3. Help
Find answers to your questions here.
- ACARS
- FlightTrackerXP | MacOS
- smartCARS 3 | Windows PC Mac OS Linux
- smartCARS 3 | XPUIPC for X-Plane 11/12
- Awards
- Events
- Flight Operations
- Liveries
- Online ATC
- Patreon
- What is Patreon
- How to Become a Patreon
- How to Cancel Your Paid Membership
- Use Any Aircraft Livery
- Choose Any Callsign for Online Flights
- Fly as Any Real-World Airline or with a Country-Specific Private Registration
- Fly an Aircraft Before Its Livery Is Released on the Platform
- Pilot Reports (PIREPS)
- Rank & Points
- simBrief
- Worldwide Persistence
- FAQ
ACARS
ACARS is a term used to refer to Flight Tracking software used to provide data to our System. That software is as follows: > smartCARS for Windows PC > FlightTrackerXP for MacOS (X-Plane only)
FlightTrackerXP | MacOS
Prior to 1 December 2021, this was known as Belerophon.
FlightTrackerXP is a paid application. You must purchase and download it from the Apple's App Store.
We do not own, develop or provide support for it. For support, contact the Developer.
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The FlightTrackerXP application is subscription-based flight tracking software created specifically for MacOS in support of Laminar Research's X-Plane.
It may be downloaded here from Apple's App Store.
Once downloaded, you'll be required to complete a few items to set it up. |
Launch
Once you open up the application, you will want to click on the + at the bottom right to add a virtual airline.
Airline Configuration Page
This is the Airline Configuration Page.
On the left side, scroll down and find Walker Air Transport and click it.
When you click on our airline, it is going to default to smartCARS 2 as the TYPE. You must change this otherwise you will be unable to log in. We do not support FlightTrackerXP on the smartCARS 2 API as of August 15th, 2023.
| Type | smartCARS 3 |
| Name | Walker Air Transport |
| Address | https://acars.walkerair.us/api/flighttrackerxp |
| Username | This is your email address used to log into CrewOps |
| Password |
This is the password used to log into CrewOps |
| Other Settings |
You are free to set these as you wish |
Click the Save button.
Home Page
On the Home Page, your Pilot stats can be viewed.
Bookings Page
On the Bookings Page, you can view your Bids.
Enter your route in the Route Text Box and and click the Start Tracking button to begin your flight.
ACARS Page
On the ACARS Page, your active flight and log file are displayed.
At end of your flight, click the Finish button. Your flight data will be transmitted to our Flight Data System to generate your PIREP.
Map Page
On the Map Page, you can track your flight.
Support
| User Manual | FlightTrackerXP's User Manual can be accessed here: https://www.griesslehner.at/flighttrackerxp/manual |
| Discord | If you have installation or start-up issues with FlightTrackerXP, you must contact the Developer on their Discord. The staff at Walker Air Transport will not be able to provide application support outside an invalid login account. Discord Link: https://discord.com/invite/GF9sEdE |
smartCARS 3 | Windows PC Mac OS Linux
If you haven't already read the Flight Operations chapter, we recommend you do so now before continuing.
Important INFO! Please Read This!
There are two important things you need to know.
1. In the settings for smartCARS 3, if you are a PC user with X-Plane, you do not use the 'xplane' option under Tracking Provider. There is a bug and it will result in your livery not being logged and your flight will be rejected. We do not have the bandwidth to fix this for every pilot. We have asked TFDi to fix this problem and as soon as they do, we will notify everyone.
YOUR FLIGHT WILL BE REJECTED IF YOU DO NOT USE XPUIPC AND CONFIGURE SMARTCARS3 CORRECTLY AND WE WILL NOT OVERRIDE THIS.
2. You cannot run your simulator as administrator. If you have "User Access Control" enabled on your PC and you received a popup asking you if you wanted to run X-Plane, MSFS, or Prepar3D and you clicked yes -- your application has been hard set to "run as administrator". If you attempt to try and fly you will be presented with this error.
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How can I fix this?
You will need to find your executable file (not your shortcut file), right click and choose properties, compatibility, and uncheck the "Run as Administrator".
Another option is to also completely disable 'User Access Control' but that is your choice. You can watch this video and decide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2XlznYAcAQ
If you continue to have problems after doing this, you will need to contact TFDi at the support links above. |
Downloading and Support
To download smartCARS 3 for PC, Mac, or Linux, please visit here: https://smartcars.tfdidesign.com/central/download
Plug-In's Required
- Microsoft Flight Simulator - FSUIPC7 Free Version here: http://www.fsuipc.com/
- Prepar3D - FSUIPC6 Free Version here: http://www.fsuipc.com/
- X-Plane (PC ONLY) - XPUIPC, read Important INFO! below and follow the link to XPUIPC for XP11/12.
If you require support with the application, you need to contact TFDi Designs at one of the links below.
Walker Air Transport cannot provide support for the application.
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/tfdidesign
GitHub: https://github.com/invernyx/smartcars-3-bugs
Support Portal: https://support.tfdidesign.com/support/home
You can view the official user manual from TFDi here: https://docs.invernyx.com/en/smartcars3/beta-guide
The following details below will walk you through the application from the perspective of a pilot at Walker Air Transport. There are features in the TFDi user manual that we will/do not deploy in our virtual airline.
Logging into smartCARS 3
When you launch smartCARS 3, you will be asked to log in with your TFDi account.
You do not have to create or login with an account, you can simply click on 'Skip TFDi Design Login.
If you choose to not create and/or login with a TFDi account, you will not be visible on their map under our virtual airline. You will also be unable to access your premium features you purchased from TFDi.
On the next screen, choose 'Walker Air Transport'.
You can now log into our virtual airline by using your email or pilot ID number (do not include WAT, just enter the 3-4 digits.)
The username and password here is the exact same username and password used to log into our website.
If you cannot log in, please attempt to log into https://crew.walkerair.us -- if that works then you are typing something wrong in smartCARS 3.
Main Page
The Main Page screen containing your name, pilot ID, and rank will appear together with your personal statistics – total hours, total flights and average landing rate. You will also get notifications in this panel as well as be able to logout using the button under your name and rank.
For a new, first time Pilot, these fields will be blank because no flights have been completed.
To navigate through the remaining sections within smartCARS, click the icons in the left column. You can drag these icons around as well to create your preferred menu layout.
My Flights
In order to see the flights that you’ve completed a bid from the crew site, click on this 
icon on the left side of the screen.
NOTE: If you've completed a Bid and it doesn't show up, click the 
icon on the top right.
A pilot's first instinct is going to be to click on the 
button, however please be aware there is more data and options available if you click on the physical bid itself.
Please read this section in it's entirety, the way smartCARS 3 operates is completely different than smartCARS.
In smartCARS 3, a pilot is no longer required to enter their route, cruise altitude, and load. This information comes from a couple different sources within the Walker Air Transport bid as well as simBrief.
| Route | Your route will be blank unless you (A) enter a custom route in this box, or (B) you used our simBrief integration to build your flight plan. |
| Cruise Altitude | Cruise is automated in smartCARS 3, it will detect when you are in this phase and adjust if you should have to conduct step climbs or descents. |
| Load | Every pilot briefing is given a random load based on a couple variables. You can see this load by visiting your pilot briefing and looking at the left side. If you use our simBrief integration to generate your flight plan, it will use the load provided by our website or a custom load you enter. Read more here. |
Using our simBrief integration (read more here) will ensure that your route and load are prepopulated for your flight.
Selection of online service (VATSIM, IVAO, POSCON, PilotEdge) should be done here as well, this will allow you to show up on the CrewOps map in your ATC network color.
Once all checks out and your plane is at the departure airport and is stationary, you can hit the fly button.
Using the 
button here will also delete your bid in our CrewOps.
Flight Tracking
Selecting Fly on the My Flights page will connect your smartCARS to the sim, and will bring you to the Flight Tracking page. In this page, you can monitor your flight log for any erroneous logs. In this page, you can also change your route (by clicking the Show Route) and add comments (by typing into comment field then pressing enter) to the flight log in realtime as needed.
Pause at TOD is now the toggle button at the bottom left of the screen, under the comment field.
There is also a drop down that will allow you to change your online network status while in flight. If you are on VATSIM or any other online service and accidentally forget to specify that at the start of your flight, you can now do it while in flight.
Your TOD is a rough approximation by the application based on your altitude and thus will not exactly match the TOD on your aircraft's ND and may, in certain cases, be after your FMS-calculated TOD.
Flight Completion & PIREP Submission
After landing at your destination, taxi to the ramp, come to a complete stop and shut down your engines.
In smartCARS3 - the only way to end a flight is by shutting down ALL engines - this is the only way for the End Flight button to appear after you've landed
Once you have shut down your engines, End Flight will appear on the bottom right, which once you hit, will send your PIREP to the Walker system. Once it is processed, a confirmatory notification on the bottom right will show up. If you have smartCARS premium, it will also notify that the logs have been sent to TFDi servers.
If you didn’t exceed our flight requirements and/or standards, your PIREP will be automatically approved – and that will be verified by its presence in your Logbook.
Flight Length Calculation
Veteran pilots who used smartCARS2 before may be confused with how total flight time is calculated in smartCARS 3 - unlike the previous version where it starts from pushback and ends only once the plane has reached a complete stop, the current version calculates total flight time using off blocks to in blocks.
Map Tab
The Map referenced here is not the same one on the Crew Ops website. This shows various densities depending on your filter selection on the top right - ranging from VA-only to online networks.
Chat
Clicking and opening this tab will enable to you to chat with someone else using smartCARS. There are 2 options - global chat which allows you to chat with all smartCARS users, and a VA-only chat which only Walker pilots can access.
The Walker chat is usually very quiet as most pilots are on Discord - we highly encourage joining us there for questions and just general banter.
Logbook
This page allows you to see your previous logged flights with the VA, and its PIREP status. You can also use the search and filter options if you are looking for a certain flight.
You can click on a flight to see more details, including the flight log, map, route, etc.
We highly recommend using the Walker CrewOps Logbook instead of the smartCARS one as that provides more detailed information. Further, flights logged with SC2 will not show all details in the SC3 viewer - particularly actual route flown on the map.
Plugins
In this page, you may add community-built plugins to enhance your smartCARS user experience.
As of now, there are no Walker-specific plugins added, nor are there any aside from the default ones that you will need to be able to fly for Walker.
Do note that the available SimBrief plugin in SC3 does not communicate with the Walker website - which means your passenger counts, routes, etc will not automatically sync on the CrewOps OFP page. We highly suggest using Walker's own SimBrief integration available on the CrewOps site, and we will not be liable for any PIREP inaccuracies or rejections resulting from the usage of the SC3 SimBrief plugin.
Settings
smartCARS 3 has a number of settings that you may adjust as you see fit and to align with your preferences - none of these settings should stop you from being able to log flights with Walker aside from tracking provider, so set them as you'd like.
For XPLANE users - do not use the UDP network option (marked as "xplane" in settings) as there is a bug that precludes the Walker system from detecting proper livery usage, and will lead to rejection of your flight. Please continue to use XPUIPC and select "FSUIPC" in tracking provider in settings.
TFDi allows pilots of X-Plane to use UDP network traffic to log flights. However, UDP currently has a bug that precludes the Walker ACARS system from detecting correct livery use, and thus should not be used at the moment. Please use the "FSUIPC" option for all simulators.
smartCARS 3 | XPUIPC for X-Plane 11/12
In order to fly with Walker Air Transport using smartCARS 3 and X-Plane 11 or 12, you are required to install XPUIPC plugin and set smartCARS 3 accordingly. The UDP option in smartCARS 3 has a bug and will not record your livery, and as a result you will have rejected flights every time. The way our virtual airline operates and the autonomous systems we have in place, we are not able to manually approve each and every pilot's flight because of this bug.
Please follow these instructions and if you have any questions reach out to us on Discord or by email.
Lastly, we STRONGLY urge our pilot base to submit tickets to TFDi and/or reply to our bug report here: https://github.com/invernyx/smartcars-3-bugs/issues/351
Click here to download XPUIPC for XP11/12.
- Open up the zip file, you want to copy the single folder 'XPUIPC' to your X-Plane 11 or 12 installation. You can ignore the other files/folders, if you don't know what they are then they do not pertain to you.
- Drop the XPUIPC folder into your XP 11 or 12 installation folder / Resources / plugins
You should see the plugin listed with all your other plugins (this is a fresh install so there are no 3rd party plug-ins.)
- You can verify that the plugin is successfully installed by launching X-Plane and moving your mouse to the top of the screen > Plugins > XPUIPC > XPUIPC Version and Info
If you see this, and the version, you have successfully installed XPUIPC.
- Open smartCARS 3, and click the
settings button. - Scroll down to Plugin Settings and click the drop down next to Tracking Provider and choose 'fsuipc'. Ignore the name as it's misleading, this option enables both FSUIPC and XPUIPC tracking. Click the save button at the top right.
- Now start your flight and you will see that the livery is being tracked appropriately in your log file.
If you have any issues, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Awards
Awards are available for successfully completing a wide variety of flying-related activities with us. Once you meet an award's specific requirement(s), our system will process it automatically and post the avatar to your Logbook – as seen in the illustration below. Clicking the box to the left of the green check mark will reveal a pilot's awards.
NOTE: Awards are processed when flights are completed and submitted.
You can view our complete list of awards by navigating to Company > Awards inside CrewOps or clicking this link.
Events
You're required to bid your flights using the 'Bid Flight' button found on the Event page. You do not use the 'Flights' menu above. If you fail to follow this, you will not get the bonus for the Event – and we will not fix that.
You have a 3-hour grace period after the event end time to have your PIREP submitted. If it's not submitted by the end of that grace period, you'll forfeit the double hours and points. Please make sure you note when the event ends (indicated on the event page) and add 3 hours to it to determine the submission deadline. No exceptions will be made.
The calendar defaults to UTC time. If you wish to see this in your local timezone, click the button labeled UTC – or if you're mobile, click the button labeled U. Doing so will switch you to local time (denoted by LOCAL or L).
Click it again to return to UTC.
All of our Group Flights can take place on PilotEdge or VATSIM; however it's not required to use any of them or even be a Pilot with their services. It's just the preferred method so we can all see each other in a multiplayer setting and have air traffic control provided.
If you want to join a group flight but you don't want to fly on PilotEdge or VATSIM, that's perfectly fine. You can participate by joining our Group Flight voice channel on Discord.
If you wish to learn more about PilotEdge and/or VATSIM, visit:
| PilotEdge | VATSIM |
| https://pilotedge.net | https://vatsim.net |
Find an Event by clicking the Events icon in the Navigation Bar on the Crew Ops website.
Each Event is color-coded to help you identify the provider of ATC Network Services – as illustrated below.
| PilotEdge | VATSIM EU | VATSIM PAC | VATSIM US |
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In the Calendar that appears, review the options for that month. Click on an Event that interests you within that day's square. This will take you to the Event's Details Page. Here, you can read more information about the Event.
- If you're interested in signing up for it, click the Sign-Up button.
- If you're not interested in signing-up for it, click the Back To Events button (back arrow icon) to return to the Event Calendar.
All Pilots attending an event will receive double hours and points for participating.
You do not have to be at the airport location in order to participate.
Event flights do not change your location upon landing.
There are four (4) types of Group Flights at Walker Air Transport. This allows our Event Directors and Pilots to have options and flexibility – in creating the Events and flying them. Find the type of event in which you're participating by reading the header above the list of airports. The types are explained below.
| Fly-In | Fly-Out | Fly-In/Fly-Out | Specific |
| You must fly into one of these airports. |
You must fly out of one of these airports. |
You must fly into or out of one of these airports. |
You must fly between these airports. |
Let's talk about times and how they relate to our Event System.
| Bidding Opens | Bidding Closes | Submission Period |
| All bidding opens 3-hours prior to the start time. |
All bidding closes 30 minutes before the event end time. |
You have a 3-hour grace period after the event ends to submit your PIREP. |
So, let's review step-by-step how a group flight works:
| 1 | Sign up for an Event. |
| 2 |
Make note of the start time and end time. You only get a 3-hour grace period after the end time for your PIREP to be submited.
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| 3 | 3-hour prior to the Event Start Time and up to 30 minutes before the Event End Time, you'll see a Bid a Flight button. It allows you to create a flight using any of our Fleet aircraft in order to participate in the Event. |
| 4 | If you see a Bid Exists button, that means you already made a Bid. You must delete it in order to make a new one. |
| 5 | The Event Details page will list a preferred route. You can use it or use simBrief to create your own routing. |
| 6 | Read the Flight Briefing! It may include important information such as what airport we will depart from and arrive to if it's necessary. |
| 7 | You get credit for flying the Event as long as you meet its requirement(s). |
| 8 | All event times are in UTC, though we also show the local time (to you) as well. |
| 9 | The Start Time is our scheduled Pushback time. Plan to be online at least 30 minutes prior to the Event's Start Time in order to complete your Pre-Flight Check. COMMENT: Once the Bid Window opens, you may, if you desire, begin the flight. You do not have to wait for the Start/scheduled Pushback time. |
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OPTIONAL | NOT REQUIRED: Get on Discord and join the Group Flight voice channel. This is how we communicate with one another. |
Continue your reading here on Events and how to use the system.
Flight Operations
Introduction
There are four [4] types of flights available at Walker Air Transport:
| Cargo | Charter | Scheduled | Tours |
To learn more about each of them, scroll through this document.
Location and Home:
When you signed up for Walker Air Transport, you were asked to provide a Home Base location. This location is at your discretion and only affects one thing; where your career begins in the 'Scheduled' and 'Cargo' module.
Aircraft Available:
Each flight type has a specific fleet available. Visit our Fleet page by clicking here.
Notice About Worldwide Persistence:
As you read further into each module, remember that our 'Cargo' and 'Scheduled' operations require Pilots to depart from their last arrival airport, unless a Jumpseat to another airport is purchased.
We also have an option called 'Worldwide Persistence' which enables Charter flights to be operated in the same manner. Read more here.
Notice About Diversions or Crashes:
When you divert and land, or crash, our system will use your last known coordinates to determine the airport (or closest) where you are. Your PIREP is then marked as 'Diverted' and you have an additional icon placed on the map. In order to maintain our persistence system, we do one additional task based on having Worldwide Persistence enabled or not (see note above about Worldwide Persistence).
WWP is ON | ENABLED:
You'll remain at the airport we identified.
WWP is OFF | DISABLED:
If the airport where you are has no Cargo or Scheduled flights, we'll identify another airport closest to your location that does have flights and relocate you so you may continue on your journey.
If you're on a Tour flight, you'll be required to re-fly that leg.
Cargo
The Cargo Flight Module gives Pilots an opportunity to experience life as a 'Freight Dog' for a major Cargo Operation by using real life flight routes, schedules and aircraft.
There are currently 213,542 routes available to you worldwide.
If you wish to depart from another location, purchase a Jumpseat Ticket to transfer to another airport.
Finding a Cargo Flight
Upon arrival, you'll be presented with a map. You'll see a departure icon (Green Map Pin) and 1 or more arrival pins (Black Dots), as well a Toggle Weather, Toggle VATSIM and Select Random Arrival buttons at the bottom left of the screen.
The map seen above represents its default view. To see the rest of the world, place your cursor on the map and, with your control wheel, zoom in or out.
The departure location for your next flight is set as follows:
| New Pilots | All Other Pilots |
| New Pilots taking their first flight depart from the Home Airport they requested on registration. |
The Arrival Airport of your last Cargo or Scheduled flight. |
Mouse over pins/black dots to see the names of the airports with flights available from your departure airport.
Once you find a place to which you'd like to fly, click on its black dot. Lets use KIAH > KSEA as an example.
| IMPORTANT :: You may only Bid a new Cargo flight when no other Cargo Flights have been bid. If you have already bid another flight – or – that flight is already in progress, you'll see this message. You must complete the flight or cancel it in order to bid a new one. |
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You'll then see your Flight Bid appear listing the Flight Number, Distance and Estimated Time Enroute.
The Estimated Time Enroute is only an estimate and does not reflect the time in the aircraft you select.
Bidding a Cargo Flight
Click the Bid Flight button to bid on the flight.
After doing so, the confirmation window below will appear.
From the drop-down, select an Aircraft Type.
We allow our Pilots to chose their preferred aircraft type rather than restricted them to one assigned to the flight.
After selecting your aircraft, click Book.
The Pilot Briefing will appear signifying the flight has been added your My Bids page.
| For both the Departure and Arrival Airports, the METAR (Meteorological Terminal Air Report) will be displayed. |
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| Click TAF and the Terminal Arrival Forecast will be displayed. |
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| Click Runways and those available at the airport will be displayed. |
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Map Features
Flight Status – A number of informational items regarding the real-time status of your current flight are displayed on the map.
- When smartCARS 3 or FlightTrackerXP has not been started – meaning you did not click 'Start' – this reminder will be seen;
- When you're in Preflight, the Network Status is displayed as a means of reminding you to set the flag for the ATC network you're using;
- When in the various phases of flight, your altitude, ground speed, time remaining, network and phase will be displayed. If you're successfully in Cruise, the phase indicator will turn green (useful for mistakes with cruising altitude or low pressure problems.); and,
- Once you've arrived and the PIREP is ready to be submitted, the status shows only Arrived (in green).
NOTE: The data updates every 10 seconds.
Once you've reviewed the details of your flight, you're ready to go fly it...
Charter
Leveraging a list of all airports around the world, the Charter system allows a pilot to create a flight schedule without the constraints of having to adhere to the company's route map. The only limitation is selecting an aircraft with the range to complete the flight, and that will fit in the airports.
If you find an airport missing from the list, please send in a ticket.
Creating & Bidding a Charter Flight
On the Charter Page, there are (2) ways you can create a flight. You can choose to use the Create a Flight option listed below -- or -- read below that and you can use the Interactive Map.
Using the Create-a-Flight, there are seven (7) steps you must complete in order to create and bid a Charter flight.
| 1. | Departure – Enter the Name or ICAO Code of any airport from which you wish to depart. |
| 2. | Arrival – Enter the Name or ICAO Code of any airport to which you wish to arrive. |
| 3. |
Aircraft – Click the drop-down and select an aircraft from our Cargo, Charter, or Scheduled fleet.
If you wish to return and pick another fleet, click on the 'Reset Aircraft' to the right of the drop down box.
You can view our entire fleet by operation by visiting CrewOps > Company > Fleet. |
| 4. | Departure Time – Select a departure time – and remember this is UTC time, not local time. You can just leave this as-is, as you do not need to set this time in your flight sim for your flight to count for Walker. |
| 5. | Passengers or Cargo – Choose who or what will be accompanying you on your flight – passengers or cargo. |
| 6. |
Worldwide Persistence – Toggle On or Off To learn more about Worldwide Persistence, click here. |
| 7. |
Click the Create Charter button. |
Using the Interactive Map, please note the following details.
- The map automatically displays airports by type, based on your zoom level and panning.
- Further out you are: large airports
- Closer you are: large, and medium airports
- Closer closer you are: large, medium, and small airports
- CLOSE you are: large, medium, small, seaplane, and heliport
- The map now includes icons and ICAO labels.
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= Airport -
= Heliport -
= Seaplane
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You can zoom in to any icon, hover over it, and then left mouse click. You will be presented with a box that will enable you to add that airport to either Departure or ICAO. Just click the button as you wish.
The airports can be replaced by simply clicking, and choose the right slot. Over and over. |
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It will automatically update the Create-a-Flight section, and then simply pick your aircraft and finish out the rest of the flight information. Lastly, click 'Create Charter' and you are done. |
You'll be directed to Flights > My Bids where the newly-created flight appears.
To view the Pilot Briefing for this flight, click the yellow button. Use this information to assist you in planning your flight and its flight route.
To delete this Bid, click the red button.
Find a Flight - Random Flight Generator
The Random Generator is an easy way to address the 'Where am I going to fly today?' question... Input a few items and generate a random flight.
If you're using Worldwide Persistence, your departure airport will be filled in automatically. Otherwise you can fill as many or as little of the following boxes and the system will generate a flight that fits within the constraints you have selected.
Note that if you do not tick any boxes for the runway surface selection and the airport size selection, the system will take this input as allowing all of the options.
You can click on the Find a Flight button as many times as you like until you get a satisfactory result, then you can proceed to hit Transfer Flight to send the airport information to the charter module on the top of the screen.
To clear all entries, click the Clear Generator button or simply refresh the page.
Scheduled
The Scheduled Flight Module gives Pilots an opportunity to experience life as a 'Line Pilot' for a major Passenger Airline by using real life flight routes, schedules and aircraft.
There are currently 426,503 routes available to you worldwide.
If you wish to depart from another location, you may purchase a Jumpseat Ticket to transfer to another airport.
Finding a Scheduled Flight
Upon arrival, you'll be presented with a map. You'll see a departure icon (Green Map Pin) and one [1] or more arrival pins (Black Dots), as well as Toggle Weather, Toggle VATSIM and Select Random Arrival buttons at the bottom left of the screen.
The map seen above represents its default view. To see the rest of the world, place your cursor on the map and, with your control wheel, zoom in or out.
The departure location for your next flight is set as follows:
| New Pilots | All Other Pilots |
| New Pilots taking their first flight depart from the Home Airport they requested on registration. |
The Arrival Airport of your last Cargo or Scheduled flight. |
Mouse over pins/black dots to see the names of the airports with flights available from your departure airport.
Once you find a place to which you'd like to fly, click on its black dot. Let's use KIAH > KPDX as an example.
| IMPORTANT :: You may only Bid a new Scheduled flight when no other Scheduled Flights have been bid. If you have already bid another flight – or – that flight is already in progress, you'll see this message. You must complete the flight or cancel it in order to bid a new one. |
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You'll then see your Flight Bid appear listing the Flight Number, Distance and Estimated Time Enroute.
The Estimated Time Enroute is only an estimate and does not reflect the time in the aircraft you select.
Bidding a Scheduled Flight
Click the Bid Flight button to bid on the flight.
After doing so, the confirmation window below will appear.
From the drop-down, select an Aircraft Type.
We allow our Pilots to chose their preferred aircraft type rather than restricted them to one assigned to the flight.
After selecting your aircraft, click Book.
The Pilot Briefing will appear signifying the flight has been added your My Bids page.
| For both the Departure and Arrival Airports, the METAR (Meteorological Terminal Air Report) will be displayed. |
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| Click TAF and the Terminal Arrival Forecast will be displayed. |
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| Click Runways and those available at the airport will be displayed. |
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Map Features
Flight Status – A number of informational items regarding the real-time status of your current flight are displayed on the map.
- When smartCARS 3 or FlightTrackerXP has not been started – meaning you did not click 'Start' – this reminder will be seen;
- When you're in Preflight, the Network Status is displayed as a means of reminding you to set the flag for the ATC network you're using;
- When in the various phases of flight, your altitude, ground speed, time remaining, network and phase will be displayed. If you're successfully in Cruise, the phase indicator will turn green (useful for mistakes with cruising altitude or low pressure problems.); and,
- Once you've arrived and the PIREP is ready to be submitted, the status shows only Arrived (in green).
NOTE: The data updates every 10 seconds.
Once you've reviewed the details of your flight, you're ready to go fly it...
Tours
A Tour provides an opportunity for a pilot to discover the world in a new and unique way. Each one is themed, and unless specified differently, can be completed in an aircraft from any of the company's fleets. They are comprised of planned legs, each of which must be flown in the order specified. Once all legs have been completed, an award is posted to a pilot's Logbook.
You do not have to be at the airport location in order to start any leg of a tour.
Tour flights do not change your location upon landing.
To explore our Tours offerings, click Tours.
The default view is for all Tours to be displayed. Once you begin flying them, though, you may find it useful and/or convenient to be able to sort them. In the Text Box to the right of the magnifying glass icon, you can select any sorting option from the drop-down menu.
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All Available In Progress Completed |
Beneath the Title Bar above are our Tours. These are from the All view – as you can see from the Text Box in the Title Bar.
They're also displayed in alphabetical order.
The Tours shown below are only a small portion of the entire offerings. Please proceed to the Tours page in CrewOps for the whole list
Each Tour has a status. It's either Available, In Progress or Completed – and each is anchored by a colored bar providing you a visual indicator of its status.
| Tour Status: | Available | In Progress | Completed |
| Completion Status: | Grey | Yellow | Green |
Below are samples of what you may see in your tours page.
| Available | In Progress | Completed |
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Available
Referring to the Tour Page image above, you can see the Airbus Tour is Available because the Sign Up bar is Grey.
To learn more about this Tour, click its image on the Tour page.
After doing so, the screen below will open. In it, there are three areas on the page.
Area 1 | Tour Description
Click Tour Description beneath the Tour Image. After doing so, its description will appear. This will provide an narrative overview of the Tour.
If you wish to sign up for the Tour, click the Sign Up bar. After doing so, you'll note two new things in the page that opens.
| 1. |
If you change your mind about completing the Tour at any time after signing up for it, click the Leave this Tour? button and you'll be removed from it.
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| 2. |
The Tour's First Leg will now have a grey aircraft icon button. That means you may bid this leg. |
Tour Legs must be completed in the order they're sequenced. You will not be able to skip around once you begin.
To bid a Tour Leg, click the grey aircraft icon button.
Afterwards, the screen below will open.
If you are a member of the Patreon program, you may use any livery you want for the tour.
From the drop-down (click the chevron in the right corner of the text box), select a Fleet – Cargo, Charter or Scheduled (as appropriate - some tours will not have a fleet available due to the tour restrictions.)
Once selected, the dropdown will refresh with the aircraft available in your selected fleet.
Select the aircraft you wish to fly from those in the drop-down menu (click the chevron in the right corner of the text box).
In this example, a Beechcraft Baron 58 from the Charter Fleet will be flown for this Tour Leg.
If you wish to return and pick another fleet, click on the 'Reset Aircraft' to the right of the drop down box.
Otherwise, click "Bid Flight" to continue.
You now have three options regarding this Tour Leg.
| If you want to... | ... then do this. |
| Fly | Click the Bid Flight button. |
| Change | Change the Fleet and/or Aircraft – and then click the Bid Flight button. |
| Cancel | Click the 'x' in the upper right corner of the box and the Leg will be canceled. |
After clicking the Bid Flight button, the Tour Leg will appear in My Bids. You may then operate the flight.
To view the Pilot Briefing for this flight, click the yellow button. Use this information to assist you in planning your flight and its flight route.
To delete this Bid, click the red button.
And about the colored buttons... Here's another example of a Pilot currently flying a Tour we can use as an illustration:
Leg 26 has a green check mark icon indicating that leg has been Completed.
Leg 27 has a red aircraft icon indicating that leg has already been bid and is available to be flown. It cannot be bid again.
Leg 28 has a yellow clock icon indicating it may not be bid upon unless/until Leg 27's flight has been completed.
This color coding has been implemented for all Tours.
Area 2 | Tour Map & Legs
In this area of the Tour Page, a map identifying the Legs and their location is presented.
To its right is the list of Tour Legs. Each is numbered and must be flown in that order. The Aircraft Type allowed in this Tour can be seen by clicking the green Cargo, Charter and Scheduled buttons.
Area 3 | Pilot Status On Tour
In this area, the status of all Pilots flying the Tour are noted – Pilot Name, Location, Last Flight, Last Aircraft and Progress. If desired, you can measure your progress against others flying the Tour and view their most recent PIREPs.
In Progress
Referring to the Tour Page image above, you can see the Around The World Tour is In Progress because the Sign Up bar is Yellow.
All other visual elements of an Available Tour exist for an In Progress Tour – with two notable exceptions.
- A Tour may be canceled at any time. In the image above, clicking the red button will do that.
- An In Progress Tour is underway, so when it's opened to place a bid, the Legs area will look slightly different. In the example below, Leg 26 / 32 has been completed. Leg 27 has been bid; Leg 28 will not be available to bid until Leg 27 is completed. Once it is, it will have a green check mark beside it. Once a Leg has been flown, it cannot be flown again.
Completed
Referring to the Tour Page image above, you can see the Alaska Milk Run Tour has been completed because the Sign Up bar is Green.
All other visual elements of an In Progress Tour, exist for a Completed Tour – with two notable exceptions.
ONE
A Tour may be re-flown at any time. In the image above, clicking the green button will do that. To re-fly a Tour, you'll need to purchase a Tour Pass – and there's a cost for doing that.
After clicking the Green button, the screen below will open. There, you'll see what it'll cost you to re-fly the Tour.
Clicking the Cancel button at any time will cancel the transaction.
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If your Wallet Balance is greater than that cost, the transaction will be approved. You will be allowed to re-fly the Tour.
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TWO
All Tour Legs have been completed. There are no more Tour Legs to fly, so each one has a green check mark.
Tour Pause due to Time Compression // Cleared To Fly
Pilots are allowed to use time compression on tour legs with our new Tour Pause system. When you use TC on a leg, the amount of time remaining after your compression is used to put you in pause mode on that specific tour. This means that on that one tour, you cannot start the next leg until the real-time equivalent has passed. You can, however, move on to another tour and do a leg in time compression. The goal here is to keep pilots from speed running one tour within a few hours, but also allow them to enjoy the longer tours without having to sit at a PC for 8 hours or leave it running overnight.
Example: you fly a 4 hour leg in 2 hours time compressed. You will be paused for 2 hours on our platform and after that 2 hours expires, you can bid the next leg. If you happen to pause the simulator for those 2 hours because you had to step away, when you land the required time is met and you'll immediately open up the next leg.
When you are not cleared to fly, you will see this icon and the clearance time (in UTC) will be presented to you in the tooltip.
Please note: you will still be deducted points for time compression per our policy and point chart here: Rank & Points
Jumpseat
When flying Cargo and Scheduled flights – and Charter flights, though only when Worldwide Persistence is on/enabled – your departure airport must be the same as the arrival airport of your previous flight.
A Jumpseat enables you to change that.
With a Ticket, you can move from the airport where you currently are to any other one in the world. With Worldwide Persistence on, this also includes Charter flights.
Jumpseat tickets, though, are not free. They cost money. They're purchased using the virtual money you earn as a Pilot.
EXAMPLE: You're currently at KSEA - Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and wish to get to KJFK | New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. When you go to Flights > Jumpseats, you'll be presented with the screen below. Your Current Location will already be noted. Enter the airport where you want to go in the Transfer To box. In addition to a distance between the airports, a price will appear below it. If you want to purchase the seat, click the Purchase Ticket button. Repeat the process as many times as you wish before making a purchase decision.
If the price of the Ticket is more than the balance in your In Your Wallet account, you will not be able to purchase it.
Liveries
Microsoft Flight Simulator
Locate your Community Folder for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
NOTE: The location depends on how you installed the simulator and whether it was downloaded from the Windows Store or Steam.
For the Windows Store Install:
C:\Users\[Your User Name]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\
For the Steam install:
C:\Users\[Your User Name]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightDashboard_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\
IMPORTANT: Windows 10, by default, hides the “AppData” folder. Go to “View” in File Explorer's Menu and select 'Hidden Items' to see it.
For the Custom Install:
If you happened to use a custom location for your Flight Simulator installation, then proceed there.
1. Download the livery you wish to install from the Walker Air Transport site.
2. Open the zip file of the downloaded aircraft livery.
3. Copy the folder to your Community Folder location.
NOTE: All of our liveries have a standard naming convention – WAT-ABCD. If that's not what you see in the Community Folder, then you incorrectly copied it and/or nested the folder.
4. Load MSFS. You should now see a WAT livery for the aircraft you installed.
Prepar3D
We don't use livery installation programs provided by developers – such as PMDG Ops Center. Why? Most of them require their software in order to create their proprietary package. Because our Painters are volunteers, many don't actually own the aircraft; therefore, it makes it very difficult to create those packages. It also means updating liveries or making changes is even more difficult.
You have to manually install all liveries into Prepar3D®.
1. Download the livery you wish to install from the Walker Air Transport site.
2. Open the .zip file of the downloaded aircraft.
Depending on the livery, you may have (1) or more texture.ABCD folders, or if there is an additional folder for other modifications there will be an accompanying read-me file that will instruct you on what to do.
3. Copy the texture.ABCD to where the liveries are stored in your aircraft's folder.
NOTE: If there's more than one (1), copy all of them.
Most aircraft are installed to: {simulatorinstallfolder}\SimObjects\Airplanes\
You may also find them located in: Documents\{simulator-addons}\
We're installing the PMDG Boeing 777-F livery and will use that as an example.
| The aircraft is located at: {simulatorinstallfolder}\SimObjects\Airplanes\PMDG 777F |
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We're going to copy the texture.vcWAT and texture.WAT folders into this folder.
texture.vcWAT is the virtual cockpit for the 777-F; if you were to delete this folder the cockpit would return to the default Boeing Brown instead of the WAT Black Cockpit. This is not the case for every single livery, but is just a FYI if you come across other planes. You can usually find exactly what folder/files pertain to the cockpit panels and simply delete them to return the cockpit to the original color. |
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Add the aircraft data so the livery shows up. To do that:
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Open the aircraft.cfg file you see in the PMDG (or other aircraft) Folder. Also open the #ADD TO AIRCRAFT CFG.txt. |
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Left: aircraft.cfg Right: #ADD TO AIRCRAFT CFG.txt
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[fltsim.#] is a sequenced header for the liveries – if you look through aircraft.cfg, you may notice [fltsim.1], [fltsim.2], etc. You'll need to scroll to the very last entry and note the number. You're picking the next number after that.
Copy the contents of the #ADD TO AIRCRAFT CFG.txt and paste them beneath the very last entry in aircraft.cfg – as illustrated below. |
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In the case of this aircraft, our next [fltsim.#] number will be '1' (they always start with 0.) Let's change the # to 1. Then, it should appear like so. |
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Save the file and load your Simulator.
X-Plane
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There are a significant number of modifications available in the X-Plane community – from 3D engines to fuselage texturing. We try very hard to ensure we provide you with textures for all of those. Please keep this in mind when you're downloading a livery.
You may see a #Modifications folder inside the download link. In that, you'll often find things like Engine textures that are required if you installed an Engine Modification Package – such as the Carda engines for the Airbus. You might also find 'Raccoon Masks' too – it truly depends on what the aircraft is. |
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Why do you provide engine textures?
Most 3D engine model enhancements use different textures. And because we have a standard design, we must provide Black (Modern Livery) and White (Vintage Livery) textures for those mods. Otherwise, you'll be flying our colors wrong.
1. Download the livery you wish to install from the Walker Air Transport site.
2. Open the .zip file of the downloaded aircraft.
Copy the folder within the .zip file into the liveries folder of the aircraft – as illustrated below.
IMPORTANT: Do not nest the folders when you unzip, or copy, to your liveries folder. It should look exactly like the image below.
| liveries > folder name of livery > objects |  |
4. Load X-Plane. You should now see a WAT livery for the aircraft you installed.
Online ATC
Do not use the flight number given to you when bidding on a flight. All pilots must use their pilot ID shown below – do not use WAC, WAE or WAX.
| Your Call Sign | Your Verbal Call Sign For Radio Calls |
WAT + Pilot ID |
Walker + Pilot ID |
| If your Pilot ID is 300, you flight number is always WAT300. | When making radio calls, if your Pilot ID is 300, depending on your region in the world, you refer to yourself as Walker 300 or Walker Three Hundred or Walker Three-Zero-Zero. |
| If your Pilot ID is 1200, you flight number is always WAT1200. | When making radio calls, if your Pilot ID is 1200, depending on your region in the world, you refer to yourself as Walker 1200 or Walker Twelve Hundred or Walker One-Two-Zero-Zero. |
It is not mandatory you fly using online ATC services; however, we strongly encourage it because it helps spread awareness of who we are. Please remember your behavior online reflects on all of us and our virtual airline. If you are uncomfortable, feel free to ask for tips or assistance in the respective ATC channels on Discord - our community will be more than happy to help.
If you are a member of the Walker Patreon program, you may use other callsigns EXCEPT during Walker Events.
Click any link below to view live flights on the respective ATC Network.
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| https://ivao.aero/ | https://www.pilotedge.net/ |
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| https://poscon.net/ | https://www.vatsim.net/ |
Patreon
What is Patreon
Becoming a Patreon is not mandatory nor expected for Walker pilots. However, it’s an option for one to make a recurring financial contribution to support Airline operations (servers and service providers), enhancements and improvements (modules, functionality, liveries, etc.) – or in any other way the Business Office determines is appropriate and necessary for support of the airline and its pilots.
The Walker Patreon program is another way for pilots to financially support the company. There are 2 tiers of support that you may choose from.
Tiers
| Tier | Cost (excl. VAT) | Benefits |
| Freedom of Livery | $5.00 |
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Freedom of Livery - Walker Events
Failure to follow below will result in PIREP rejection and forfeiture of all hours and points earned, not just the double multiplier from the event.
As noted above, Freedom of Livery benefits (use of any livery/callsign) does not apply when flying Walker Events. This is to continue to represent the company in these events, particularly during large scale ones such as Cross the Pond.
Outside of flight bids done under the events module, flights (be it online or offline) may be recorded even if using other liveries or callsigns.
How to Become a Patreon
How to be a Patreon
If you wish to become a member of the Patreon program, you may do so by heading to the Patreon page on the CrewOps site under Profile - Patreon, or by clicking the hyperlink above.
In this page, you will find a "Subscribe Here" button at the bottom, along with "Verify Subscription" and "Re-Sync" buttons which will be discussed further down - this will bring you to the Patreon site where you can enter your payment details.
Important Notes
- The email address used in Patreon must be the same as your Walker email address, for the systems to interface.
- You may start and stop your subscription at any time - payments are valid for the calendar month in which you were charged.
Once you have subscribed in the Patreon website - you MUST return to the Patreon page in CrewOps and click the "Verify Subscription" button to link your profile and ensure you get your benefits. You can check if you are properly verified with the presence of a Patreon symbol beside your name on your profile.
To access the Patreon-only channel in Discord, you must be in our Discord when you verify. If you join the Discord after verifying your Patreon subscription, please click the "Re-Sync" button and you will be given the role.
How to Cancel Your Paid Membership
The Walker Air Transport staff have no ability to cancel your membership with us. Patreon requires the account holder "you" to go in and do that yourself. Please see their help document below with instructions to cancel it. Sending an email to the Patreon account, to the Walker Air Transport support email, to Discord Server, or through our help ticket system will not cancel your membership.
Patreon Help Document: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005502572-Canceling-a-paid-membership
Use Any Aircraft Livery
In order to continue promoting the Walker Air Transport brand, we do not allow Patreon's to use their benefits in official Walker Air Transport events. If you are participating in an event, you must fly with our colors and your official Walker Air callsign.
You are exempt from our PIREP review process that checks for the use of Walker Air Transport liveries. This exemption allows you to fly using any real-world airline livery under our "Fly As Any Other Real-World Airline" benefit or any private aircraft livery of your choice. There’s no special process required for bidding—simply place your bid, choose your flight, and proceed as usual.
Choose Any Callsign for Online Flights
In order to continue promoting the Walker Air Transport brand, we do not allow Patreon's to use their benefits in official Walker Air Transport events. If you are participating in an event, you must fly with our colors and your official Walker Air callsign.
When you are building a flight using a real-world airline or a country-specific private registration, as a Patreon, you can use that callsign when using an online ATC network. You can even specify the specific callsign you wish to use by making those selections during your bidding process. Depending on the module you use, there will be an area where you can specify the flight number and callsign for your flight.
Fly as Any Real-World Airline or with a Country-Specific Private Registration
In order to continue promoting the Walker Air Transport brand, we do not allow Patreon's to use their benefits in official Walker Air Transport events. If you are participating in an event, you must fly with our colors and your official Walker Air callsign.
One of the most popular perks of our Patreon subscription is the option to fly as a real-world airline or use a country-specific private registration. When creating your bid, you can choose to fly for Walker Air Transport, another airline, or, in the Charter module, under a private registration.
Airlines and private registrations are available across our flight modules: Cargo, Charter, Scheduled, and Tours.
You can search our database for your preferred airline. If you don’t find it and would like it added, simply open a ticket by going to Help > Submit a Ticket in the navigation bar.
Airline Favorites
We have introduced a new feature that allows you to select a maximum of 15 favorite airlines you wish to see added throughout our website. These choices that you make will present themselves when you click on the Search for an airline... box.
You can access your Airline Favorites by clicking your name (top right), click Settings, and then click Airline Favorites.
Fly an Aircraft Before Its Livery Is Released on the Platform
In order to continue promoting the Walker Air Transport brand, we do not allow Patreon's to use their benefits in official Walker Air Transport events. If you are participating in an event, you must fly with our colors and your official Walker Air callsign.
Newly released aircraft can be flown by Patreon subscribers before the official Walker Air Transport livery is created and made available. Non-Patreon pilots will need to wait until the official livery is completed and released.
If you do not see the aircraft available in your select window, simply ask in the #patreon Discord channel or submit a ticket. We try to add them as quickly as we can so that our Patreon's can immediately start using them.
Pilot Reports (PIREPS)
A PIREP is, quite simply, a Pilot Report. It contains digital data about the flight you flew and completed. After processing that data in our automated, proprietary system, it’s immediately filed, at which time it’s also added to your Pilot Logbook where it's then available for review. Manually-submitted PIREPS are not allowed.
Locating Your PIREP
PIREPS are stored in your Logbook. They may be accessed by using the Navigation Bar in the Crew Ops website.
Locate your name on the right side of the Navigation Bar.
Scroll down to Profile and click it.
At the top of the screen opening afterwards, you'll see the Bar below along the top of your screen containing your Insignia, Name and a series of buttons on the right.
To view all of your PIREPS, click this button.
After doing so, the screen below will open. Here, you'll be able to see your 20 most recent PIREPs in Summary Form. Each column contains a piece of data about your flight. To see more detail about a specific flight, click its Flight Number in the Flight column – or – the colored box [green, yellow or red] in the far right-hand column.
| To view more of your PIREPS, click the arrow buttons at the bottom right of your screen. | To download a .csv file of your Logbook, click the Logbook button. |
By clicking on the last flight listed above (WAE5764), the screen below is revealed.
There are four (4) individual sections in the Pilot Report.
Section One:
Section One provides an overview of your pilot report.
The top section will show icons based on specifics of your flight. Please see the icons below and what they mean.
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This is a Charter Flight. |
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This is an Event Flight, and if you click on the icon, it will take you to that event in the calendar. |
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This is a Tour Flight, and if you click on the icon, it will take you to that event in the calendar. |
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This indicates that the flight was completed with World Wide Persistence. We recommend reading our document on this feature by clicking here. |
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This is the date and time that your PIREP was submitted. |
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This indicates an approved PIREP. |
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This indicates an approved PIREP with a diverted landing airport. |
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This indicates a rejected PIREP. |
Additionally, your flight number, along with your Pilot Name and Home Base; your Departure Airport Name and departure time; and your Arrival Airport and arrival time are listed in the boxes below the header.
Section Two:
Section Two shows the route of your flight on a map.
Use your mouse to move the map; use your scroll wheel – or – click the +/- icons to increase or decrease the size of the map.
Depending on your ACARS application and the available log information -- you can see additional information pertaining to your take off and landing.
As of January 24, 2023, we now log the take off and landing point in relation to your position reports. If you zoom into the departure or arrival airport, you can see the exact moment the airplane left the runway and when it touched down on the runway. We also log additional information such as take off speed, pitch, wind, landing rate, g-force, and more.
If the icons are centered over the airport, or there is information below missing, this means we do not have the appropriate data from the ACARS to provide the information.
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Take Off |
Landing |
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Airport |
Airport |
Within the map, there are four (5) buttons:
| Flight Information | Points | Financials | Times | Flight Log |
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Clicking the Flight Information button will open the pop-up below.
This is the only area that you can view your bonus hours and points. |
Clicking the Points button will open the pop-up below.
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Clicking the Financials button will open the pop-up below.
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Clicking the Times button will open the pop-up below.
It'll show you your boarding, pushback, take off, landing, and deboarding times.
These times are based on specific entries in your log file. If a certain time is shown as 00:00, that means the log entry is missing -- you can verify this by opening your Flight Log to the right of the Times button.
To close it, click on the Times button - or - the icon at the bottom of the pop-up. |
Clicking the Flight Log icon will open the pop-up below.
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Section Three
Section Three shows a graph of your flight route using Altitude and Ground Speed.
Section Four
Section Four will contain any Comments you provided in the PIREP Comments text box in ACARS and/or the standard comment provided by Flight Operations.
Approved, Rejected & Diverted
A completed flight will automatically be categorized in one of the following ways:
Manually-completed PIREPS are not allowed.
| Approved | Rejected | Diverted |
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The criteria used to make that decision is as follows.
| Approved | Rejected | Diverted |
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The criteria for an Approved flight are:
All points, flight hours and pay are awarded.
The PIREP is posted to your Logbook as being Completed | Approved. |
The criteria for a Rejected flight are:
No points, flight hours or pay are awarded.
You will not be returned to the starting airport for this flight.
The PIREP is posted to the your Logbook as being Completed | Rejected. |
The criteria for an Diverted flight are:
All points, flight hours and pay are awarded.
If this occurs when flying a Tour leg, you will not be advanced to the next leg. The leg will have to be reflown.
The PIREP is posted to your Logbook as being Completed | Diverted.
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If you think your flight was categorized incorrectly or you'd like to ask a question about it, submit a Help Ticket.
Deleting a PIREP
How to delete your PIREP?
Pilots have a 72 hour clock after submitting their flight to delete it. After that, the option is disabled and you will be unable to remove the flight.
Staff will not remove flights for pilots that fail to use the 72 hour window.
You can find the delete button on the top banner of your PIREP next to your submitted time (remember, you only have 72 hours.)
Click on that button and a warning will pop up asking you to confirm.
Once confirmed, the PIREP will be removed.
Tour Flight: if the flight deleted was your recent leg for a tour, you will be pushed back to the previous leg so that you can complete the leg again.
This is not recoverable. If you delete your flight, it is lost for good.
Restrictions
You will see a disabled trashcan on certain flights that cannot be deleted.
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Tour Completed You cannot delete a flight if a tour is completed. |
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Not the last completed flight for the Tour You cannot delete a flight unless it the most recent leg completed. |
Point System
Points are awarded for each completed flight receiving an ‘Approved’ designation.
The number of points you earn will depend on several factors – as you can see from the categories and points awards in the chart below.
| Approved | Rejected | Diverted |
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The criteria for an Approved flight are:
All points, flight hours and pay are awarded.
The PIREP is posted to your Logbook as being Completed | Approved. |
The criteria for a Rejected flight are:
No points, flight hours or pay are awarded.
The PIREP is posted to the your Logbook as being Completed | Rejected. |
The criteria for a Diverted flight are:
All points, flight hours and pay are awarded.
If this occurs when flying a Tour leg, you will not be advanced to the next leg. The leg will have to be reflown.
The PIREP is posted to your Logbook as being Completed | Diverted. |
Points are calculated based on log entries from the ACARS client. If your client fails to record all the entries we require you may lose out on points. Flight Operations is unable to modify your log file.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 has a habit of not registering pilots in 'Cruise' phase due to how their altitude is determined. This will impact your log record, please click here to read our FAQ item on this in order to ensure you get proper points awarded.
| Category | Points | How is it determined? |
| Completed Flight | +5 | |
| Per Hour of Flight | +1 | |
| Per 50 Nautical Miles of Flight | +1 | |
| Completed 20-Minute Pre-Flight | +3 | Pre-flight time is calculated between the log entries 'Preflight started, flying' and 'Pushing back with # of fuel'. |
| Flaps Position Set – Takeoff |
+1 | Takeoff flaps are determined by log entry 'Flaps set to' that occur before the log entry 'Taking off'. |
| Flaps Position Set – Landing |
+1 |
Landing flaps are determined by log entry 'Flaps set to' that occur after the log entry 'Approaching'. The 'Approaching' log entry will not occur if you are not properly in cruise phase. Please read note above regarding MSFS 2020 and/or ensure you know how to properly use the ACARS application to set your correct cruise level. |
| Exceed 250kts under 10,000 ft for more than 2 minutes Only applicable when aircraft MTOW is less than 300,000lbs (136,077kgs). |
-5 | Aircraft that have an MTOW less than 300,000lbs (136,077kgs). You can view the MTOW of our fleet by visiting Company > Fleet in CrewOps and viewing the MTOW column. |
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Overspeed Only deducted once regardless of number of instances of overspeeding |
-2 | Log indicates 'Overspeed'. |
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Time Compression |
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Log indicates 'Simulation rate set to'.
A 15% penalty will be assessed against the total number of points earned for that flight. 46 points earned – 7 point penalty (.15 × 46) = 39 points awarded. |
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Bonus Multiplier |
The bonus multiplier helps equalize flights in all Fleet aircraft regardless of distance flown and/or cruising speed by using a proprietary algorithm and applying it to those with cruise speeds of 250kts or less and cruise speeds between 251kts and 400kts. | |
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Pilots Home Airport |
+5 |
You departed from or arrived at your Hub airport. |
The MTOW for the aircraft you are flying can be found at Company > Fleet.
This is the value we use to determine the group below you will receive points from.
| Landing Rate | MTOW less than 12,500lbs |
MTOW more than 12,500lbs |
| -800 fpm to -701 fpm | -8 | -4 |
| -700 fpm to -601 fpm | -6 | -2 |
| -600 fpm to -501 fpm | -4 | +1 |
| -500 fpm to -401 fpm | -2 | +2 |
| -400 fpm to -300 fpm | +1 | +4 |
| -300 fpm to -201 fpm | +2 | +5 |
| -200 fpm to -151 fpm | +3 | +5 |
| -150 fpm | +100 | +100 |
| -149 fpm to -101 fpm | +4 | +3 |
| -100 fpm to 0 fpm | +5 | +2 |
 |
If you happen to be lucky enough to land the illustrious -150fpm. You will be awarded with our super special "BUTTER!" badge and 100 points! Now, we must state for legal reasons that a -150fpm is not the holy grail landing you need to aim for in every single aircraft. Doing this can result in gear breakage, spoilers not activating, autobrakes sitting around, and well, the plane not working right. We warned you! |
Here are some examples illustrating how these category points factor into each completed flight.
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
 |
 |
 |
If you think your flight was graded incorrectly – or – you'd like to ask a question, submit a Help Ticket.
Manual PIREPS
TL;DR: Manual PIREPS are not allowed.
Data generated by your flight simulator about your flight is transferred, via ACARS, to our automated Flight Data System for processing. It's that data transfer that enables us to create the PIREP you see and what’s posted in your logbook.
The control inputs you make in your flight simulator while flying are the only manual elements of the data recording and transmission process – everything else is data driven.
We recognize, however, there could be an occasion where something doesn’t look right at the end of your flight. In the example illustrated below, something was obviously amiss – it’s not possible to be taxiing to the gate, and, after a brief pause, becoming airborne again.
While exceedingly rare, these kinds of anomalies can occasionally occur. We certainly sympathize with you if something like this happens. However, no formal review process exists because we do not have any control over the operation of your computer, your flight simulator, the stability of your Internet connection and/or any other operational factors affecting how data is collected and transmitted to us. As a result, we must trust the data your flight simulator generates and transmits to us via ACARS to be an accurate representation of what occurred during your flight. After that transmission occurs, we do not have the ability to change or alter any flight data nor will we ever do so.
What to do?
Simply stated, you'll need to refly that flight.
Rank & Points
Rank
Walker Air Transport utilizes the smartCARS 3 (Windows/MacOS/Linux) or FlightTrackerXP (Mac) ACARS systems and the company’s proprietary, fully-automated Flight Data System (FDS) to log data produced and transmitted to us by your Simulator.
Once you’ve completed your flight and submitted the PIREP, our FDS goes to work reviewing it and making a decision on its acceptability. And it’s all done very quickly. Within seconds, you’ll have all of your flight’s data to review, including, though not limited to, these major items:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Aircraft Type Flown | Flight Time | Flight Distance | Landing Rate | Points Awarded | Flight Status (Approved; Rejected; Diverted) |
We're pleased and excited to have this system in place because we think it:
- adds more value to the total experience; and,
- by analyzing their performance and applying what they learn from it, our Pilots are challenged to continually improve their flying skills and proficiency.
In order to be promoted to the next rank, you must meet both of the requirements noted below for minimum hours and minimum points.
Hours and points do not reset on promotion. They carry over as you progress towards your next rank.
| Rank | Title | Insignia | Minimum Hours | Minimum Points | Pay Rate (Hourly) |
| Flight Student |
|
0 | 0 | $15.00 |
| First Officer |
|
25 | 300 | $35.00 |
| Senior First Officer |
|
75 | 900 | $45.00 |
| Captain |
|
100 | 1,200 | $65.00 |
| Flight Captain |
|
300 | 3,600 | $85.00 |
| Senior Flight Captain |
|
500 | 6,000 | $105.00 |
| Chief Pilot I |
|
1,000 | 12,000 | $115.00 |
| Chief Pilot II |
|
2,500 | 30,000 | $135.00 |
| Chief Pilot III |
|
5,000 | 60,000 | $165.00 |
| Senior Chief Pilot I |
|
7,500 | 90,000 | $192.00 |
| Senior Chief Pilot II |
|
10,000 | 120,000 | $225.00 |
| Senior Chief Pilot III |
|
15,000 | 180,000 | $255.00 |
| Walker Emeritus |
|
50,000 | 300,000 | $300.00 |
Points
Points are awarded for each completed flight receiving an ‘Approved’ designation.
The number of points you earn will depend on several factors – as you can see from the categories and points awards in the chart below.
| Approved | Rejected | Diverted |
|
The criteria for an Approved flight are:
All points, flight hours and pay are awarded.
The PIREP is posted to your Logbook as being Completed | Approved. |
The criteria for a Rejected flight are:
No points, flight hours or pay are awarded.
The PIREP is posted to the your Logbook as being Completed | Rejected. |
The criteria for a Diverted flight are:
All points, flight hours and pay are awarded.
If this occurs when flying a Tour leg, you will not be advanced to the next leg. The leg will have to be reflown.
The PIREP is posted to your Logbook as being Completed | Diverted. |
Points are calculated based on log entries from the ACARS client. If your client fails to record all the entries we require you may lose out on points. Flight Operations is unable to modify your log file.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 has a habit of not registering pilots in 'Cruise' phase due to how their altitude is determined. This will impact your log record, please click here to read our FAQ item on this in order to ensure you get proper points awarded.
| Category | Points | How is it determined? |
| Completed Flight | +5 | |
| Per Hour of Flight | +1 | |
| Per 50 Nautical Miles of Flight | +1 | |
| Completed 20-Minute Pre-Flight | +3 | Pre-flight time is calculated between the log entries 'Preflight started, flying' and 'Pushing back with # of fuel'. |
| Flaps Position Set – Takeoff |
+1 | Takeoff flaps are determined by log entry 'Flaps set to' that occur before the log entry 'Taking off'. |
| Flaps Position Set – Landing |
+1 |
Landing flaps are determined by log entry 'Flaps set to' that occur after the log entry 'Approaching'. The 'Approaching' log entry will not occur if you are not properly in cruise phase. Please read note above regarding MSFS 2020 and/or ensure you know how to properly use the ACARS application to set your correct cruise level. |
| Exceed 250kts under 10,000 ft for more than 2 minutes Only applicable when aircraft MTOW is less than 300,000lbs (136,077kgs). |
-5 | Aircraft that have an MTOW less than 300,000lbs (136,077kgs). You can view the MTOW of our fleet by visiting Company > Fleet in CrewOps and viewing the MTOW column. |
|
Overspeed Only deducted once regardless of number of instances of overspeeding |
-2 | Log indicates 'Overspeed'. |
|
Time Compression |
|
Log indicates 'Simulation rate set to'.
A 15% penalty will be assessed against the total number of points earned for that flight. 46 points earned – 7 point penalty (.15 × 46) = 39 points awarded. |
|
Bonus Multiplier |
The bonus multiplier helps equalize flights in all Fleet aircraft regardless of distance flown and/or cruising speed by using a proprietary algorithm and applying it to those with cruise speeds of 250kts or less and cruise speeds between 251kts and 400kts. | |
|
Pilots Home Airport |
+5 |
You departed from or arrived at your Hub airport. |
The MTOW for the aircraft you are flying can be found at Company > Fleet.
This is the value we use to determine the group below you will receive points from.
| Landing Rate | MTOW less than 12,500lbs |
MTOW more than 12,500lbs |
| -800 fpm to -701 fpm | -8 | -4 |
| -700 fpm to -601 fpm | -6 | -2 |
| -600 fpm to -501 fpm | -4 | +1 |
| -500 fpm to -401 fpm | -2 | +2 |
| -400 fpm to -300 fpm | +1 | +4 |
| -300 fpm to -201 fpm | +2 | +5 |
| -200 fpm to -151 fpm | +3 | +5 |
| -150 fpm | +100 | +100 |
| -149 fpm to -101 fpm | +4 | +3 |
| -100 fpm to 0 fpm | +5 | +2 |
|
If you happen to be lucky enough to land the illustrious -150fpm. You will be awarded with our super special "BUTTER!" badge and 100 points! Now, we must state for legal reasons that a -150fpm is not the holy grail landing you need to aim for in every single aircraft. Doing this can result in gear breakage, spoilers not activating, autobrakes sitting around, and well, the plane not working right. We warned you! |
Here are some examples illustrating how these category points factor into each completed flight.
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|
|
|
If you think your flight was graded incorrectly – or – you'd like to ask a question, submit a Help Ticket.
simBrief
simBrief enables Pilots to automatically create an Operational Flight Plan (OFP) based on the details of their intended flight – and, with only a few clicks, easily integrate it into our System.
You must have an active simBrief account in order to use the integration.
If you don't have an account, visit simBrief to create it.
What's the simBrief Operational Flight Plan?
The simBrief OFP, also known as the Operational Flight Plan, is essentially a dispatch packet. It simulates a real world experience with Pilots receiving information about their flight, weather, routing, fuel usage, weights, etc. – everything required to ensure they're operating within the performance standards of the aircraft they're flying.
simBrief does a good job adding to the realism of simulated flying by offering this service. That's why we encourage you to sign up for an account and, when possible, use it.
simBrief Download: https://www.simbrief.com/home/index.php
If you need help understanding the OFP and how to use it, ask your fellow Pilots.
The information contained here is very useful for setting up your aircraft's Flight Management Computer to make your flight as realistic as possible.
Let's take a look at a number of items:
| 1. |
Flight Tracking – When you start your ACARS application – smartCARS 3 or FlightTrackerXP – you'll see your aircraft on the map and it'll show your flight path as you are flying. |
| 2. |
Route Copy – Click the icon next to the route to copy it to your clipboard. |
| 3. |
Pre-File – These buttons take you to their respective online ATC sites with a pre-filled form to submit your flight plan. |
| 4. |
FlightAware and SkyVector – View active real flights leaving your departure airport – or – open the flight plan route in SkyVector. |
| 5. |
Dispatch Release – View the raw OFP print out. |
| 6. |
Edit – This opens simBrief in another tab. That allows you to edit this specific flight. |
| 7. |
Reload – After completing your OFP edit, you must click the Reload button to refresh its data in the template. |
| 8. |
Flight Status – A number of informational items regarding the real-time status of your current flight are displayed on the map.
NOTE: The data updates every 10 seconds.
|
| 9. |
Weather and Runways This area will allow you to review the METAR, TAF, and Runway information for your departure, arrival, and alternate airfields. Notice how we provide you with the runway ILS information (if equipped.)
|
Flight has not been started in your ACARS application
This section is relevant if you use the "Import Latest simBrief OFP" function. If you simply click the green button, you can proceed past this section.
If you see this message and you are using the "Import Latest simBrief OFP" then you have entered incorrect information. You must fix the following information in your simBrief OFP before you import it to the CrewCenter. Failing to do so will result in the message below showing for the duration of your flight.
Click the "Edit" button on the OFP page and ensure that the following fields match your information!
|
|
The Airline and Flight Number box must match the flight prefix and number of the flight you bid. If you are flying WAX 221, you will enter "WAX" in Airline and "221" in Flight Number. |
If you do not match these 2 boxes, the 'Flight has not been started...' message will remain.
Settings – simBrief
In order to use our integration, a few things will need to be configured on the Crew Center website before you proceed.
To access your settings:
| 1 | Click your name at the top right of the Navigation Bar; |
| 2 | Scroll down and select Settings; |
| 3 | Click simBrief; and, |
| 4 | Complete your user Username and Operational Flight Plan settings: |
|
a. Username – You must enter your simBrief username if you wish to use the Import Latest simBrief OFP option found on your briefing. |
|
|
b. Plan Format – Our default OFP plan is DAL. If you wish to use something else, choose it from the list provided. |
|
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c. Weights – Weights for simBrief default to pounds (lbs). If you'd rather use kilograms (kgs), be aware of the fact all weights shown on our website will be in kilograms instead of pounds. |
Settings – Operational Flight Plan (OFP)
To reflect the freedoms you have when flying for us, simBrief's OFP settings can be customized to your own preferences.
These are the settings usually appearing on the right side of simBrief's New Flight screen.
Pressing the cog button will show more options for your flight plan - such as extra fuel load, if you want stepclimbs or not, any custom route variables, and number of passengers or weight of cargo onboard.
To customize your OFP settings permanently, follow these steps.
1. Go to your Profile settings in the Crew Center website.
Click simBrief.
Scroll down to the Operational Flight Plan section.
2. Make your preferred selections.
You should be familiar with all of the options shown, so their explanations will not be detailed here.
For more information, review the simBrief User Guide.
3. Once you've made your selections, scroll to the bottom of the page. Click the Save SimBrief button.
If you forget to click the Save SimBrief button, your preferences will not be saved.
How do I generate a simBrief Operational Flight Plan?
This is the Pilot Briefing for the flight you selected. It'll provide you with your flight information, weather and a route map. The top right section of the map provides the simBrief status – it's either Available or Not Available.
| Available | Not Available |
|
If simBrief has a default airframe for the aircraft you've chosen – or – you entered a saved airframe (Custom Airframe) in your simBrief settings, you're able to generate an OFP from our website.
To learn more about Custom Airframes, scroll down to its section below.
|
If simBrief does not have a default airframe for the aircraft you've chosen – or – you have not entered a saved airframe (Custom Airframe) in your simBrief settings, you'll not be able to generate an OFP from our website.
To learn more about Custom Airframes, scroll down to its section below. |
|
|
COMMENT:
|
The bottom left section of the map will contain the METAR for your departure and arrival airports. If one, or both, are unavailable you'll see 'NO METAR DATA'.
To generate your OFP, click on the 'Green Clipboard'. You'll get a popup window asking you to log into simBrief.
Click on the at top right to see the options you can modify. Once you've finished, click on the icon to return.
NOTE: If you don't understand what the option means, place your mouse over it for more information.
You're logging directly into simBrief through an API. As a result, your credentials are not transmitted through our servers.
simBrief Import
If you entered your simBrief Username in settings, you'll see an Import Latest simBrief OFP option available. This allows you to create an OFP on the simBrief website and import it back into our system so it can be viewed with our OFP template.
There are, however, a few things you must to do to enable that to happen. You must:
- generate the OFP on the simBrief website;
- ensure Airline equals the prefix of your flight (ex. WAT, WAC, WAX, etc.); and,
- ensure Flight Number equals the number on your bid.
- ensure ATC Callsign matches your Pilot ID
|
|
The Airline and Flight Number box must match the flight prefix and number of the flight you bid. If you are flying WAX 221, you will enter "WAX" in Airline and "221" in Flight Number. |
|
|
The ATC Callsign must match your Pilot ID in order for the same callsign to be carried over into your online flying pre-files. If you leave this blank, SimBrief will use your flight number above as ATC callsign which will not follow our online flying rules.
This does not apply to members of the Walker Patron program as they are allowed to fly any airline/callsign outside of Event flights. |
If you do not match these boxes the import process will stop and you will be notified.
Once you complete your changes, return to the Pilot Briefing. Select Important Latest simBrief OFP. You'll then see our Template with your updated changes.
If you happen to put in the wrong information, you will be taken to an error page indicating where you made an error.
How do I access the Pilot Briefing?
In order to access your Pilot Briefing, use the same navigation described above and select Flights > My Bids. Once there, click the Clipboard icon in the yellow box for your flight.
Returning To Your simBrief Operational Flight Plan
If you leave the OFP page, you can return to it later. Go to My Bids. Click the Headset icon in the green box and it'll return you to the simBrief OFP.
Custom Airframes
To learn more about the Custom Airframe system, see the simbrief Guide (Dispatch Fleet Page).
Custom Airframes allow the flight characteristics of your aircraft to be more in-line with your performance expectations. When you generate a simBrief Flight Plan using a Custom Airframe for a specific aircraft you've stored in the Crew Center, it will be used instead of the simBrief default when selected for a fligtht.
These instructions will assume you've created a Custom Airframe – or have an ID from one shared with you.
Before you begin this process, determine the Fleet assignment of the aircraft for which you wish to create a Custom Airframe – Cargo, Charter or Scheduled.
1. Log in to simBrief. Go to Dispatch > Saved Airframes.
For our example, we'll use the Daher Kodiak 100.
2. Click the Edit button next to the Custom Airframe you want to use.
3. Copy the Internal ID from the Airframe Info, there is a handy "clipboard" button you can click.
4. Go to your Profile settings in the Crew Center website.
Click Aircraft Settings.
If you wish to read more about Aircraft Settings (and the additional options it provides), please click here.
5. Each Company aircraft is assigned to a specific Fleet. Because the Daher Kodiak is in the Charter Fleet (Charter Operations), click the Charter tab. This is why knowing the Fleet assignment of your aircraft is important.
6. Locate your aircraft in the listing. Please note: that favorited aircraft at always located at the top. In the Text Box under the column simBrief Airframe, paste the Internal ID you copied in Step 3.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page. Click the Save Aircraft Settings button.
If you forget to click the Save Aircraft Settings button, your Custom Airframe will not be saved.
Worldwide Persistence
What is it?
Worldwide Persistence (WWP) changes your Charter flight experience in our airline.
By enabling it, your charter flight will be treated like our Cargo and Scheduled location persistence. Once you land, your location will be moved to that arrival airport and your next chartered flight must department from there.
Events and Tours are not affected by Worldwide Persistence, and therefore your location does not move.
If you enable Worldwide Persistence, you’ll experience the following:
- You’ll be required to depart from your last arrival airport for all Charter flights.
- The departure airport field in Charter flights will be disabled and show your last arrival airport, whether it was a flight you completed (in Cargo, Charter, or Scheduled) or a Jumpseat you purchased.
- The 'Find a Flight' departure field will be disabled.
- The Jumpseat Airport List will expand to include all 55k+ airports in our database.
Enable / Disable Option – Within Pilot Settings
You can enable Worldwide Persistence by clicking your name in the top right > Settings > Worldwide Persistence.
To Enable this option, click the toggle at the bottom of the image. Click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page to save it.
To Disable this option, click the toggle at the bottom of the image. Click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page to save it.
| With Worldwide Persistence... | ... what happens? |
| On | Enabled | Your location will be moved if you complete a charter flight, and you will be required to depart from that location next. |
| Off | Disabled | You can department from any airfield in the Charter module. |
If you do not click the Save Settings button, the option you selected – Enable or Disable – will not appear.
Enable / Disable Option – Within Charter Flight Bid
You may also Enable or Disable Worldwide Persistence when creating a Bid for a Charter Flight by clicking the toggle beside the globe – as shown in the image below.
Reference: https://crew.walkerair.us/charter
| With Worldwide Persistence... | ... what happens? |
| On | Enabled | Your location will be moved if you complete a charter flight, and you will be required to depart from that location next. |
| Off | Disabled | You can department from any airfield in the Charter module. |
Charter Bid Lockout
When WWP is enabled and you have a bid in Cargo or Scheduled (excludes Events and Tours), you will be unable to create a charter flight. You will need to either remove those bids and/or finish them. You can only have one Worldwide Persistence-enabled bid at a time in Cargo, Charter, or Scheduled.
FAQ
Find answers here to questions frequently asked of us by those in our Pilot community.
Introduction
If you’re just checking us out – or if you’re already a member of our team – thanks very much for your interest in Walker Air Transport. While we’ve made every effort to keep things simple and straightforward here, we recognize the fact questions will always arise, no matter what we’ve included here. And that’s why we’ve created this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
We genuinely consider this to be a living, breathing document and will continually update it in the days ahead as more questions surface whose answers may help make life in our organization easier and more enjoyable.
Let us know what you think of our efforts by submitting a Help Ticket.
| General Contact | Company Website | Discord Invitation |
| help@walkerair.us | https://walkerair.us | You can find it in your Welcome Email – or – click Discord in the menu under your name in the Navigation Bar on the Crew Operations website. |
| Help | Assistance | Requests | Action Steps | ||||
| For Company Pilots |
|
||||
| For all others | Submit a Help Ticket or email help@walkerair.us. |
While every effort has been made to address the questions frequently asked of us, we readily acknowledge there may likely be many others that have not. If you have a question we’ve not covered here – or if one’s been covered in a way leaving you with more questions than answers – please contact us. Allow us an opportunity to improve this document and your experience.
General Questions
What’s a Virtual Airline?
As the name implies, a Virtual Airline (VA) is not a real airline. It simulates the various operations of a real one, though with only a single element – the Pilot. In a typical VA, the Pilot selects the flights they wish to fly, they fly them on their flight simulator and the data that flight generates is transmitted to a system documenting it. For many, being a Pilot for a VA gives them purpose and creates added realism for their online flying activities.
What’s Walker Air Transport?
Walker Air Transport is a virtual air transportation and logistics company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, at the Jacksonville Executive Airport (KCRG). Founded in 1999, the company began as a small charter outfit operating a single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk, and later, a twin-turboprop Beechcraft King Air 350. As years passed, the demand for the company’s general air travel and private charter flight services increased, to the point where, in late 2019, Walker Air’s Executive Management Team made a decision to expand operations into scheduled passenger and cargo services. To fuel that expansion plan, staff were hired, systems developed, schedules created – and a fleet of over 75 passenger and cargo aircraft of varying types initially acquired – making us the first small charter company to successfully transition into the global aviation market. Walker Air Transport offers flexible options spanning the globe for a wide variety of passenger travel needs and timely solutions for those with cargo-hauling challenges.
Which flight simulators are supported by Walker Air Transport?
We support the three (3) major Flight Simulator platforms:
|
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Laminar Research X-Plane |
|
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Lockheed Martin Prepar3D® |
|
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Microsoft® Flight Simulator 2020 (Steam and non-Steam version) |
What computer operating systems are supported?
We support Microsoft® Windows-based (PC) versions of the Flight Simulator platforms mentioned above.
We also support the Apple-based (MacOS) version of X-Plane.
Can I use an earlier version of any of the flight simulators you support?
Our proprietary Flight Data System is optimized to work best with X-Plane, Lockheed Martin Prepar3D® v4 and Microsoft® Flight Simulator 2020.
We do not actively support any earlier versions of these platforms.
Before I can fly for Walker Air Transport, what hardware and software will I need to have?
You must have at least the following in order to fly for us:
- a Microsoft® Windows (PC) – or – Apple (MacOS)-based computer (X-Plane only);
- a high-speed Internet connection;
- supported Flight Simulator software (as mentioned above); and,
- ACARS – smartCARS 3 (PC, Linux, or MacOS) or FlightTrackerXP (MacOS) for X-Plane only.
You must then complete an Application Form.
LINK: https://crew.walkerair.us/registration
You’re not required to purchase any aircraft, addons or liveries. You may fly with us in a number of the default aircraft provided by the Developers of the flight simulator platforms we support.
Every aircraft in our Fleet has a custom-designed, easily-downloadable livery available at no cost.
You’re required to use that livery every time you fly using our ACARS-based Flight Data System.
Where do I find aircraft to download?
Flight simulation programs provide what are known as ‘default aircraft’ – aircraft the Developer has included with their Flight Simulator software. While not all of these default aircraft are in our Fleet, a number of them are. We’ve purposely designed our system to accept these default aircraft – and a number of our Pilots regularly fly and enjoy them. Other freeware and payware aircraft can be flown here as well, and they may be found by conducting an Internet search.
For additional assistance, post your request to the #general channel in our Discord.
How much flying experience do I need to have in order to join Walker Air Transport?
You do not need any flight experience to fly with us. Pilots of all levels are welcome.
You may, however, encounter conditions and/or situations when flying that may require you to skillfully operate your aircraft on your chosen route through varying weather conditions and other air traffic. We have what we think is a perfect, non-threatening environment for you to learn and develop those skills.
Do you offer a Flight Training Program?
No. Formal flight training is well beyond the scope of what we do here, though a number of our Pilots have Private Pilot Licenses | advanced ratings and complete flights for training purposes – especially when flown online with IVAO, PilotEdge, and/or VATSIM. We do think of ourselves, though, as offering a dynamic learning environment that can be as challenging and immersive as you want it to be. Our Staff and Pilots come from all walks of life and possess vast skills and talents they readily share in the Company Discord.
Do you have any age limits?
To join Walker Air Transport – and in order for us to be in compliance with applicable national and international law – we have stipulated that all of our Pilots must be at least 16-years of age.
By applying to join the company, you affirm you meet or exceed this minimum age requirement.
Do I have to pay for flying for Walker Air Transport?
No. There are no fees required to fly with us. Other than the cost of your computer equipment and related operation and flight simulator software, it costs absolutely nothing to fly with us.
Do I get paid for flying for Walker Air Transport?
We pay our Pilots in virtual currency that may only be used to purchase a ‘Jumpseat’ ticket within our organization, change their Home base and/or re-fly a Tour – it has no real-world value.
What if I need help or have a question?
We enthusiastically welcome new Pilots – and we’re here to help you have fun and enjoy your time in the virtual skies. So, if you have questions, please ask them. After all, we were all new at one time and probably had the same question(s).
Before doing so, though, take a few moments to search our Documentation Management System (DMS). It's quite possible you'll find your answer(s) there.
If you're not able to find the answer you're seeking, then post the question(s) you have in the #general channel in our Discord.
Otherwise, submit a Help Ticket.
Are there any restrictions placed on aircraft according to Pilot ranks?
No. Walker Air Transport doesn’t set restrictions on aircraft types by Pilot rank. You may fly any aircraft in our Fleet any time you wish to do so. Depending on your skill level, though – and to ease your transition into our system – you may find it more enjoyable (and potentially less frustrating) for your first several flights to be flown in General Aviation (GA) aircraft so you can gain some familiarity with how your actions on the ground and in the air affect PIREPS and the calculation of points before transitioning to larger and more complex aircraft. After all, we want the flying here to be fun – and for your enjoyment.
A PIREP is, quite simply, a Pilot Report. It contains digital data about the flight you flew and completed. After processing that data in our automated, proprietary system, it’s immediately filed, at which time it’s also added to your Pilot Logbook and is available for review.
Which online, multiplayer networks are supported by Walker Air Transport?
You can fly online with us using the IVAO, PilotEdge, and VATSIM networks.
What if I don't want to or can’t fly on a multiplayer network?
It’s not a problem at all and there’s never any pressure for you to do so. You may fly offline with us as much or as little as you desire. And in fact, most of our Pilots do not fly online at all.
Can I fly for Walker Air Transport and another virtual airline at the same time?
Yes. Our Pilots are not prohibited from flying for other VAs. As a matter of practice, though – and in accordance with a provision of our Code of Conduct – you may not publicly advertise another VA while flying for us.
What awards can Walker Air Transport Pilots earn?
We have an achievement-based Award System where our Pilots earn badges for successfully completing flight-related goals and objectives.
Go here to view the complete list of our Awards.
How’s flight data tracked?
To log your flight data, we utilize ACARS Flight Tracking software:
- TFDi Design’s smartCARS 3; and,
- FlightTrackerXP – an ACARS-compatible, MacOS Flight Tracker for for X-Plane only.
How often does a Walker Air Transport Pilot fly?
Our Pilots fly as often as they desire – and they do not have formal flight schedules.
We do, however, have some guidelines that must be followed. A New Hire/Flight Student must complete their first flight within fourteen (14) days after receiving their Acceptance Email. Thereafter, every Walker Air Transport Pilot maintains a status based on the frequency of their flight activity.
| Status | Description |
| Active |
At least one (1) completed flight/PIREP in the past thirty (30) days. A New Pilot must complete their first flight within fourteen (14) days after receiving Acceptance Email. |
| On Leave |
No completed flight/PIREP in the past thirty (30) days. A Pilot will be placed On Leave if they do not complete at least one (1) flight every thirty (30) days. |
| Retired |
No completed flight/PIREP in the past ninety (90) days. A Pilot will be Retired if they do not complete at least one (1) flight every ninety (90) days. |
A PIREP is, quite simply, a Pilot Report. It contains digital data about the flight you flew and completed. After processing that data in our automated, proprietary system, it’s immediately filed, at which time it’s also added to your Pilot Logbook and is available for review.
It looks I won’t be able to fly at any time in the next month or so. What should I do?
Life happens – and situations and circumstances change. We understand that… Based on your level of activity (as noted above), you’ll be classified as either On Leave or Retired. You’ll receive an email from us notifying you of your change in status along with what steps are necessary in order for you to return to Active status.
If you have questions about your status, submit a Help Ticket.
Is there a minimum number of flights or hours I have to fly in order to retain ‘Active’ status?
No. There are no minimum flight time requirements – as long as there’s a takeoff at a departure airport and a landing at an arrival airport, the length of time your aircraft is airborne doesn’t matter.
The key to maintaining and retaining an ‘Active’ status is to complete at least one (1) flight every thirty (30) days.
As a matter of practicality, though, we don’t see the value in doing that. Flights of that type lose money. Therefore, if flights of this type become regular occurrences for you, we’ll need to have a conversation about it.
Is there a maximum number of flights or hours I’m allowed to fly in a day | week | month | year?
No. You may fly as much and as often as you desire. From a real-world | healthy balance | quality of life perspective, though, you may wish to use current FAA regulations as a guide in planning and using your time. Based on what they say:
- Pilots are allowed a maximum of 60 hours of flight duty per week (defined as 168 consecutive hours).
- In any consecutive 28-day period, a Pilot cannot exceed 290 hours, of which no more than 100 hours can be flight time.
- During 365 consecutive days, Pilots cannot exceed 1,000 flight-time hours.
What do I do if I want to leave Walker Air Transport?
You may terminate your position with us at any time.
If you ever wish to return, though, you’ll be treated as a new applicant – you’ll need to complete an Application Form and go through the approval process. If approved, you’ll start with us as a Student Pilot with zero hours and zero points. Any hours and points accumulated under your previous Pilot ID will be lost.
Which airplanes can I use to fly with Walker Air Transport?
On our website’s Fleet page (https://walkerair.us/fleet.php), you’ll see the wide variety of aircraft we fly in our Cargo, Charter and Scheduled Fleets – each with a custom and proprietary Walker Air livery.
From day one, you may fly any aircraft you desire – we do not restrict aircraft type to rank.
Additionally, with each aircraft in the Fleet page, you’ll see the flight simulator in which it may be flown and its Developer. A few quick clicks will let you know which aircraft currently in your personal ‘hanger’ can be flown here. Depending on the type of flight you operate, though, you must fly an aircraft in that specific fleet. That means:
- For a Cargo flight, an aircraft in the Cargo Fleet must be flown;
- For a Charter flight, an aircraft in the Charter Fleet must be flown; and,
- For a Scheduled flight, an aircraft in the Scheduled Fleet must be flown.
No substitutes are allowed.
Do I need to install addon panels | sounds | mods in addition to aircraft?
No – all you need to install to fly for us is an appropriate aircraft. Anything else you choose to do with it is up to you. We do, however, recommend using a panel and sound package designed for the aircraft you’re flying in order to achieve the greatest realism.
Where are Walker Air Transport’s Hubs?
Unlike other VAs, we do not have Hubs.
Instead, putting our 'Freedom to Fly' beliefs into practice, we allow our Pilots to choose their own Home Base (Home) from any of over 44,000 airports in our database.
Is it possible to change from one Home to another?
On your Application Form, you were asked to specify a Home Base (Home). It’s from this assigned location you must make your first Cargo or Scheduled flight. Thereafter, it doesn’t factor into your flying – unless that’s what you want to do.
If you wish to change your Home, you can do so on your own anytime you wish to do so – and as many times as you desire. You can do this yourself in your Pilot Profile.
Click here to learn more about it.
How do I complete and submit a Help or Request Form?
Instructions on how to complete a Help Ticket can be found here.
Where can I fly with Walker Air Transport?
With well over 640,000 published schedules spanning the entire world, our Cargo and Scheduled Pilots have a significant number of flight options from which to choose.
Our Charter Pilots have even more flight options – if an airport exists in your flight simulator’s database, you can fly there.
I have hours in another Virtual Airline for which I no longer fly. Can they be transferred and credited here?
No. All Pilots begin their careers at Walker Air Transport with 00:00 hours and zero points.
What Rank can I achieve?
Achieving Rank is based on a very simple model… You’re promoted based on the number of hours you fly and the points you earn by completing a flight. To work your way through the ‘ranks’, all you need to do is build your flight hours and your points by completing flights and meeting both of the requirements noted below for minimum hours and minimum points.
Rank
Rank details are illustrated in the following table.
| Rank | Title | Insignia | Minimum Hours | Minimum Points | Pay Rate (Hourly) |
| Flight Student |
|
0 | 0 | $15.00 |
| First Officer |
|
25 | 300 | $35.00 |
| Senior First Officer |
|
75 | 900 | $45.00 |
| Captain |
|
100 | 1,200 | $65.00 |
| Flight Captain |
|
300 | 3,600 | $85.00 |
| Senior Flight Captain |
|
500 | 6,000 | $105.00 |
| Chief Pilot I |
|
1,000 | 12,000 | $115.00 |
| Chief Pilot II |
|
2,500 | 30,000 | $135.00 |
| Chief Pilot III |
|
5,000 | 60,000 | $165.00 |
| Senior Chief Pilot I |
|
7,500 | 90,000 | $192.00 |
| Senior Chief Pilot II |
|
10,000 | 120,000 | $225.00 |
| Senior Pilot Emeritus |
|
15,000 | 180,000 | $255.00 |
Points
Points are awarded for each completed flight receiving an ‘Accepted’ designation.
The number of points you earn will depend on several factors – as you can see from the categories and points awards in the chart below.
| Category | Points | How is it determined? |
| Completed Flight | +5 | |
| Per Hour of Flight | +1 | |
| Per 50 Nautical Miles of Flight | +1 | |
| Completed 20-Minute Pre-Flight | +3 | Pre-flight time is calculated between the log entries 'Preflight started, flying' and 'Pushing back with # of fuel'. |
| Flaps Position Set – Takeoff |
+1 | Takeoff flaps are determined by log entry 'Flaps set to' that occur before the log entry 'Taking off'. |
| Flaps Position Set – Landing |
+1 |
Landing flaps are determined by log entry 'Flaps set to' that occur after the log entry 'Approaching'. The 'Approaching' log entry will not occur if you are not properly in cruise phase. Please read note above regarding MSFS 2020 and/or ensure you know how to properly use the ACARS application to set your correct cruise level. |
| Exceed 250kts under 10,000 ft for more than 2 minutes Only applicable when aircraft MTOW is less than 300,000lbs (136,077kgs). |
-5 | Aircraft that have an MTOW less than 300,000lbs (136,077kgs). You can view the MTOW of our fleet by visiting Company > Fleet in CrewOps and viewing the MTOW column. |
|
Overspeed Only deducted once regardless of number of instances of overspeeding |
-2 | Log indicates 'Overspeed'. |
|
Time Compression |
|
Log indicates 'Simulation rate set to'.
A 15% penalty will be assessed against the total number of points earned for that flight. 46 points earned – 7 point penalty (.15 × 46) = 39 points awarded. |
|
Bonus Multiplier |
The bonus multiplier helps equalize flights in all Fleet aircraft regardless of distance flown and/or cruising speed by using a proprietary algorithm and applying it to those with cruise speeds of 250kts or less and cruise speeds between 251kts and 400kts. | |
|
Pilots Home Airport |
+5 |
You departed from or arrived at your Hub airport. |
| Landing Rates (Aircraft MTOW < 12,500lb) | |
|
-800 fpm to -701 fpm |
-8 |
|
-700 fpm to -601 fpm |
-6 |
|
-600 fpm to -501 fpm |
-4 |
|
-500 fpm to -401 fpm |
-2 |
|
-400 fpm to -300 fpm |
+1 |
|
-300 fpm to -201 fpm |
+2 |
|
-200 fpm to -101 fpm |
+4 |
|
-100 fpm to 0 fpm |
+5 |
|
-150 fpm |
+100 |
| Landing Rates (Aircraft MTOW > 12,500lb) | |
|
-800 fpm to -701 fpm |
-4 |
|
-700 fpm to -601 fpm |
-2 |
|
-600 fpm to -501 fpm |
+1 |
|
-500 fpm to -401 fpm |
+2 |
|
-400 fpm to -301 fpm |
+4 |
|
-300 fpm to -101 fpm |
+5 |
|
-100 fpm to 0 fpm |
+2 |
|
-150 fpm |
+100 |
Here are some examples illustrating how these category points factor into each flight.
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|
|
|
Application & Registration
I’ve just completed your Application Form. How long will it take for it to be approved?
All Application Forms are acknowledged and confirmed as soon as staff is available. Historically, decisions for applications are sent out within 24 hours of receipt, though circumstances may cause this to be longer.
What happens when my application is confirmed?
Once your application has been approved, you’ll receive a welcome email from the Walker Business Office. Within that email, you will receive your Walker Pilot ID, as well as key links to get you started as a pilot for Walker Air.
Getting Started
I’m signed up and want to take my first flight. Now what?
The steps you need to take to prepare yourself for your first flight are detailed in our New Pilot Orientation document. It may be found here.
Review it carefully. Afterwards, if you have any questions, complete and submit a Help Ticket.
Can I start flying immediately?
Yes; however, we very strongly recommend reading our New Pilot Orientation document before doing so. It may be found here.
Once you've finished that, you’re all set. Bid your flight, fly it – and have fun!
I'm flying in an Event... Can I start a flight as soon as the Bid Window opens 3 hours before the event -- or -- do I have to wait until the scheduled Start/Pushback time?
Yes, you may begin your flight as soon as the Bid Window opens.
How do I find flights to fly?
The process of finding a flight is covered in great detail in our New Pilot Orientation document. It may be found here.
Where can I get weather reports for my flights?
There are a number of sources you may use to obtain weather reports for your flight. Flight simulators typically allow weather to be generated realistically using internal weather generation methods. In addition to a number of free, online resources, there are also a number of payware addons that can be used to receive up-to-the-minute weather information.
Do I have to fly using real weather?
While using actual weather conditions can enhance your overall flight experience, you do not have to use it. Configure it any way you like.
What if I can't find a suitable Cargo or Scheduled flight to fly?
You always have the option to create, bid and fly a Charter flight. You may also purchase a Jumpseat and explore flight options at another airport.
Learn more about Jumpseats here.
Can I start my flight early?
Yes. Actually, you may start your flight at any convenient time so there won’t be clashes or conflicts with what you have going on in your real-world life. This is, after all, a virtual environment, not a real one – and, more than anything else, it’s about having fun.
Flight times shown in Crew Ops are displayed in UTC. This is simulator time, not real-world time. If a flight is scheduled to depart at 1600 UTC, we encourage you to fly it at that time to enhance the overall experience; however, that’s not mandated.
I completed a bid on a flight, but it looks like I’m not going to be able to fly it. Now what do I do?
You don’t have to do anything. It will remain in your Completed Bids page for 48 hours. If you don’t complete the flight before that time period expires, it will be automatically deleted – or you may go to My Bids and manually delete it.
Tour bids do not expire.
Will my bid expire if I don't complete the flight?
It will be saved in your Completed Bids page for 48 hours. After that, it’ll be automatically deleted. If you wish to bid the same flight at a later date, you’ll need to re-enter it.
Tour bids do not expire.
How long before a scheduled flight’s departure time can I bid on it?
You can create and submit a bid on any Cargo and/or Scheduled flight at any time. Once the bid has been submitted, you can fly it immediately, irrespective of the published departure time.
Do I have to use real airport charts and maps when flying for Walker Air Transport?
No – although a number of our Pilots choose to enhance their experience with us by doing so and find it useful and rewarding. It’s completely up to you. Their use, however, can certainly add an element of realism to your flying experience.
When flying online with IVAO, PilotEdge and VATSIM, though, you’ll probably need them when you arrive or depart under the ATC guidance they provide.
By the way – many of these items can be downloaded from the Internet at no cost.
How can I obtain airport charts?
Airport Charts suitable for simulation purposes are typically available within your flight simulator. There are also many other options – free and subscription-based – that can be explored using the Internet.
When I use Google to find something on the Internet, I can never seem to find what I'm looking for. Can you help me?
It's well beyond the scope of what we do here to provide lessons on how to conduct a search using Google – or any other Internet Search Engine. We can, however, suggest a tutorial many others here and elsewhere have found helpful. You may find it here.
Does Walker Air Transport use ACARS (flight tracking software) Programs?
Yes. We currently utilize TFDi Design’s smartCARS 3 program and FlightTrackerXP, an ACARS-compatible flight tracker for MacOS (X-Plane only). They seamlessly interface with our custom-designed and automated Flight Data System by pulling flight data directly into our database, enabling us to create PIREPs and populate the Crew Ops website with data. That allows you to concentrate on flying, not manually completing and filing reports.
What’s a PIREP?
A PIREP is, quite simply, a Pilot Report. It contains digital data about the flight you flew and completed. After processing that data in our automated, proprietary system, it’s immediately filed, at which time it’s also added to your Pilot Logbook and is available for review.
Manual PIREPS are not allowed.
When will my PIREP be posted to my Flight Log?
Instantly. We use a custom-designed, automated PIREP system that, with the simple click of a couple of buttons, files it before you ever leave your aircraft at the end of a flight.
Manual PIREPS are not allowed.
How do I file a PIREP?
You don’t ever need nor will you ever be able to manually file a PIREP – our automated, proprietary system does that for you.
Click a couple of buttons once your aircraft has come to a stop and it's done.
Manual PIREPS are not allowed.
Do you accept manual PIREPS?
No. Manually-completed PIREPS are not allowed.
When will my PIREP be approved?
Technically, all PIREPS are automatically processed and approved once they’re submitted.
Manually-completed PIREPS are not allowed.
Depending on a number of factors, though, a PIREP will be classified in one (1) of the following ways:
| Approved | Rejected | Diverted |
The criteria used to make that decision is as follows.
| Approved | Rejected | Diverted |
|
The criteria for an Approved flight are:
All points, flight hours and pay are awarded.
The PIREP is posted to your Logbook as being Completed | Approved. |
The criteria for a Rejected flight are:
No points, flight hours or pay are awarded.
The PIREP is posted to the your Logbook as being Completed | Rejected. |
The criteria for a Diverted flight are:
All points, flight hours and pay are awarded.
If this occurs when flying a Tour leg, you will not be advanced to the next leg. The leg will have to be reflown.
The PIREP is posted to your Logbook as being Completed | Diverted.
|
What if I disagree with what the PIREP says about my flight? Is there a Formal Review process?
Data generated by your flight simulator about your flight is transferred, via ACARS, to our automated Flight Data System for processing. It's that data transfer that enables us to create the PIREP you see and what’s posted in your Logbook.
The control inputs you make in your flight simulator while flying are the only manual elements of the data recording and transmission process – everything else is data driven.
Once you arrive at your final destination, land and taxi to a stop. Before doing anything else, take a moment to review your ACARS log to ensure its entries look normal.
Here's an example of a typical ACARS Flight Log whose entries appear to be Normal. Each entry represents a data point the Sim transmitted to our Flight Data System, and its that data we used to generate the PIREP.
| Entries Look Normal |
Submit the PIREP. |
| Entries Don't Look Normal |
Click Cancel. Doing so will not affect your Logbook in any way – it’ll be like the flight never occurred. |
Manual PIREPS are not allowed.
We recognize, however, there could be an occasion where something doesn’t look right at the end of your flight. In the example illustrated below, something was obviously amiss – it’s not possible to be taxiing to the gate, and, after a brief pause, becoming airborne again…
While exceedingly rare, these kinds of anomalies can occasionally occur. We certainly sympathize with you if something like this happens. However, no Formal Review process exists because we do not have any control over the operation of your computer, your flight simulator, the stability of your Internet connection and/or any other operational factors affecting how data is collected and transmitted to us. As a result, we must trust the data your flight simulator generates and transmits to us via ACARS to be an accurate representation of what occurred during your flight. After that transmission occurs, we do not have the ability to change or alter any flight data nor will we ever do so.
Something doesn’t look right to me on the PIREP for the flight I just completed. What do I do?
We certainly sympathize with you if something like this occurs. However, we do not have any control over the operation of your computer, your flight simulator, the stability of your Internet connection and/or any other operational factors affecting how data is collected and transmitted to us. As a result, we must trust the data your flight simulator generates and transmits to our Flight Data System via ACARS to be an accurate representation of what occurred during your flight. After that transmission occurs, though, we do not have the ability to change or alter any flight data nor will we ever do so.
What to do?
Simply stated, you’ll need to re-fly that flight.
Flight Operations
What if my computer or flight simulator crashes?
This topic is covered in some detail within our Policies & Procedures Document. It may be found here.
What if I crash during one of my flights?
If you crash or have any other in-flight event preventing you from completing your flight as planned, you’ll need to cancel ACARS and restart that flight.
Is a Pilot allowed to change the simulation rate?
Changing the simulation rate during a flight is permitted as often as desired; however, a 15% penalty will be assessed against the total number of points earned for that flight if its use is detected by ACARS.
EXAMPLE: 53 points earned – 8 point penalty (.15 × 53) = 45 points awarded
Changing the simulation rate is not permitted on any Tour flight. If you submit a PIREP and increase the simulation rate in any way, you’ll be required to re-fly that leg in order to advance in the Tour.
Do you allow a Pilot to pause the flight simulator while a flight is underway?
Yes. As long as you’re flying offline and don’t do anything to interrupt the operation of ACARS, you may pause your flight and resume it at any time afterwards without penalty.
If you’re flying online in a simulated, real-world environment, though, the controllers at IVAO, PilotEdge, or VATSIM will likely not be as accommodating. They typically do not allow flights to be paused.
Can I fly flights to/from Home Bases other than the one I was assigned?
The Home Base (Home) you initially requested on your Application Form is your primary operating base and only needs to be used for your first Cargo and Scheduled flights. After that, you’re allowed to operate flights starting or ending at any airport you choose as long as there are flights in the schedule linking them.
For Charter flights, your Home holds no special or unique significance – unless you have enabled Worldwide Persistence. In which case, these flights will be treated the same as Cargo and Scheduled flights.
Learn more about Worldwide Persistence by reading this.
Once you’ve flown from your Home, you never have to return to it unless you wish to do so (and there’s a 5-point bonus for doing that).
I created a Flight Plan in simBrief. Do I have to follow the route and runway assignment it generated?
No. You're free to fly any route you want. The one provided by simBrief – or any other flight planning tool you may use – is only a suggestion and not a requirement.
I like flying helicopters. Can I fly them here?
Yes, you can fly helicopters that we have in our fleet.
If there is a helicopter or livery not in our platform, please do not hesitate to open a ticket on our CrewOps and we will look into adding it.
How are new aircraft added to the Walker Air Transport Fleet?
We’re aviation and flight simulation enthusiasts who enjoy flying aircraft of all kinds. Our Pilots are as well. As a result, we’re constantly evaluating freeware and payware aircraft Developers release and making our decision to add or not add them to our Fleet based on aircraft availability, operational factors and available resources; therefore, not all requests can be honored.
If you’d like to make an aircraft-related suggestion (aircraft or livery), submit a Help Ticket.
Before submitting a request, though, please keep our Fleet Assignment Criteria in mind:
| Cargo | Charter | Scheduled |
|
In order for an aircraft to be added to the Cargo Fleet, it must have:
|
In order for an aircraft to be added to the Charter Fleet:
|
In order for an aircraft to be added to the Scheduled Fleet:
|
Do you allow aircraft substitutions?
No. Our flight modules are built in a way substituting aircraft isn’t necessary.
If a PIREP documents a different aircraft than what was initially selected, it will be rejected.
Is it permissible for me to fly aircraft that aren’t in Walker Air Transport’s Fleet?
When you log a flight in Walker, you may only fly an aircraft specifically approved for a Cargo, Charter or Scheduled flight. In other words...
| Cargo | Charter | Scheduled |
| For a Cargo Flight, you must fly an aircraft in the Cargo Fleet. If the aircraft you wish to fly is not in this Fleet, then you will not be allowed to fly a Cargo flight. |
For a Charter Flight, you must fly an aircraft in the Charter Fleet. If the aircraft you wish to fly is not in this Fleet, then you will not be allowed to fly a Charter flight. |
For a Scheduled Flight, you must fly an aircraft in the Scheduled Fleet. If the aircraft you wish to fly is not in this Fleet, then you will not be allowed to fly a Scheduled flight. |
To view the aircraft in each of our Fleets, go here: Downloads > Liveries > Active
If the aircraft you wish to fly is not listed in a Fleet, you may request it be added by completing a Help Ticket.
There is no guarantee the aircraft will be added.
Additionally, that aircraft must also be flown in our company livery. Any flight you complete while using our ACARS system in a non-fleet aircraft – or one not in our livery – will be rejected. And should this happen more than once, you risk being terminated. Members of the Patreon program are excluded from this requirement.
I have an aircraft type listed in your Fleet whose Developer I don’t see. Can I still fly it?
If you wish to fly an aircraft listed in our Cargo, Charter, and/or Scheduled Fleets created by a Developer that’s not noted/listed, you may submit a Help Ticket requesting it be added to the Fleet.
There is no guarantee the aircraft will be added.
You may not, however, under any circumstances whatsoever, fly an aircraft in our System without a Company livery.
Submit a Help Ticket – or – if you have additional questions, post a comment to the #general channel in Discord.
Do I have to fly my entire flight in a single session?
No. From a Company standpoint, you may begin a flight, pause and resume it at a later time as often as you think it necessary. As long as ACARS is not interrupted, you can complete the flight – and do so without penalty.
Make sure you review your flight simulator’s operating instructions to ensure pausing it will not interfere with the operation of ACARS.
During a night flight, I discovered my arrival airport did not have any runway lighting. Can I adjust the time-of-day setting to complete the flight?
Yes. You may adjust the time-of-day setting during your flight – at any time and as many times as you like.
I just checked my ACARS Flight Log and see the altitude shown there is different than the one being displayed in my aircraft. Is that going to be a problem?
Certain aircraft, altimeter settings, simulators and other factors can have an effect on the altitude ACARS receives and displays. In this case, it may not have switched to Cruising mode. If this happens, simply adjust the target altitude (Cruise Altitude) in the SC window until it registers ‘Cruise’. This does not have to be the altitude planned – and it has no effect on your flight.
I am not getting points for landing flaps?
This happens because the altitude in your simulator is different from the altitude you entered in the ACARS prior to clicking "Fly". In order to resolve this, you need to verify what altitude you are reporting in your simulator. The easiest way to do this is to find yourself on our map, or look at your simBrief OFP (on our website) and check your altitude showing. It is not uncommon for you to have entered FL360, but you find yourself registering at FL380.
X-Plane 12 and Microsoft Flight Simulator are known to report altitude differently than X-Plane and Prepar3D. It has to do with the difference in atmospheric pressure and typically happens at higher altitudes and regions. Due to this, we implemented the green "cruise mode" buttons on the simBrief OFP and Flight Briefing pages for pilots to ensure that they are correctly in cruise phase. You can also verify that by monitoring the log in your ACARS.
simBrief OFP information can be found here: https://docs.walkerair.us/books/3-help/page/simbrief#bkmrk-what-is-the-simbrief
If that is the case, simply click the gear icon next to the altitude on the ACARS application and enter FL380. If don't correctly you will see a log entry in your ACARS that reads "Cruising at XXXX". If that line exists, you have successfully entered cruise phase and you will receive points.
Cruise phase is activated when your aircraft matches the flight level cruise you specified in the ACARS--see Flight Tab section here: https://docs.walkerair.us/books/3-help/page/smartcars-windows-pc#bkmrk-on-the-flights-page%2C
Do I need to fly with online ATC?
No – we don’t require our Pilots to fly with online ATC. And while it’s always encouraged, there’s never any pressure for you to do so. To provide online ATC services for our Pilots, we’ve partnered with PilotEdge POSCON, and VATSIM.
Pilots are still able to fly on IVAO as Walker Air Transport regardless of them not being a partner.
When I fly online, what should my Callsign be?
Whenever flying online, enter the following information in the remarks section of your pre-file.
CALLSIGN IS WALKER // VISIT US AT WALKERAIR US
Your callsign will always be your Walker Air Transport Pilot ID.
| If your assigned Pilot ID is WAT300, file your callsign as Walker 300 -- and use that callsign for all radio calls. |
My simulator crashed while I was almost finished with my flight. Can these hours be logged?
No. Manually-submitted PIREPs (Manual PIREPS) are not allowed because we don’t have a process in place to accommodate them nor do we have any plans to develop and implement an accommodation process.
My flight was Rejected for a fuel-related reason. How can I make sure that doesn't happen again?
There are three (3) fuel-related issues detected by ACARS and, by extension, our Flight Data System, causing a flight to be Rejected: Unlimited Fuel, Mid-Air Refueling and Enroute Refueling.
Of these, a significant number of Rejected flights fall into the Mid-Air Refueling category. That category title, however, can be misleading and confusing because it covers much more than what its name implies. Let's bring some clarity to it...
ACARS has a Fuel Check Process utilizing a log entry – Pushing back with (number)lb of fuel or Pushing back with (number)kgs of fuel – to identify whether or not a Pilot has added fuel inflight, where inflight is defined as 'push back to the end of the flight'. In other words, as soon as your aircraft moves in any detectable way, whether you initiated it or your Sim did it on its own in some manner, ACARS records that as pushing back – and the amount of fuel you have on board at that exact moment is what's documented.
If you add fuel at any time after that, it will be noted as adding fuel inflight, thereby triggering the Reject notice.
There are seldom, if any, guarantees this will not happen. After all, it's technology and sometimes it will not work. You can, however, help matters by ensuring all of the fuel you need for your flight has been added to your aircraft before starting ACARS – or – if you've already started ACARS, add your fuel before you push back. Also, make it a habit to check your Flight Log frequently throughout your flight to ensure you won't be surprised by an unexpected entry – and potentially, a Rejected Flight notice.
Do I fly from gate-to-gate/stand-to-stand or from runway-to-runway?
We like to see our Pilots simulate real flight operations to the greatest degree possible. You will, however, always have the freedom to fly as you wish to fly. Complete your flight in any manner you like. Some considerations when doing so:
- Ideally, all Scheduled flights should begin at a gate/stand and end at a gate/stand (any one of your choosing);
- Ideally, all Cargo flights should originate on a Cargo Ramp (when available) and end at one;
- It's not mandatory, nor is it always realistic to do so, based on the limitations of a flight simulator’s airport scenery; and,
- Charter flights can originate from any location on an airport or airfield.
Because you may encounter something not addressed here or elsewhere, though, we always encourage you to use ‘Pilot discretion’ and good judgment.
How do I know which gates/stands to use?
It’s helpful to have an airport map to know where to taxi once you’ve exited the runway; however, as a practical matter, finding the first open gate will usually suffice. We do not 'own' any gates/stands at any airport.
How do you know I actually flew a flight?
We use ACARS to track all flights. As long as you remember to activate it before your aircraft begins to taxi (and submit it once it’s parked at your destination), your flight data will be logged – and we will know you actually flew a flight… You can confirm that yourself by reviewing the entries in your Pilot Logbook.
Someone told me about Worldwide Persistence. What exactly is it?
Worldwide Persistence is, quite simply, a setting forcing Charter Flights to be flown in a route-like manner similar to how Cargo and Scheduled Flights are flown.
Enable it and you’ll be required to depart from your previous flight’s arrival airport.
Disable it and depart from any of the 43,000+ airports in our database.
It may be enabled or disabled at any time. Visit your Profile page in Crew Ops to do so.
EXAMPLE: You land at KTIW | Tacoma Narrows Airport and plan your next Charter flight.
| If Worldwide Persistence is... | ... then the Departure Airport for your next flight is... |
| Enabled |
KTIW | Tacoma Narrows Airport. |
| Disabled | any airport in our database. |
With Worldwide Persistence enabled, Events and Tours are not affected.
I just landed in Salt Lake City and my Profile says I’m in Minneapolis. How do I fix that?
There’s actually nothing to fix. Your location -- ‘Current Location’ in the graphics below -- only changes when you complete a Cargo or Scheduled flight. It doesn’t change for Charter flights.
To see how this works, let’s take a look at some examples…
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EXAMPLE ONE:
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EXAMPLE TWO:
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I want to begin flying the Canada Tour. My Profile says I'm in Rome and the Tour's first airport is in Toronto. Do I need to fly to Toronto or buy a Jumpseat to get there?
No. The Tour System operates independently of the Cargo and Scheduled Systems.
You do not have to fly from wherever you currently are to any airport in any Tour for which you've signed up.
You also do not need to purchase a Jumpseat.
A Special Note For Those Operating Charter Flights and Worldwide Persistence (WP) When Flying Tours:
If WP is enabled, disable it.
If WP is disabled, you don't need to do anything. Leave it that way.
Squawks & Comments
Something doesn’t seem to be working properly on the website. How do I report that?
Submit a Help Ticket or post to the #support channel in our Discord.
I see my name is no longer on the Pilot Roster. What do I have to do to get back on it?
Submit a Help Ticket or let us know using the #support channel in our Discord.
I’m unable to log in to Crew Login on the website.
Make sure you're using the Pilot ID and password you used during your registration. If, for some reason, that doesn’t work, contact us at help@walkerair.us or let us know using the #support channel in our Discord.
I lost my Password. What do I do?
Contact us at help@walkerair.us. A new password will be sent to you as soon as possible – usually within 24-hours. If you don't receive the email within that time period, please check your Spam/Junk folder.
I can't track my flights because ACARS isn't working.
If you have an ACARS-related issue and/or are told by us you have ACARS-related issues, you must contact your application's developer for assistance.
We do not provide support for ACARS applications nor do we accept responsibility for failed PIREPs, corrupted log files or data transmitted to our servers by these applications.
| smartCARS 3 |
Developer: TFDi smartCARS 3 |
| FlightTrackerXP |
Developer: Markus Griesslehner User Manual: https://www.griesslehner.at/flighttrackerxp/manual |
How can I make suggestions or submit comments regarding Walker Air Transport?
What you have to say about your experience with our website, along with any concerns, suggestions and/or ideas you have to improve our company are encouraged and always welcome.
If you’d like to communicate with the Business Office, submit a Help Ticket. Please refrain from sending DM's directly to Business Office members.
I have an idea to improve the website | Discord | Walker Air Transport. How do I communicate that?
What you have to say about your experience with our website, along with any concerns, suggestions and/or ideas you have to improve our company are encouraged and always welcome.
If you’d like to communicate with the Business Office, submit a Help Ticket. Please refrain from sending DM's directly to Business Office members.
I want to fly a real-world Cargo/Scheduled route and see the one I want to fly isn't available. Could I have it added to the database?
Yes - you can! Simply use the charter module to bid the flight, then select the correct aircraft fleet (Scheduled or Cargo) when selecting your aircraft. Once the bid is completed, the flight will also be added to the Scheduled or Cargo route map for future use.
In addition to these routes built by the pilots in the company, we also have route maps from below airlines integrated into the Scheduled and Cargo map.
These routes were acquired with FlightAware data before COVID -- they will not account for new routes recently added or effected by COVID.
| Aeroflot | Canadian North | IrAero | Norwegian Air Shuttle |
| Aer Lingus | Cape Air | Japan Airlines | PSA Airlines |
| Air Canada | Cargolux | Jazz | Qantas |
| Air France | Cebu Pacific | JetBlue Airways | QantasLink |
| Air Greenland | Delta Air Lines | Kenya Airways | Qatar |
| Air India | DHL | KLM | Ravn Alaska |
| Air Malta | Air UK | LATAM Argentina | Ryanair |
| Air Mauritius | easyJet | LATAM Brasil | S7 Airlines |
| Air New Zealand | easyJet Europe | LATAM Chile | SkyWest Airlines |
| Alaska Airlines | Emirates | LATAM Colombia | Southwest Airlines |
| Allegiant Airlines | Endeavor Air | LATAM Ecuador | Swiss International Air Lines |
| All Nippon Airways | Ethiopian Airlines | LATAM Paragauy | United Airlines |
| American Airlines | Etihad | LATAM Peru | UPS Airlines |
| Atlantic Airways | Eurowings | Loganair | WestJet |
| Atlas Air | ExpressJet | LOT | Widerøe |
| BA CityFlyer | FedEx | Lufthansa | Wizz Air |
| British Airways Shuttle | Flybe | Lufthansa Cargo | |
| Brussels Airlines | Horizon Air | Norwegian Air International |
I have an idea for a Tour. How do I communicate that?
Before you submit a Tour suggestion, take a few moments to review our existing list of Tours to ensure what you intend to suggest is substantially different than one we already have. Because there are always a number of Tours in development that have not been publicized or released, submit a Help Ticket very briefly describing your Tour suggestion to ensure it's not something already in the development process.
If your Tour suggestion is approved by the Business Office through your ticket, then do the following:
- Write a full description of your Tour;
NOTE: Before doing so, though, you should review other Tour descriptions to ensure what you write is similar in style, length and format. - Write the list of the Tour's airports using their ICAO codes in the following manner: KSFO KLAX KJFK etc.; and,
- Submit your Tour suggestion using a Help Ticket.
The Vice President for Tour Operations or the Director for Tour Operations will contact you if they have any questions or concerns. Otherwise, look for an announcement of its availability.
There are currently quite an amount of tours in the system backlog. While the company is making an effort to clear these, including adding manpower to improve turnaround time, please expect delays when a tour is accepted until it is released.
The Review Process takes time. Do not expect a response from the Tour Director or an announcement about its availability immediately – and do not ask about when it will be available.