Post by Dutch Owen on Dec 8, 2009 12:43:37 GMT -5
As of now, FSCaptain computes a payload for each flight consisting of cargo and (optionally) passengers. The program loads the payload and the fuel into the aircraft in the load process (or allows you to do so with a manual load).
Some payware airplanes come with their own elaborate loaders. This creates a conflict where the airplane expects to load itself but then FSCaptain also wants to load it.
This can be worked around usually by selecting "F2=Manual Load" from the Flight Review page which will disable the FSCaptain auto loading process allowing the aircraft's own loader (or the pilot) to load it.
The problem comes if there is a conflict between what the external loader wants to load and what FSCaptain has generated for the flight. FSCaptain does not consider "overloading" to be a problem, you can load more payload and fuel than is called for and simply override any objections that dispatch might throw at you.
Underloading is a problem. Dispatch will not clear you for departure until you have loaded all your payload and fuel. And matching PAX counts is problematic -- FSCaptain comes up with a payload weight first and then decides what that consists of, i. e. how much is PAX, cargo, and what that cargo is.
A possible solution is to have an option on the load map definition for an aircraft implementation that simply says "bypass payload generation".
If this option is checked for a particular airplane flights would be generated as usual but the payload figure would be whatever payload weight is already in the aircraft. FSCaptain might use its generation to apportion that weight among passengers, cargo, and the like but the payload and fuel would be accepted "as-is".
Further, with this option checked the boarding process would proceed exactly as it does now, except the actual loading would be suppressed. So the passengers would appear to board but actually the weights would not change.
Problems: PAX counts generated internally by FSCaptain would not match PAX counts provided by the external loader.
Some payware airplanes come with their own elaborate loaders. This creates a conflict where the airplane expects to load itself but then FSCaptain also wants to load it.
This can be worked around usually by selecting "F2=Manual Load" from the Flight Review page which will disable the FSCaptain auto loading process allowing the aircraft's own loader (or the pilot) to load it.
The problem comes if there is a conflict between what the external loader wants to load and what FSCaptain has generated for the flight. FSCaptain does not consider "overloading" to be a problem, you can load more payload and fuel than is called for and simply override any objections that dispatch might throw at you.
Underloading is a problem. Dispatch will not clear you for departure until you have loaded all your payload and fuel. And matching PAX counts is problematic -- FSCaptain comes up with a payload weight first and then decides what that consists of, i. e. how much is PAX, cargo, and what that cargo is.
A possible solution is to have an option on the load map definition for an aircraft implementation that simply says "bypass payload generation".
If this option is checked for a particular airplane flights would be generated as usual but the payload figure would be whatever payload weight is already in the aircraft. FSCaptain might use its generation to apportion that weight among passengers, cargo, and the like but the payload and fuel would be accepted "as-is".
Further, with this option checked the boarding process would proceed exactly as it does now, except the actual loading would be suppressed. So the passengers would appear to board but actually the weights would not change.
Problems: PAX counts generated internally by FSCaptain would not match PAX counts provided by the external loader.
