Operations Handbook
Welcome to Eagle Air Charter Virtual Airlines!
Latest Revision: 16 May 2008
Introduction
IntroductionWe are first and foremost a charter airline. This means that our customers are not the usual ticket-buying passenger. Our customers lease an aircraft. It would be the equivalent of a limousine service, in that we provide an aircraft and pilot to be at the customer's disposal for the duration of the charter. This is a very unpredictable business, and our pilots don't know from one ticket to the next where they are going until they receive their assignment. All assignments are based on charter sales generated by our sales personnel located at each hub. These charters are then passed to the hub manager for assignment to the next available qualified pilot best suited for the charter. Charters can be anything from bush flights in our DHC-6 Twin Otter to providing transportation for NFL Football teams in our state-of-the-art Boeing 767. Therefore, our hub managers and pilots must be very flexible. Second, we provide lease aircraft to major airlines around the world for both cargo and passenger service. This is usually a very profitable venture near the holidays. These assignments are generated by our airline lease department based in our home airport in Ontario, California and issued to the hubs best able to handle the lease. These flights can range anywhere from regional hops to transoceanic flights. Again, hub managers and pilots need to be very flexible. This is a very demanding business we are in! Because of the very nature of our business, it is impossible to implement a scheduled route system. As nice as it would be, it is just not possible in our line of work. This places a large burden on our hub managers. Not only must they handle all incoming PIREPs, but they must also be able to turn a pilot around within a 24-hour time frame. This is sometimes not as easy as it would seem. We currently have pilots flying all over the world. There are only a handful of hub managers who are responsible for these pilots. The only way this airline makes money is when our pilots are flying, so the hub managers must juggle PIREPs and RA's to keep pilots in the air as much as possible. OrientationOrientation will consist of route assignments issued to the new pilot by their assigned hub manager. All pilots, regardless of previous VA experience, are required to complete this orientation. Due to the unique manner in which we operate, all pilots are considered new and will start at zero hours. During the orientation, pilots are expected to become familiar with our standard operating procedures, RA system, PIREP system, forum, and general operation of the VA. Instruction will also be available for our IVAO and VATSIM affiliation programs, if so desired. All the information you need to successfully complete your orientation is in this hand book. Make sure you read it thoroughly, and ask questions if you have any! Top Route Assignment ProcessPilots are issued flight assignments from their respective hub managers. Route assignments can be anything from a single leg or round trip to a multi-leg bush hop or world tour. The hub manager can assign a single day ticket, or cover several days in one assignment. Each hub manager is responsible for ensuring their pilots are assigned and are flying their flights. It is up to the individual hub manager how the flights are assigned, but all necessary details will be issued at the time of assignment. Pilots may also submit requests for flights. Top Flying Your FlightAfter receiving your assignment, a pilot flies the flight in their simulator. A flight does not need to be flown at the same time as it is scheduled in real life, but it must be flown at the same time in the simulator. Each flight must begin at the gate or ramp of the departure airport, and end at the gate or ramp of the arrival airport. The aircraft to be used can only be the aircraft assigned by your hub manager. If an alternate aircraft is required, the pilot must get the alternate approved by the hub manager BEFORE flying the flight. Any flight reported flown in an aircraft other than fleet or approved substitute will be rejected. Pilots may accelerate the simulation rate when at cruising speed and altitude to 4x. We recommend using real weather conditions, as well as an ATC and/or navigation program, but neither is required. Below is a chart for typical cruising altitudes taken from the Airman's Information Manual (AIM). (Please note: this chart is very basic, and a guide for flight planning. It does not consider RVSM flight levels used in Europe, which are 1000' separations, or any proposed rule changes in the US. For more information on RVSM operations in the US, see the RVSM Documentation posted by the FAA.) Top
PIREPs
Eagle Air Charter VA has implemented a new PHP based PIREP system that automatically tracks a pilot's progress. A PIREP is required after every flight, regardless of whether the assignment has more than one leg or not. The form is very easy to fill out, but does require that you maintain accurate data regarding your flight. While no payware utilities are required, an excellent tool to assist you with maintaining records is FS Flight Tracker. Once you are ready to submit your PIREP, you will need the username and password you selected when you applied to EAC. Open your browser and navigate to the Pilot's Lounge. Select "Sign In" to begin.
Select "Pilot Login" from the menu.
Enter your Username and Password in the appropriate blocks, then click "Sign In."
Once the roster comes up, select "Submit PIREP."
You will then be presented with the PIREP Entry Form. Most of the personal data will already be filled in for you. All you need to do is enter your flight data. It is important to remember that if any field contains only a "0" (the number zero), the word "None" must be entered. This is a limitation of the system, not a bug. Also, DO NOT PRESS ENTER ON YOUR KEYBOARD BEFORE YOU ARE READY TO SUBMIT!!!
As you can see from the above illustration, the PIREP form is not that complicated. Just fill in the blanks and submit. Your PIREP will be sent to your hub manager automatically. Once your hub manager has reviewed your PIREP, he will either accept it, in which case your online data will be immediately updated, or he can reject it, in which case you will automatically be notified, then a follow-up email from your hub manager will explain the rejection. As an alternative, we have a script in place that will accept PIREPS directly from FS Flight Tracker, FS Flight Keeper, and FSAcars. These scripts, configuration files and instructions are all available in our forums.
Flight RecordsPilots are strongly encouraged to maintain a separate logbook for EACVA. If you do not have a program such as FS Flight Tracker (again, HIGHLY recommended!), you may use any method available. Below is what founder and retired CEO Rick Wooton suggests:I keep a spiral notebook that I write all my flights down in.
The first line records what I need to remember for the CFR: Flt. # / Aircraft used / From - To / # Pax / Freight Wt. PLEASE NOTE: FS2002 has a built-in error that occasionally changes Zulu time when crossing time zones instead of the local time. You can defeat this error by running FSREALTIME (available at flightsim or avsim) while flying. After I arrive and come to a complete stop at the gate, I record the actual times (local and Zulu) and add them to my entry: (as you can see, I was 12 minutes late)
I now have my local arrival time, but what is important, is that it's very easy to see travel time by looking at the ZULU numbers: 1600Z to 1937Z is 3 hrs and 37 minutes or 3.6 hours. I write that down:
Now I record the fuel. I know I started with full tanks, so it's a simple matter of seeing what's left, refilling the tanks, and getting the difference. In the aircraft/fuel window I see that my fuel remaining is 9996 lbs. I write that down, then I refill the tanks. The total now is 35593 lbs. Write that in above it, then subtract. I used 25597 pounds for the trip!
All done! In that simple entry is now everything I need to know (other than my name.... where IS my id?) to file my CFR. I hope that is helpful to you! Another, and much easier way to keep records of all your flights is through the use of an electronic logbook. Again, our favorite is a utility called FSFlightTracker. Once installed and set up, this utility connects to your FS and automatically maintains and updates records of all your flights including every bit of data necessary to submit your PIREPs and keeps it all organized in an electronic log book. It costs a very small fee to register, but is very much worth it! Top Free-FlyingFree-flying is defined as being authorized by a hub manager or higher staff member to create and fly routes not assigned by a hub manager or other staff member. This is a practice that is generally not allowed. Exceptions to this rule would be if a hub manager is not going to be available to assign routes. In this case, the hub manager will contact pilots and inform them of the situation. The VP-Operations would also be notified. Free-fly authorization can also be obtained when communication with a hub manager has become impossible due to a hub manger's inactivity, email problems, release from position, etc. It then becomes the pilot's responsibility to contact the VP-Operations for further instructions. In all cases, free-fly authorization is a temporary condition designed to allow pilots to keep flying in the absence of an official assignment. It is not a pilot's right and should never be abused! Top Rank and CertificationPilot ranks are established by hours flown and by certification. Certification is done by written test from Steve's Flight School, and is optional for the pilots. Due to abuse of Steve's testing procedures, we will only accept one result report within a 24 hour period. In other words, if you attempt an exam and fail, you must wait 24 hours before you attempt the exam again. Any reports received within 24 hours of the previous attempt will be discarded. To get a view of our rank structure and certifications, CLICK HERE.When a new pilot signs on, that pilot starts at zero hours. As they move up in ranks, they will receive a beautiful certificate of promotion (suitable for printing!) with their wings and new insignia. This certificate will be posted in the appropriate section of the forum, where the pilot may download it if so desired. Top Multiplayer SessionsEagle Air Charter no longer operates a server for multiplayer purposes. However, pilots are more than welcome to establish their own multiplayer sessions and can even have their flight time credited, as long as arrangements are made with their hub managers and VP-Operations at least 48 hours prior to the event. This will allow sufficient time for staff to be notified, preventing rejection of an approved event's PIREPS. Top IVAO/VATSIM Flights and ATCEACVA is officially affiliated with IVAO and VATSIM, online services which offer live ATC and a realistic flight environment. Because of this affiliation, EACVA pilots are highly encouraged to participate in online flights as much as possible. Routes flown online must be assigned routes, or the pilot must be participating in an approved IVAO or VATSIM event. All such events will be posted in the forum, so be sure to check in frequently. Our ICAO identifier on IVAO is EGC. For example, my pilot number is 019, so when I log onto IVAO, I use the call sign EGC019. The IVAO controllers who contact me will call me "Eagle 019" or something similar. Our ICAO identifier on VATSIM has not yet been determined. In the meantime, use either EGC or EAC. Top ForumEACVA has two sources at our disposal to disseminate information. One is the news page, which is updated fairly frequently. The other, much more accessible method is to use the VA's forum, located in the Pilot's Lounge. The forum is a closed forum, meaning that it is only accessible by our pilots, and requires a username and password. You may acquire your username and password simply by going to the forum and signing up. It is very important that you do so, because as I said, most of the information regarding the operation of our VA will be posted there. There is also a general discussions topic there, as well as several other topics, so be sure to check it out. Top NewsletterEagle Air Charter VA now publishes a bi-monthly newsletter in pdf format. It is emailed to all pilots and posted on the forum to be downloaded. This newsletter generally consists of reports from the CEO, Hub Managers and other staff members regarding the wellbeing of our VA. If you would prefer not to receive the newsletter via email, be sure to inform a staff member. We stress, however, that if you choose not to receive it via email that you download it. There is always some good information available. In closing, I would like to welcome you to one of the most unique virtual airlines in the flight simulation community. This style of flying is not for everyone. Your piloting and navigational skills will be put to the test across various platforms and many strange and remote locations. Your experience here will be what you make it, and we sincerely hope it's a good one! Top © Eagle Air Charter Virtual Airlines, 2003-2008 |
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