Hello!
I was wondering if there was a way to alter the way the distance is entered on PhpVMS? Currently the distance is figured out automatically by the distance from the Departure airport and the Arrival Airport.My question is if there is a way when the pilot is filing their pirep if they can enter the distance they got instead of the auto calculated distance.
The current distance is based on the lat/lng of the dep/arr airports. If the lat/lng data entered into the database is correct, the system will compute the great circle distance between the two airports. The distance shown is an estimate of the distance to be flown.
Why would you want pilots to input a distance? The distance the pilot actually flew over the (virtual) ground will almost always be greater than the distance shown. And allowing pilots to input distances will lead to more errors down the line (each pilot flying from point A to point B will show a different distance).
Are you using an automated flight reporting system? There are several freely available - along with some payware ones that will include additional details about the flight.
You could always add a field to the manual PIREP form and also add a field to the pireps table to log that data there. You will also need to add some coding to make all that magic happen.
Thanks for the suggestion . The reason for having pilots enter the distance on the pirep is for them to add the distance with the multipliers they receive as part of our reward system we have. I will give your suggestion a try.
Just to play devils advocate… so if the pilot adds miles they didn’t actually fly (fudging the mileage) or takes an extra long, out of the way routing they will get a larger reward? Sounds kind of unfair for those who choose to play by the rules. If point A to point B is shown as a specific mileage, everyone should get the exact same credit for that particular flight. Hmm, in my mind, a pilot who goes out of their way to add mileage or extend their routing should probably be penalized - extra fuel, extra wear & tear on the engines/airframe - virtually of course.
But, everyone has the right to run their VA however they wish. Good luck with editing your files and database!