ACARS

Downloading the ACARS software

You can download the latest version of the vaBase ACARS software at https://acars.vabase.com/client/publish_client.htm.

The link will download setup.exe which you can run and follow the installation steps.

Prerequisites & System requirements

Supported Operating Systems

The ACARS application is currently only supported on Windows (all versions).

It is possible to run the ACARS on a Windows OS for Mac users with the use of WideFS.

Supported Simulators

The following simulators are currently supported by vaBase ACARS:

• Microsoft Flight Simulator

• Prepar3d (all versions)

• Flight Simulator X

• X-Plane (all versions)

• Flight Simulator 2004

FSUIPC & XPUIPC

vaBase ACARS requires FSUIPC to interact with your simulator and to receive information about your flight.

Users can download and install the required version of FSUIPC at: http://www.fsuipc.com/

For X-Plane users, they will need to download XPUIPC which can be downloaded at https://www.schiratti.com/xpuipc.html

Automatic Updates

vaBase ACARS is automatically updated meaning your users will not need to manually update the client. Each time ACARS is opened on a users machine it checks for updates which are applied automatically.

An update history is present in the application and can be viewed by clicking on the i icon in the top right hand corner of the ACARS client.

Basic Usage

Flight plans

Depending on how you have configured your ACARS Flight Mode (see Flight Mode Configuration section) there are two ways pilots can file a flight plan.

1. pilots can dispatch a scheduled flight or charter flight from your virtual airlines website. Once this is done, when the pilot opens the ACARS, the flight is automatically loaded into the ACARS.

2. pilots can open the ACARS with no dispatched flight and file the flight plan manually in the ACARS. Alternatively, they can select "From SimBrief". Free-flight must be enabled for this option.

When a pilot clicks "From Dispatch", the ACARS will check for a dispatched flight and reload the flight plan within the ACARS.

SimBrief

The ACARS has a "From SimBrief" button shown on the flight plan page which is visible when free-flight is allowed (see Flight Mode Configuration section). A user can enter their SimBrief username into the settings section of the ACARS by clicking on the cog in the top right hand corner of the ACARS client.

If a user dispatches a flight using SimBrief.com, then they can click "From SimBrief" which will connect to SimBrief and prefill the users flight in the ACARS.

Starting a Flight

Once a flight plan has been entered into the plan page of the ACARS users can click "Start Flight" to begin their flight.

In order to start a flight users must:

• have the simulator running

• be parked with the parking brake set (where applicable, otherwise engine(s) must be OFF)

• be on the ground

• not be moving

• be at the departure airport filed

Ending a Flight

Once a user has completed a flight, in order to end the flight they must:

• be on the ground

• not be moving

• have the engine(s) shut down

• be at the destination or alternate airport filed

Once the conditions above have been met, the End Flight button will become illuminated and a user can now end the flight.

Once a flight has been ended it can take up to 10 minutes for the PIREP to display on the virtual airline website (depending whether PIREP automatic approval has been enabled).

Alternate Airport

ACARS has the support for flying to an alternate airport. Should a pilot need to divert, the alternate airport can be modified on the flight plan page during flight. Remarks can also be added during a flight and before ending a flight.

Flight Status & Map

The ACARS includes a flight status at the bottom of the client. These statuses only indicate which phase of the flight the pilot is currently in.

The statuses are:

• Pre-Flight

• Boarding

• Taxiing

• Take Off

• Departing

• Climbing

• In-Flight

• Descending

• Landing

• Landed

• Taxiing

• Disembarking

Please note: pilots do not need to wait for the boarding or disembarking statuses to change. These change automatically as the users progresses the flight.

The flight map also shows the pilots current flight and flight information on the map page of the ACARS. This data is also pushed to your airlines homepage map and current flights page.

Weather

Weather can be obtained in the form of a METAR on the ACARS weather tab. Weather is updated automatically every 30 minutes during the flight and displays METAR information for the pilots departure and destination airport. On demand weather can also be obtained for any other airport in the event of a diversion.

Customise Theme

You can customise the look and feel of the ACARS to match the branding/colours of your virtual airline.

You can change the main accent colours of the text and ACARS and also upload a custom banner.

Recommended banner size is 1150px x 75px.

Scoring Parameters

Below is a list of scoring parameters used in the ACARS. These parameters help make up the overall flight score and these can be customised.

Some of the parameters contain a margin before they activate.

• Landing rate lower than -200FPM

• Landing rate lower than -250FPM

• Landing rate lower than -500FPM

• Crash detected (activated when crash detected in sim)

• Landing lights ON above 10k (activated when landing lights ON above 12,000FT)

• Landing lights not ON below 10k (activated when landing lights OFF below 8,500FT)

• Aircraft overspeed detected (activated when overspeed detected in the sim)

• Slew detected

• Taxi overspeed detected (activated when taxi speed is greater than 26kts)

• Overspeed above 250kt below 10k (activated when speed greater than 270kts below 10,000ft)

• Beacon OFF but engine(s) ON

• Aircraft stall detected (activated when sim stall detected. Stall allowed below 500ft for GA aircraft)

Customise Scoring Parameters

All of vaBase flights are scored out of 100. There are various parameters which can affect a pilots score during the flight. ACARS is constantly checking throughout the flight if a parameter has been met.

An example would be landing lights on below 10,000FT. If a pilots landing lights were not on below 10,000FT the ACARS will log this parameter which will be displayed on the pilots final report and also affect the pilots overall performance score.

ACARS parameters can be customised so that you can set how much they affect the final score.

The final score also affects how much of the base flight XP a pilot can receive. If a pilot received a flight performance score of 50, and the base flight XP was 1000, then they would only receive 500XP for this flight.

You can change your airlines base XP at vaBase.com > Dashboard > Airline > Manage > Edit > Base Flight XP.

Flight Mode Configuration

Free-Flight / Charter

By default, vaBase is configured to allow all pilots to fly free-flight. This means then can fly anywhere in the world ON or OFF your airlines schedule.

To enable free-flight go to vaBase.com > Dashboard > Airline > Manage > Edit > Uncheck Require Scheduled Flights Only

Scheduled/Dispatched Flights Only

You can configure the ACARS to only allow dispatched/scheduled flights. This means pilots cannot free-fly and are required to select and dispatch a flight from your schedule.

To enable schedule only flights go to vaBase.com > Dashboard > Airline > Manage > Edit > Check Require Scheduled Flights Only

Configuring Charter Flights

You can enable charter flight dispatch through your website via SimBrief. This will allow pilots to dispatch a charter flight and fly it in the ACARS.

To enable charter flights: locate your websites config.php > simbrief_allow_charter and set to true.

Configuring Jump Seat Feature

By default, users can fly any flight on your schedule regardless of where their last flight ended. To add an element of realism to your airline, you can restrict your pilots next flight to start from their last flight destination.

Pilots can take a "jump seat" flight to an alternate destination or their hub for a fee set by the virtual airline owner.

To enable the jump seat feature go to vaBase.com > Dashboard > Airline > Manage > Edit > Check Jump seat enabled

To only allow pilots to jump back to their assigned hub go to vaBase.com > Dashboard > Airline > Manage > Edit > Check Jump seat to hub/base only

You can also configure the the jump seat fee (vaBase.com > Dashboard > Airline > Manage > Edit > Jump seat fee).

Crash & Recovery

It's inevitable that at some point we sim pilots will experience a simulator or full system crash. The ACARS has been designed with this in mind and users can resume flights.

Loss of Internet Connection

The ACARS periodically sends updates to the servers about your flight and its progress. If you lose internet connection the ACARS will silently try for 5 minutes to establish a connection with the server. If after 5 minutes the ACARS is unable to establish a connection an error message will be shown in the ACARS. Users have 20 minutes after the notification to restore their internet connection before a flight is terminated.

Simulator Crash

ACARS will notify users when it has detected a simulator crash. Users will have 25 minutes to restart their simulator and resume the flight before it is terminated.

ACARS Crash

Users have 25 minutes to restart the ACARS client and resume their flight before it is terminated.

To restart a flight simply login to the ACARS, the ACARS will detect a flight in progress and will ask the user if they would like to resume the flight. If the user clicks "yes", then the flight will automatically be resumed. If they click "no" then the current flight will be terminated.

Manual PIREP

Sometimes it is not always possible to resume a flight, in this case pilots can file a manual PIREP using your virtual airlines PIREP form.