Once you
receive a Flight Dispatch, you have the option to
'Accept' or 'Decline' the dispatch. If you
Decline, you will remain in queue to receive another
dispatch. Once you accept the dispatch, the
Mission Status screen will appear. This will give
you your departure location ID (ex: KASE) and your
destination ID (ex: 3TN6). Create a flight plan
that includes these two destinations and choose the
proper aircraft for the dispatch. You will not
receive credit for the mission if you fly any other
aircraft than the one required.
Once
you've selected the right aircraft, it's time to proceed
to your departure location. In Flight Simulator,
continue to load your aircraft and flight plan until
you're either at your gate or on the active runway.
At this point, you want to click the flashing "Start
Mission" button. Once you click the Start Mission
button, your mission will begin. Attempting to
take off prior to starting your mission will result in
mission failure. Each mission has been given a
time allotment. We've created these missions
with liberal time limits allowing for taxiing traffic
and air traffic congestion. However, once your
time allotment runs out, the mission is failed.
Prior to
take off, you'll need to perform the necessary flight
checks, turning on appropriate lights and making sure
the fasten seat belt light is lit prior to take off.
After take off, you want to maintain a speed below 250
knots below 10,000 feet, keeping the seat belt light on
until you reach an altitude of 20,000 feet and the
landing lights on until your reach an altitude of at
least 10,000 feet.
Once you
arrive at your destination, you'll want the land at the
designated airport and taxi off the runway until finally
coming to a stop. At this point, your dispatch
will be complete and scored accordingly. The base
score for completing a dispatch is displayed, however,
you gain additional in-flight points as you maintain
control over your aircraft and the comfort of your
passengers.
Simulation
Rate -- Some of the dispatches are lengthy 4000+
nautical mile odysseys. Some of them require
refueling. Therefore, you can increase your
simulation rate to 16x normal speed. FSX Flight
Check monitors accordingly, however, you will score
higher points the longer you fly your aircraft at normal
speed. Careful, turbulence can be magnified
by time compression and before you know it, your mission
will fail if you fall out of compliance with any of the
monitored systems (pitch, bank, speed, etc.).
The
dispatches themselves are a mix of real-world, current
event-like scenarios and other more traditional flight
routes. As you complete missions, you'll not be
dispatched on them again unless you use the web site to
'send' the dispatch to your FSX Flight Check client.
This is in an effort to keep the missions fresh.
In order to
score your piloting proficiency as accurately as possible,
FSX Flight Check requires that your plane be on the ground
and a speed of less than 5 knots prior to the scoring system
engaging. Once the monitor detects these conditions,
your actions are being monitored. You are given points
for following required procedures and points are subtracted
for procedures that you overlook or neglect to perform.
During this
Beta phase of development, the scoring equations are being
re-evaluated and may be subject to change. As of this
Beta release, the scoring system awards or subtracts the
following points (depending on your skill setting
preference) based on the following:
Proper
Flight Check Conducted Prior to Departure: 75 Pts.
Ailerons,
elevators and rudders must be moved through their entire
range of motion and brakes tested.
Improper
Flight Check Performed Prior to being Airborne: -1000 pts.
(A critical step in ensuring the safety of yourself and your
passengers).
Gate
Departure - No Points Awarded
The Seat Belt
Indicator must be lit prior to any movement of the aircraft.
If the aircraft moves without the seat belt indicator being
lit, points are deducted continually while your aircraft
remains in motion. Careful, don't leave your
passengers buckled in too long while waiting for clearance,
they continue to loose their patience as time wears on.
Your taxi and
Nav lights must be lit while in motion while the strobe
light must be in the off position while taxiing. A
similar point deduction over time will occur while your
aircraft remains in motion with improper lighting.
Do not exceed 20 knots while taxiing (ground speed) -- again, points will
be continually deducted the longer you endanger lives.
Cleared For
Departure - 500 Pts. for Take Off
You are
awarded 500 points for successfully getting your aircraft
off the ground without any procedural mistakes.
Those awarded points will soon be taken away, however,
should your aircraft exceed the 250 kts. below 10,000 feet
rule, so it's a good idea to throttle down upon take off.
Similar to the gate departure and taxiing rules, your points
will be continually deducted the longer your aircraft is out
of compliance with FAA rules regarding altitude and speed.
Keep your landing lights on below 10,000 feet and the
seatbelt indicator on below 20,000 feet.
Cruising
Right Along -
Assuming
you're at or near your assigned cruising altitude and
turbulence doesn't appear to be a factor, it would be a good
time to turn off the seat belt indicator allowing your
passengers to move about the cabin, use the restroom and use
electronic devices. Otherwise, their wrath awaits as
does the vanishing of your points.
Landing
-
When given
clearance to begin your decent, turn the seatbelt indicator
back on and watch your maximum speed, both as an aircraft
rating and your speed below 10,000 feet. The
moment you exceed the recommended aircraft stress rating is
the same moment that you begin to try and determine the
closet airport to land your plane. Exceeding maximum
stress ratings is frowned upon and the punishments are
swift. Make sure to use proper aircraft lighting below
10,000 feet and during landing.
Passenger
Comfort -
Passengers
generally don't like wild and extreme aircraft movement.
Your actions should be steady and within federal guidelines.
Exceed the tolerance of your passengers and you'll hear
about it. The passengers will take it out on your
score once you land.
If you land
while keeping your passengers "Comfortable" the entire
flight, you earn bonus points. If they become
irritated, your bonus points will be much less. The
further on down the scale your passenger's mood slips, the
less bonus you will earn. If your passengers survive
your flight and arrive at the gate "In Shock", your bonus
will turn into a negative -- your points will be deducted.
Remember, the
same taxiing and aircraft lighting rules apply once you land
and until you reach the gate.
Random
Aircraft Failures -
You can
choose your acceptable risk level from
Minimal, Moderate to Maximum -- of
course, there is also an "Off" option.
The minimal setting will, as the name
implies, throw random failures ranging
from blocked pitot tubes to full blown
engine malfunctions. As you
increase the risk to moderate and then
further to maximum, your chances of
encountering a failure of some magnitude
increases. As in life,
you'll never be too sure of when it will
happen, but it does and will happen
(unless turned off). The
algorithms used generate these failures
generates them completely at random from incident, to
in-flight duration to severity.
Good luck!
[Note]: These don't happen
on EVERY flight. But every
time you fly, the "risk" factor
applies. You might fly 10
flights and your 11th flight will be
a challenge -or- maybe you'll
experience free fall on your first
take off.
Automatic
Web Site Posting -
As you may
have noticed, on the front page of our web site, you'll find
the 25 best pilots who have used FSX Flight Check to monitor
their flight. Should you rank in the top 25 pilots,
your rank, display name, score, passenger status and
difficulty level are displayed on the site, updated in real
time when you land. In addition, your real-time,
real-world location is, by default, displayed on our site
along with your altitude and speed.
If you would
rather not have your scores posted or your aircraft and
location revealed, you can turn this
feature off in "Settings".
As this
development continues, this page will be continually
updated. Check here upcoming FAQ's and other
information which you might find useful. FSX Flight
Check is an on-going development. If you find it
doesn't meet with your expectations now, wait for later
versions where we've had time to refine the system.
Any suggestions, questions, comments or concerns can be
addressed
here.
