Some Questions about FSC.

[Lane]

Dutch,
Is there a SOP for the Airline you are flying for?
I flew a second flight Number 502 Last night. And had -5 removed for
these things I did wrong.

Flying your fs9 DC-3C Acme for Acme airlines.

Late 3 Min's. I understand this one.

Lights not set properly. I had all my becon and Nav lights on during flight and Landing lights on for landing?

Flap speed exceeded . guilty

Excess Fuel on Landing

One more Question How is flight time figure in FSC?

Most of time I figure flight time with your timer on panel but sometimes when I switch screens it stops and I don't notice that.
I start time when I start taxi to parking and shut down.
Hope this is not to many questions
Lane

[Dutch Owen]

Hi Lane,

Good questions! I'll answer each one, saving the big one for last. When it comes time to write these sections of the docs maybe I can cut and paste out of here.

Is there a SOP for the Airline you are flying for?

Yes there are policies. Here's what they mean:

Position Reports Required: You need to send the TOC report at top of climb, a POS report minimum of every 30 minutes during cruise, and the TOD report when you start your descent to the destination.

Fuel Management: Dispatch calculates your necessary fuel plus a reserve. Landing with more fuel than this total will incur a penalty.

Cargo Management: You are not allowed to change cargo weights from the manifest, but you can shift them around before you take off.

Allow to taxi on grass: Are some aircraft allowed to taxi off the taxiways.

Landing Lights on < 10,000 feet: You must turn on your landing lights from takeoff until you exceed 10,000 feet, and turn them back on when you descend below 10,000. If you never get over 10,000, leave them on the whole time. This is actually a FAR in the USA.

Acme, being a tough outfit to work for, has all these turned on. Some of them bit you on your flight. Learning experience!

Lights not set properly. I had all my becon and Nav lights on during flight and Landing lights on for landing?

You didn't follow the landing lights policy. Which is pretty standard in the airline industry today. Turn'em on before you enter the runway and turn'em off if you get above 10,000 and when you get to the gate. Your FO should warn you about turning them on and off.

Excess Fuel on Landing

When you landed you still had more fuel than Dispatch thought you should have on the whole flight. This costs the company money, hauling around all that extra weight. Acme is a very frugal outfit.

One more Question How is flight time figure in FSC?

This is the big one. Here's how it works:

When Dispatch gives the time estimate you see in the flights available screen, most of the data comes from the aircraft characteristics tab and it's computed like this:

Dispatch uses a "standard flight model" for the airplane. Assuming you climb using the standard rate up to the standard cruise altitude, cruise at the standard cruise speed in a direct great-circle route from TOC to TOD, then descend at the standard rate to the airport elevation how long would this take. Dispatch computes this in minutes.

Then ground time is figured and added in. The length of the maximum runways for both destination and departure are added together and divided by 1000, then 3 additional minutes are padded on.

Air time + ground time = estimated block time.

Notice this does not take into account either winds or an indirect planned route. That's up to you, the pilot, to do.

You figure your ETE and then use the F3 revise option from the Flight Review page on the FCOM to change the ETE Dispatch gives you to the real one you believe is accurate.

However, these are limits to what you can change imposed by Dispatch. These limits are calculated based on the "Maximum Headwind" defined for each aircraft. Dispatch, assuming a worse case scenario of you flying into the maximum headwind will set a high limit on your ETE, and a best-case scenario of the maximum wind as a tailwind they will set a lower limit on the ETE.

Being on-time depends on accurate flight planning.

There are options, however. You can use the F1 key from the Flight Status page on the FCOM to request (it's only a request, it can be denied) Dispatch to alter your ETE while in-flight.

Why not do this every time once you get close enough to know exactly what it will be?

Ah, they've thought of that. First, you get a reward of +5 points if you land on-time without revising your ETE in flight. Second, you are allowed only one ETE revision in flight before you get penalty points for doing further revisions. And third, Dispatch will deny any ETE change that's too close to the destination airport.

When you arrive, "on-time' means within a time window around the actual perfect ETA. Generally, this will be no less than 10 minutes before or 5 minutes after. It expands based on the length of the flight -- a long flight gives you much more leeway to still be considered "on-time". So you were actually 8 minutes past the perfect ETA -- the 5 minute "grace period" Acme allowed plus three more.

Hope this explains it,
Dutch

[Lane]

Dutch,

Thanks that explained all my questions.

Lane

[pilotgod]

Dutch, regarding the landing lights, does the penalty incur at the time the FO reminds you? The reason I ask, is he makes mention of it on the climb out right at 10,000 feet, most of the time as I am moving the mouse pointer up to click it. I have not received any deductions for this on an individual flight, but it is listed under things I can improve upon. Just wondering.

[Dutch Owen]

He gives you plenty of warning. You have to be way out of spec to get the penalty...there's a 900 foot margin on either side of the 10,000 mark to get those lights on or off. Same with the altimeter setting at transition altitude -- you have a wide margin to get it right.

If you get those penalties you really blew it -- it's not a matter of a few seconds or a few feet.

Dutch

[pilotgod]

Alright, that explains it. Must be when I depart and don't hit the landing lights til I cross the hold short line. One thing this is doing is breaking me of some of my bad habits (read, small airplane habits.)