New VA outline

[Titanhq]

As with anyone who has used a flight sim for any length of time I want to start a VA. Well, I want to desin one, for personal use to begin with. Being in the process of moving house and starting a new job Im not sure how much free time I will have, but if I have the time I would like to launch it before the end of 2015. A resolution of sorts.

Firgured I would run it past you guys, and you clearly know your stuff, and see what you think.

The basic premise is a simple one, a regional airline based in Scotland. Prestwick to be exact. It will run island hopper flights to the hebridies(from Connel airport) and orkney/shetland (from wick) along with connecting flights to Prestwick. It will also fly cargo and mail to London and Manchester (something for more experienced pilots)

Plans for expansion (if it took off) would be flights to the faroe isles, ireland and scandinavia.

Not a huge operation by any means. I doubt an airline ever starts off this big even but it needs to keep pilots of all skills engaged and have some sort of progression to aim for.

First off, any questions or comments on the basic outline would be appreciated.

Secondly, a few questions on realism. I know its only virtual but i would like tl keep things as grounded as possible.

Do aircraft fly 7 days a week? I expect to have 2 or 3 Britten Norman islanders running island hopper flihts twice a day, a Twin otter running the beach landing on Barra and a pair of ATR 42s running passengers during the day and cargo at night. Is this how things are done in the real world, or do planes need a day off too?

How high do these small aircraft fly when 'hopping'? I dont see an islander cruising at more than 10000 feet when it is only in the air 30 mins but i may be wrong.

Thanks,

Titan.

[freshJet]

Concept is good, my only concern at the moment would be that there is currently no decent scenery for Prestwick. The last one was released in 2004 but it has changed quite a bit since, particularly in that runway 13/31 is now 12/30. Another thing is that it's rarely controlled or used on VATSIM, if you intend to get your pilots flying online.

Personally I'd pick Glasgow over Prestwick. In the real world Prestwick is declining and will surely be dead within 5 years, at least in terms of scheduled passengers.

I wouldn't get too concerned about days off for aircraft, I would make them fly every day.

As for the fleet, I would probably choose between the Islander and the Twin Otter. There is a good payware model for the Twotter and that's what counts nowadays. Same goes for the ATR, great choice by the way.

One issue that challenges the whole concept is that flyuk have a division that lets pilots fly about the highlands. Most of them copy Loganair's routes from Glasgow to the Hebridies but it extends beyond just Glasgow. It is, or used to be, very popular, particularly among those flying online who don't want to fly 747s out of Heathrow.

If you think you can make it work, then sure, go for it, but be sure it will work before you invest time and money

Happy New Year!

[Strider]

About control on vatsim, if his VA gets busy, it will attract people to control there and fly there. That is what happened in Malaysia with MVA. WMKK was rarely controlled in 2010 when MVA started, but once we got going well, it was controlled more often and more people flew there. So a VA can have a big influence on an airport getting controllers on vatsim. Nothing wrong with some competition, and if his VA is good, people will choose his VA over flyuk. Aircraft do have "days" off for maintenance. If you can devote sometime to it, then by all means go for it. And you do have great scope for expansion with that model.

[Titanhq]

Thanks for the speedy replies!

Prestwick vs Glasgow. Well, the reason I picked Prestwick was simply to be a little bit different. Glasgow is the airport to fly to if you're coming to Scotland, but if there is no good scenery then I will have to rethink that. I think Edinburgh has some good scenery about so thats an option for me.

I realise there are other VAs out there who do, or have done, these flights in the area but that's partly why I am looking for feedback. If it's mostly positive then that tells me it's worth pushing on. I still have months to go before I have to commit to anything yet.

Fleet. Glad you approve my choice. The reason I picked both Islander and Twotter is that the Islander is used in real life out of Connel to Coll/Tiree and Barra. I figured there was a reason, either a weight or cost limitation, especially as those routes are subsidised. I'll need to look into it, but if I can limit the types of aircraft then I will.

Expansion. I certainly have the motivation to keep going, and with a bit of clever branding I dont see any perceived limits of how far it can go. Except the obvious of course, if nobody wamts to fly with me.

About the control on vatsim being able to be gained with popularity, that's both inspiring that there is such an opportunity and a little bit frightening to be honest.

Thanks anyway, I'll go away, look at what needs changing and hopefully have a potentially working model by the end of it.

Titan.

[freshJet]

Don't pick Edinburgh GLA is where it's at