Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

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Cat
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by Cat » Mon Dec 28, 2020 11:43 pm

A simple solution would be to make designated "ports of entry" - the majors - when flying packages between continents. Mind you this would only apply to the package cargo system, people can still make ficticious routes all they want but they can't fly packages inter continental without going through a "port of entry".

So for example, you can still have a route from Twin Falls to Berlin, but it would have no packages. You would have to go over to Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, etc. (a major airport) to find inter continental packages.

Just an idea, trying to think outside the box while searching for the easiest way to fix the podunk to the world package problem. The volume at regionals could then be increased to surrounding major airports thus simulating international goods moving to the hubs where they are then consolidated (in our minds) to inter continental bins that can be loaded on the big birds. This would also give the regional operators "full pay" as the loads would be separate. Twin Falls to Salt Lake City packages and then Salt Lake City has its own larger bins going overseas to Berlin.
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by joefremont » Tue Dec 29, 2020 7:45 am

Restricting international packages to just ports of entry would I think cause more screaming than I would care to endure.

Been trying to think of solutions to this. Easiest solution is for that second 'established connection' segment is to record the longest flight and not add packages beyond that distance. Of course as I think about this, it will prevent packages going to Europe from American Regional airports, it may not add more packages to those regional airports going other places. In the case of those 200kg/2000kg packages at KTWF, they will just end up starting at a different airport.

I do remember doing a RTW flight and ending up some place in Africa, at a little used airport near a large city, was surprised by the number of packages going to the few airports that were close by. We probably should reduce those but I do worry about the placement of packages as sort of a chicken and the egg problem. You don't want to waist energy placing packages nobody is going to use, but you still want to place enough to make it worth while for VA's to open new routes to under served airports.
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by Cat » Tue Dec 29, 2020 1:58 pm

Yeah after sleeping on it, it's the Kobayashi Maru - Star Trek no win scenario. It is what it is and it will never make everyone happy. So I'll just shush and fly regionals with generic cargo. ;)
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by joefremont » Tue Dec 29, 2020 6:47 pm

Please don't shush, if it takes me that long to figure out what's going on there is a problem. The best of intentions often have unintended side effects and I think this is one of them and I think here we have found two. First when placing packages on connected routes, it needs to look not just at, is there activity at that airport but is there activity for that distance range at that airport, and secondly the weight for connected routes is a bit too high, especially when its connected to cities with very large populations. So I will be doing some about these in the not too distant future.

I just need to reprogram the scenario to make it possible to rescue the ship :wink:
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by Cat » Tue Dec 29, 2020 7:11 pm

Is there a way you can put "time limits" on the package engine to ignore flight routes that have not been flown in say 90 days? (120 days might be a better option, this is after all a hobby and not a full time job for 99.9% of the users).

If that were possible, that would weed out the "dead routes" airlines have plugged in that are creating packages that no one is flying.
Then for the airline in question to get packages back on that route, they would have to fly it once again to "activate the code" showing it's now an active route and not a dormant one.

Another option although probably more difficult to code (as I know nothing of the coding part of all this) might be for the package engine to ignore flight routes themselves and only react to flown routes in the previous 90-120 days. The more a route is flown, the more the demand is being shown to the engine to generate more packages. Routes that are flown seldom or not at all will then be at the mercy of the base package engine and/or generic only cargo until they fly the route enough to wake up the package engine showing there is demand between that city pair.
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by joefremont » Tue Dec 29, 2020 8:40 pm

The idea I had on the routes was that if an airline declares there is a route, packages may start to queue up and then when there is enough they could send an AC to collect them.

i started working on a system where when the system is looking for airports within a given minimum and maximum distance, what percent of the flights from that airport are of that same distance, and then reduce the airports probability based on that percentage. So when looking to place 2000 kg packages it looks for airports where the distance is greater than 500 nm, so what are the percentage of flights that are greater than 500 nm? If 0% then they don't get any. But as I think about that, that may be too extreme, then if someone wants to do a connecting flight, they won't get any.

Must think about this some more, maybe not reduce the probablity so it does not drop to more than 10% of the original.
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by joefremont » Tue Dec 29, 2020 10:58 pm

Adjusting the generator to adjust by the ranges seams to work ok, better distribution at KTWF than what was there before, I am going to roll it out and see how it works. Of course its going to take a couple weeks for all the old packages to expire before we see the full impact.

Fingers crossed.
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by Cat » Wed Dec 30, 2020 12:05 am

You have far more patience than me! :lol:

When one stops and thinks about this package system and the work it took to make it worldwide - and then we VA operators whine because it doesn't suit our particular need when we are just one of 1000 airlines ... it makes me really appreciate you and the work you do even more. I will try to keep a more "balanced outlook" going forward as I do realize it's not about any one person or virtual airline. Compromises must be made and accepted for it to work for everyone.
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One thing that has been discussed and I would not like to see is the time clock on packages extended. If you did that then the bigs would just scoop up everything they could find and store them in their own warehouses.
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EDIT: all of my "off topic" discussion regarding "factories" that was intended as humor and Joe's response have been deleted by me as irrelevant to the current thread topic. Sorry about that .... I tend to stray from the path. My bad. :wink:
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by Cat » Wed Dec 30, 2020 8:53 pm

ok THIS does pertain to our topic - I set my pax limit at 3 so I would have enough space to take on one 441 package yet the system won't let me

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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by joefremont » Wed Dec 30, 2020 10:18 pm

Here is a case where the function that is calculating this is looking at the seat configuration and not looking at the passenger limit on the route. And it is the zero fuel weight that is the limiting factor.

One could argue, that while on this flight it will be fine to use the passenger limit on the route, if the flight were cancelled and then rebooked without that limit, or on the next stop none of the packages were unloaded, the aircraft will be overweight.
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by Cat » Thu Dec 31, 2020 2:12 am

yeah it's all too confusing to me anymore .... getting to the point it's not worth the hassle to even attempt packages on GA airplanes.

635 generic but only 435 package ..... doesn't make any sense to me. Oh well.

Not going to start changing out seats every flight just to fit in a package. It's not worth the hassle.

I don't mean to sound harsh or negative, I just have hit my saturation point on the complexity of it all. I just want to load and go fly.
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by XonixZA » Sun Jan 03, 2021 5:35 pm

Hey guys, we're leasing an Airbus A-350 wide body/long haul (A350-900ULR) from G Holding VA. Registration D-AOGQ. My question is why I can only load 350 kg of cargo (packages) on this aircraft, no matter the distance of the flight or the fuel that we need to take onboard. It just doesn't appear to be correct or realistic when I look at what the loads for other aircraft are. Any suggestions, please? I'm flying for Nationwide VA, South Africa. Thanks so much!

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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by joefremont » Sun Jan 03, 2021 10:35 pm

The URL has a reduced cargo hold because of the extra fuel tanks installed there. After reserving space for the baggage that is all the space that is left.
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Re: Cargo Limit Feature Numbers Don't Add Up

Post by XonixZA » Mon Jan 04, 2021 7:11 am

Thank you, Sir, I appreciate your response.

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