down.

Login Update - I made some security updates to the website for login where it now creates a 'login token' and I want to apply to the client as well, this one you won't notice much.

Fix display of ZFW in client when loading

Fix so you cant change aircraft model after starting flight.

A 'Deliver All' button so that if there are packages that can be delivered (within 50 nm) the will be.

A 'Read Only' fueling mode (in addition to standard and Simple), in this mode the client will never try to set the fuel in the sim aircraft.

Hiya Joe,

I know it's a bit late, but with the current client, even with the minor penalties enabled, the minor penalties do not seem to be operating for my setup (don't laugh, Win XP SP3 and FS9), which would be nice to have resolved, and also the client is pausing the flight now and again, even with the save flight un-ticked.
I'm guessing everyone has moved on to 64bit operating systems, so don't worry too much

Lots of us are still on 32 bit, both of mine are WIN7 with FSX.

OK the OS is 64 bit but FSX isn't

I'd still love to see a cargo adjustment tool in the client for pre-flight where we can set cargo as desired instead of only having the option to reduce to MTOW. something like CHANGE, click on it and get a box where we can type in the weight we want. Of course if we type in a weight smaller than total packages we have loaded that would be a problem and the system would have to reject it.

Regarding older systems, my "big sim" at home uses Vista HP, FSX box (Gold) running on an Alienware 2009 DuoCore with a measly 4 gigs RAM. All Hail to the museum pieces! That sim has just logged over 10,000 flight hours in 10 years.

Go Vista!

Would agree with cargo adjustment option. Hard to maximise payload particularly in smaller aircraft when you have to drop off a pax in favour of fuel and are left with a small freight capacity you cannot fill.

And thanks Joe. 2019 has been a big year for FSA. You are a legend.

Fuel Dump tab Click Fuel Dump and box opens for pilot to type in weight (lbs or kg based on the settings of the Client by user). Once weight is entered and enter key clicked on keyboard, prompt window comes up DUMPING XXX LBS(KG) OF FUEL NOW CONFIRM! Click on confirm and fuel is dumped.

Cat wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 28, 2019 10:42 pm

I'd still love to see a cargo adjustment tool in the client for pre-flight where we can set cargo as desired instead of only having the option to reduce to MTOW. something like CHANGE, click on it and get a box where we can type in the weight we want. Of course if we type in a weight smaller than total packages we have loaded that would be a problem and the system would have to reject it.

I think this might be better as a website option after booking the flight to limit payload and reduce the generic cargo and passengers there.

Cat wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 28, 2019 10:42 pm

Regarding older systems, my "big sim" at home uses Vista HP, FSX box (Gold) running on an Alienware 2009 DuoCore with a measly 4 gigs RAM. All Hail to the museum pieces! That sim has just logged over 10,000 flight hours in 10 years.

And I thought my 3 year old Alienware i7 was getting long in the tooth.

MMattyK wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 28, 2019 1:50 pm

Hiya Joe,

I know it's a bit late, but with the current client, even with the minor penalties enabled, the minor penalties do not seem to be operating for my setup (don't laugh, Win XP SP3 and FS9), which would be nice to have resolved, and also the client is pausing the flight now and again, even with the save flight un-ticked.
I'm guessing everyone has moved on to 64bit operating systems, so don't worry too much

I will do some more testing to make sure the penalties are working but I am not currently able to test FS9 but will make sure they work in fsx and p3d

Cat wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 29, 2019 3:08 pm

Fuel Dump tab Click Fuel Dump and box opens for pilot to type in weight (lbs or kg based on the settings of the Client by user). Once weight is entered and enter key clicked on keyboard, prompt window comes up DUMPING XXX LBS(KG) OF FUEL NOW CONFIRM! Click on confirm and fuel is dumped.

Fuel dump is tricky as I don't want to risk unbalancing the aircraft. The FSUIPC interface does not give me a way to figure out the position of the different fuel tanks. But will look into it.

I think this might be better as a website option after booking the flight to limit payload and reduce the generic cargo and passengers there.

We would need the entire loading schedule on the website in order to determine ZFW, Payload, TOW and try to predict Landing Wt.

Landing weight is the tricky one, with the current system which has little control over ZFW it is far too easy to be over MLW even with the most careful fuel planning.

Yeah and 737's don't have fuel dump valves RL anyway ..... when it comes to projecting fuel on board at touchdown to make MLW, all one needs is the MLW and ZFW and the difference is how much fuel you can have on board as we always seem to be loaded to max zero fuel weight. Still better to circle in a hold while burning fuel to MLW than coming in short.

One can get those numbers right off the aircraft sheet in FSAirlines. Pretty simple math: MLW-ZFW=amount of fuel you can have at touchdown without being overweight. If you are not flying max ZFW, just jot down your pax/cargo numbers plus dry weight, subtract that from Max Landing Weight and you have the amount of fuel you can have aboard at touchdown.

I do all that, but in some aircraft, with the client loading you to max ZFW, the calculations leave little margin for error.

Example, Vickers Viscount (VC8)

MacZFW 24494 Kg
Max Landing Wt 26535Kg so there is a margin of 2,041 Kg.

HOWEVER, the flight manual states that one should carry an extra 2,000Kg of contingency fuel over and above trip fuel!

There is now just a 41 Kg margin.
Can you predict fuel burn to that level of accuracy?

AdySmith wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 01, 2019 6:57 pm

I do all that, but in some aircraft, with the client loading you to max ZFW, the calculations leave little margin for error.

Example, Vickers Viscount (VC8)

MacZFW 24494 Kg
Max Landing Wt 26535Kg so there is a margin of 2,041 Kg.

HOWEVER, the flight manual states that one should carry an extra 2,000Kg of contingency fuel over and above trip fuel!

There is now just a 41 Kg margin.
Can you predict fuel burn to that level of accuracy?

It's certainly possible the landing weight in our database for that AC is incorrect, if you are willing to do the research we can update it.

Figures in the (fairly extensive) flight manual with the aircraft model show similar figures so I guess they are about right.

Average fuel flow seems to be in the region of 1,000 Kg per hour so my impression is that the reserve of 2,000 Kg (two hours of cruise time!) is probably a bit excessive.

quick search of my own found this

http://www.vickersviscount.net/Pages_Te ... sions.aspx

4000 lb difference between MLW and MZFW confirms your information.