Chapter 2: General Operations and Policies
Knowledge and Competency
Generally speaking, joining a virtual airline is not a recommended first step for people new to the world of flight simulation and commercial aviation. The purpose of a virtual airline is to add a layer of structure and “gamification” to the open ended, open world nature of at home flight simulators.
We do not expect our members to know everything and we do not expect our members to come to us with the knowledge and skill set of a fully trained real world airline pilot. However, we do expect a certain baseline of knowledge as to how a commercial airline flight is legally operated as well as a willingness to learn and pursue self-study.
In time, we hope to offer some kind of training programs for our membership once our structure is more robust. We cannot offer that at this time, but we are always happy to field questions, and we hope all members will ensure that they have read and understand this document before they begin booking flights and filing PIREPs.
We want to strike a happy medium. If all you want is a flight tracker that has no restrictions, then something like Volanta, SimToolKitPro, etc. is more of what you’re looking for. We strive to not be stifling with our requirements; we want to be realistic where it matters and relaxed everywhere else. PIREPs will be rejected or invalidated if we see things that show egregious errors, but we will also offer feedback and invite people to seek advice if they are struggling with some aspect of procedure or technique.
As always, if in doubt please ask questions prior to booking a flight and filing a PIREP, it’s much easier to prevent PIREPs being rejected or invalidated that way. Our Discord is the best place for this (invite link on your vAMSYS dashboard) but you can also reach us at admin@virtual-aal.com — welcome!
Activity Requirements
At vAAL we ask all pilots to file 1 PIREP over a rolling 90-day period.
After 90 days without a PIREP have passed and the activity rule has been triggered, pilots will have a grace period of 10 additional days to bring their account active. The activity period can be reset if requested prior to deactivation.
In addition, we ask all new pilots to file 1 PIREP, which has status of 'Complete' or 'Accepted', within 10 days of registration.
PIREPs must be filed via Pegasus to count towards the activity requirement.
Rejected and Invalidated PIREPs do not count towards the activity requirement.
If a pilot’s account is removed due to inactivity, their PIREP history will not be lost, and the account can be reactivated under the same Pilot ID. Pilots should contact the admins via email (admin@virtual-aal.com) or Discord to request activation. Do not try to create a new account; request the old one to be reactivated.
Holidays
vAMSYS includes a holiday function which allows pilots a period of time during which the Activity Requirements no longer apply. vAAL gives pilots an allotment of 180 days per year of holiday time.
To be eligible, the pilot’s account must be older than 10 days – thus, they must have met the New Hire Activity Requirements.
Holidays can be requested by opening the profile menu by clicking the username in the top right of the vAMSYS website and selecting My Settings. Once on the Account Settings page, select the Airline option from the Settings sidebar on the left.
The Holiday Settings section will be at the bottom of the screen and will display the remaining holiday balance and will allow the pilot to input the Holiday Start and Holiday End dates and send the request off for approval.
While on holiday, flights cannot be booked. The holiday period can be cancelled at any time and unused days will be returned to the holiday allotment.
Ranks
To provide a sense of career progression, vAAL has several tiers of ranks which pilots will progress through as they accrue hours, points, and bonus points from their PIREPs.
At this time, vAMSYS does not allow routes or aircraft types to be rank limited; thus, pilots can fly any aircraft and route (providing all livery and aircraft type requirements are followed) regardless of their rank.
vAMSYS will be adding functionality to limit aircraft types and routes based on ranks in the future, and vAAL will implement this functionality as soon as it is launched.
There are Honorary/Staff ranks which will be disbursed at the sole discretion of the admin team for certain purposes. These cannot be qualified for independently or requested.
Transfer Hours
No transfer hours from other virtual airlines or from VATSIM, PilotEdge, IVAO, POSCON, etc. will be accepted. All new pilots start at 0 hours and 0 points and will progress from there.
Time Acceleration, Slewing, and Pausing
Under no circumstances will PIREPs be accepted if time acceleration is used. It is strictly forbidden without exception.
Pausing is allowed during a flight. PIREPs that have over sixty (60) minutes of cumulative time paused will be sent for a review – please leave a comment explaining the reason for the long pause time.
We do not have a limit for pause time, but we do ask pilots to not pause excessively. This is a policy we are still trying to develop, so for the time being it is a judgment call by the admin/staff team on whether or not someone is abusing pausing during flights.
Generally speaking, we mainly ask that a flight be completed during one “sitting” — please avoid starting a flight in the evening, pausing overnight, and finishing it the next day. If a long haul flight is long enough that you can leave the simulator running and come back to it in the morning and land, that is acceptable — rest periods are a thing in the real world, so we are not going to deprive you of that in the simulator. Pausing at TOD after an overnight flight is acceptable, but again please try to finish your flight as soon as is practicable after that (meaning don’t leave an overnight flight paused all day at the TOD and come back to complete the flight in the evening if you can avoid it).
We understand that plans change after a flight has been started, but if something changes after you’ve started a flight to where you will have to leave the simulator paused for a long time before you can complete the flight, we recommend you instead abandon the flight and restart it later when you can complete it in a reasonable amount of time.
The reasoning for our caution around pausing is twofold: one, we routinely see cases where a flight being paused causes a glitch with the flight tracking software, corrupting the PIREP log or causing it to never come out of the paused state to track the rest of the flight, and there is no easy way for us to fix this for a pilot without the pilot using up their monthly PIREP claim; two, particularly with MSFS, active pause can cause the aircraft to freeze in position while the flight time clock continues to run, incorrectly and unfairly inflating the flight time for that PIREP, which creates an opportunity to abuse the system to quickly accrue unearned hours. Active pause doesn’t always do this, but we do see it fairly regularly and when we see PIREPs where this happened they are invalidated.
Slewing during a flight is prohibited.
Locations for the Beginning and End of a Tracked Flight
A flight must begin and end at either a gate or a remote stand in a cold and dark or turnaround power state. Please do not start a flight on a runway or taxiway or with the aircraft powered up with engines on.
We understand that it is possible to sometimes forget to start Pegasus tracking at the gate, so within reason we are fine with tracking being started before takeoff. If we notice a trend of this happening we will inquire and PIREPs may be rejected or invalidated as a result.
Historic Routes
Some historic flights from past eras of American Airlines will be included in our schedules for pilots who may be interested in exploring these alternate schedules. These flights are subject to all the same PIREP scoring, points, and operational requirements outlined in this document for regular flights and are not restricted to any rank levels.
When booking a flight, you will see a text box appear on the booking screen after a flight number is selected with a remark describing the route. Modern/current flights will not have this text box.
PIREP Processing Statuses
All PIREPs are processed automatically when submitted and may take up to ten (10) minutes to be processed by the system. In certain circumstances, which will be discussed in more detail later, a PIREP will fail automatic scoring and will require a manual review by the admin and staff team. A manual review can take longer, up to a week in some circumstances, but every attempt is made to go through the manual review queue several times per week.
Once processed by the automatic scorer, the PIREP will receive one of six statuses. These are:
- Accepted: PIREP has passed automated scoring and is now complete.
- Awaiting Review: PIREP has failed automated scoring and requires manual review.
- Rejected: PIREP will grant hours to the pilot but no points.
- Invalidated: PIREP will grant neither hours nor points.
- Processing: PIREP is undergoing processing.
- Reply Needed: PIREP needs your input prior to review by the staff team.
It is important to understand that having PIREPs sitting in the review queue does not prevent you from booking and flying additional flights. The system may require a reply on a PIREP — see the following section — before it lets you book a flight, but once all PIREPs that require it have been replied to, you can book a new flight and continue flying. Our team will review PIREPs that are sent for manual review as soon as possible, but keep in mind that review times are dependent on staff availability.
PIREP Reply Needed
PIREPs with the status of Reply Needed require prompt attention by the pilot, who will not be able to book or start a new flight until they leave a response on the PIREP. No notification will be sent via email; the next time the pilot tries to book a flight they will be prevented from doing so and instead will see the following:
Clicking the Reply Needed button will take the user to the View PIREP screen, where they will need to scroll to the bottom to see the PIREP Comments section and click the purple Add Comment button to leave a reply.
Leaving a comment on a PIREP via Pegasus or within vAMSYS will automatically result in the PIREP being sent for manual review. This should not be done unless a comment has been requested as outlined above, or if the pilot knows in advance that the PIREP will fail auto processing and the pilot wishes to account for the circumstances in advance.
Please note that rejections or invalidations of PIREPs due to landing rates are not up for negotiation. We apply these rules universally, regardless of alleged circumstances. Leaving a comment claiming a gust of wind, low frame rates, or some other extenuating circumstances caused the hard landing only risks a PIREP's review being further delayed as it will move the PIREP into the manual review queue. It is best to just accept the situation, learn from it, and seek to further refine your landing technique.
We are not able to modify, remove, or delete the landing rate recorded by Pegasus.
Livery Review
Every time a PIREP is submitted, Pegasus and vAMSYS logs the livery used on the flight and compares the logged livery against a database of previously flown liveries.
When it flags a livery as having been seen for the first time, it is placed into a manual review queue for the admin/staff team to check. This allows us to ensure you have flown the correct aircraft type and used an appropriate livery.
Having the PIREP held for livery review is not necessarily an indication that there is a problem with your livery and/or PIREP. If you used an appropriate livery and your PIREP was marked by the system as Awaiting Review, please feel free to continue flying and the member of staff reviewing the PIREP will approve the livery and it will be added to the approved livery list.
It is important to understand that a previously approved livery may be flagged for review again in the future. An update to the addon that was used, a change to the livery’s folder name, changes to the aircraft’s name in its configuration files – things of this nature may prompt a re-review. It is not necessary for you to tell us that you’ve used a livery before, or that it came off of the Recommended Livery list, etc., as it will not speed up your PIREP’s review, nor will it prevent additional reviews in the future.
Livery Requirements for PIREP Approval
We ask, but do not require, pilots to use a period correct livery for the flight they’re operating. The bare metal livery is appropriate to schedules from approximately 1968 through 2013; the current/modern livery is appropriate for any schedules after 2013. When/if schedules are added from before 1968, or from other American Airlines heritage carriers, we will provide livery guides to our members.
The pre-2013 bare metal livery is not appropriate on aircraft that never wore it. You may find fictional/”retro” bare metal liveries for aircraft like the A320; these are not approved and your PIREP may be invalidated. No narrow-body Airbus ever wore the AAL bare metal livery.
Please note that the AAL Airbus fleet does not wear any heritage liveries on A320s. Instead, they are only on the A319 and A321. The Piedmont, Allegheny, PSA, and America West heritage liveries are all only on A319s and the US Airways heritage livery is only on the A321. As such, heritage liveries should not be used on the A320 as they would be fictional, and fictional liveries are prohibited by the FOM, with PIREPs subject to rejection or invalidation.
We ask, but do not require, pilots to use a livery that matches the booked American Eagle partner. These partners are: Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, PSA Airlines, Air Wisconsin, Republic Airways, and SkyWest Airlines.
For example, if you book a PSA CRJ700 flight, we ask that you use an American Eagle/PSA CRJ700 livery, but an American Eagle/SkyWest CRJ700 would be acceptable instead. To put it even more plainly, our global requirement that the booked aircraft type and flown aircraft type always applies, and for American Eagle flights the only other requirement is that an American Eagle livery is used, from any American Eagle partner.
Please note that many regional operators operate flights on behalf of multiple airlines; you must use an American Eagle livery for any American Eagle operators who also operate for other airlines. In other words, a Delta SkyWest livery is not appropriate for a SKW flight at vAAL, an Air Wisconsin United Express livery is not appropriate for an AWI flight at vAAL, etc.
Heritage/historic airline flights must be operated with a livery that matches the operator. In other words, a Reno Air MD-80 flight must use a Reno Air MD-80 livery, an American MD-80 livery will be invalidated.
We ask, but do not require, that for heritage/historic flights the livery also matches the timetable year. For example, TWA 1988 flights should use a TWA double stripe livery, not a Globe livery.
Aircraft Types - Categories and Substitutions
For our modern schedules, vAAL assigns an aircraft category to a route based on what aircraft operates that route in the real world at the time the schedule loaded in the system was current.
Instances will arise where the aircraft that was correct as of the last schedule update is no longer correct. Due to the way our software works, you cannot substitute the current, correct aircraft in place of the previous aircraft; doing so will cause your PIREP to be invalidated. We understand that this possible situation could be frustrating, but instances where there is no alternate flight number for the same pairing with the desired aircraft will be rare, and we try to update schedules at least once a month, at which time the equipment assignment will be updated.
For the purposes of booking flights and flying PIREPs, the work has already been done for you when it comes to determining what kind of aircraft can be used on the booked flight. Based on the airline operating the route and the aircraft assigned to that route, we have also added any other aircraft to that route that a) are in that category and b) operate for that airline.
For example, if AAL123 from KABC to KDEF is operated with an A319, you will be able to book the A319, A320, A321, or A21N on that flight. For more information, please see the aircraft category tables below.
Please also note that vAMSYS's functionality does not allow us to restrict aircraft types or categories by rank. All aircraft and routes are available to use starting at 0 hours.
We believe this system provides sufficient flexibility to allow members to operate fairly realistically without making things an unstructured free-for-all.
An example of how this system looks in practice:
Modern Schedules:
| Category | Aircraft Types |
|---|---|
| Commuter 1 | CRJ2, CRJ7 |
| Commuter 2 | CRJ7, CRJ9 |
| Commuter 3 | E145 |
| Commuter 4 | E170, E175 |
| Mainline Narrow-body A | A319, A320, A321, A21N |
| Mainline Narrow-body B | B738, B38M |
| Mainline Wide-body A | B772, B77W |
| Mainline Wide-body B | B788, B789 |
Historic Schedules (American, 2000):
| Category | Aircraft Types |
|---|---|
| Historic Mainline Narrow-body A1 | MD-82, MD-83 |
| Historic Mainline Narrow-body A2 [^1] | MD-82, MD-83, MD-90 |
| Historic Mainline Narrow-body B | B727 |
| Historic Mainline Narrow-body C | B738 |
| Historic Mainline Narrow-body D | F100 |
| Historic Mainline Wide-body A | A306 |
| Historic Mainline Wide-body B | B772, DC-10, MD-11 |
- The MD-90 is only combined with the MD-82/MD-83 on ex-Reno Air flights where the MD-90 was kept. The MD-90 is not an acceptable substitution for the MD-82/83 outside of these routes.
Historic Schedules (TWA, 1988) [^2]:
| Category | Aircraft Types |
|---|---|
| Historic Mainline Narrow-bodies [^3] | B721, B722, MD82, MD83 |
| Historic Mainline Wide-bodies [^4] | B742, B762, B763 |
- The TWA timetable from 1988 does not put specific aircraft types on routes, it only differentiates between narrow-body routes and wide-body routes. It is the responsibility of the pilot flying the route that the aircraft selected can make the trip with sufficient fuel to reach the destination plus any required alternates.
- The DC-9 was excluded due to the lack of an acceptable add-on. The Coolsky DC-9 for P3D would be acceptable but based on our userbase’s activity there is minimal interest in P3D so we didn’t include it. Contact us at ops@virtual-aal.com if you would like to use it prior to filing a PIREP with it.
- The B742 may be removed on routes where the origin or destination airport cannot accommodate the aircraft (e.g., KLGA). The L1011 was used at this time but is not included in the schedules due to the lack of an acceptable add-on.
Aircraft Types - Requirements for PIREP Approval
When booking a flight, it is up to each pilot to ensure that the aircraft type being booked is suitable to the mission in terms of capacity and range. Aircraft are included in categories per the previous section, but it is not always possible to validate that all aircraft types assigned to a route via category are appropriate to that route. A good example of this would be mainline flights from the west coast to Hawaii -- these are usually operated by A21Ns, which bring the rest of the Airbus narrow-body fleet with them via their category. You may find that the A320 may not be up for the trip, for example, and so you should not book it. PIREPs will be invalidated if a type is booked that cannot complete the flight and the flight ends in a ditching, crash, or diversion.
You must book the same type of aircraft that you fly.
Keep in mind the following guidelines:
- The Fenix is an A320ceo (A320) and is not an A320neo (A20N). You must book it as an A320 or the PIREP will be invalidated.
- The FBW is an A320neo (A20N) and is not an A320ceo (A320). American Airlines does not currently operate A20Ns; this add-on may not be used.
- The Toliss A321neo must be booked as an A321neo (A21N) and not an A321ceo (A321) and it is important that you make sure your livery folder name does not reflect a CEO livery (engine types are the biggest giveaway here).
- The PMDG 737-800 is a B737-800 (NG/B738) and is not a B737 MAX 8 (B7M8). You must book it as a B738 or the PIREP will be invalidated.
Approved Aircraft Add-ons
If there is an add-on that you don’t see in one of the tables below, please double check with us before you use it for a PIREP. Contact us via Discord or email. There may be something we’ve overlooked, or there may be a reason why we’ve excluded it. Please do not assume.
Mainline
If a cell is empty (-) then there is no approved aircraft add-on for that aircraft type for that simulator
| Aircraft | MSFS | P3D | XP11/12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319 CFM or IAE | Fenux A319 | FSLabs A319 Aerosoft A319 | Toliss A319 |
| Airbus A320 CFM or IAE | Fenix A320 [1] | FSLabs A320 Aerosoft A320 | FlightFactor A320 |
| Airbus A321 CFM or IAE | Fenix A321 | FSLabs A321 Aerosoft A321 | Toliss A321 |
| Airbus A321neo CFM LEAP | - | - | Toliss A321neo |
| Boeing 737-800 | PMDG 737-800 [2] | PMDG 737-800 | Zibo 737-800 LevelUp 737-800 |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | - | iFly 737 MAX 8 | WW 737 MAX 8 |
| Boeing 777-200ER | - | PMDG 777-200ER | FlightFactor 777-200ER |
| Boeing 777-300ER | PMDG 777-300ER | PMDG 777-300ER | FlightFactor 777-300ER |
| Boeing 787-8 | Kuro 787-8 | QualityWings 787-8 | Magknight 787-8 |
| Boeing 787-9 | Horizon 787-9 | QualityWings 787-9 | Magknight 787-9 |
- The Asobo/FlyByWire/FBW Airbus is an A320neo (A20N) and is not an A320ceo (A320). American Airlines does not currently operate A20Ns; this add-on may not be used and substituting it for the A320 will invalidate the PIREP.
- Only the 737-800 is acceptable as that is all American operates; flying the 737-600, -700, or -900/900ER will invalidate the PIREP.
Regional
If a cell is empty (-) then there is no approved aircraft add-on for that aircraft type for that simulator
| Aircraft | MSFS | P3D | XP11/12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bombardier CRJ-200 [1] [2] | - | - | Jrollon CRJ-200 [3] |
| Bombardier CRJ-700 [1] [2] | Aerosoft CRJ-700 | Aerosoft CRJ-700 | AD Simulations CRJ-700 |
| Bombardier CRJ-900 [1] [2] | Aerosoft CRJ-900 | Aerosoft CRJ-900 | AD Simulations CRJ-900 |
| Embraer ERJ-145 | - | FeelThere ERJ-145 | X-Crafts ERJ-145 |
| Embraer ERJ-170 | - | FeelThere ERJ-170 | X-Crafts ERJ-170 |
| Embraer ERJ-175 | - | FeelThere ERJ-170 | X-Crafts ERJ-175 |
- The CRJ-200, CRJ-700, and CRJ-900 are not interchangeable types; they cannot be substituted for each other; i.e., if a CRJ-700 is booked, a CRJ-900 cannot be flown.
- The CRJ-550 is a derivative of the CRJ-700 but is a variant that no American Eagle partner operates on American Eagle flights; it may not be used.
- This is a very old add-on, it is only included here because we believe it to still be the most recent CRJ-200 for any simulator, we do not know if it is compatible with XP12 and it most likely will only work in XP11; it was developed for XP10. Use at your own risk.
Historic
If a cell is empty (-) then there is no approved aircraft add-on for that aircraft type for that simulator
| Aircraft | MSFS | P3D | XP11/12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A300-600 | iniBuilds A306 | - | iniBuilds A300-600 |
| Fokker F100 | - | - | - |
| Boeing 727-200 | - | CaptainSim 727-200 | FlyJSim 727-200 |
| Boeing 737-800 | PMDG 737-800 | PMDG 737-800 | Zibo 737-800 LevelUp 737-800 |
| Boeing 757-200 | - | QualityWings 757-200 CaptainSim 757-200 | FlightFactor 757-200 |
| Boeing 767-200 Boeing 767-200ER | - | - | FlightFactor 767-200ER |
| Boeing 767-300ER | - | CaptainSim 767-300ER | FlightFactor 767-300ER |
| Boeing 777-200ER | - | PMDG 777-200ER | FlightFactor 777-200ER |
| Douglas DC-10 | - | JustFlight DC-10 | - |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-11 | TFDi MD-11 | - | - [1] |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-80 | Leonardo MaddogX | Leonardo MaddogX | Rotate MD-80 |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-90 | - | - | - |
- The Rotate MD-11 only models the Freighter variant; a Passenger variant has not been released, we do not allow the freighter version to be used.
Prohibited Aircraft Add-ons
We understand that by prohibiting certain add-ons, we may disappoint some users. We also understand that these prohibitions can entirely exclude an aircraft type from one simulator or another. An aircraft being included in the schedules does not mean that any add-on representing that model is approved for PIREPs.
The vAAL team wants these aircraft types to be represented as badly, if not more so, than our users do. We have a certain standard of realism and quality that we want to promote, and so for add-ons that we feel fall outside of these standards, or add-ons that we think take advantage of the flight simulation community, we choose to exclude them so that we are able to deliver on one of our goals: maximizing realism where it counts.
The following aircraft are prohibited from use; any PIREP filed with them will be invalidated.
- MSFS FlyByWire/Default A320neo
- American does not operate the A320neo (A20N), so it is not an acceptable substitution for an A320ceo (A320).
- MSFS CaptainSim 767
- MSFS CaptainSim 777
- MSFS LatinVFR Airbus Family
- This includes any and all mods that use the LVFR family as a basis such as the Horizon mods.
- MSFS Bredok3D Boeing 737 MAX
- MSFS Virtualcol ERJ-170/175/190/195
- MSFS FSS E175
- This will remain on the Prohibited Add-Aircraft Add-on list during Early Access period until they have implemented the custom FMS, VNAV/LNAV, and other promised features that will make this a fully fleshed out simulation.
- MSFS Sky Simulations MD-11
- MSFS RHDSimulations 767-300ER
- XP11/12 Toliss Airbus A320neo
- American does not operate the A320neo (A20N), so it is not an acceptable substitution for an A320ceo (A320).
- Visual only modifications, or user-created modifications, that turn the A320neo into an A320ceo are not allowed.
- XP11/12 Rotate MD-11
- The add-on only simulates the freighter variant and not the passenger, it will be approved when/if they add the passenger version.
Common Causes of PIREPs Failing Automatic Review
| Name | Condition | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Livery flagged for review. No reply needed unless contacted. See FOM for more information. | See next section | Sent for manual staff review. Reply not needed unless we ask. |
| Livery automatically rejected. Contact staff with questions or see FOM. | See next section | Sent for manual staff review. Reply not needed unless we ask. |
| Longer than anticipated flight length. Please leave a comment if anything unusual delayed the flight. | Flight took longer than average or scheduled time by more than 25% or 30 extra minutes. | Sent for manual staff review. Reply not needed unless we ask. |
| Time acceleration detected. PIREP may be invalidated, please leave a comment. | - | Sent for manual staff review. Pilot reply required. Likely invaldiation. |
| Fuel increase detected during flight. PIREP may be invalidated, please leave a comment. | - | Sent for manual staff review. Pilot reply required. Likely invaldiation. |
| Flight paused over 60 cumulative minutes, please leave a comment stating the reason. | - | Sent for manual staff review. Pilot reply required. Likely approval. |
| Landing rate over -500 fpm, PIREP rejected (hours granted, no points). | Landing rate greater than -500fpm. | Rejected (hours kept, no points granted) with no exceptions. |
| Landing rate over -600 fpm, PIREP invalidated (no hours or points granted). | Landing rate greater than -600fpm. | Invalidated (neither hours nor points granted) with no exceptions. |
| Diversion detected, please state reason for diversion. | Flight landed at an airport other than the booked destination. | Sent for manual staff review. Pilot reply required. Approval contingent on scenario/appropriateness of diversion. |
| Multiple landings or large bounce detected, please describe the cause. | - | Sent for manual staff review. Pilot reply required. Likely approval. |
| Negative points, please review PIREP and leave any information relevant to cause(s). | - | Sent for manual staff review. Pilot reply required. Likely invaldiation. |
Common Causes of Liveries Failing Automatic Review
The top three reasons that a livery fails the initial automatic review at vAAL are:
- The booked aircraft type and the flown aircraft type do not match
- The most common occurence for this vAAL is pilots mixing up Airbus CEOs and Airbus NEOs, or mixing up 737 NGs and 737 MAXs. It's important to understand that an A320ceo and an A320neo are not the same thing, so too for the B738 and B38M.
- The booked airline and the flown airline does not match
- For whatever reason, the MD-80 fleet is the most common place where we see this. You cannot book a TWA, RenoAir, PSA, etc. MD-80 flight and use an American livery, or vice versa.
- Fictional livery used
- The most common occurrence for this at vAAL is pilots using a bare metal livery on a plane that did not/could not wear it. For example, any narrowbody Airbus never wore the bare metal livery, thus it's fictional and not approved for use.
It is important to understand that as far as vAMSYS is concerned, a "livery" is more than the paint job on the airplane -- vAMSYS considers a livery to be the paint job on the outside of the airplane plus the aircraft fleet you used. Each time that livery is reviewed as a combined entity, it is compared against the booked airline and the booked aircraft type. If it doesn't match in any category, the livery is rejected.
A practical example:
- Booked: AAL123, Boeing 737-800; Flown: PMDG Boeing 737-800 AirCal Heritage N917NN; Outcome: Approved
- Booked: AAL123, Boeing 737 MAX 8; Flown: PMDG Boeing 737-800 AirCal Heritage N917NN; Outcome: Rejected
We frequently see situations like the above where the pilot is upset about the review and says something like "I've used that livery 100 times before and it was fine" -- that may well be true! But those 100 times where it was used and approved were probably on flights that were correctly booked as a B738, and thus it passed muster each of those 100 times. On the 101st time a B38M was inadvertently booked and that livery that was so confidently approvable is no longer valid due to user error. Be careful!
Aircraft Scoring Rules
Each aircraft has a unique set of scoring criteria which determines what items grant or remove points from a PIREP total when processed. The example set of aircraft scoring rules which follows is for the B738 and is mostly the same for all other aircraft types in the vAAL fleet.
It’s important to keep in mind that some scoring rules are fleet dependant (e.g., starting Engine 2 first for the 737 fleet vs. starting Engine 1 first for the Airbus fleet). Scoring rules for each fleet type are viewable in vAMSYS under Documents > Point Manual.
There are some instances where a new or rare addon may flag events such as flap extensions with different values from what vAMSYS and Pegasus are currently configured to recognize and as a result may result in PIREPs being flagged with inaccurate violations. The admin and staff will catch as many of these as possible during review and will update the scorers to reflect these new variables whenever possible.
Pilots should view any positive points values as bonus points and any negative points as a required procedure. For example, Single-Engine Taxi should be done whenever it is practicable to do so, but it is more important to ensure the minimum engine warm-up or cooling time is met should the departure or arrival gate be too close to the runway to taxi on one engine and warm-up/cool down.
Landing Rates
It has become fashionable in the flight simulation community to pursue landing rates as low as possible. While a smooth landing is satisfying to pilots both real and virtual, it is not advantageous or safe to pursue a landing with a low vertical speed as the top priority.
To discourage this behavior, we have made our landing rate scorer binary – your landing was safe (less than 500 fpm), or it wasn’t (greater than 600 fpm). Between 500 and 600 fpm your PIREP will be rejected (hours granted but no points) while PIREPs greater than 600 fpm will be invalidated (no hours or points granted).
We recommend you target a consistent landing rate between -150 and -300 fpm.
PIREP Claims
All attempts should be made to file PIREPs via Pegasus. Because it might not always be possible to file automatically, vAMSYS provides the ability to file a PIREP Claim. This can be accessed via Flight Centre drop down menu within vAMSYS.
You should only use this function if Pegasus crashed during your flight or if you cannot otherwise file a PIREP via Pegasus for a flight you began tracking with Pegasus. If you fail to start tracking your flight in Pegasus prior to takeoff, we will allow you to file a claim, but please keep in mind the frequency limit outlined below.
Due to the great potential of abuse, you may only submit one (1) Claim per calendar month.
You must include with your Claim either screenshots from another flight tracking program like Volanta, or a link to your flight’s history on VATSIM. Claims filed without proof may be invalidated.
Neither Accepted nor Rejected Claims count towards the Activity Requirement.
Please note that abuse of this system may result in rejection of subsequent Claims and/or PIREPs filed with Pegasus and may result in permanent removal from vAAL.
Group Flights and Online Networks
We encourage, but do not require, pilots to utilize VATSIM and other online networks, and from time to time we may organize group flights which will usually be online and sometimes may be done along with a YouTube/Twitch streamer.
In all scenarios we require pilots to firstly comply entirely with the policies of the platform(s) in use as they are representing vAAL. Any pilots who are found to have violated any of these policies will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including permanent removal of their account.
Secondly, we require pilots to follow our own Code of Conduct and Bylaws as we do in any offline vAAL activity. Any pilots who are found to have violated any of these policies will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including permanent removal of their account.
Finally, we require pilots to follow the procedures found in this document and any future checklists, AOM/FCOMs, etc. that may be released, while flying with others or online. In representing vAAL you represent the abilities and qualities we wish to be known for, and your example is what others will judge us by. For that reason, we ask that pilots wait to fly online until they are confident in their ability to correctly operate their aircraft and to follow ATC instructions. We encourage anyone to seek guidance and tutoring if they need assistance. Repeated instances of immature or incompetent behavior online will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including permanent removal of their account.