Hi Guys,
I'm Anthony and new to this. I've been looking on the web latley and have been looking for a decent Virtual Airline. I know theres not much for Australia and New Zealand but i thought I'd ask here. Any one know of a good Air New Zealand based one??
Thanks
Virtual Airlines
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by Ian Warren » Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:07 pm
Hi Anthony and Welcome to NZFF ,
there are two recent VA's , very easy for them to give you a leg up , go through the topic links below
http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17333
http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17333
Direct New Zealand VA you may want to lookie here http://www.virtualairnz.com/
there are two recent VA's , very easy for them to give you a leg up , go through the topic links below
http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17333
http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17333
Direct New Zealand VA you may want to lookie here http://www.virtualairnz.com/
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by deeknow » Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:16 pm
Hey Anthony. I won't spam the forums too much 
but as Ian says we do have our very own Virtual Air New Zealand which you may be interested in. We run a realistic operation with a career based system, pilots start out on the Beech and end up on the 777/200-300 and 747-400 as they accumulate hours. We have regularly updated real-world ANZ schedules, a members forum, Moodle training system, automated PIREP system, and training captains for each of the aircraft should you require assistance. We are also an official VATNZ VA partner as many of our members fly online with VATSIM (although thats not compulsory)
Please feel free to PM me for more details, and come check us out when you're ready at
http://virtualairnz.com/
And yes, full disclosure: I'm on the management team over there, and 737 training captain
but as Ian says we do have our very own Virtual Air New Zealand which you may be interested in. We run a realistic operation with a career based system, pilots start out on the Beech and end up on the 777/200-300 and 747-400 as they accumulate hours. We have regularly updated real-world ANZ schedules, a members forum, Moodle training system, automated PIREP system, and training captains for each of the aircraft should you require assistance. We are also an official VATNZ VA partner as many of our members fly online with VATSIM (although thats not compulsory)Please feel free to PM me for more details, and come check us out when you're ready at
http://virtualairnz.com/
And yes, full disclosure: I'm on the management team over there, and 737 training captain
Last edited by deeknow on Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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deeknow - NZFF Pro
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by SeanTK » Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:44 am
Dean (or others in the know),
Since you're part of the management over there, I'm wondering if you could answer a few questions.
1. Is there much of a demand for virtual airlines within FSX (or 2004) these days? My perspective is that it's a dying thing, based off of seeing so many out there with only a dozen members at most, and inactive communities, but I could be way off on that.
2. Kind of going off of the first question, would you believe that there would be demand for a VA that focuses more on the regional side of things, with smaller prop aircraft on short routes? (For a real world comparison, think of Sunair for example).
I was looking into perhaps starting up a small, casual operation in New Zealand airspace using things like the Cessna 208 Caravan, BN-2 Islander, Cessna 172, a larger turboprop of some sort, and maybe a regional jet for the longest routes. It would not be jet-centric as most other VAs are.
Since you're part of the management over there, I'm wondering if you could answer a few questions.
1. Is there much of a demand for virtual airlines within FSX (or 2004) these days? My perspective is that it's a dying thing, based off of seeing so many out there with only a dozen members at most, and inactive communities, but I could be way off on that.
2. Kind of going off of the first question, would you believe that there would be demand for a VA that focuses more on the regional side of things, with smaller prop aircraft on short routes? (For a real world comparison, think of Sunair for example).
I was looking into perhaps starting up a small, casual operation in New Zealand airspace using things like the Cessna 208 Caravan, BN-2 Islander, Cessna 172, a larger turboprop of some sort, and maybe a regional jet for the longest routes. It would not be jet-centric as most other VAs are.
Last edited by SeanTK on Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by AlisterC » Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:06 pm
Hi Sean, I would consider myself another 'in the know' 
I am on the management team for the Virtual Pilots Association, and would certainly say that for our site, interest in virtual airlines is not dying off. It is no doubt however true that there are plenty of virtual airlines out there that never seem to refresh, and I would hate to think what the average lifespan is for a virtual airline. And even a few larger ones even have gone by the wayside in recent years (The very large Flying Tigers Group comes to mind).
VPA however is still very busy and active, and has been since opening in 2004. We have a steady 500 member limit, and the waiting list to get in ranges up to a 3 month wait (90+ people on the list) but currently there is only 14 people on the waiting list. In Jan 2012 VPA pilots filed 6587 pireps, and a total of 12496 hours. (that's an average flight time of only 1.8 hours, and 25 hours per pilot on average). 8400 hours of those were non scheduled flights, or pure and simple GA flying. GA for us includes doing whatever you want in a jet airliner, or Cessna, or bizjet etc..
Most of the remainder was actual airline flights (3800 odd hours for any airline in the world) plus a bit of military flying was done by pilots.
So we have a bunch of very active pilots in there. And while we allow pilots to fly practically anything, you can see for the most part pilots would rather fly a bit of GA anyway. So we aren't all tubeliner pilots! (though I am lol)
As for your idea of starting a VA, I've seen a few come and go, and here are a couple of tips for success.
1. A GOOD website. You really are competing with some really great ones out there, what would make someone choose your one? Having an online presence (vatsim and ivao) is one of the best ways to showcase yourself.
2. Now you've got their attention, they need a reason to stay. Good fleet, good choices, good website features, and perhaps most importantly, something to do. It gets pretty boring just logging the same flights over and over again (if not simulating a real world airline), especially in a small country like NZ. Awards, promotions, goals, statistics, tours, missions etc.
Now a question from me...
For those of you who DON'T belong to a virtual airline, why not? Surely you must get bored just looping the loop and having little to inspire you to get on the sim and fly? Where do you find purpose in your simming?
This is where VPA is quite useful I believe. You can fly a 747 on a scheduled airline flight one day, and yet still muck around and fly your Spitfire round the clouds the next day. Or just spend the next 5 years mucking around in helicopters, spitfires and C152s doing circuits. VPA accepts it all. It's nice to have a way to keep a record of all this flying, and not being tied down to schedules, (or out of date schedules). I certainly would have quit the hobby years ago had I not had some sort of goal system, or purpose to my simming, naturally provided by a virtual airline. They are really neat things in my opinion.
I belong to another VA (pilot only) that is also ticking along nicely with many members and many flights per month. http://www.phoenixva.org Also another fine VA.
(sorry for the length)
I am on the management team for the Virtual Pilots Association, and would certainly say that for our site, interest in virtual airlines is not dying off. It is no doubt however true that there are plenty of virtual airlines out there that never seem to refresh, and I would hate to think what the average lifespan is for a virtual airline. And even a few larger ones even have gone by the wayside in recent years (The very large Flying Tigers Group comes to mind).
VPA however is still very busy and active, and has been since opening in 2004. We have a steady 500 member limit, and the waiting list to get in ranges up to a 3 month wait (90+ people on the list) but currently there is only 14 people on the waiting list. In Jan 2012 VPA pilots filed 6587 pireps, and a total of 12496 hours. (that's an average flight time of only 1.8 hours, and 25 hours per pilot on average). 8400 hours of those were non scheduled flights, or pure and simple GA flying. GA for us includes doing whatever you want in a jet airliner, or Cessna, or bizjet etc..
Most of the remainder was actual airline flights (3800 odd hours for any airline in the world) plus a bit of military flying was done by pilots.
So we have a bunch of very active pilots in there. And while we allow pilots to fly practically anything, you can see for the most part pilots would rather fly a bit of GA anyway. So we aren't all tubeliner pilots! (though I am lol)
As for your idea of starting a VA, I've seen a few come and go, and here are a couple of tips for success.
1. A GOOD website. You really are competing with some really great ones out there, what would make someone choose your one? Having an online presence (vatsim and ivao) is one of the best ways to showcase yourself.
2. Now you've got their attention, they need a reason to stay. Good fleet, good choices, good website features, and perhaps most importantly, something to do. It gets pretty boring just logging the same flights over and over again (if not simulating a real world airline), especially in a small country like NZ. Awards, promotions, goals, statistics, tours, missions etc.
Now a question from me...
For those of you who DON'T belong to a virtual airline, why not? Surely you must get bored just looping the loop and having little to inspire you to get on the sim and fly? Where do you find purpose in your simming?
This is where VPA is quite useful I believe. You can fly a 747 on a scheduled airline flight one day, and yet still muck around and fly your Spitfire round the clouds the next day. Or just spend the next 5 years mucking around in helicopters, spitfires and C152s doing circuits. VPA accepts it all. It's nice to have a way to keep a record of all this flying, and not being tied down to schedules, (or out of date schedules). I certainly would have quit the hobby years ago had I not had some sort of goal system, or purpose to my simming, naturally provided by a virtual airline. They are really neat things in my opinion.
I belong to another VA (pilot only) that is also ticking along nicely with many members and many flights per month. http://www.phoenixva.org Also another fine VA.
(sorry for the length)
Last edited by AlisterC on Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by Dean » Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:58 pm
Take a look at FS Economy too - www.fseconomy.com - Think of it as virtual airlines with a purpose 
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by deeknow » Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:32 pm
Hey Sean.
Regarding the popularity of the VA movement; I think things are currently pretty stable and probably always will be. In my experience the numbers dont seem to be falling at all. You tend to have a lot of sign-ups during the year and depending on enthusiasm of the new members and community engagement features of the VA a fair few tend to drop off, but a number of each pool of signups stay for the long-haul. Although I'm on the management team at Virtual Air NZ (along with a couple of others here at NZFF) I also fly as a regular staff member at two other VAs based overseas, this is pretty common, and makes it even more important that you make your own VA distinctive to stand out from the crowd.
As Alister has mentioned the additional features your VA offers to ensure stickability are REALLY important, at vANZ we strive to maintain active forums, training and mentor programmes, rewards, events, updated timetables, decent backend web systems and features and a positive attitude from management is important. We also have a fair share of members who fly online at VATSIM and as Alister points out this is a great PR and visibility exercise, not to mention an excellent way to raise the bar for staff skills etc.
Virtual Air New Zealand tends to attract a lot of kiwis for obvious reasons, quite few of our real long-termers are based overseas, though. Our guys also often have a keen interest in Air NZ as a company, you'd be amazed how loyal some of our members are to the real Air NZ. The others have mentioned a couple of other VAs that are neutrally branded, not tied to a real world airline, or that allow you to fly any airlines aircraft anywhere in the world, if that appeals then you should check them out. Personally I'm less interested in that style of operation but thats the great thing about the virtual world, you can try a bunch of them and see what suits you.
Don't underestimate how much effort it takes to establish and maintain a VA, it really is a team effort, the more you can get on board to help run the show the better. Having said that, good luck with the venture, and keep us posted (in another thread maybe?)
Hope that helps, and by all means sign up with us if you want to dip your toe firsrt
see: http://www.virtualairnz.com/join-ops.php
Regarding the popularity of the VA movement; I think things are currently pretty stable and probably always will be. In my experience the numbers dont seem to be falling at all. You tend to have a lot of sign-ups during the year and depending on enthusiasm of the new members and community engagement features of the VA a fair few tend to drop off, but a number of each pool of signups stay for the long-haul. Although I'm on the management team at Virtual Air NZ (along with a couple of others here at NZFF) I also fly as a regular staff member at two other VAs based overseas, this is pretty common, and makes it even more important that you make your own VA distinctive to stand out from the crowd.
As Alister has mentioned the additional features your VA offers to ensure stickability are REALLY important, at vANZ we strive to maintain active forums, training and mentor programmes, rewards, events, updated timetables, decent backend web systems and features and a positive attitude from management is important. We also have a fair share of members who fly online at VATSIM and as Alister points out this is a great PR and visibility exercise, not to mention an excellent way to raise the bar for staff skills etc.
Virtual Air New Zealand tends to attract a lot of kiwis for obvious reasons, quite few of our real long-termers are based overseas, though. Our guys also often have a keen interest in Air NZ as a company, you'd be amazed how loyal some of our members are to the real Air NZ. The others have mentioned a couple of other VAs that are neutrally branded, not tied to a real world airline, or that allow you to fly any airlines aircraft anywhere in the world, if that appeals then you should check them out. Personally I'm less interested in that style of operation but thats the great thing about the virtual world, you can try a bunch of them and see what suits you.
Don't underestimate how much effort it takes to establish and maintain a VA, it really is a team effort, the more you can get on board to help run the show the better. Having said that, good luck with the venture, and keep us posted (in another thread maybe?)
Hope that helps, and by all means sign up with us if you want to dip your toe firsrt
see: http://www.virtualairnz.com/join-ops.php
Deans repaints: http://www.deeknow.com/
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by AlisterC » Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:58 pm
For the record I've been a member of VANZ. Excellent VA and a great bunch of guys- just don't have the fleet for me..
And flown a bit with FSeconomy - great fun! - just again, I'm not really into the available fleet. DC3 is about as big as it gets..
And flown a bit with FSeconomy - great fun! - just again, I'm not really into the available fleet. DC3 is about as big as it gets..
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by wolfmanslack » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:54 pm
Ian Warren wrote:QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Mar 15 2012,2:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Anthony and Welcome to NZFF ,
there are two recent VA's , very easy for them to give you a leg up , go through the topic links below
http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17333
http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17333
Direct New Zealand VA you may want to lookie here http://www.virtualairnz.com/
BOOOOOO Ian
Both forum topics the same Airline, shocking!!!!!
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by deeknow » Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:00 pm
wolfmanslack wrote:QUOTE (wolfmanslack @ Mar 21 2012,10:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>BOOOOOO Ian... Both forum topics the same Airline, shocking!!!!!
LOL ... go on wolfman, its ok to link to the Tasman VA thread, thats the one he meant I'm sure
others see: http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17150Deans repaints: http://www.deeknow.com/
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by Ian Warren » Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:11 pm
I'm a real McCoy flight simmer .. not a diplomat or politician 
.. and their mistakes ... look what happens to the real airlines 
........
.. and their mistakes ... look what happens to the real airlines ........ Last edited by Ian Warren on Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by wolfmanslack » Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:16 am
Ian Warren wrote:QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Mar 21 2012,10:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I'm a real McCoy flight simmer .. not a diplomat or politician
Ian I am waiting for the I am a lover and not a fighter part, I know mistakes happen LOL
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wolfmanslack - Member
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by Ian Warren » Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:42 am
Stu , with me i think its the other way round 
"I am a fighter and not a lover part"
"I am a fighter and not a lover part" Last edited by Ian Warren on Thu Mar 22, 2012 9:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by deeknow » Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:20 am
Ian Warren wrote:QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Mar 22 2012,10:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Stu , with me i think its the other way round
LOLDeans repaints: http://www.deeknow.com/
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deeknow - NZFF Pro
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... 
by Ian Warren » Thu Mar 22, 2012 4:08 pm
Hoy .. you i saw that wet willy .. your on notice ... Mars .. Stu called you a pusssy
... Mars .. Stu called you a pusssy -
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by wolfmanslack » Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:26 pm
Ian Warren wrote:QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Mar 22 2012,5:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hoy .. you i saw that wet willy .. your on notice
Well at least I was sort of a gentleman and never drunk all your beer from the fridge, by the way we are running low on Tui.
Can you fix that small problem up..... cheers mate.
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and a TUI cheers to you to
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