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SATA Virtual ALL

March 2016

Flight Crew Operating Manual

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES

SATA Virtual ALL

March 2016



CONTENTS

9.00.01 P 2

SEQ 001 REV 64

9.00.01 CONTENTS ............................................................................................. 2

9.01.01 SETUP ..................................................................................................... 3

9.02.01 START ..................................................................................................... 6

9.03.01 REFUEL ................................................................................................... 8

9.04.01 STATUS ................................................................................................. 11

9.05.01 FDR ....................................................................................................... 12

9.06.01 FDM ....................................................................................................... 16

9.07.01 ACARS................................................................................................... 18

9.08.01 NAVLOG ................................................................................................ 20

9.09.01 MAP ....................................................................................................... 21

9.10.01 METAR/TAF ........................................................................................... 22

9.11.01 CHARTS ................................................................................................ 23

9.12.01 NOTAM .................................................................................................. 25

9.13.01 OFP ....................................................................................................... 26

9.14.01 TYPE RATING ....................................................................................... 27

9.15.01 PUBLIC ADDRESS ................................................................................ 28

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SETUP

9.01.01 P 3

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INTRODUCTION

vFDR program is a PIREP and ACARS System. This means that in SATA Virtual

you will use vFDR to file your flight reports, and it should also help on the operation

of the aircraft and flight briefing.

There are some other functions included that will be explained over the next pages.

At this time vFDR works with, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, Microsoft Flight

Simulator X, Lockheed Martin Prepar3d v1.0+, Lockheed Martin Prepar3d v2.0+, X-

PLANE 9 and X-PLANE 10.

Please refer to 9.08.01 Type Rating for type rating configuration.

SETUP

After having downloaded and installed vFDR software from the virtual airline site the

software is almost ready to be used. Launch vFDR from the Start Menu and the

following screen should show up.

Note: In order to use vFDR, an unregistered copy of Pete Dowson FSUIPC is needed.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 9 requires FSUIPC 3.99 or higher, Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Lockheed Martin

Prepar3D requires FSUIPC 4.98 or higher, X-PLANE requires a copy of XPUIPC freeware.

SATA Virtual users of X-PLANE need to ask SATA Virtual Planning and Crew for a modified copy of XPUIPC

setup files.

http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html

http://www.tosi-online.de/XPUIPC/Home.html

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SETUP

9.01.02 P 4

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vFDR needs virtual airline information and the pilot number for a specific virtual

airline. Your virtual airline should have given the details in order to complete vFDR

setup.

You should have got a URL from your virtual airline to complete the setup, fill it in on

Home Page field and press Get VA Config button, the information needed by your

virtual airline should be downloaded and shown on vFDR, after you will need to fill in

your pilot number for that virtual airline and press the update button.

Every time a field is changed, Update button should be pressed to save changed

information.

As it can be seen on the sample screen below, vFDR allows to setup multiple virtual

airlines.

Pilots should not change any of the other fields, unless when instructed to, by their

virtual airline, because they are needed for the proper operation of vFDR.

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SETUP

9.01.03 P 5

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Buttons:

Insert – if the virtual airline does not provide a download setup file, this will

enable pilots to fill in all the information needed for the virtual airline and save that

information as a new line on the top frame.

Update – Save any changes made to the fields

Clear – Clear the bottom form

Delete – Delete a virtual airline from the list.

Close – Close this form.

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START

9.02.01 P 6

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START

To use vFDR to log flights pilots need to book a flight on their virtual airline flight

booking system. If you have any doubts around where to book your flights, please

contact your virtual airline. Specific Virtual Airlines Flight booking systems are out of

the scope of this document.

After flight booking is fully performed under your virtual airline flight booking system,

start vFDR (the following screen should show up).

The bottom line will show the Flight Simulator being used, connection status and the

current flight phase. It also includes warnings for Wind shear, Turbulence and Ice,

these messages will be shown in 3 colors, Green when a connection to flight

simulator is not established, Cyan for light, Orange for moderate and Red for severe

conditions.

Note: Screen above is an example without a connection to a flight simulator.

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START

9.02.02 P 7

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The next step is to click “Get FPL” button which will download information of the

pilot’s next booked flight.

Operational flight plan data is shown after a successful download from the virtual

airline site. For departure and arrival airport, Charts links and NOTAMS will be

shown if available via VATEUD API. If the tabs for Charts links and NOTAM do not

show up is only because VATEUD API can’t access that data.

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REFUEL

9.03.01 P 8

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REFUEL (OPTIONAL)

vFDR simulates a refuel panel.

After a flight plan has been successfully downloaded and a connection to the flight

simulator is established, Fuel On Board (FOB) from the last flight of the chosen

aircraft is applied to the aircraft loaded in flight simulator. This behavior depends on

the virtual airline configuration; if this functionality is not available from the virtual

airline refuel panel will be inoperative or have less options.

Note: Inoperative Refuel panel, either because a connection to the simulator is not established or the

virtual airline doesn’t use this option.

Pilots need to pay special attention to this feature because it will override any

previously fuel loaded in the aircraft, by any other means, once the communication

with flight simulator is established.

This panel uses a special digital font that can be optionally installed in Windows

systems. If you are interested in installing the font please ask for a link sending an

email to your virtual airline.

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REFUEL

9.03.02 P 9

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The top frame in this screen has the fuel distribution weights that are loaded in flight

simulator plane on both wings and central tanks.

On the lower frame, from left to right:

PRESELECTED – Estimated quantity of fuel for the current flight, pilots can

adjust this value.

REFUEL –Green means that a connection with flight simulator is available

and running, it will be Red if a connection to flight simulator is not established.

OFF/ON – Click on top of letters to toggle between OFF/ON.

ACTUAL – Total weight of fuel loaded in all tanks.

Notes: Complex add-ons might show undesired behavior when using the refueling system.

This feature should not be used in X-Plane.

At the time of release of vFDR defuel is not possible

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REFUEL

9.03.03 P 10

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Below an image of the refuel panel refueling an airplane in flight simulator.

Refuel panel also tries to simulate the time that takes to refuel planes in real world.

Pilots need to take this time factor into consideration when booking flights.

The time it takes to refuel an aircraft from the fleet depends on the aircraft type. For

instance, to fill an Airbus A320 from 0 to 19t it will take around 20 minutes.

Zero Fuel Weight and Fuel Weight should only be filled (FMC/MCDU) after refueling

is complete in vFDR Refuel panel, failing to do so, might result in wrong weights

reported inside flight simulator.

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STATUS

9.04.01 P 11

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STATUS

Status page shows in real time several parameters related to the aircraft and the

flight.

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FDR

9.05.01 P 12

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FDR START

FDR (events log) will register several flight parameters that will enable virtual airlines

to do post flight analysis.

FDR events logging is started automatically as soon as parking brake is released

and at least one of the engines is started, at origin.

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FDR

9.05.02 P 13

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FDR STOP

FDR events logging is stopped automatically as soon as parking brakes are set and

engines are set to off at current location that will be the initial flight destination in the

case of a flight without diversion.

At this point ON BLOCKS events will be logged which will compute several flight

parameters as FOB, Flight Time, Block Time, etc.

Actual landing airport is also computed at this time, this will keep a proper position

for the aircraft being flown.

Pilots don’t need to do anything in vFDR in the case a diversion to (any) alternate

airport has been performed, just fill in a ACARS message stating the reason for the

diversion (please refer to ACARS section in this document for reference about filling

ACARS messages) and send the PIREP as you would normally do.

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FDR

9.05.03 P 14

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Main screen upon arrival

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FDR

9.05.04 P 15

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Abnormal procedure

In some abnormal situations, like a Rejected Takeoff with a return to the gate, to

solve any technical issues with the aircraft and in the case of not being able to

resume flight without restarting, either by loading the aircraft again or with a full

restart of flight simulation software:

An ACARS message should be filled stating the problem (refer to ACARS

section in this document for reference about filling ACARS messages)

Stop button on the main Flight page should be pressed, which will end the

flight logging process

Send PIREP button will be enabled and the log can be sent to the virtual

airline.

Stop log button can be used to stop (end) the log, in any case where the log doesn’t

stop automatically. After stopping the log, Send Pirep button will become active and

will enable the pilot to send the PIREP to the virtual airline.

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FDM

9.06.01 P 16

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FDM

Flight Data Monitor will monitor some parameters that might have been configured

for the virtual airline and will evaluate the flight in terms of a flight rating in % and in

points. The pilot starts with a rating of 100% and failing to adhere to certain virtual

airline rules will log a penalty. Points on the other hand can be used with positive

values and negative values. The evaluation stated here is dependent of what virtual

airlines want to use. Virtual airlines are not forced, in any way, to have this system in

place.

Example of FDM events upon departure

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FDM

9.06.02 P 17

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FDM events upon arrival to the gate

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ACARS

9.07.01 P 18

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ACARS

Integrated ACARS system.

Pilots can check here messages downloaded and uploaded by the aircraft. The

screen is split in 2 main frames.

Downlink frame will have a list of all messages sent from the aircraft to virtual airline

ACARS site (ground station).

Uplink frame will have a list of all messages received from virtual airline ACARS site

that were sent to the current airborne station (aircraft). These messages can be sent

by any staff member of SATA Virtual that might be handling OPS (Operations)

online or by other pilots. ACARS system of vFDR is compatible with FSACARS

ACARS system, so pilots can exchange messages between each other, without

worrying about which software they are running at any given time.

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ACARS

9.07.02 P 19

SEQ 001 REV 64

In order to send a message, “Station” field needs to be inserted and a message

needs to be written on the text box below “Station”.

To send a message to a ground station, pilots need to check the ground station or

stations that might be online at a given time.

To send a message to another flight crew (airborne station), performing a flight at

the same time, “Station” should be filled with the intended IATA flight number (e.g.:

S40129), fill the text message box and hit the Send button.

To report a diversion or any other comment about the flight that will be recorded in

the log, leave Station field blank, fill the comment in the text box and hit Send

button.

All messages exchanged in ACARS system are logged in FDR events and are also

sent to the virtual airline ACARS system where they are kept for further reference.

ACARS system can also be used to force a plain text message in FDR events log.

To perform this leave the “Station” field blank, type the message and click Send

button, same logging rules for messages stated above, apply here.

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NAVLOG

9.08.01 P 20

SEQ 001 REV 64

NAVLOG

Flight navigation log tab shows all route points as calculated centrally by the virtual

airline system. At takeoff STA, ETA and during the flight, ATA and Actual FOB will

be automatically filled.

Takeoff detected

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MAP

9.09.01 P 21

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MAP

Depiction of the planned route over a map. Using the MAP view on the same

machine that is running flight simulator software might have an impact on

flight simulator frames rate.

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METAR/TAF

9.10.01 P 22

SEQ 001 REV 64

METAR/TAF

METAR and TAF information for departure, arrival and alternate airfields.

Refresh Weather button will allow to update weather and forecasted weather at pilot

discretion.

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CHARTS

9.11.01 P 23

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CHARTS

Charts tabs will only be available if they are also available via VATEUD API.

At the time of writing this manual, VATEUD API has lost access to the main source

of charts and only for a few VATSIM vACC that do provide charts to VATEUD this

functionality will work.

Here pilots can also switch to Alternate charts in case they are need, unfortunately

the same rules for the availability of charts applies to the alternate.

When changing to alternate, also NOTAMS will be updated from original destination

to the alternate.

Double click on top of the chart name to open the chart on your default browser.

Note: Charts for original destination EDDM – Munich

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CHARTS

9.11.02 P 24

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Note: Charts for alternate EDDF – Frankfurt Main

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NOTAM

9.12.01 P 25

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NOTAM

NOTAM for departure, arrival/alternate airfields.

Arrival and alternate NOTAM are shown only one at a time, depending on the option

that is active on destination charts tab.

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OFP

9.13.01 P 26

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OFP (OPTIONAL)

Operational Flight Plan, this tab is visible at virtual airline discretion. If you do not

see this tab, it is because your virtual airline does not have a meaningfully use to it.

OFP format will vary according to virtual airline requirements.

Note: RZO OFP powered by simBrief example.

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TYPE RATING

9.14.01 P 27

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TYPE RATING

To use vFDR to log a Type Rating flight for SATA Virtual, check Type Rating box, fill

in the Aircraft Type with the appropriate ICAO Aircraft Type Identifier (A310, A320,

DH8B or DH8D) and click Get FPL button.

Some of the required fields are filled automatically.

Altitude and Route should be filled by the candidate.

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PUBLIC ADDRESS

9.15.01 P 28

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PUBLIC ADDRESS

Since January 2016 vFDR, has a Public Address (PA) system.

The system uses built-in windows TTS (Text to Speech) voices.

To take full advantage of the system on SATA Virtual, a Portuguese voice needs to

downloaded and installed, files needed for English voices should be already

available on the system assuming the windows version is in English.

All inflight announcements, Captain’s name, Purser name’s, Flight number,

Destination, etc. are related to the flight being performed at any particular time.

TTS INSTALATION

Instructions to install new Windows voices from Microsoft.com.

Read carefully and follow the instructions below carefully, if you are not

comfortable doing the procedure below, DO NOT DO IT!!!!

!!------------------------ WARNING ------------------------!!

This involves manual edits of your registry. If you mess it up, don't blame us.

Do at your own risk.

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PUBLIC ADDRESS

9.15.02 P 29

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Step 1

Install the Speech Platform v11

a) Go here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27225

b) Click "Download"

c) Select the "x64_SpeechPlatformRuntime\SpeechPlatformRuntime.msi"

d) Run the installer as administrator

Step 2:

Get alternate voices:

a) Go here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27224

b) Click "Download"

c) Select the voice files you want. They are the ones that have "TTS" in the

file name.

GB_Hazel and US_ZiraPro are the better sounding voices.

Users on windows 10 will have Zira Desktop available, previous

versions of windows should have Microsoft Anna.

Portuguese voice:

MSSpeech_TTS_pt-PT_Helia.msi (Portuguese)

Optional voices:

MSSpeech_TTS_en-GB_Hazel.msi

MSSpeech_TTS_en-US_ZiraPro.msi

d) Run the installer as administrator for each downloaded voice

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27224

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Step 3:

Before doing the steps below, verify if the new installed voices are already available

in vFDR. Visible voices might be different from the voices below, as they are related

to your own system.

Check if the new installed voices are available on the under voice field, if they are

listed there, then the procedure below is not needed, if not continue reading.

Extract the registry tokens

a) Open Regedit

b) Go to - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech

Server\v11.0\Voices - right click the "Tokens" folder and export. Save this

file to your desktop as voices1.reg so it will be easy to find later.

b) Go to -

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Speech

Server\v11.0\Voices - right click "Tokens" and again export it, again to the

desktop. Call it voices2.reg.



PUBLIC ADDRESS

9.15.03 P 30

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Step 4:

Edit the voices1/2 files

a) Open Voices1.reg in Notepad.

b) Press "ctrl + H"

c) Enter \Speech Server\v11.0\ into the "Find What" field

d) Enter \Speech\ into the "Replace With" field

e) Click "Replace All"

f) Save File

g) Repeat a) - f) with the Voices2.reg file

Step 5:

Merge the new Registry files into your registry

a) Double click to "run" both Voices1.reg and Voices2.reg

b) Click "Yes" when it prompts

You should now have access to the new voices in the Windows TTS options menu.

This process may also work with other voice packs.



PUBLIC ADDRESS

9.15.04 P 31

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After doing this steps and configuring PA system as shown on the picture above, the

system is ready and will work automatically. The image (red rectangle) also shows

the correct configuration for the voices to work properly. Buttons work exactly as

described for VA Setup Preferences.

PA Volume (main vFDR screen) can only be used while TTS is not in use, when a

speech announcement is active the volume slider is disabled (greyed out).



PUBLIC ADDRESS

9.15.05 P 32

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