The pilot at the simulator, diversions, cancellations and stopovers
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The pilot at the simulator
ratings, speeds, weight and runway, crashes and flights without a job
What you may fly and what AI pilots may
You as the player at the simulator need no licence or rating: you can fly any type the company owns or rents. The SEP, MEP, helicopter qualifications, the type rating from 5,700 kg MTOW and the IR instrument rating apply only to hired AI pilots — what each needs and how to train it is in the crew guide. The type in the simulator should match the type in the game; when it does not, the tracker asks about a substitute and checks the limits of the type you actually fly.
Speeds: IAS, TAS, GS and Mach
IAS is the indicated airspeed on the airspeed indicator — VMO is checked on it. TAS is the true airspeed through the air and at altitude it is much higher than IAS. GS is the ground speed, TAS plus or minus the wind, and it is never compared with the type limit. The Mach number is the ratio to the speed of sound; at altitude the limit is MMO, not VMO. An A330 at FL350 thus flies about 262 kt IAS, M0.82, 480 kt TAS and with a tailwind 530 kt over the ground — and is within the limit. The type limits are in the Details window (Speed limits in the game) and in the tracker.
Overspeed
Above VMO or MMO the tracker warns with a sound and a bar in the window. An overspeed is only at least 5 seconds in a row above VMO + 5 % or above MMO + 0.02 (for the A330 347 kt IAS or M0.88); a shorter blip does not count. The tracker counts the overspeeds (“overspeed 1/3”) and overspeed no. 3 or 5 minutes above the limit in total voids the flight. The server works out the same from the track.
Weight, fuel and range
The take-off weight is the empty aircraft plus payload plus fuel and must not exceed MTOW. Dispatch buys fuel for the leg with a reserve; what is already in the tanks stays there — and surplus fuel takes the place of payload. The owner can therefore defuel at the stand (dispatch, next to refuelling) and gets back 50 % of the fuel price at that airport. A new aircraft has 10 % of its tanks, a rental aircraft 50 %. The range depends on the payload: with a full load it is shortest, an empty aircraft reaches the ferry range of the type.
Runway needed by weight
The runway in the catalogue applies to an aircraft loaded to MTOW. A lighter aircraft takes off from a shorter one — the take-off run grows roughly with the square of the weight — and the landing follows the landing weight, which is lower by the fuel burnt. It never goes below 60 % of the catalogue. When the runway is too short, the message names the airport, the runway length, the type and the weight; taking less payload or fuel helps. The job board and the airport filters stay careful with the runway for MTOW.
Crashes
A crash report from X-Plane is not taken: X-Plane raises it even after a collapsed landing gear and keeps it even after the aircraft is reloaded. The tracker recognises a crash from the impact — G above 5 g held for at least 0.5 s, or a touchdown faster than the write-off impact rate: 1,200 ft/min, ×1.50 for aircraft built for grass and gravel, ×1.25 for heavies above 100 t. Then the flight ends without pay, the jobs on board fail and the aircraft is written off; the insurance pays what it covers. A weaker impact is a hard landing: it damages components and the insurance settles the claim after the flight. MSFS restarts the flight itself after a crash, so there the crash is still reported and the server decides from the track how bad it is — a slow crash on the ground (below 300 ft/min) is a collapsed gear. When the aircraft is broken in X-Plane and cannot fly on, cancel or divert the flight.
Rented and other companies’ aircraft
An aircraft you fly that does not belong to your company — from a player, a rental company or an alliance — is never written off; at worst it is heavily damaged. You pay the repair at once, the aircraft is repaired at the nearest airport and you pay the owner a fine of 5 % of its market value (about $15,000 for a C172, about $2 M for an A320 at 5 %). The lease ends, the flight is without pay and the jobs on board fail. The owner gets a notification and receives the aircraft back in the condition it was lent.
Flight without a job
For the selected aircraft in dispatch there is “Flight without a job”. An empty ferry goes anywhere — type the ICAO code or pick it on the map. A local flight takes off and lands at the same airport: circuits, training or sightseeing without a job; you choose the time from a quarter of an hour to eight hours and the fuel is worked out from it. You pay fuel and fees, nothing is paid out, the hours count. Only the player flies it. A flight picked in Operations shows on the map.
Start and end of tracking
The tracker starts recording a flight by itself when the aircraft is at the departure airport, and closes it by itself after landing and a minute parked. In its Settings → Flight both can be switched to manual: you then start a new flight with the Start tracking button and end it after landing with the End flight button — both are in the main and the compact window. Ending works even after the simulator is shut down. An unfinished flight always resumes by itself after the tracker crashes.
Diversion, cancellation and stopovers
when a flight ends elsewhere, when you cancel it and a trip with several stops
Diversion
When you land elsewhere than at the destination, report a diversion — from the tracker window or in Operations. A diversion is not cheating and the flight is not voided. The cargo stays at the diversion airport and you carry it on with a second leg; the agreed pay is not recalculated and the second leg earns nothing extra.
Accepted and unaccepted diversion
The server accepts a diversion when it can prove it: a failure it rolled for the flight, fuel below 1.2× the final reserve, weather below minima at the destination or a closed destination. An accepted diversion moves the job deadlines by the repair time, at most 24 h, and costs no reputation. A pilot decision is legitimate, only without relief: the deadline stays and reputation drops by 0.3 points. Within 25 miles of the destination there is no relief — that close it is about range or the runway. Landing off an airport is not a diversion but an accident.
Cancelling a flight
A dispatched flight can be cancelled in the Logbook and in Operations, even after take-off. The aircraft returns to the departure airport, the bookings keep waiting and the flight can be dispatched again. Fuel and parking stay paid and nothing is paid out.
Stopovers
Bookings to several destinations can be joined in the briefing into a trip with stopovers — at most 3 stops, the order is set by the server (always the nearest next one). At every stop unloading and loading takes 10 minutes + 4 minutes per tonne + 3 minutes per ten passengers. The tracker counts down the unloading and chimes when the leg may depart; the server dispatches the next leg itself after the previous one is closed. When the next leg cannot be dispatched, the cargo waits at the stopover and you dispatch it by hand.
Based on the in-game help and manual (Help tab) — the numbers are the default rule values; the in-game manual shows the ones the server is using right now. Post questions and experience in this thread.
The pilot at the simulator
ratings, speeds, weight and runway, crashes and flights without a job
What you may fly and what AI pilots may
You as the player at the simulator need no licence or rating: you can fly any type the company owns or rents. The SEP, MEP, helicopter qualifications, the type rating from 5,700 kg MTOW and the IR instrument rating apply only to hired AI pilots — what each needs and how to train it is in the crew guide. The type in the simulator should match the type in the game; when it does not, the tracker asks about a substitute and checks the limits of the type you actually fly.
Speeds: IAS, TAS, GS and Mach
IAS is the indicated airspeed on the airspeed indicator — VMO is checked on it. TAS is the true airspeed through the air and at altitude it is much higher than IAS. GS is the ground speed, TAS plus or minus the wind, and it is never compared with the type limit. The Mach number is the ratio to the speed of sound; at altitude the limit is MMO, not VMO. An A330 at FL350 thus flies about 262 kt IAS, M0.82, 480 kt TAS and with a tailwind 530 kt over the ground — and is within the limit. The type limits are in the Details window (Speed limits in the game) and in the tracker.
Overspeed
Above VMO or MMO the tracker warns with a sound and a bar in the window. An overspeed is only at least 5 seconds in a row above VMO + 5 % or above MMO + 0.02 (for the A330 347 kt IAS or M0.88); a shorter blip does not count. The tracker counts the overspeeds (“overspeed 1/3”) and overspeed no. 3 or 5 minutes above the limit in total voids the flight. The server works out the same from the track.
Weight, fuel and range
The take-off weight is the empty aircraft plus payload plus fuel and must not exceed MTOW. Dispatch buys fuel for the leg with a reserve; what is already in the tanks stays there — and surplus fuel takes the place of payload. The owner can therefore defuel at the stand (dispatch, next to refuelling) and gets back 50 % of the fuel price at that airport. A new aircraft has 10 % of its tanks, a rental aircraft 50 %. The range depends on the payload: with a full load it is shortest, an empty aircraft reaches the ferry range of the type.
Runway needed by weight
The runway in the catalogue applies to an aircraft loaded to MTOW. A lighter aircraft takes off from a shorter one — the take-off run grows roughly with the square of the weight — and the landing follows the landing weight, which is lower by the fuel burnt. It never goes below 60 % of the catalogue. When the runway is too short, the message names the airport, the runway length, the type and the weight; taking less payload or fuel helps. The job board and the airport filters stay careful with the runway for MTOW.
Crashes
A crash report from X-Plane is not taken: X-Plane raises it even after a collapsed landing gear and keeps it even after the aircraft is reloaded. The tracker recognises a crash from the impact — G above 5 g held for at least 0.5 s, or a touchdown faster than the write-off impact rate: 1,200 ft/min, ×1.50 for aircraft built for grass and gravel, ×1.25 for heavies above 100 t. Then the flight ends without pay, the jobs on board fail and the aircraft is written off; the insurance pays what it covers. A weaker impact is a hard landing: it damages components and the insurance settles the claim after the flight. MSFS restarts the flight itself after a crash, so there the crash is still reported and the server decides from the track how bad it is — a slow crash on the ground (below 300 ft/min) is a collapsed gear. When the aircraft is broken in X-Plane and cannot fly on, cancel or divert the flight.
Rented and other companies’ aircraft
An aircraft you fly that does not belong to your company — from a player, a rental company or an alliance — is never written off; at worst it is heavily damaged. You pay the repair at once, the aircraft is repaired at the nearest airport and you pay the owner a fine of 5 % of its market value (about $15,000 for a C172, about $2 M for an A320 at 5 %). The lease ends, the flight is without pay and the jobs on board fail. The owner gets a notification and receives the aircraft back in the condition it was lent.
Flight without a job
For the selected aircraft in dispatch there is “Flight without a job”. An empty ferry goes anywhere — type the ICAO code or pick it on the map. A local flight takes off and lands at the same airport: circuits, training or sightseeing without a job; you choose the time from a quarter of an hour to eight hours and the fuel is worked out from it. You pay fuel and fees, nothing is paid out, the hours count. Only the player flies it. A flight picked in Operations shows on the map.
Start and end of tracking
The tracker starts recording a flight by itself when the aircraft is at the departure airport, and closes it by itself after landing and a minute parked. In its Settings → Flight both can be switched to manual: you then start a new flight with the Start tracking button and end it after landing with the End flight button — both are in the main and the compact window. Ending works even after the simulator is shut down. An unfinished flight always resumes by itself after the tracker crashes.
Diversion, cancellation and stopovers
when a flight ends elsewhere, when you cancel it and a trip with several stops
Diversion
When you land elsewhere than at the destination, report a diversion — from the tracker window or in Operations. A diversion is not cheating and the flight is not voided. The cargo stays at the diversion airport and you carry it on with a second leg; the agreed pay is not recalculated and the second leg earns nothing extra.
Accepted and unaccepted diversion
The server accepts a diversion when it can prove it: a failure it rolled for the flight, fuel below 1.2× the final reserve, weather below minima at the destination or a closed destination. An accepted diversion moves the job deadlines by the repair time, at most 24 h, and costs no reputation. A pilot decision is legitimate, only without relief: the deadline stays and reputation drops by 0.3 points. Within 25 miles of the destination there is no relief — that close it is about range or the runway. Landing off an airport is not a diversion but an accident.
Cancelling a flight
A dispatched flight can be cancelled in the Logbook and in Operations, even after take-off. The aircraft returns to the departure airport, the bookings keep waiting and the flight can be dispatched again. Fuel and parking stay paid and nothing is paid out.
Stopovers
Bookings to several destinations can be joined in the briefing into a trip with stopovers — at most 3 stops, the order is set by the server (always the nearest next one). At every stop unloading and loading takes 10 minutes + 4 minutes per tonne + 3 minutes per ten passengers. The tracker counts down the unloading and chimes when the leg may depart; the server dispatches the next leg itself after the previous one is closed. When the next leg cannot be dispatched, the cargo waits at the stopover and you dispatch it by hand.
Based on the in-game help and manual (Help tab) — the numbers are the default rule values; the in-game manual shows the ones the server is using right now. Post questions and experience in this thread.