Getting started at FreelanceVA
First of all, welcome to the team. I hope you enjoy your time and the aviation content here at Freelance.
There are a few things that need to be put in place to get you going:
APPS TO INSTALL:
We use a flight tracking client called Pegasus (standard across the vAMSYS system). In order for it to be able to hook into your sim of choice, we need to install a commonly used app called FSUIPC (or XPUIPC for X-Plane users). The free version is fine, and is available from https://www.fsuipc.com/ or http://www.xpuipc.com/. Please install it on the same hard drive as your sim. For X-Plane 12, XPUIPC has been causing some crashes to desktop when changing aircraft or liveries - if you enable UDP in the Network settings, Pegasus is able to work without XPUIPC. Please double check you don't need it for other plugins before removing.
The Pegasus flight tracking client itself is available from this page under Resources > Pegasus ACARS
(Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later - Apple and Intel CPUs supported, All modern x64 Linux distributions)
MACOS and Linux users need .NET Runtime 9 from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet/9.0
For Group Flights we use JoinFS in order to have cross-platform multiplayer. Please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRvGQtveaf4 for info on setting up, and a link to download.
FLIGHT PLANNING/DISPATCH:
For flight dispatch, please link your Simbrief/Navigraph account under My Profile > Account Settings > Social, Online & 3rd Party - that way your selected flights will go straight to flight planning.
BOOKING A FLIGHT:
Go to Flight Centre > Destination Map to choose where to begin.
We've already got thousands upon thousands of destinations - select any airport on the map to pick your starting point (you're free to move around here any time). When you've clicked on the selected airport, a sidebar will open on the left. Near the bottom you'll find a 'Jump' button. That moves your location in the VA to that chosen airport and will present flight options from there for you.
A guide will appear to explain all the different ways to use the flight map.
Next up - choose your destination from those shown on the map or filter the available options (top right). The available airlines and types for that route will be shown on the sidebar on the left. If you're happy, click the 'Dispatch Flight' button near the bottom of the sidebar to select your fleet and aircraft options.
The dispatch page that follows will typically be pre-filled but a number of options can be modified to your liking. When ready, hit the 'Create Booking' button at the bottom. This will send all the info to Simbrief and your flight will be ready to go.
THE FLIGHT:
Load up the sim at your chosen point of departure.
When you're in the cockpit, run the Pegasus app and find your booking. When you're ready to go, click 'Start Flight' in Pegasus - then when the flight is done, hit 'File PIREP' to log your flight in the VA, and register you at your destination ready for the next onward leg!
Should any errors befall Pegasus along the way, or if you forget to start it at all, there's a 'File Manual PIREP' facility on the flight planning page where you can log your hours without having to re-fly the leg.
Please see our socials:
Discord: https://discord.gg/3UpMcqejRb