Jump to content

You're browsing the 2004-2023 VATSIM Forums archive. All content is preserved in a read-only fashion.
For the latest forum posts, please visit https://forum.vatsim.net.

Need to find something? Use the Google search below.

Model Matching: "Airline" and "Livery" fields...?


Robert Shearman Jr
 Share

Recommended Posts

Ross Carlson
Posted
Posted
Given this knowledge (i.e. that everyone on the network using either vPilot or xPilot DOES NOT set "Airline" nor "Livery" data values), would it be possible for the Swift client to be updated so it could attempt to glean some idea of a user's intended representative model from their callsign in cases where the aforementioned items are null or gibberish?

 

Slight clarification here ... vPilot does set the Airline code. If the callsign starts with three letters followed by some numbers, then those three letters are copied into the Airline code field when connecting. So other clients, such as swift, will get the airline code value for vPilot users. You just can't set an airline code that is different from your callsign prefix.

 

Personally, I prefer to enter data one time -- i.e. if I put "AAL" in my callsign I would find it unnecessarily redundant to have to specify again that I want to appear to others in an American Airlines livery. In other words, I like the way vPilot and xPilot handle that. Of course, everyone else's mileage may vary, and I'm sure there's a decent split on that opinion too...

 

This goes back to before I was involved with VATSIM dev, but I think the original intent of having an airline code field was for situations like a regional airline flying for a major carrier, such as Republic operating a United Express flight. There, the callsign is RPA#### but the airline code could be UAL, so that the aircraft is shown in United colors. One could argue that the livery field is sufficient for that purpose, but having both the airline code and the livery field provides more flexibility. I.e. each field adds more granularity or specificity to the model matching process.

Developer: vPilot, VRC, vSTARS, vERAM, VAT-Spy

Senior Controller, Boston Virtual ARTCC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andreas Fuchs
Posted
Posted

In Squawkbox 3 and 4 you could not just enter an aircraft type, but you had to setup an aircraft via a menu. Even then users could logon with a callsign different from the actual aircraft configuration. As Ross mentioned, this would be useful for regional airlines, wet lease contract flights etc.. In the UK British Airways does perform its domestic flights not as "BAWxxxx", but as "SHTxxxx" ("Shuttle"), but still using their regular aircraft in BA-colors.

 

Squawkbox 4: Connect dialogue, enter whatever callsign and then choose an aircraft from your list of aircraft

SB4-01.jpg

 

Squawkbox 4: Aircraft setup, choose custom name, choose type code from given list, choose airline from given list, special liveries available in some cases

SB4-02.jpg

 

I think it is critical we force users to use correct codes only, otherwise we will keep ending up with filing flightplans as "Boeing 737-800NG" instead of "B738". I know this is an issue with the flightplan forms at VATSIM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Robert Shearman Jr
Posted
Posted
Given this knowledge (i.e. that everyone on the network using either vPilot or xPilot DOES NOT set "Airline" nor "Livery" data values), would it be possible for the Swift client to be updated so it could attempt to glean some idea of a user's intended representative model from their callsign in cases where the aforementioned items are null or gibberish?
Slight clarification here ... vPilot does set the Airline code. If the callsign starts with three letters followed by some numbers, then those three letters are copied into the Airline code field when connecting. So other clients, such as swift, will get the airline code value for vPilot users. You just can't set an airline code that is different from your callsign prefix.

Interesting -- however, INCOMING model matching done by vPilot is based only on Aircraft Type and Callsign, is that correct? Certainly that's how the custom rule-set format and the explanation for it in the docomeentation makes it appear.

 

EDIT: never mind; you answered that already in an earlier post:

"The airline and livery values are not used by other pilots that use vPilot. (Not yet ... they may be used in the future.)"

Cheers,
-R.

fvJfs7z.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share