Really needed features for next update

[AltairZQ]

I know there is another thread with features to add to next update. But in my oppinion there are too many of them and while all are nice things to
have, they are not really vital, at least not all of them. I'd like to focus on really needed features now missing. If you want to contribute to the
list it will be necessary for you to justifiy why you think the feature is vital or very needed.

This is my list:


Pilot and copilot weight
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Take into account the pilot and copilot weight in the payload. Also crew weight if possible. This is very very needed in light aircraft. Now you have
to sacrifice one cargo bay and assign it to crew weight which is very unrealistic. It's hard to belive this wasn't implemented at release.


Local flights
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Being able to take off and land at the same airport and not being penalized for it. Maybe this is not vital but is such a small modification, even Dan
has in mind how to do it, he posted it in a thread "if airport is the same then take into account time instead of length". Also local flights it's a
very normal thing to do in real aviation, to have passengers and give them a turn and get money for it.


Support for Virtual Airlines
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Many of us fly in Virtual Airlines, and the number is growing every time. But now it's not possible to have a shared database of flights and fleet for
one Virtual Airline. I know this is a a lot of work as there are many implications.

[clootie]

Out of the above, which I think are all good idea's my vote would be for the VA database support over everything. There is very little (if anything)
that is premade for VA's in this field.

[169thVAF]

I would agree on all of these being great ideas. But you must take into account the mass of requests thy get. Of all of these, I would say
the VA part is a needed feature, as I have tried to use the PHP they have availible, and have been unable to get it working correctly, and I
can see where you say, it would be nice to have it where the people in the VA, have all the same information as the VA base. (Cash, A/C,
and all). But there is only one problem that I forsee with this, and that would be the amount of time, and programming that would be
required to commit to this feature. So, even if they did start this, I would have to say, it would be quite a while before, it would be availible
for purchase, and you must take into account the cost effectivness of this. When they did come out with it, it might be a little costly.

I don't know. Just my general thoughts about it all.
Gary

[CowlFlapsOpen]

My vote is for the pilot and copilot weights. This is a big deal to us light GA folks. I realize that the light GA wasn't originally the intended
use of the program (the orientation being that it would be primarily of interest to the big airline crowd) but there is a whole cadre of us
bush/charter flyers who otherwise love the program and are loyal to it and this is one of the features that would tells us that this subset of users
are important to the developer also. I also think the solution is relatively easy to address, as these things go.

Along with this would be the ability to apply penalties on a per aircraft basis. Some small aircraft do not use flaps on take off for example, others
do. I have to turn the penalty off on a global basis although it is appropriate to some of the planes i fly (but not others).

Also the ability to make corrections to the stored database. This is less important.

[poden]

I compensate for pilot weight in GA planes by having a cargo station up forward. If the plane has the ability to carry cargo in a forward compart in
addition, I just add more weight than the pilot would weigh.

As far as "features in the next update" goes, we have yet to get the word that there'll even be any sort of update. Dan has said his priority is
dealing with FSX first, then maybe there'll be an update of the FS9 version (don't hold your breath). Maybe all the real "improvements" will only show
up in the FSX version, assuming there'll be one.

[CowlFlapsOpen]

Hi Poden. I do as well. I've even posted a payload models for the B200 that has this feature as well. It is a good workaround, but has limits of
course. You're correct about FSX and I look forward to what Dan creates in response. cheers

[Airliner]

Okay, I didn't even realize that crew weight WASN'T accounted for!

About the VA stuff, FSP already keeps a record of a pilot's entire record. Wouldn't it be a simple matter of getting that data to the VA? You
would transfer the individual data as usual and then, simply replace the old pilot record with the updated one. I'm at work and don't have
what's in this file in front of me, so I'm kind of fishing here but, it sounds like it should be minor to get that going.

Maybe someone could write an addon for now. I believe there's an export feature for this, right? Export it to a text file and then write
something to read that data, parse it and send it to the VA database, overwriting the previous data.