Propilot v2 - What would you like to see on it?

[EHM-0948 Bruno]

Dear pilots,

We are planning a new ProPilot version.

Tell us what do you like us to improve, change, correct or implement.

Your ideas will be listen, and, if possible, implemented .

Regards and thank you.

[EHM-2272 Callum]

I'm not sure if its possible but maybe if it said what you did wrong and said what you could do to avoid the penalty next time.

:]

[EHM-0502 Desmond]

Better integration with FSX would be nice - it often doesn't recognise when you start a plane, and you have to stop and restart.

[EHM-1749 Hector]

The FAC should have a way to reward the online flying as well as the PP events participation. The actual algorithm recognises only the number of online flights but does not take into account its duration as the total PP flights does.
Regarding the events, it should be recognised the high level of commitment that the pilot acquires due to the time constrains involved.

[EHM-2271Theodoros]

I propose not a penalty for lights off below FL100 in deparure.Penalty will be on if lights on after FL100 and if off below 1500ft.
If we want to fly a VFR flight at 4500ft will have the lights on all the way.Thats not so real.
Also if a pilot book a flight and not doing in 48 hours and expire to penaltize him with 10 points.(or another value but low one).

One more is someone to monitor the plane hours for maintenance.
Thanks

[EHM-2155 Mariano]

Here are some ideas I gathered up in 5 minutes

Support for legs, on ultra long haul, instead of two separate flights, allow us to refuel the plane and keep counting it as one long flight, saves time and effort.

Better reward for perfect flights, and I mean, a visible positive number, instead of 0. Something like "Well done pilot, perfect flight. +100 PP points". Also it could be that different flights yield different amounts of points if done perfectly but those "higher paying" flights also yield bigger penalties if done wrong. An example is a special mission in the EHM Business that youre transporting 5 VIPs, where you have to be extra careful with them, or else the company's reputation would suffer.
Extra points if a flight is "successful" after a failure... Like a nice landing on 1 engine.
Extra points if the conditions at landing are very demanding, like strong crosswinds or near zero visibility...

Some sort of graphical user interface to see where the planes are stationed... I mean, there could be a plane stranded in some weird place for months without anyone knowing, this way, by checking a map, someone would go "What the hell is that 767 doing in Congo since september? Let me bring it back to a main hub...."
Could also use this to show where our pilots are stranded
(this would use the same kind of map our ACARS currently use)


Maybe a newsletter that can be posted on the pilot's lounge that will bring the latest news to the pilots... Like... "EHM Informer
Mariano De Ascencao just crashed our last 757 this morning just outside of Rome. Passengers survived but the plane was totaled and this pilot has received a penalty of 5000 points"
... Scratch that last idea

Randomly generated missions, that yield more points than usual. A little script that would just randomly pick a cause, a descritpion, an airplane type and destination for the pilot from a bunch of pre-made sentences... Example
"Mr. pilot...
One of our A320 had a malfunction and had to do an emergency landing in Panama City. The pilot is under investigation for suspected pilot error so we need you to retrieve it and bring it back to the Atlanta hub. Emergency repairs have been done to the plane and it is in flying condition but we would want it back in a EHM hangar as soon as possible. Please reply before (insert date here)

The EHM Management

 Accept? [Yes] [No]

Something like that... maybe thats too much to program but it would be interesting to see which scenarios our management would come up with =)
Of course the cause for the mission, the kind of plane, the airport and destination airport are randomly generated and have to be of a class the pilot can fly.

Just my 2 cents...

[EHM-1821 Javier]

1) Random Failures

2) As one-way trips are unrealistic and it is frustrating to see planes left in remote airports for months, a system which allows a pilot to select whether he will be flying a round trip or a connection to another flight when flying out of a hub or a connection airport so that no plane gets left behind or forgotten at some far away airport and the airplanes will always start from a hub.

Something like in the lock plane window, it first asks whether you would be flying a round trip or a connection. If you select a round trip, the flights from there will be shown. You select your flight and lock it, the reverse direction of the flight will be locked too, so the pilot will have to fly a round-trip. (eg round trip: EHM-3004 EGLL-EDDF, EHM-3005 EDDF-EGLL flights will be locked)

If you select connection, it will show flights from the hub you're flying from that have connecting flights from the destination to places other than back to the hub for that class (class123/class456/class7). after selecting the first connection flight, the window will then ask again whether the pilot would like to fly a round-trip or another connection. If there are no more connections, only the round-trip option would be shown. After the round-trip option, the pilot would have to fly the plane back to its hub via the connection flights in reverse direction, maybe list out all the flights the pilot will have to fly in the window (eg on 2 leg round trip: EHM-3004 EGLL-EDDF, EHM-3501 EDDF-ELLX,  EHM-3500 ELLX-EDDF, EHM-3005 EDDF-EGLL)

A pilot cannot just stop at another hub and leave it there (eg EGLL-EHAM) but will have to fly it back to its original hub (EHAM-EGLL)

When a pilot locks his flights but does not start the first one, it will be unlocked in within 48 hrs as the current system does, but if he does not fly after flying his first flight, he will have to fly all the flights before he can locked other flights.

That said, I hope you guys understand what im trying to say because i got confused by myself as i was typing all that :]

3) As Mariano said, a reward in the PP FAC system, i don't really like seeing a 0 after a perfect flight, makes me feel that i haave not done anything right :]

Maybe something like you start off with your normal pilot salary (eg. +1000pts, bigger plane/longer flight = more pay), and with every mistake you make or any damage you cause, the penalty points (as they currently are) are deducted from this "salary". Also, when a failure is triggered by PP (assuming there will be such failures ), some penalties would be automatically disabled (eg. explosive decompression at altitude failure and the descending at more than -4500fpm penealty)


4) Waaayyyy unlikely, but just to mention, some way for the FL/PP to interact with FSPassengers so that when generates a random failure, the other is aware of it and so you won't need to shut down one of the programs to continue the emergency :]

[EHM-2190 ROCHA]

I verify that a lot of pilots are offline on their flights. Using this way of flight, is a valid option, but i have noted that we learn more online, with human ATC. We can choose Vatsin or IVAO, does not matter. Now my really suggestion is the pontuation, we must have mor points or other for ourselves choosing flying online, and meet together.

Thanks

[EHM-1800 Franz]

Dear pilots !
Mariano, Javier, Rocha, ...  told the most I wanted to suggest.
I think you should show the ranking again like you did it. Its a challenge to see if Im close to the top 10 or where are my competitors.
Why I did not like anymore flying propilot?  It was the new system! for ex. I made a long haul online-flight with bad weather landing - "perfect" from FSPassengers but got penalty because after leaving the runway, I wanted to put out the landing and strobe lights and made the mistake with the "anti collision" (but I puted them on again immediately ) - 60points.  Last time I got from the ATC a high speed approach - we were 7 aircraft in approach and I got the next penaltys. For a perfect long haul I got only +29 points !  This is a bad relation!   - After aircraft crashes I have so many penaltys, that I have to fly the next 20 years for getting in positive rating - this is not very encouraging me.
It seems that some pilots with a lot of points are flying 20 hours a day (I never see them online), but this does not say anything about their skillness. If you have to study or work or have a family, you cannot match with them.
Why not starting with a new competition. Beginning at every new year - every pilot has to make at least 5 (or 10 or whatever) PP-flights  and at least 1 long haul a month with aircrafts like PMDG, LEVEL-D, Ready for Pushback, Captain Sim 707, PSS Airbus, 757, 777, Flight1 ATR, 727, etc ....    and at least 1 EHM-Tour in the year and ONLINE !!!(for offline - 50% of points).  Or devide in ONLINE and OFFLINE Division. And at the end of the year the top ten pilots get their AWARDS.  For pilots with many hours should also get awards, but not in propilot!  Or - you can make as many flights you can do, but only the 10 best reults a month will be registered.  
So it could get more interesting again !

Greetings from Salzburg
Franz

[EHM-1883 Matt]

I strongly agree with the idea of the long haul problem of trying to split it into two legs. Maybe that can be solved by a button on the Flogger which when pressed acknowledges that the next landing and takeoff are "fake" and should not be recorded?

I also think that a few random failures need to be put it, and if you get a PP failure with a FSP failure at the same time, what can I really say apart from fun?

[EHM-0948 Bruno]

Keep posting guys ... all of your opinions count.

Thank you to the ones that already gave their 2 cents.

[EHM-1821 Javier]

What?! I paid 2 cents to post my comment?! :] :p

Originally posted by EHM-1800 Franz
I think you should show the ranking again like you did it. Its a challenge to see if Im close to the top 10 or where are my competitors.
Why I did not like anymore flying propilot?  It was the new system! for ex. I made a long haul online-flight with bad weather landing - "perfect" from FSPassengers but got penalty because after leaving the runway, I wanted to put out the landing and strobe lights and made the mistake with the "anti collision" (but I puted them on again immediately ) - 60points.  Last time I got from the ATC a high speed approach - we were 7 aircraft in approach and I got the next penaltys. For a perfect long haul I got only +29 points !  This is a bad relation!   - After aircraft crashes I have so many penaltys, that I have to fly the next 20 years for getting in positive rating - this is not very encouraging me.
It seems that some pilots with a lot of points are flying 20 hours a day (I never see them online), but this does not say anything about their skillness. If you have to study or work or have a family, you cannot match with them.

I definitely agree with this, i still fly on PP though and i'd like to see the top 10 too the penalties are given tooo fast, we don't get a chance to correct them if we accidently hit some key, eg. turning the strobes off.

What's more, its so difficult to get back a positive score after crashing or getting penalties.

[EHM-1749 Hector]

One other thing I can think of for the new PP version is to include the fuel management as responsability for the pilot.
Also, I agree with previous ideas on round trip flights. I propose that once a pilot leaves his/her hub with a particular plane, that plane MUST be returned to the hub no matter how many connecting flights have been performed.

[EHM-0948 Bruno]

Hi,

Definately the FAC system (pilot ranking) will be changed on the next one.

What I would strongly suggest is that you fly the best that you can, but fly there.

Because when the new FAC system comes out you'll surely get a better position than others that don't fly on it.

[EHM-1800 Franz]

Hi Bruno and all Pilots !
Only a short mention.
On my online - flights from Peking - Paris I made a landing in Krasnoyarsk UNKL.  It was one of my most difficult approaches, heavy rain and gusts, visibility 300 mtrs, no ILS, no Pappi no Vasi. In real it would impossible to land under such conditions. Not enough, FS Pax made a failure, but I landed the aircraft safely and got in FSPax over 1000 points for that exellent flight, but in ProPilot I got ludicrous 29,70 points !!!:$ I was dissapointed. For a ridiculos mistake with landing lights you get 100 pts penalty! Or 150 poits for "overspeed under 10000 ft" as the controller gave me once a high speed approach. It means, you have to make more than 5 perfect flights to even out this !!! Thats no good relation and not encouraging pilots to fly with PP.  
I hope you find a good solution !
Cheers  
Franz

[EHM-1570 Bruce]

I think that Propilot should be made compatable with helicopters, because at the moment if you make a vertical ascent or decent you are penalised with a high AOA, vertical flight in a helicopter is common practice, I have flown helicopters in Propilot with no penalties and the trick is to keep a low forward speed during the ascent or descent, could you not inhibit the AOA penalty when a helicopter is selected?.

[EHM-2288 Glenn]

Please, no random failures. They used it in USAirways flight logging program. And if you are unlucky like me, you get a lot of failures, when another pilot don't get failures at all.
As ex. me and my brother was flying for USAirways, and of my last 20 flights I got random errors in 9 of them, and had to turn around and go back. And my brother did fly the same amount of flights, and did only get random errors once.
If we want to fly together, it's not so good to get random errors for one of the pilots, and the other one can fly the rest of the leg alone.

[EHM-1829 Trevor]

In a way, I have to agree with Glenn.
  The telephone rings, someone's at the door, an involuntary key press, disconnection.
  And it all seems to happen 3nm from touch down, we have all been there.
  Who needs random failures?  we make our own.

[EHM-1829 Trevor]

Would it be helpful having the FAC base line at zero,? it saves falling into the bottomless pit that we have today.
This will save pilots from a heavy negative score before they acquire  reasonable experience, and keep them thinking positive It would also bring all the members with a negative score back to the starting line, yes, that includes me with -3000 to my credit. :]

[EHM-1671 Ben]

Originally posted by EHM-1829 Trevor
Would it be helpful having the FAC base line at zero,? it saves falling into the bottomless pit that we have today.
This will save pilots from a heavy negative score before they acquire  reasonable experience, and keep them thinking positive It would also bring all the members with a negative score back to the starting line, yes, that includes me with -3000 to my credit. :$

I agree. I have an embarrassing -18,997.50 FAC (the majority of which comes from planes I crashed when I wasn't very good), and with the possibility of only earning 20 of those points back with a flawless flight from Frankfurt to London Heathrow, there's a lot more flying to do

[EHM-2155 Mariano]

I tried searching this thread for this but I didnt re-read all the posts, so if I'm reposting, please forgive me.

Customisable Transition Altitude. I guess this is more of a flight logger thing, but something should pop up asking us for the TA where we are flying. This is very useful for people who fly online and abide the rules (Lets say, TA=6000 and propilot would give a penalty I belive if we went below FL180 and we dont change the altimeter to local, although that only should happen at 6000).
Of course, there should be another button in there saying "use standard" for FL180 when we're flying offline.

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Picking up Mariano's "customisable TA", it'd need to be a client-side setting (as I'm sure we all realise) but I agree with it it general terms - set the TA/TL for dep/dest prior to engine start, or FL180 is used "per default"...

[EHM-1883 Matt]

Message original :  EHM-1671 Ben

Originally posted by EHM-1829 Trevor
Would it be helpful having the FAC base line at zero,? it saves falling into the bottomless pit that we have today.
This will save pilots from a heavy negative score before they acquire  reasonable experience, and keep them thinking positive It would also bring all the members with a negative score back to the starting line, yes, that includes me with -3000 to my credit. :$

I agree. I have an embarrassing -18,997.50 FAC (the majority of which comes from planes I crashed when I wasn't very good), and with the possibility of only earning 20 of those points back with a flawless flight from Frankfurt to London Heathrow, there's a lot more flying to do

Totally agree. I made a mistake and went past the VS limit once and it's going to take me more than a few flights to get it back to where it originaly was let along getting a good FAC score!

[EHM-1704 Leon]

Some thoughts regarding ProPilot...

I agree with making the scoring system more positive, it can be a turnoff to only get negative scores.

I find the altimeter penalty trivial & anoying...pressing B should be the co-pilots job, not mine

I have nothing against a random failure system as long as the occurance rate is similar to real world ops.

I would like to see rewards for smoothly/skillfully hand flying (i.e. without AP) the aircraft. I'm not sure how this would be measured though. Rewarding "aircraft handling" and "airmanship" could balance out all the arbitrary number penalties...IMHO

[EHM-0948 Bruno]

Hi Leon,

Welcome to our community! and thank you for your suggestions