A Web Book By:
Eric Oderman
LTD
 

Table Of Contents:

Introduction
Getting Started
A VA
A Website
Creating A Theater of Operations

Choosing Your Fleet
Planes
Trainees
Pilots

Management
CEO
HUB Captain
Others 

INTRODUCTION

Thank you, for taking the time to download this WB (Web Book). You obviously got this WB because you are interested in becoming the CEO of your own Virtual Airline (VA). In this WB, I hope to show you some fine points and guidelines you should follow when setting up your own VA.

This document will cover everything from choosing your base of operations, your staff, and even finding the current planes to get thousands of virtual people across the world, continent, country, state, or even city every day.

The VA hobby is a growing one, and a fun one. Your own business at the power of your finger tips. Except you don’t have to worry about pilot strikes or bankruptcy. Thank you. Have fun flying!

--Eric Oderman
Voyager Express VA
Pinnacle VA

Getting Started…

In this chapter, we show you how to get started. Please remember that you need some sort of flight simulator. Mainly virtual airlines are based on Microsoft Flight Simulator. But others can be based on Pro Pilot and Flight Unlimited. It’s your choice as CEO of your new VA.

A VA

Okay, first thing is first. You need to choose what program you want to run off of. To get more pilots, choose Microsoft Flight Simulator (MFS). Most VA pilots have this program. But you can feel free to expand to Pro Pilot versions and Flight Unlimited that is more for rookie pilots.

You may think at first that managing your own VA is going to be very time-consuming. It may be at first, starting your website, getting a fleet of aircraft, and so on. But don’t worry, this only lasts about the first few weeks. Then pilots start signing to your airline, you’ll get more management and things will start coming together. But still, you’re smart, you got this book, didn’t you?

A WEBSITE

This is required. Building a website for a VA is no laughing matter. Before you go any further in this book. You should know at least the basics for building a webpage. Such as HTML. You can build webpages at many sites. The best, for beginners in probably angelfire.com. Or tripod.com, whichever you prefer.

If you know HTML, or JavaScript, feel free to continue. This section of the chapter won’t teach you HTML, but it will teach you how you should use it.

The first thing you need to do is create a logo. If you don’t have .GIF animators or other similar programs, don’t worry. You can create a logo using Microsoft Word and Paint. Simply open a new document in WinWord. Then, insert WordArt. The style is up to you. Whatever you think looks and works best. Remember the background for your website should match the colors of you logo.

Once you have the WordArt created, copy it, save the document and go to the Paint program. Paste the logo onto the template, and make sure that the white template background sizes itself so that it fits nicely around the logo. Then go online, open the logo from the folder you saved it under and put it on your website. Easy as that.

Now that you have you logo made, you can start creating the actual website. You should have background colors match those of your logo. They don’t have to however. They could be flight-related. Maybe even have clouds and blue sky, it’s totally up to you.

Make sections of your website. There should be at least five major sections. Sign Up, Pilot Report, News, Fleet, and Roster. Really six sections if you include the homepage. Your first section is the Sign Up section. Make this as eye pleasing as possible. Also verify what type of flight simulator you will be using. You should make this a form. The form on the registration page should ask for their name and so on. As well as their HUB (where they operate from). The Pilot Report section is yet another form. This is filled out by your pilots to report how much flight time they have. You can also ask them to send you a copy of their logbook to verify flight time. The News section is one of the most important sections. Not only does it have to have real news on planes (i.e. the Kennedy accident, etc.) but news on the VA itself. The fleet is another important part. It lets new pilots download the virtual airline’s planes. They are put in the VA’s logo color complete with the logo itself. We explain how to get your own planes for your VA later in the book. The Roster is a place where pilots go the most often. They check up on each other’s flight hours, HUB, and so on. Then there is the main page, where the viewer comes into first. The first thing they should see is the VA’s logo. Followed by a brief history and where the VA operates. 

This is perhaps the most important part of a VA. Deciding where the VA operates, and its HUBs. Ultimately, this will decide what kind of planes the VA uses, what its logo looks like, and the most important: its name.

For example, an airline that operates in Russia, might be Blizzard Air, or Arctic Air. It’s totally up to you. Naming a VA is perhaps the best part. And most fun part.

Deciding where your VA operates is totally up to you. But it can also depend on a few other factors. If you have a HUB in Russia, do you have the resources to find the VOR or ADF of the airports? That is the main problem with lots of virtual airlines in Africa and Asia. For instance, the airport directory in MFS does not cover those remote locations.

Once you have decided the continent or country, or state if your VA will be a commuter, is in, you may decide the HUB(s). The HUB is the operating city where all flights must originate or land (i.e. Detroit, NY, San Francisco, and Seattle). Each HUB should be controlled and maintained by the HUB Captain, which is in charge of all departing and arriving flights from that HUB. Also note, just because the VA might be called Euro Airlines, it can expand to the Americas.

This is one of the most important decisions of creating and managing your own VA. It could lead to your downfall or to your expansion from a commuter to an International VA. You will need to pick you planes and staff wisely.

PLANES

Every real airline has its own fleet of planes. Model wise and paint wise. You will need to find a studio on the Internet that will agree to make the details for your fleet. The color scheme should be the same as your logo, and your logo should be located somewhere on the plane. You may want to explore other virtual airlines and find who or how they created their fleet of planes.

If you don’t want to take the extra time to find a program or studio online, then let your pilots fly planes that already came with the flight simulator. Once again, it’s totally up to you.

You should keep in mind what type of plane you will use due to what type of airline you are. If you are a commuter, you should probably use prop planes or Learjet’s. If you fly transcontinental, you should use large jets like Boeing 747s.

Trainees

Once you start getting web-traffic to your website, you should be getting pilot requests in. At first, hire anyone possible to let your VA grow and expand to new HUBs. When you get your first few pilot requests, start them out as automatic pilots. So that you at least have some in your fleet. But once you have a strong number, you should be a little pickier about pilot requests. How much experience do they have? Have they been with another VA?

Once you have approved of them, start them out on some sort of trainee program. Unless they have a certain amount of flight hours with another VA (Usually about 5.0). When they are trainees, make sure to limit long flights or hard ones. For example, don’t start trainees out on a crossing of the Swiss Alps in the middle of winter, and don’t have them flying flights across the Atlantic either. The last thing you want is a crash. Start trainees out on commuter flights, or if you want them flying longer flights, have a weekly test, both paper and actually flying with them perhaps in multi-player over modem connections.

Once they have reached somewhere between five hours to ten hours, make them an officer. They may advance in rank due to how many flight hours they have recorded. To make sure what they say is valid, have them send you a copy of their logbook. Usually, they become part of the VA management when they have reached 100 or 200 hours of flight time.

Also make sure they are active by having minimum flight hours a month. Usually about one or two. Remember that pilots may also be flying for another VA. This is okay as long as they are still involved with yours. There are some VA programs that let pilots who fly for two or more virtual airlines, fly once and have those hours count for all virtual airlines. For example, if Jim flies for Chicago VA and Evergreen Airlines flying from a HUB that both airlines share or landing at a HUB that both airlines use, these flight hours will count towards both airlines.

Remember not to be to passive. If someone on your VA staff isn’t doing their own share and just goofing around, fire them. But also note to keep the KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetheart) factor.

PILOTS

Once trainees have reached a certain amount of flight hours, they are considered a pilot. You may start new pilots out as first-class officers. They can advance in rank according to how many flight hours they achieve. If pilots start getting flight hours in the triple digits, it’s time to give them a job in management, such as a HUB Captain or Flight Coordinator.

Once a trainee reaches pilot, you should let them do ocean crossings or extreme weather condition flights. Sometimes, pilots choose HUBs that they live in in real life. They then look at the weather outside and set the flightsim weather to that outside to make their flights more realistic. 

MANAGEMENT…

Pilots aren’t the only things that make a VA run and work: management is also needed to create flights and record data like pilot reports. They may also be in charge of a HUB or division of the VA. Robert might be in charge of the cargo division of African Airlines. Remember that the people up in the sky are just as important as the minds down on the ground.

CEO

This is where you come into play. You are the CEO of your very own VA. You own it, you control it. You are in charge of your airlines. You hire your management and create your fleet. You are the one. There isn’t much to explain about this position.

A CEO of a VA might want his/her own board to refer to for major decisions. You may have meetings with the members of the board through fax, multi phone-lines, chat, voice chat, mail, or even e-mail.

HUB CAPTAIN

As explained earlier, a HUB Captain is in charge of maintaining one and/or more HUBs, or area of operations. Usually a HUB Captain is in charge of just one. A HUB Captain can also be, and usually is, a member of the board that reports to the CEO.

A HUB Captain may create flights, or be in charge of them as said above. He/she should frequently talk with the CEO of the VA to create new flights, etc.

You may also decide to create occupations on the board of your own. Such as President’s and Vice President’s of branches of your VA. You may have someone in charge of overseeing all flights.

Once your VA gets big enough, your VA will become too hard to handle alone, thus you will create a board or maybe create new theatre of operations, or new HUBs. Remember, the larger you are, the more help you’ll need. 

You are now ready to create your dream VA! Good Luck, and thank you for reading this little manual.

How To... Articles By Eric Oderman