Frequently Asked Questions
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Aircraft
I downloaded an aircraft and it comes with a generic panel. How can I get a more realistic panel for this aircraft?
Many of our aircraft feature default Flight Sim 2002/2004 panels. If you wish to customize your aircraft with a panel that is appropriate for your aircraft, we suggest you visit flightsim.com or avsim.com and search for a panel that suits your needs. There are may kinds of panels available. Some panels include special features such as seatbelt and no smoking signs, pushback gauges, weather radar, special sounds, and more. Be advised that many custom panels can be rather large, and we suggest that you read the enclosed readme.txt file included with all freeware panels to install them properly. If you have a problem installing a particular panel, please post your problem in the Techical Forum on our Pilot Forum for a prompt answer from other experienced pilots who can help you.
Where can I find special liveries for APG aircraft that are not on the website, although I keep hearing about them?
For a long time, there were many liveries available to pilots on our site. However, due to a server issue that was beyond our control, and limited space to store such aircraft, many of those special liveries are no longer available on our website. Your best bet is to ask fellow pilots in our Pilot Forum for such aircraft, as many pilots still have them, and are usually willing to share them.
Flight Simulator
Where do I get add-on scenery, panels and sounds for MSFS?
There are a few FS sites on the internet that allow you to download thousands of add-ons for Flight Simulator, such as FlightSim.com and AVSIM.com. You can also purchase higher quality add-on products such as scenery from SimFlyers or aircraft panels through Phoenix Simulations (PSS), if you should wish to do so. For information on how to install such add-ons, please be sure to read the included documentation that came packaged with the file.
Flights
How and when do we add new flights?
While we try to cater to both pilots and real world flight standards, occasionally there are a few pilots who come up with some new routes. If you feel that you would like us to add new flights out of your hub, please contact your hub director and let him/her know about such flights. If the hub director agrees with your flights, you may be asked to assist with timing these flights in the appropriate aircraft required for such flights. Once the proper research has been done, the flights will be submitted through the chain of command. Upon approval, they will be added to the database. Please keep in mind that we do try to maintain a somewhat realistic flight list. If every hub flew to every airport that every pilot wanted it to, people would get bored. That is why we have hubs that offer specialty flights in their particular region. Because of this, we ask all hub directors to keep the new flights in a realistic context that would benefit the uniqueness of their hub.
On which routes can I use the Beaver and Twin Otter?
The Beaver is used only on special routes out of Lake Hood, Alaska (PALH), and these flights can be easily found in the system if you do a search for Seattle regional flights. The Twin Otter can also be used on these flights, and may be flown out of Honolulu as well, however there are no flights out of Honolulu that require this aircraft at this time. If you wish to fly these planes on a non-scheduled route (meaning charter), we advise you to contact your Hub Director for assistance.
Some flight lines have both a category and an aircraft type specified for the flight. Which plane should I use?
Every flight line is given its own category, i.e. Cat 2, Cat 4, etc. Each category pertains to a limited number of aircraft that may be flown on that flight. Some flights list "A320 only" or other types for the flight. This is NOT a restriction, rather, this is only some advice to assist you with planning your flight. Some flights that we have fly to airports that have certain restrictions, as in runway length, noise abatement, or passenger load demand. You do not have to restrict yourself to such aircraft assignments, as you are free to fly in whatever category of plane that is listed for that flight. It's only a recommendation to pilots, even more so for those who are unfamiliar with the routes who are trying out a hub's flights for the first time. There is one area where these recommendations do come in very handy and could be heeded as aircraft limitations. For many Cat 2 commuter flights out of our various hubs, you may come across a listing for "Jet Only" or "Prop Only" or "Dash 8 Only" or "ERJ-145 Only," etc. In this case, the aircraft that is stated to be flown should be the one flown. Many regional flights cater to special niche markets or fly to airports that can't handle a jet. Again, while you won't get in trouble for flying a jet on a non-jet flight, in this case, it is strongly recommended to fly the plane that is found on the pirep for the corresponding flight.
What are jumpseat flights?
Jumpseating is when a pilot rides on a flight as a passenger. This is allowed only between APG hubs. A detailed explanation of how jumpseat flights work can be found in your airline's operations manual.
How are those Flight Lines established?
The flight times in the PRS are constructed from takeoff to touchdown, flown direct, without any winds, ATC delays, or other factors. The system includes an algorithm that runs when a flight report is filed. This algorithm takes into account taxi time, winds aloft, ATC delays, etc. For this reason, the times found in the flight tables will obviously be shorter than the actual time it takes to do the flight. Most of the established flight times are actually quite accurate because the system automatically e-mails hub staff when pilots enter times that exceed the maximum allowable standard deviation for that particular route. Occasionally, there will be a legitimate, out of the ordinary reason why a time entered is lower/higher than it should be, but if hub staff start getting multiple warnings for a particular route, they'll know to investigate the nominal time en-route in the PRS. Of course, you can always e-mail the hub staff if you're not sure or have further questions.
General
How do I become a staff member?
Periodically, both American Flight Airways and Pacific Airways have staff openings. Such positions include, but are not limited to, Chief Pilots, Hub Directors, and other various staff positions. These job openings are posted on either the airline's website, the APG main page, or in the Pilot Forum. If you notice that there is a position available that you think you would qualify for, by all means, apply for it with a suitable resume. Due to the nature of some jobs available for staff members, there are certain criteria one must meet, such as VATSIM experience, logbook hours, previous positions held, etc. If you have met the criteria for a specific job and have applied for it, and have been accepted for the job, you will be contacted by the staff member who is responsible for hiring new pilots for the job in question.
How do I get a VATSIM online indicator in my forum signature?
Visit http://www.vatsimindicators.net and browse their online indicator library. There are a variety of APG (AFA and PAY) online indicators already created, or you can follow their guidelines and create your own. Once you are given the HTML code for your indicator image, you need to "My Controls" in the forums and paste the HTML in your signature. Now you should be able to see your indicator at the bottom of all of your posts in the forum.
How do I make a banner to use in the Pilot Forums?
In order to create a banner, which you can set to appear in your signature under every post you make in the forums, you will first need to take a screenshot in Flight Simulator. We would prefer that this screenshot contains an official APG aircraft if you plan to use it in our forums. To take a screenshot, simply press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard. Next, you will need to paste this screenshot you've taken into an image editing program of your choice. There are some basic freeware ones available such as The GIMP, but for best results, JASC Paintshop Pro or Adobe Photoshop is recommended for creating high quality banners. Details instructions of how to use such programs is beyong the scope of this FAQ, so please consult the documentation included with the particular program you're using for help. After you've created the banner, save it in JPEG format to your hard drive. You will need to have some personal webspace to upload it to (GeoCities will not work for this). Once you've uploaded it, login to the forums and click on "My Controls", and then select "Edit Signature". Simply click the IMG button and enter the URL of where you uploaded your new banner to (i.e.: http://www.mywebsite.com/banner.jpg). Now, you'll notice that every time you make a post, your banner will appear under what you wrote.
How do I take a screenshot?
Method 1 (Screenshot Program Required) - There are a variety of freeware applications that will assist you in taking and automatically saving any flight sim screenshot. One program that is easy to use is FSScreen. The application captures the clipboard image to a file, making it so you can take screenshots on the fly and edit them later. Files are saved to a folder of your choice.
Method 2 (No screenshot program required) - Once you're ready to capture a screenshot in FS, simply press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard. Then, open the image editing application of your choice and paste the image there. There are some basic freeware ones available such as The GIMP, but for best results, JASC Paintshop Pro or Adobe Photoshop is recommended for producing high quality screenshots. Be sure to save it on your hard drive in JPEG format. Then, go to the main APG website and click on "Screenshots", and select "Upload a Screenshot" at the bottom of the page. Fill out the form, and click "Browse..." to select the screenshot you saved earlier. Then, simply click "Open" to select your screenshot, and then just click "Upload". Please be patient while your image is being uploaded to the server and do not click the "Upload" button more than once.
Why can't we add another hub, aircraft, division, etc.?
In the interest of keeping things realistic, all changes to airlines within the APG must be carefully planned and approved. At the moment, both American Flight Airways and Pacific Airways are operating at maximum capacity. This means that new hubs, aircraft, and divisions cannot be added without another one being removed. So for a new hub to open, another hub must be closed, for a new aircraft to be added, another aircraft must be retired, and so on. This rule doesn't always apply the same to flights. In many cases, a flight will be added without another flight being removed. However, to keep things realistic, we are careful not to offer so many flights to the point where we offer more flights than any real world carriers. We also have to make sure that we aren't offering flights to unrealistic and/or unpopular destinations. With this in mind, please don't hold back from offering suggestions on how to improve our operations, but just be prepared to explain why you think something should be added and what you propose be removed to keep everything balanced. Please be aware that there are certain things which APG airlines are not willing to consider which would make our operations unrealistic. Such things would include a business jet division (if flying corporate jets interests you, contact your hub director about arranging a Charter Flight) and any type of vintage aircraft/division. We feel that offering a cargo, floatplane, and helicopter divisions between the airlines as well as numerous other things, helps to satisfy some of our more adventurous pilots while still maintaining a realism factor.
VATSIM
How do I fly online with VATSIM?
To fly on the VATSIM Network you will need a VATSIM PID and password, a version of FSUIPC 3.4 or higher and a version of Squawkbox or FSInn depending on the Flight Simulator version you have. A good tutorial is available at http://www.flyafa.com/vatsimtutorial/ . This tutorial will guide you through the installation process as well as briefly describe a 'first flight' online. For further and more in depth information, visit the VASTIM Pilot Resource Center.
What callsign do I use when flying on VATSIM?
Please use your Pilot ID (PID) that appears on your hub's roster when flying online flights. Although in real life airlines use the flight number as their callsign, we use our PIDs so that your callsign stays the same for each flight that you make. This is done for simplicity and so other fellow pilots will be able to easily recognize you online.
Why is ServInfo reporting an error or showing old data?
Every great once in awhile, VATSIMs Data server goes down, and as a result the network statistics pages on the VATSIM site, ServInfo, WhazzUp, the Who's Online page on the APG site, and possibly other applications and websites are affected. Please note that this does not in any way hinder your ability to logon to the network and fly. Once you login, you'll find plenty of other ATC and pilots out there enjoying VATSIM with no problems. Typically when this happens, the data server is restarted and working again within a few hours.
How do I set up the APG Unicom with FSInn?
See this post: http://forums.pacificairways.net/index.php?topic=26876.msg156542#msg156542
Virtual Airlines
Can I belong to more than one APG airline?
No, you may only belong to one APG airline at any given time. Similarly, you can only belong to one hub at a time within a single airline. If you should wish to do so, you may request a transfer to a different airline/hub through the Record Maintenance page in the Pilot Report System (PRS). There is also no need to belong to multiple APG hubs as the Codeshare system allows you to fly any route/aircraft in either airlines structure anyway.
