The Muppet Rough Guide To FSAirlines
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In December 2012 I became an official pilot for UK Direct. So in the great scheme of things in flight simulation I am still a considerable newbie to all this virtual airline flying.  In this article I hope to explain how to get about the skies in a manner that will make a profit for the bosses and of course keep them happy. Oh, and you can make yourself a few virtual dollars as well to spend at the local virtual mall.

Please do remember that this is my personal protocol as to the approach and usage of flying with UKD via FSA client software. The beauty I have discovered flying with UKD is that you can make your experience as realistic as you like. There are very few limitations unlike with other virtual airlines. Lets be honest not many of us can spend hours upon hours sat in front of our monitor without a care in the world. The majority of us have families, wife's and work. (If you can call acting, work!)

Right to get started then: well once your logged on with FSA you need to decide which airport you wish to make your home. Most popular is Stansted (EGSS) as to the amount of flights & aircraft available, however there are flights from the majority of UK airports. I chose Birmingham (EGBB) as its my local, so to speak. You can bounce around as much as you like, just go to the PROFILE button & you'll see “BUY TICKET” appear. Clicking on that allows you to enter the ICAO code & for a small price, hey presto your there. (These buttons are on the FSA webpage)
Next thing is to consider which aircraft you want to fly. If you look on the fleet tab of this website your choice is large either on FSX or FS2004. Once you've decided its important that the particular aircraft you want to fly is actually parked and waiting at your chosen airport. Best method I've found is to go to the main UKD website. Under the tab “CREW RECOURCES” click onto FSAirlines. From there scroll to the bottom of the page & you'll find “The UKDirect Fleet On FSAirlines”. All the information you need is neatly presented. However if you still find your chasing around after your aircraft contact the bosses on the forum & they will help you out.

With that all in place just click on book flight, select which route you fancy & click on the tick box. You should be able to see your chosen aircraft, click on it, press continue & there you have it. All booked with happy campers & cargo awaiting your piloting skills.

Now to business, there are two huge factors that really have a substantial impact upon the reputation and finances of UK Direct.

• Number one; A crash landing.
• Number two; Running out of fuel mid flight resulting in a crash or having to land at a diverted airport.

Both of these issues can be easily avoided by taking positive action which I will explain how later. The reason behind the importance of maintaining a healthy reputation for UKD is beneficial to everyone. Mainly when you book a flight you will get a high amount of passengers and cargo which in turn will make your flight profitable to you and boosting your bank balance so that you can spend it carelessly later.
My settings on FSX are simple but crucial, firstly DON’T have the crash detector on. This is not a cop out or unrealistic in these circumstances as we have all experienced the beauty of FSX making us either dock into another jet, or having ground traffic trying to board as a passenger. At the end of the day this is a simulation and should be fun. WE all know that the FSX program is possessed by forces unknown and is prone to do some really frustrating actions.

I like to write the main facts in a journal for that flight i.e. destination, flight times, fuel details and what cruise altitude I will be taking. Most important of all is the destination airport's runway information along with it's ILS frequency's and the sim rate available for that flight.
Once you've booked your flight look at the briefing document. All the relevant information required is there. Then go to the “fuel calc beta” page. This usually shows two sets of figures but sometimes theres only one.
The two columns are “Fuel (FF based)” and Fuel (statistically). The totals at the bottom is what you need. Personally, I always use the statistic-based fuel total if its given (I believe it tends to be more accurate). Now what I do to ensure I don’t run out of fuel is this; figure given is say 6919kg. Firstly I round it up to the nearest large whole number on this occasion would be 7000kg. Then look at the figure that you have of the jet booked giving you what fuel is already on-board. Then simply take away your statistical fuel figure from on-board fuel figure and there you have your purchase fuel figure. Now comes the crucial part for me, I always add on between 500kg to a 1000kg to the purchase fuel figure. Why? I'll tell you why, this is because we all fly differently, once you have clicked on the FSA tracking client to fly the fuel starts to burn away. Now if your sat at you gate doing all the pre-flight checks, setting up GPS view size, or FDC commands this takes up fuel. Then when you do finally taxi you never know if you'll have to join a queue, or even as I have found at some airports the taxi path is really long to get to the runway. Also I have found I have been asked by ATC to go around, not once but twice!! (Hopefully that was on landing!)
Using this method I have never run out of fuel or been so overloaded that I actually lose money on the trip. (In the real-world you wouldn't start your engines until your ready to taxi but some FS models wont allow this. IMPORTANT: You should also carry extra fuel because the ‘statistical fuel-used’ figure is what was actually used (ie. not what they carried) - if you carry just that amount you will run out! Real-world regulations dictate you should carry enough fuel to reach your destination, fly on to your designated diversion airport and still have enough left to ‘hold’ for 30 minutes.)

Having booked the flight and gathered all the information I need, boot up FSX. I always use the flight planner section and file a flight plan within FSX. I favour the high/low altitude airways + IFR. Set the cruise altitude to fit the trip and to burn fuel as efficiently as possible.
In FSX use the ALT + Enter key to drop in and out of FSX as using alt+tab causes issues. Start up the FSA tracker software and simply enter the magical fuel amount. Then return back to FSX and your all set.

In these last few months I have trained myself to follow certain procedures without fail. These are as follows;

• Taxi speed max 25 kts
• Engage landing lights once at holding point for runway before getting clearance
• Engage full autopilot at 2,000ft to ensure no over speed (Auto throttle set at 220 kts)
• Disengage landing lights at 3,000ft
• Engage landing lights at 3,000ft when coming into land

I know that this is probably not totally accurate in the real world but it works for me and remember I'm sat in my office at home looking at a screen having FUN!

So onto how to avoid those nasty crashes, oh damn run out of fuel over France, watch out incoming!
Firstly using my fuel up method I have not run out of fuel yet. But before that I did on occasion and my advice to solve it all is to use the flight sim pilots best friend ever: PRESS P for pause!
Once paused you can sit back and evaluate what to do. If a crash is inevitable then simply ALT+Enter out of FSX. Go to the FSA tracker and simply press exit. Its as easy as that. It stops all the negative penalties to you and the company which damages the reputation. As explained before it does have a knock on effect to us all.

I have been moments away from landing after a few hours and have had to do this, frustrating I  know but really worth it for the good of everybody. I just kicked the wall and swore, can't kick the dog as he's a Rottweiler and I always lose the scrap to Mr grumpy chops!

As UKD is run so well, professionally and user friendly as much as possible, there are some facts worth bearing in mind. All jets have a status figure in percentage. UKD policy is to service aircraft when they drop to about 96-97%.  Which does cost virtual money.  Hence why there is a financial figure displayed on the main FSA page. From that they can buy new jets and keep the ones they have running up-to standard. Just like in the real world it's not cheap. Repairs cost money, typically for a normal service of a B747 its about v$ 6m for an A-Check, but if left too long the amount can be tripled.  We as pilots can help reduce the loss of the percentage rate of a jet just like in the real world by good landings. The higher the touch down V/S figure seen on your end report file the more stress to the hull of the jet which reduces the status figure. (I think bad landings damage the undercarriage; hull damage is caused by high speed. Everything is susceptible to wear and tear.)

So to finalise this article its all about having fun while asking questions on the forum as they are all a great bunch of guys who have put up with my constant stream of posts; but importantly make a little plan for yourself to ensure hardly any penalties and the knowledge that when the wing does come off you can avert the damage to the company reputation. (Wing coming off? Please report to the office asap...)


Original text by Simon Pal 239
Interfered with by Mark 171

To join UKDirect using the free FS Airlines program click here.