New feature idea...

[Andrew Williams]

'Request a aircraft'

Had this idea following Nils post

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Using the advanced career mode, you can only fly aircraft that are parked at an airport, but what if there is no plane of the type you wish to fly, at the airport you wish to fly from?

Answer: Request for someone to fly the plane there for you

Imagine you want to make a flight from EGLL Heathrow, in a 737.

Flight search shows.....

No 737 at Heathrow only a Fokker and an Airbus.

So you would request a 737.

Not sure how, but you would have several fields.

Airport you want the plane to be at.
Type of aircraft you want.
Date you want the aircraft there by.

You select EGLL from the airport drop down list, and you get shown a list of the planes only one flight from that airport.

As you can see, there are a couple of 737's one flight away from EGLL.

You select one of these flights (the ESSA - EGLL for example)

Also select the date you want to make your own flight departing from EGLL. If noone has flown the plane to EGLL before your requested date (up to a week in advance allowed) then the request is removed.


So imagine someone requests the 737 from ESSA - EGLL by Sunday.
Someone else can look at the requests flight list, see this flight, book it, and fly the flight.


Just a thought anyway, maybe not a good idea, maybe too much work to do to make it happen.

 

[Norbert Woeller]

I like your idea, Andrew! It's more interactive. Let's see what our programmer will tell us

 

[Peter Schindler]

Programmer says: ....... :S :envy: :roll: ... looks like work .......

maybe not a good idea

hmmm, let me think..... you are right, it's crap! :lol:
I'm kidding. I like the idea a lot! Takes us in a direction I already thought about: having some sort of flight assignments or missions. It would work the same way. As a reward for accepting such assignments/requests there could be additional points, or special points on a special "mission log", or whatever people can think of.

maybe too much work to do to make it happen.

Actually not. I mean, of course it will take eternities until ready ^^, but probably not so difficult to do. Just a matter of setting up a database for assignments and handle it like regular bookings. So you can book a requested flight (assignment), after which it disappears from the list. If you don't report that flight, it will return to the list.

The only, slight, objection I have is that
- there may not be enough pilots yet to comply to a lot of requests (I mean pilots who fly almost daily)
- pilots who make a request may not want to wait 3 days until they can continue flying

Anyway, that would be a nice addition. Next step should be to play through some "what if" scenarios and fine tune the idea. And collect some more input. Question to all: would you like it, or not?

 

[Norbert Woeller]

As a reward for accepting such assignments/requests there could be additional points, or special points on a special "mission log", or whatever people can think of.[/b]

To get additional pionts, is a good incentive to fly such a "mission".

 

[Jeroen Bos]

I like the idea of flight assignment/missions. Saves me from thinking 'Where do I go to this time...??'.

I have my doubts a bit with the extra points. I have flown for Virtual Pilots Association and what irritated me most was that you could get extra points for any fart you'd let of :lol: (I know it's not proper English but Dutch speakers will now where I got that one from) You would get even points for posting and replying on the forum, with the result that more people were busier posting nonsense instead of doing interesting things.

Anyway that example was a bit of the mark, but I do like our point system, where it doesn't make a lot of difference if you fly around the world everyday and leave your PC on on autopilot or if you fly your aircraft in real time yourself. My point is that getting an assignment is nice and a bit more real, but why do you get more points if you take an assignment and not if you fly the same flight on your own account.

Years back when I was flying for Eurostar they had a similar system, where you could get assignments based on your preferences as in how long on average you want to fly, what aircraft (depending on what career mode) and in which region. Yeah something like that would be nice.

Jeroen

 

[Peter Schindler]

I have my doubts a bit with the extra points. I have flown for Virtual Pilots Association and what irritated me most was that you could get extra points for any fart you'd let of :lol: (I know it's not proper English but Dutch speakers will now where I got that one from)

I understand very well what you are saying, Jeroen and I share your doubts.

My point is that getting an assignment is nice and a bit more real, but why do you get more points if you take an assignment and not if you fly the same flight on your own account.

That's why I also thought of some kind of an "assignment account" where you can collect points separately from your standard account. The reason is to add some attraction to these requested flights because they only make sense if they are flown anytime soon after being requested.
Maybe we can find other forms of rewards or motivation.

Norbert also told me about the Eurostar concept, and it sounds interesting. I think the idea has to be thought through before being realized, then it can become a really immersive addition.

 

[Jeroen Bos]

Norbert also told me about the Eurostar concept, and it sounds interesting. I think the idea has to be thought through before being realized, then it can become a really immersive addition.

I remember Robert-Jan Oosterloo being a hub captain for Eurostar. Maybe he can shed some light on how they did it.

 

[Peter Schindler]

yes, I think quite a few air children have Eurostar experience.

 

[Robert-Jan Oosterloo]

Norbert also told me about the Eurostar concept, and it sounds interesting. I think the idea has to be thought through before being realized, then it can become a really immersive addition.

I remember Robert-Jan Oosterloo being a hub captain for Eurostar. Maybe he can shed some light on how they did it.

Hmmm. Yes I remember. You could get flights assigned. You could choose I think up to 4 types of aircraft that you want flights for and also how many assigments per week. Then you would get flights assigned from the route schedule every week+. But because Eurostar didn't use points, there was also no bonus. Only your hours were counted.

A problem I see with that idea, is that at ACH, an aircraft is reserved for that one pilot that wants to fly it. So how would we deal with the assignments? If a pilot as 4 flights assigned, would that mean that that one or more aircraft are blocked for a whole week? We need to think that through

 

[Peter Schindler]

We need to think that through

My words

So how would we deal with the assignments? If a pilot as 4 flights assigned, would that mean that that one or more aircraft are blocked for a whole week?

At the moment, the idea is not to assign certain flights to certain pilots but to put flights on an open request list. Pilots who accept a request make a booking for it as with any other flight.
We can make it so that in advanced career the aircraft on the request list is not available for regular booking, while it still is in basic mode. This requires that I first include another rule that is still on my list, that aircraft movements in basic career have no effect on the actual position of planes.

 

[Jan Vilijn]

>>>>>>>>This requires that I first include another rule that is still on my list, that aircraft movements in basic career have no effect on the actual position of planes.<<<<<<<<

I think that would be good,saves a lot of administration,programming,extra efforts to fly back planes to a destined area, and such

If we want to think in area,s of extra undertakings, I would suggest to direct those to the area where it matters,which I think would be more concentration on the UNICEF concept, maybe by playing in on day to day world activities to reach children in distress all over the Globe!

That would be easier done from the Charter Section or a seperate Section, "Mercy Flights",
this could also be somewhat more attractive for finding possible Sponsors to Unicef via Airchild.

In general I enjoy all the positive ideas on this forum,just one small sign of caution though,
beware of creating a huge monstrous administrative- and programming Moluch :'( .
It must be kept workable for just the few Staff of excellent volunteer people who and originated all this ,and have to keep it going,thereby serving as many wishes as are boiling up.


C.U all up in the Sky! 8)

 

[Robert-Jan Oosterloo]

We need to think that through

My words

This requires that I first include another rule that is still on my list, that aircraft movements in basic career have no effect on the actual position of planes.

That would be a good addition. I am in professional mode. And it's not so nice to see, that when you have flown a plane from A to B and then you want to fly it from B to C, someone else who is in basic carreer mode flew that plane already from Y to Z.

 

[Peter Schindler]

I think that's why Rafal took his plane with him to the airport bar in Barcelona. Those aircraft thiefs are allover :lol:

 

[Aleksi Laine]

Very old topic, but I'm killing time at work and browsing through the forums and there are some thoughts in this topic that I very much relate to and would like to hear if any development on any of the things mentioned here has been done.

We need to think that through

My words

This requires that I first include another rule that is still on my list, that aircraft movements in basic career have no effect on the actual position of planes.

That would be a good addition. I am in professional mode. And it's not so nice to see, that when you have flown a plane from A to B and then you want to fly it from B to C, someone else who is in basic carreer mode flew that plane already from Y to Z.

Because of what Mr. Oosterloo says here, I sometimes resort to repeatedly booking a plane if I really want to fly a certain flight but can't make it in three days. Or if I'm on a remote airport with only one way out So any progress in this plan of Peter's or has the feature been ditched?

Also, I very much support the original idea of Andrew's. I generally only fly scheduled flights in professional career AND with my personal rule that I only fly from the airport I last landed at. This is why my options are sometimes very limited, and there's the chance that I get stranded on an airport and I wouldn't like to break my rules after following them for six months now so I'd love if I could ask someone to fly a plane for me. I could wait for a few days. Also, I plan my flights often days ahead so if for example I knew that I will be in LOWW in three days, I could ask someone to bring a certain plane there for me so I could fly it to a destination of my liking. So just asking if these things are still considered

Aleksi

 

[Andrew Williams]

I've sent a couple of emails to Peter over the past few weeks and heard nothing back from him. Maybe Norbert has more idea of his whereabouts. Last I heard he was working all hours.

Maybe we should stall calling him Dan :? :lol:

 

[Norbert Woeller]

Hello all,

the last 10 days, I have made a film in Northern Norway without any chance to get an internet connection. I will try to answer all your questions in the next day(s)

Best regards
Norbert

 

[Barthe Hogenboom]

It might be an old topic but I've been thinking about the same subjects lately.

My main concern is: what's the incentive to go from Basic to another career? Like with many simulation "games" it adds limitations. But in my thinking it should also add advantages. Like adding more points for flights if you choose a higher career. As far as I know all careers get the same amount of points, at least that's what I understand from the manual.

Shouldn't points/ranks slowly drop after a certain amount of inactivity? This would be an incentive to keep flying. I sort of took this idea from on-line BF2 where your rank and points also slowly drop.

Another thing is the auto-magical spawning of planes in charter flight: for Basic career it's a good thing you can fly anywhere, this should stay this way. But for other career pilots this situation is not ideal. So why not designate a certain amount of each aircraft type to be "fixed". Both Basic or other career pilots can only move them by flying. Basic career pilots can fly a restricted number of planes from anywhere.

Another idea I have: some more interaction. An invite system you can use to invite other pilots to fly certain legs of a flight. Something like: I fly EHAM-EGLL would you like to do EGLL-LFPG? Than I would do LFPG-EBBR and so on. An invite system could also be used for group flights and shared cockpit or training purposes. I see it as an open system; writing invites to individual pilots would be annoying. Publishing open invites on this site could add an incentive to fly more.

Invite system:

Flights requested: EHAM-EGLL

Flights offered: EGLL-LFPG

Group flights today: TXKF-KJFK

Training: Pilot X EHGG-EHGG

 

[Andrew Williams]

Shouldn't points/ranks slowly drop after a certain amount of inactivity? This would be an incentive to keep flying. I sort of took this idea from on-line BF2 where your rank and points also slowly drop.

I like it :up: though that would mean I'd probably be in minus numbers and be relegated to cabin crew by now

 

[Fabrizio Pascucci]

I agree about invite other pilots, not for loosing points if you don't fly.
Maybe if you fly a leg back and fourth or a route of legs the same day and week could give you a bonus.
What make me want to rank is the possibility to become Captain to fly MD11 and big airframe.
I would add also calculation for fuel burn and time as a bonus to compare legs with other pilots,
Takeoff from last position and use jump seat with budget ticket.
But I will add the use of free airframe route, it's not fair that only certain leg can be flown only by airbus or boeing.

 

[Barthe Hogenboom]

though that would mean I'd probably be in minus numbers and be relegated to cabin crew by now

:rofl: :rofl:

Hehe , I don't think we should introduce negative points, that would be too drastic. :think: In bf2 you eventually just fall back to "Private", while keeping your medals. FSX-style medals would also be a great idea, I believe I mentioned those in this topic a while ago. Assets, items that would help you advance would also be an idea. You might earn an electronic flight bag for a certain flight/mission which helps you earn more points or qualify for a type rating. But that might get too difficult to implement.

I agree about invite other pilots, not for loosing points if you don't fly.

I don't mean the points should drop like a stone, just a little to keep pilots active. Otherwise we might end up with lots of inactive Senior Captains.

Maybe if you fly a leg back and fourth or a route of legs the same day and week could give you a bonus.

Yes, I proposed points for flying legs of a tour a while ago.

I think changes that increase interaction with other pilots or the flight schedule are most important. Economics would also add to that.