FSAirlines

This weekend I fixed the bug where the package system was not observing the cargo limit on the route when deciding how many packages to allow. I just got a support request from a member who had been using this bug/feature so by setting the cargo limit to 0 they got zero generic cargo but could load up all packages the aircraft could handle. Should we not restrict packages per cargo limits?

Another thing I had been thinking about is the nature of the 'cargo limit' itself. Right now it limits the total amount of cargo and baggage, and baggage is 25kg per passenger. So if you have a cargo limit of 8000 kg and 136 pax on your aircraft the actual cargo limit is 4600 kg, which is not obvious to the casual viewer. I think it might be more intuitive if the cargo limit only applies to cargo and not baggage, so when figuring out the max payload on the AC its always 102 kg per pax limit + cargo limit

What does everyone think.

I'm sure there are a lot of "seat manipulators" out there who are adjusting seating depending on the packages available. You might face some backlash from that group if you restrict package cargo to default seating / baggage constraints. For example, one could fly a regional jet with all biz class as a charter service and be perfectly legit to real world while increasing the cargo capacity in FSA vs the default max seating arrangement.
EDIT - added: Passenger plane pilots really shouldn't be manipulating seats per flight but I'm just stating I know that is going on and there will probably be some backlash if you shut them down at all. We have pilots that do it daily and with dual role aircraft like the 737-700C and the 737-300QC that are specifically designed to reconfigure quickly (30-60 mins typical turn time), I'm not sure how you would regulate or police "seat swapping" across the board in all types.

HI Sam, Are you answering this topic or the GA Aircraft Cargo topic? I don't think the 'limit cargo' value on the route really impacts the adding or removing of seats.

I think it would be cool some day to be able to define aircraft by both weight and volume, and be able to say each seat weights so much and has so much volume and based on the volume of the seats that impacts how much cargo you can carry.

Or maybe VA's want to do something like this:

LMAO

Touche! and I shall shush - rolling on floor laughing

ya got me

And no I was not responding to the GA topic - I was referring to pax jets ... but you have shown real world precedent in these unusual times so I guess anything goes - if it fits - ship it. LOL

joefremont wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:19 pm

I think it might be more intuitive if the cargo limit only applies to cargo and not baggage, so when figuring out the max payload on the AC its always 102 kg per pax limit + cargo limit.

What does everyone think.

Joe, that would be great.

Morning,

We used the "Limit Cargo" function so that we don't have all these extra generic cargo, and only operated on the Cargo package system. Now we have like for instance, 200kg of packages , and loaded up full with generic cargo. This is not realistic for us. Can we have an option back to limit generic cargo? We operated aircraft even on a loss if that was all packages that were available, the generic cargo is now taking out that whole realism factor for us......

I was wondering how common of a use case is trying to set the generic cargo to zero and then loading packages. But there are number of VA's that have more than a few routes where cargo is set to zero, I don't know if its for this reason but I think it's not totally unreasonable. So what would the opinions be if we made this change.

1) If the 'limit cargo' for the either the seat configuration or the routes is set to a value greater than zero then both packages and generic cargo will be limited by that amount.
2) If the 'limit cargo' value is set to zero it will prevent generic cargo but will not limit packages (that will be up to the pilot to decide). But if both seat configuration and route have a 'limit cargo' value set and one is zero and the other is not, the non zero value will limit the packages.
3) The 'limit cargo' value will only apply to generic cargo and packages, passenger baggage will no longer counted against that limit.

joefremont wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 22, 2020 8:58 pm

1) If the 'limit cargo' for the either the seat configuration or the routes is set to a value greater than zero then both packages and generic cargo will be limited by that amount.
2) If the 'limit cargo' value is set to zero it will prevent generic cargo but will not limit packages (that will be up to the pilot to decide). But if both seat configuration and route have a 'limit cargo' value set and one is zero and the other is not, the non zero value will limit the packages.
3) The 'limit cargo' value will only apply to generic cargo and packages, passenger baggage will no longer counted against that limit.

It is done.

Actually a very cool idea for those who want to use package cargo only. Thanks as always for your hard work Joe! Maybe I should spin out a quick video on this subject showing where the "limit cargo" boxes are in the system.

FYI, regarding the boxes in the pax seats you showed earlier, it seems to be SOP in the covid era with so much online shopping/shipping and so few pax flying. https://www.portandterminal.com/photo-r ... go-planes/

but WOW I would think the man hours to load planes that way would be way way up - one box at a time through the narrow passenger doors.

The new feature is very cool in practice - especially when using Charter Flight mode as you don't have to modify each and every route.

We already have a proposal on the pilot vote table to make our VA a "no generic cargo airline" starting Jan 1 2021. One word of CAUTION however to all operators: You cannot just throw packages out on the ramp to trade their weight for fuel like you can with generic cargo! Plan your fuel/trip/load carefully!