big red 1

Hey Sim And thanks I will send the data later this PM. It is almost 300 pages long so I will have to break it up and send it in many emails as my private email freaks out with that much data at once. On your questions you hit the nail on top of the head with regard to my problems. Yes is the simple answer to all you have asked. They do end up at the same place, (New Orleans and or Washington DC) sometimes days later. They do go back on the same route all AC do. However if they left at say 11pm on Sunday they may fly out at 3 pm or 7 am Thursday depending on the route. It takes weeks before they again fly out again at 11pm. I spend some time trying to make them all leave at the same time after return but what resulted was equipment ideal at MSY for 18 to 24 hours longer then required FCC PM time. Yes they also need to move without a pilot for two reasons. One the whole system would eventually grinding to a haul if they did not and two because this is a prototype for an education model to teach kids business function they have to generate revenue to make the business end of this work Nabeel and I have discussed this and moving the ac from place to place without a registered pilot seems workable and thus will generate the revenue as if there were a pilot. The problem is scheduling the ac the way the schedule works. Again I will send tonight with more comments. Thanks again for your help. It means a great deal to me. Best Jay

Hey Sim ! Jay here from Pontchartrain VA. We may have corresponded a couple of years ago. I have lost my forum files from then so I can not be sure. Anyway Nabeel has been busting his but to try an help me with scheduling my VA. He has done a great job, but there are still issues. I will serve 57 cities with 187, DC-3, on 96 loop routes, that generate over 1,000 daily flights. He asked in his last email to me, that I ask around the forum for some help that might be out there. I have posted a help wanted message on two different locations on the forum. I have a lot of views but no reply’s as of yet. I am in great hope that what I have found here will do the trick. The problem we are having is that when a piece of equipment departs on a route it may not complete the circuit for two or three days. When that same equipment goes back into service it follows the same route but may depart at a different time. This makes it almost impossible to schedule flights on the schedule format sent to me by Nabell, because the days of the week and flight numbers may not match up again for three to four weeks. It would take me pages to describe how and why this works, so I would be much better to send you the entire data base, where things would be self explanatory. All routes are done in triplicate and repeat every 8 hours. That way crews always fly out around the same time of day. My routes provide for crew and equipment layovers in an attempt to mimic compliance with real world FCC regs. Anyway your loop route concept may solve this big problem. I am not opposed to paying for and or trading services/abilities that will help me get up and running. I would like to show what I have. My routes are divided into two sections. First the actual route. And second what the equipment and crew on those routes do. At the very least I would like for you to take a look at what I have cratered to get some feed back. Please, if you are interested in taking a look let me know how I can get the data to you. Best Regards Jay

Hey Sim ! Jay here from Pontchartrain VA. We may have corresponded a couple of years ago. I have lost my forum files from then so I can not be sure. Anyway Nabeel has been busting his but to try an help me with scheduling my VA. He has done a great job, but there are still issues. I will serve 57 cities with 187, DC-3, on 96 loop routes, that generate over 1,000 daily flights. He asked in his last email to me, that I ask around the forum for some help that might be out there. I have posted a help wanted message on two different locations on the forum. I have a lot of views but no reply’s as of yet. I am in great hope that what I have found here will do the trick. The problem we are having is that when a piece of equipment departs on a route it may not complete the circuit for two or three days. When that same equipment goes back into service it follows the same route but may depart at a different time. This makes it almost impossible to schedule flights on the schedule format sent to me by Nabell, because the days of the week and flight numbers may not match up again for three to four weeks. It would take me pages to describe how and why this works, so I would be much better to send you the entire data base, where things would be self explanatory. All routes are done in triplicate and repeat every 8 hours. That way crews always fly out around the same time of day. My routes provide for crew and equipment layovers in an attempt to mimic compliance with real world FCC regs. Anyway your loop route concept may solve this big problem. I am not opposed to paying for and or trading services/abilities that will help me get up and running. I would like to show what I have. My routes are divided into two sections. First the actual route. And second what the equipment and crew on those routes do. At the very least I would like for you to take a look at what I have cratered to get some feed back. Please, if you are interested in taking a look let me know how I can get the data to you. Best Regards Jay

Pontchartrain Virtual Airlines-Help Wanted Two and a half years ago I came up with an idea to develop a virtual airline that would work as a business lab for my high school Free Enterprise students. In that time Nabeel has worked very patiently with me to help me bring this idea into reality. Hence I owe him a debt of thanks that I wish to make public here. Moreover, Pontchartrain Virtual Airlines would not even be on the drawing board without Nabeel’s help, guidance and understanding. The Readers Digest explanation of the concept is as follows. When the VA goes on line, it will be as though it were the early 1950’s. As a result we will fly the DC-3 only. I have a back story, that although is fictional, is based on the historical development of the US commercial aviation industry. This historical fiction will proceed from it’s early 1950’s pick up point and develop an airline that will evolve though the jet age, through de-regulation to the contempory incarnation of the industry. When working with something that will be used to teach high schoolers it is vital that no short cuts are taken and every detail of historical fact is addressed. So one of the key stone concepts of Pontchartrain VA is attention to detail and adherence to historical fact. This reliance on fact and real world operation will hopefully make the airline unique and as such will be a drawing card to pilots. This is the main reason that the first phase of development has taken two and one half years to complete. During that time I have come to understand that the concept should run on line as a functional VA and then later as a classroom interactive business model for my students. In that light I have purchased a Fivedev site powered by phpVMS Virtual Airline administration. Additionally I have created a very detailed route system that boasts over 1,000 flights a day and now serves 52 US cities. This time table is a true route system. It takes into account crew layovers and equipment layovers that comply with real world FAA regulations. In fact Nabeel has taken the time to write new code that will allow this schedule to operate as designed. Despite all of the development that has gone into the project I have run into a brick wall. Where I am very comfortable creating detailed components like the historical fiction back story, the route time table, the crew layover schedules, real world equipment maintenance schemes, and operating the business end of the operation I have little or no experience with the technical aspects of brining the site live and on line. As a direct result of all of the above, the help wanted sign is out. Please understand that I am seeking individuals that take this so called “hobby,†seriously and as such want to produce something of value that advances the community as a whole. To attract that type of professional dedicated individual I am more than willing to explore a wide range of possible arrangements that will adequately compensate their efforts. I am specifically seeking individuals who will work with me to design a web site. I have already created the majority of the content that will populate the site. Hence I am looking for help to take that information and turn it into a working site. I can not stress enough my lack of computer programming understanding and ability to execute even the most basic of tasks in that arena. I say this only to make anyone interested in jumping on board, fully aware of the environment they will be entering into. That said I do pick up on concepts easily and want to be a working partner. So I am not looking for someone to do all the programming work for me, rather I am interested in partners, that I can develop a working relationship with. Secondly, I am looking for someone to help me transfer my route system data base into a working VA. Please understand that Nabeel is at this point working to resolve the final issues surrounding the code necessary to make the schedule work; so I think the chance to down load the data base is forthcoming. Again I am looking for partners more than I am looking for someone to do the work for me. Once that partner teaches me how these things do I fully intend to take an active part in the future development of the route system. Third is the painting of the aircraft. Sometime ago one of the members of this site was kind enough to provide a prototype of what the aircraft would look like. Unfortunately, I have misplaced that person’s contact information and do not know how to get in touch with that most helpful person. As mentioned above, I will start with one type of equipment the DC-3. To complete my route system will require a fleet of 151 aircraft. Naturally my historical fiction will properly explain how the airline was able to muster such a fleet. My paint scheme will consist of three colors. The paint schemes I have in mind is purposely simply, yet make a bold statement. (It is based on the prototype provided to me by the member if this site 2 years ago)Naturally I do not expect to find someone willing to paint 151 DC-3’s rather a partner that will show me the ropes and share the burden of the work load. Forth, I seek a web master. Someone willing to keep thinks running and that can speak the language of someone like Nabeel to solve problems with simple explanations rather than the detailed explanations a person like me has to provide in order to put in plain words what is more than likely an easy problem to solve. Again I am looking for a partner and not someone to do it all for me. Fifth, I have noticed that other VA’s sometimes seek station managers. In the real world I understand exactly what an airline station manager would do. However in the VA world I am somewhat confused by how a station manager would function. Nonetheless, I am convinced that if other VA’s bring this function into their system then they must play a vital role. Pontchartrain Virtual Airlines will be home based in New Orleans, LA. There will be hubs in Washington DC, Columbia, Mo, Knoxville, TN, Lubbock, TX and San Francisco, CA. If these hub cities sound strange remember, we are talking about a 1950’s airline that started with east west airmail routes in the 1930’s. Moreover Hub evolution will take place over time Think of routes that would be an airborne Pony Express. The cities service is as follows; 1. ALEXANDRIA, LA ALEXANDRIA INTL AEX 2. ATHENS, GA ATHENS/EPPS AHN 3. ATLANTA, GA Hartsfield Intl ATL 4. AUBURN, AL AUBURN-OPELIKA-PITS AUO 5. AUSTIN, TX Bergstrom AUS 6. BATON ROUGE, LA RYAN-METRO Intl BTR 7. BOSTON, MA Logan Intl BOS 8. CHARLOTTE, NC Charlotte Intl CLT 9. CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA Albemarle CHO 10. CHICAGO, IL MIDWAY MDW 11. CLEVELAND, OH Hopkins Intl CLE 12. COLLEGE STATION, TX EASTERWOOD CLL 13. COLUMBIA, MO Columbia Regl COU 14. DALLAS, TX LOVE FIELD DAL 15. FAYETTEVILLE/SPRINGDALE, AK NW ARK REG XNA 16. FORT COLLINS, CO FT COLLINS-LOVELAND MUNI FNL 17. GAINSVILLE, FL GAINSVILLE REGL GNV 18. GREENSBORO, NC PIEDMONT INTL GSO 19. GREER, SC GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG INTL GSP 20. HOUSTON, TX WILLIAM P. HOBBY HOU 21. KANSAS CITY, MO KANSAS CITY INTL KCM 22. KNOXSVILLE, TN MCGEE/TYSON TYS 23. LAFAYETTE, LA LAFAYETTE REGIONAL LFT 24. LAKE CHARLES, LA LAKE CHARLES REGL LCH 25. LEXINGTON, KY BLUE GRASS INTL LEX 26. LOS ANGELES, CA LOS ANGELES INTL LAX 27. LUBBOCK, TX PRESTON SMITH INTL LBB 28. MEMPHIS, TN MEMPHIS INTL MEM 29. MIAMI, FL MIAMI INTL MIA 30. MINNEAPOLIS, MN MINNEAPOLIS-ST.PAUL INTL MSP 31. MONROE, LA MONROE REGL MLU 32. NASHVILLE, TN NASHVILLE INTL BNA 33. NEW ORLEANS, LA NEW ORLEANS INTL MSY 34. NEW YORK, NY KENNEDY INTL JFK 35. NORMAN, OK UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA OUN 36. OXFORD, MS UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI UOX 37. PHILADELPHIA, PA PHILLY INTL PHL 38. PITTSBURGH, PA PITTSBURGH INTL PIT 39. RALEIGH-DURHAM, NC RALIEGH-DURHAM INTL RDU 40. RICHMOND, VA RICHMOND INTL RIC 41. SOUTH BEND, IN SOUTH BEND REGL SBN 42. SAN FRANCISCO, CA SAN FRANCISCO INTL SFO 43. SAINT LOUIS, MO Lambert-St. Louis Intl STL 44. STARKVILLE, MS GOLDEN TRIANGLE-COLUMBUS Muni GTR 45. STILLWATER, OK Stillwater Muni SWO 46. TALLAHASSEE, FL TALLAHASSEE REGL TLH 47. TAMPA TAMPA INTL TPA 48. TOLEDO, OH TOLEDO EXPRESS TOL 49. TUSCALOUSA, AL TUSCALOUSA REGL TLC 50. WACO, TX CNW 51. WASHINGTON DC WASHINGTON NATIONAL DCA I have invested quite a bit of time and effort into this project. I have a passion and vision for the final product. Hence if individuals with the talents I seek are not available for the type of partnerships I have described above I would be willing to exchange services. Eg, a trade for a route system, business model, crew scheme for completion of the things I need done. I look forward to hearing from the VA community and the development of good working partnerships.

Pontchartrain Virtual Airlines-Help Wanted Two and a half years ago I came up with an idea to develop a virtual airline that would work as a business lab for my high school Free Enterprise students. In that time Nabeel has worked very patiently with me to help me bring this idea into reality. Hence I owe him a debt of thanks that I wish to make public here. Moreover, Pontchartrain Virtual Airlines would not even be on the drawing board without Nabeel’s help, guidance and understanding. The Readers Digest explanation of the concept is as follows. When the VA goes on line, it will be as though it were the early 1950’s. As a result we will fly the DC-3 only. I have a back story, that although is fictional, is based on the historical development of the US commercial aviation industry. This historical fiction will proceed from it’s early 1950’s pick up point and develop an airline that will evolve though the jet age, through de-regulation to the contempory incarnation of the industry. When working with something that will be used to teach high schoolers it is vital that no short cuts are taken and every detail of historical fact is addressed. So one of the key stone concepts of Pontchartrain VA is attention to detail and adherence to historical fact. This reliance on fact and real world operation will hopefully make the airline unique and as such will be a drawing card to pilots. This is the main reason that the first phase of development has taken two and one half years to complete. During that time I have come to understand that the concept should run on line as a functional VA and then later as a classroom interactive business model for my students. In that light I have purchased a Fivedev site powered by phpVMS Virtual Airline administration. Additionally I have created a very detailed route system that boasts over 1,000 flights a day and now serves 52 US cities. This time table is a true route system. It takes into account crew layovers and equipment layovers that comply with real world FAA regulations. In fact Nabeel has taken the time to write new code that will allow this schedule to operate as designed. Despite all of the development that has gone into the project I have run into a brick wall. Where I am very comfortable creating detailed components like the historical fiction back story, the route time table, the crew layover schedules, real world equipment maintenance schemes, and operating the business end of the operation I have little or no experience with the technical aspects of brining the site live and on line. As a direct result of all of the above, the help wanted sign is out. Please understand that I am seeking individuals that take this so called “hobby,†seriously and as such want to produce something of value that advances the community as a whole. To attract that type of professional dedicated individual I am more than willing to explore a wide range of possible arrangements that will adequately compensate their efforts. I am specifically seeking individuals who will work with me to design a web site. I have already created the majority of the content that will populate the site. Hence I am looking for help to take that information and turn it into a working site. I can not stress enough my lack of computer programming understanding and ability to execute even the most basic of tasks in that arena. I say this only to make anyone interested in jumping on board, fully aware of the environment they will be entering into. That said I do pick up on concepts easily and want to be a working partner. So I am not looking for someone to do all the programming work for me, rather I am interested in partners, that I can develop a working relationship with. Secondly, I am looking for someone to help me transfer my route system data base into a working VA. Please understand that Nabeel is at this point working to resolve the final issues surrounding the code necessary to make the schedule work; so I think the chance to down load the data base is forthcoming. Again I am looking for partners more than I am looking for someone to do the work for me. Once that partner teaches me how these things do I fully intend to take an active part in the future development of the route system. Third is the painting of the aircraft. Sometime ago one of the members of this site was kind enough to provide a prototype of what the aircraft would look like. Unfortunately, I have misplaced that person’s contact information and do not know how to get in touch with that most helpful person. As mentioned above, I will start with one type of equipment the DC-3. To complete my route system will require a fleet of 151 aircraft. Naturally my historical fiction will properly explain how the airline was able to muster such a fleet. My paint scheme will consist of three colors. The paint schemes I have in mind is purposely simply, yet make a bold statement. (It is based on the prototype provided to me by the member if this site 2 years ago)Naturally I do not expect to find someone willing to paint 151 DC-3’s rather a partner that will show me the ropes and share the burden of the work load. Forth, I seek a web master. Someone willing to keep thinks running and that can speak the language of someone like Nabeel to solve problems with simple explanations rather than the detailed explanations a person like me has to provide in order to put in plain words what is more than likely an easy problem to solve. Again I am looking for a partner and not someone to do it all for me. Fifth, I have noticed that other VA’s sometimes seek station managers. In the real world I understand exactly what an airline station manager would do. However in the VA world I am somewhat confused by how a station manager would function. Nonetheless, I am convinced that if other VA’s bring this function into their system then they must play a vital role. Pontchartrain Virtual Airlines will be home based in New Orleans, LA. There will be hubs in Washington DC, Columbia, Mo, Knoxville, TN, Lubbock, TX and San Francisco, CA. If these hub cities sound strange remember, we are talking about a 1950’s airline that started with east west airmail routes in the 1930’s. Moreover Hub evolution will take place over time Think of routes that would be an airborne Pony Express. The cities service is as follows; 1. ALEXANDRIA, LA ALEXANDRIA INTL AEX 2. ATHENS, GA ATHENS/EPPS AHN 3. ATLANTA, GA Hartsfield Intl ATL 4. AUBURN, AL AUBURN-OPELIKA-PITS AUO 5. AUSTIN, TX Bergstrom AUS 6. BATON ROUGE, LA RYAN-METRO Intl BTR 7. BOSTON, MA Logan Intl BOS 8. CHARLOTTE, NC Charlotte Intl CLT 9. CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA Albemarle CHO 10. CHICAGO, IL MIDWAY MDW 11. CLEVELAND, OH Hopkins Intl CLE 12. COLLEGE STATION, TX EASTERWOOD CLL 13. COLUMBIA, MO Columbia Regl COU 14. DALLAS, TX LOVE FIELD DAL 15. FAYETTEVILLE/SPRINGDALE, AK NW ARK REG XNA 16. FORT COLLINS, CO FT COLLINS-LOVELAND MUNI FNL 17. GAINSVILLE, FL GAINSVILLE REGL GNV 18. GREENSBORO, NC PIEDMONT INTL GSO 19. GREER, SC GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG INTL GSP 20. HOUSTON, TX WILLIAM P. HOBBY HOU 21. KANSAS CITY, MO KANSAS CITY INTL KCM 22. KNOXSVILLE, TN MCGEE/TYSON TYS 23. LAFAYETTE, LA LAFAYETTE REGIONAL LFT 24. LAKE CHARLES, LA LAKE CHARLES REGL LCH 25. LEXINGTON, KY BLUE GRASS INTL LEX 26. LOS ANGELES, CA LOS ANGELES INTL LAX 27. LUBBOCK, TX PRESTON SMITH INTL LBB 28. MEMPHIS, TN MEMPHIS INTL MEM 29. MIAMI, FL MIAMI INTL MIA 30. MINNEAPOLIS, MN MINNEAPOLIS-ST.PAUL INTL MSP 31. MONROE, LA MONROE REGL MLU 32. NASHVILLE, TN NASHVILLE INTL BNA 33. NEW ORLEANS, LA NEW ORLEANS INTL MSY 34. NEW YORK, NY KENNEDY INTL JFK 35. NORMAN, OK UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA OUN 36. OXFORD, MS UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI UOX 37. PHILADELPHIA, PA PHILLY INTL PHL 38. PITTSBURGH, PA PITTSBURGH INTL PIT 39. RALEIGH-DURHAM, NC RALIEGH-DURHAM INTL RDU 40. RICHMOND, VA RICHMOND INTL RIC 41. SOUTH BEND, IN SOUTH BEND REGL SBN 42. SAN FRANCISCO, CA SAN FRANCISCO INTL SFO 43. SAINT LOUIS, MO Lambert-St. Louis Intl STL 44. STARKVILLE, MS GOLDEN TRIANGLE-COLUMBUS Muni GTR 45. STILLWATER, OK Stillwater Muni SWO 46. TALLAHASSEE, FL TALLAHASSEE REGL TLH 47. TAMPA TAMPA INTL TPA 48. TOLEDO, OH TOLEDO EXPRESS TOL 49. TUSCALOUSA, AL TUSCALOUSA REGL TLC 50. WACO, TX CNW 51. WASHINGTON DC WASHINGTON NATIONAL DCA I have invested quite a bit of time and effort into this project. I have a passion and vision for the final product. Hence if individuals with the talents I seek are not available for the type of partnerships I have described above I would be willing to exchange services. Eg, a trade for a route system, business model, crew scheme for completion of the things I need done. I look forward to hearing from the VA community and the development of good working partnerships.

Jay here from Pontchartrain VA. I am in some serious need of help!! Please, is there anyone out there that can lend a hand? I have spent almost 18 months creating a real world route system that has over 1000 daily flights. The flights work for the DC-3. I have a site at pontchartrainva,com It is ready to go. The problem is I lost my tech guy. We were to have partnered, me doing the business end and him the computer end of things. I do not have a clue of what to do. Will be happy to discuss possibilities with anyone willing to take that role please let me hear from you Thanks Jay

looks great nice jos

looks great great job!!!! Jay

Jay from Pontchartrain VA here, we are the one that will only fly the DC-3 for the first year or so. I t has been a while but I have my route schedule and equipment schedule done. I am starting with crew rotations now. It took over nine months to do but it will be worth it in the long run. I ended up routing 943 daily sorties, which created 569 flights. Total aircraft to pull this off 155. I do not if you remember me but I am the guy who is creating a VA to teach High school kids Free Enterprise. I am also going to have a duplicate site for my own use that will work on the web like anyone else. That said here is what I am looking for, on the educational site, the flights have to be automatic. In other words my students will not have the ability to fly 943 sorties a day. Still for the learning lab to work the program must register each of the 569 flights as if they have been flown. I must have a way to control things like passenger counts, expenses and revenue. I will not need this until September so we still have time. On the personal site I want to operate just like anyone else. However I have to tell you that I am a middle-aged man with very little programming experience. Therefore I would like to send you what I have done scheduling wise and see if it can be adapted to your site and programming. Also I have to tell you that painting the aircraft scares the hell out of me. I am a wiz at organization and scheduling and would be happy to trade my talents with someone who can help me get my equipment painted and the site on line. I have chatted with Sim-Pilot at New England Air so I know you guys have a great community here and would love to become a paid member. So if you can tell me how I can get my charts to you and answer my concerns especial with the learning lab version I think I can go live on your server in the next 4 to 6 Weeks. Thank Big Red 1

Happy New Year!!! I had no idea it had been so long since we last corresponded. If you are still interested in lending a hand and I sure hope that you are then I am almost ready to go. I have finished about 90% of the flight schedule. I have to wrap up just a couple of routes, create crew and equipment layover schedules and I will be done. I am thinking mid January tops before all is done. If you wish I will be happy to send you the 90% so you can see what id done. What I am hoping for is if you would be so kind is to take a look at the data base I have created and then give me a guiding hand on what I need to do next. So if this sounds good please email me at coachred51@yahoo,com and I will send you what I have. Again thanks and happy New Year. BTW Pats looking good as of late wouldn’t that be wild if the Pats and the Saints met up again in Miami? Best Regards Jay

Dave, 0once again thanks!! I would be delighted for your mentorship with the project. When completed i am sure=A0we might be able to share consumers, given the fact that you are in the jet age and i am using WWII tech. So i am sure we can link to each other as well as promote each other.=A0If you will give me a few weeks i will be happy when the schedule is done to send the list you have requested. BTW do you and or your wife like any of the New Or leans products that are hard to find on the eastern sea board? Things like Community Coffee, king cakes Mardi Gras stuff, gumbo mix, crab boil or cajun spices? The list goes on and on and any and all of it yours for th e asking. Just my way to say thanks for the support you have shown to my li ttle project. BTW the end result I think will be one vershion to use in the calss and another to put in the VA community that plays be the regullar ru les. Finaly i was talking to another free enterprise teacher at work and he seems to think this idea=A0if well developed could be a big time seller in the education market. Just something to think about. again thanks and best rgards Jay

Thanks Tom !!! Your answer was a big help. The schedule i am doing is a little Different in that as a learning tool I want my students to understand how the US airline industry evolved, so I am flying the DC-3. That changes flight times so I can not use regular jet time tables. I am setting them in routes which due to range requires a good bit of milk runs. The whole thing has a back story of historical fiction and within a year or so we will enter the jet age. But for now we will in essence be operating in the late 1940’s. I think as a site in the VA community I might draw interest in pilots wanting to take this sentimental journey. Again thanks I cant tell you how much all the help and ideas this site gives me. Best regards Big Red

Thanks Nabeel, you are indeed a good man. Are you a teacher? I ask because you bring out the best qualities of an educator. If you don’t mind a bunch of what might seem to you like really dumb questions, then I want to use your administrator. Here is a good one to start off with. When I down load your virtual airline administrator I am assuming I am getting an operating platform that is more or less a template that runs a VA; is that correct? From there will I be prompted to enter my data? For example I have worked out, or better said nearing the end of working out a clockwork route system that has over 750 daily fights. I would assume there are prompts that allow me to enter this data? Because I will use this as a learning tool for High school free enterprise students who will never have the time to fly all of these flights can I automate netherworlds is there a way to fly all the routes not flown by my students? Doing this will them to work the business end, which is the real goal. That said could I clone the operation. That way I can have one exclusively for class room use and another identical version to put on the web that operates within one of the many net works now in existence. With this much work I would really like to go live and see how many pilots and the like I can get to join. Finally will I have to write a lot of code or will your system allow me to do a lot of point and click to build the site. About ten years ago my son and I using the old Netscape built a pretty cool college football site. We had to write very little code and followed the template to create a very unique and well visited site. This time I will have to build it on my own as my son now lives out of town and creates and maintains websites for a living. So that is all for now. Again thanks and if I start to ask too many questions and or you get to the point where you fell your time could be spent better not working with me just please let me know. Otherwise I am fired up about creating a great VA Best Regards

This is an SOS to any station…help I am lost in virtual space. If there is a kind gentle soul and or souls out there willing to help me find my way I would be eternally grateful. Here is the long and short of it. I as most of you know have been doing the scheduling routing and flying to create a data base for Pontchartrain Airlines. I am pretty proud of what I have done. Here is where the problem comes in. My head nearly explodes when I try in figure out how to put the data into a working airline web site. The bottom line is I know nothing about designing a website and or painting the aircraft skins. The PHP product to me looks like it would create a dynamite site. Hence it seems to be the best product on the market. But you might as well ask me to fly the NASA shuttle to the International Space Station as I would have the same luck making a PHP live website. I have looked at other simpler operating systems like VA 5.2, but I do not want a half ass presentation. Future more as this will be turned into a classroom free enterprise learning lab so I must have the ability to automate pilots. Netherworlds, the programs needs to fly any and all routes not flown by VA members. I think PHP is the only system that allows me to accomplish this. Most importantly I want a first class operation that allows members a pleasurable and hassle free flying experience. The bottom line is I can run the business end of the operation with little and or no problem. The computer and tech is where I have a problem. So anyone out there willing to teach me ( I do not want someone doing the work for me) I am willing to learn. In exchange I will be happy to post any banners and give all the credit in the world to those helping. Also I am willing to trade my logistical and business know how for the tech help. Thanks looking forward to hearing back from you guys soon. As always .best regards

Ok is seems like from those who were kind enough to reply that my idea for a template skin will not work. Hey it was worth a try. So let me propose a counter offer; I would be willing to share my scheduling, route and flight plan blue print know how so that it can be fit into your airlines needs. Additionally I will provide the tutoring on how to create a dynamite real life clockwork route system for your VA, with someone willing to do my skins. Here is what I am proposing. I will do the start off planning that will allow for a crew layoff schedule and equipment swap schedule. This will create a main base, hubs and mini hubs. In essence I will get you up and flying with a full schedule that allows you to run 24/7. I will do six route plans and teach you how to adopt those plans to the rest of your airline system. In return I would ask that you paint six skins, 1-DC3, 1-737, 1-MD-80, 1-757, 1-747 and a commuter jet of your choice, and then teach me how do the skins for the rest of my equipment. I know painting the skins will take some time as will developing a route system blue print. If interested we need to communicate so that I may ask you some questions that will help me develop your route system. I am not looking for a complex paint job. I have designed a tail logo that merges into a bold three color stripe (purple, gold and green) running midship from stern to stem. The body of the aircraft is painted in white with Pontchartrain Airlines in block letters above the windows. As a secondary offer I would be willing to entertain the idea of developing route system in exchange for painting my entire fleet. However please understand that to to a route system right a blue print will take a few weeks and a full operational clockwork route system will take a few months. I take pride in my work and I want it real to life as possible. I would be happy to share a sample of my work with any operating VA looking at making the trade. Thanks as always Best Regards

As many of you know I am nearing the completion of the raw data needed to plug into this site and thus give birth to Pontchartrain Virtual Airlines. If my calculations are correct I am about a month away from completing this task and then down loading the operating program. All of which brings me to the purpose of today’s post. Without mincing words I have no idea how to create and paint the aircraft needed to run the VA. In my minds eye I know exactly what I want the aircraft to look like, but I haven’t a clue on how to make that vision come alive. Therefore I would like to propose a trade with any VA operator willing to do so. When completed I will have a route system that services 52 primarily southern US cities. To cover those cities there will be 92 separate route plans that create over 1,000 flights daily, system wide. These flight plans are designed around the DC-3. However any part and or all of the system can be altered to match the speed and crushing altitudes of any equipment you may be flying. I have tested and flown each of these routes over the last 16 months or so. Hence this to say the least has been a labor of love. I am willing to trade this data for the painting of the fleet. With almost a year and a half of work and a least a month to go before it is done it is easy to see that I am offering something of great value time wise. What I am looking for in return is a skin system that allows me the ability to use what is created as a template. In other words I am looking for a file that generates a completely painted and ready to go aircraft each time I need it. So for instance if I wish to add a 737 to the fleet all I need do is go to the 737 file, click create and one is made available. I understand I will have to add the tail number and registration number to each new aircraft. Nonetheless when the airline is at full tilt I will be operating at least 150 pieces of equipment. I am hoping not have to paint each aircraft rather just generating a new one from the temple. I will fly the DC-3 and later the 737,747,757 and MD-80. So I am looking for template for each type. Later I will also be looking for a short hop small commuter jet for small market milk runs terminating in mini hubs. I haven’t decided on what to use yet so I am open to your suggestions. I think I am offering a good trade the creation of 6 template skins for the clockwork data of a major route system. If anyone is interested please contact me. Finally, when all is said and done I want to go on line with a shake down bug out period before going fully live. Hence anyone interested in piloting the DC-3 during the shakedown period please let me know. Naturally those helping during the shake down, will be senior when the system goes live. I look forward to hearing from those interested in the near future. Best Regards Jay

As many of you know I am nearing the completion of the raw data needed to plug into this site and thus give birth to Pontchartrain Virtual Airlines. If my calculations are correct I am about a month away from completing this task and then down loading the operating program. All of which brings me to the purpose of today’s post. Without mincing words I have no idea how to create and paint the aircraft needed to run the VA. In my minds eye I know exactly what I want the aircraft to look like, but I haven’t a clue on how to make that vision come alive. Therefore I would like to propose a trade with any VA operator willing to do so. When completed I will have a route system that services 52 primarily southern US cities. To cover those cities there will be 92 separate route plans that create over 1,000 flights daily, system wide. These flight plans are designed around the DC-3. However any part and or all of the system can be altered to match the speed and crushing altitudes of any equipment you may be flying. I have tested and flown each of these routes over the last 16 months or so. Hence this to say the least has been a labor of love. I am willing to trade this data for the painting of the fleet. With almost a year and a half of work and a least a month to go before it is done it is easy to see that I am offering something of great value time wise. What I am looking for in return is a skin system that allows me the ability to use what is created as a template. In other words I am looking for a file that generates a completely painted and ready to go aircraft each time I need it. So for instance if I wish to add a 737 to the fleet all I need do is go to the 737 file, click create and one is made available. I understand I will have to add the tail number and registration number to each new aircraft. Nonetheless when the airline is at full tilt I will be operating at least 150 pieces of equipment. I am hoping not have to paint each aircraft rather just generating a new one from the temple. I will fly the DC-3 and later the 737,747,757 and MD-80. So I am looking for template for each type. Later I will also be looking for a short hop small commuter jet for small market milk runs terminating in mini hubs. I haven’t decided on what to use yet so I am open to your suggestions. I think I am offering a good trade the creation of 6 template skins for the clockwork data of a major route system. If anyone is interested please contact me. Finally, when all is said and done I want to go on line with a shake down bug out period before going fully live. Hence anyone interested in piloting the DC-3 during the shakedown period please let me know. Naturally those helping during the shake down, will be senior when the system goes live. I look forward to hearing from those interested in the near future. Best Regards Jay

Dave I am blown away wow, thanks !!! We are going to go with the DC-3 Sun burst. Kinda reminds me of the old National Airlines and their use of the sun. Again thanks we are going to run with it!!!

To the VA community at large. Since December 2009 Pontchartrain Airlines has been a labor of love on the drawing board. Tuesday I joined this site and right away received very kind help from Nabeel and Dave over at New England Air. Many thanks to both of these gentlemen As a result of that help Pontchartrain Airlines has taken a major step toward becoming a reality. When operational we will fly The DC3 and The Constellation. Over time we intend to enter the jet age. Until then we will in essence at first be a southern regional carrier operating in the 1940’s. At this point we are a small mail carrier evolving towards passenger service. Historically the late 1920’s early 1930’s. Hence we are not on line just yet. The launch is 3 to 6 months down the road. In real life I teach high school Free Enterprise and I intend to use the VA as hands on learning lab for my students. As a result we will have a historically correct fictionalized back story that mirrors the rise to glory of the American commercial aviation industry. Today I am looking for some direction with regard to logo design in addition to information on what is needed to paint the planes. So if there is any one out there that might be able to point me in the right direction toward obtaining the software necessary to complete this task I would be most grateful. Again thanks to all and I look forward visiting whit those who might be interested in some flying time in the left seat of these classic kings of the sky.

to Dave and Nabeel: Thanks guys. It is great to find a helping hand. Means the world to me when people step up and lend a hand. Pontchartrain Air just got one step closer to reality as a result. Dave checked out your site, first class opperation nice job

Greetings!!! I am a start up VA and as such to tell you the truth I am a little overwhelmed when it comes to software application. Also I am a high school free enterprise teacher and I think that eventually I could use my VA as great learning hands on lad. That said I am at the point where I have almost figured out my route system. Moreover I will be happy to share my data with you guys if you would like I use FS X and have flown more than 150 flights which are logged and ready to turn into routes. I have been working on this since before last Christmas. I want to start out as a mail carrier in the American south, like so many real world airlines did. From there I want to evolve into passenger flights flying the DC3 and The Constellation. I want my kids to understand how real world airlines came to be what they are in their modern world. Hence I will not go live (on The net) until I start passenger service. Therefore while operating as a mail carrier I plan to iron out the bugs locally on my home computer. Then 6 months to a year from now I will move into passenger service. I want to take my time in development because any educational tool that doesn’t work right will not be taken seriously by the kids thus rendering the project useless. So I want to find the right software set it up and then when I am fully up to operational speed go live. All which leads me to the question will your program work just on my home computer at first until I am ready to go live. Finally I am sure I am missing a ton of factors which may be very obvious to you but no where on my radar at this point in my learning curve. So any help would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks for your time, help and understanding.