New pilots,
Welcome on board British Virtual Airways, the most advanced and intuitive Virtual Airline to date. For those who are new the world of VA's, getting set up and completing your first tasks can seem like a complicated and daunting venture, but fear not as the initial steps are actually quite straight forward and pain free. Below you will see a step by step guide on starting your journey here at British Virtual Airways. This comprehensive guide will take you through activating your profile to setting up our ACARS software to get you in the air as quick as possible.
1.) Acceptance: Congratulations, you have passed the airline entrance exam and have been accepted into Flying American Virtual. You will have received an email from our Human Resources Department giving you your acceptance letter as well as short welcome.
2.) First Website Login: After you have received and viewed the welcome email, you will see towards the bottom your login credentials, including your Pilot ID, Forum ID, and password. Remember, your password was created by yourself during your initial registration. Once you have found these items, and have made your way to https://www.britishvirtualairways.co.uk, we can get you signed in.
Once you have made your way to the website, there will be a menu bar along the top of the home screen stretched horizontally. On the far right you will notice a tab, Crew Area. Clicking this tab will prompt the login window. Once this appears, you will enter your pilot ID and chosen password.
Ex.) Pilot ID: BAW1010
Password: (Chosen at registration)
Once logged in, you will be sent to your pilot profile home screen. This page will show numerous amounts of information regarding your next flight, NOTAMS, and other in-depth items. I will let you explore the home page and let you get into the cool features. You will also notice a tool bar down the left side, which will be as a quick reference to items such a flight briefings, forum access, as well as documentation. Take a look thought the different tabs now to view the different references.
3.) Flight Bookings and Assignments: We will now cover how to bid on your first flight assignment. On the left tool tab, you will find an airplane icon, select this and choose flight operations center. Once there, this will be your center of bidding and assignment for all of your future flights. This will allow you to find and filter flights by destination airport and aircraft type. Remember: Your flights will be departing from where you last arrived or your starting base, unless you decide to jump seat to a different airport. Once you have found a flight, click the plus sign on the flight to add it to your bids, once this is done, it will be automatically sent to ACARS which we will discuss in the next section.
4.) ACARS Download & Setup: Once we have got you all logged in and a flight bid, the next important item will be downloading and setting up our ACARS tracking. ACARS, also known as Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, is what airlines use in order to track the movements and specifications of an aircraft on a specific flight assignment. Our system uses a similar technology, by transmitting your aircrafts position and performance data to our headquarters. This is the system you will use on all of your flights, which again will be tracked and help you on the way to your next promotion. Download and Install is very straight forward.
Once at your pilot profile home page, select the utilities tab on the left tool bar. Once highlighted, you will see an option for downloads. Continue to the downloads page, and you will see a file named smartACARS 2.0. Download this file. Again this is a .exe so it will essentially do all of the work for you by finding your flight simulator install location. Once installed and opened, you will be prompted to log in. This will be the same credentials used for the website. Once logged in, you will be automatically logged in every time it is opened. You will then be brought to a home screen, where on the left you will see bids. This tab will show you the bid you have selected from the main website. Once you've found your booking, click FLY and fill in the information about your flight. The ACARS will do the rest.
I hope this information was helpful in getting you set up for your first flight with British Virtual Airways. If you have any question, please don't hesitate to ask one of the staff members as well as the FAQ.
Once again welcome on board, and remember, "The World's Greatest Flyers Fly British Virtual Airways".
BAW1024 | Ste Xavier
Chief Operating Officer
