Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | Airline Operations |
Fleet Library Compatability |
DVA043
Senior Captain, MD-11
OLP
Joined on June 10 2001
Event Half Century Club
Online Double Century Club
50 State Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Everett 1500 Club
Bi-Millennium Club
Four Million Mile Club
"Col. Panic" Marietta, GA
2,241 legs, 8,967.3 hours
240 legs,
553.9 hours online 1,899 legs,
7,760.4 hours ACARS 75 legs,
196.3 hours event 2,277 legs, 9,102.2 hours total 91 legs dispatched, 66.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
December 09 2004 20:24 ET by Luke Kolin
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We received a significant number of responses to the poll I posted a few weeks back regarding Fleet Library compatability going forward. Of the 78 responses, 13 of you wanted to see FS2004 only. The other 65 wanted to see some level of support for FS2002; 27 wanting the same level as we have today, and 38 wanting FS2002 to be supported "if compatible".
Today, the DVA and AFV Fleets are compatible with both FS2002 and FS2004 with a few small exceptions. In some cases (like the 737) we have seperate 2002 and 2004 installers. However, going forward we face a significant challenge in that new aircraft being released (such as the DC-9, MD-88/90, 727, 737) are being released as FS2004 only. In the case of a totally new aircraft being added to our Fleet (such as the DC-9) the choice is easy, but with something like the 727 we have an issue of backwards compatibility.
Going forward, therefore, I'd like to take a moment reflect the way I'm thinking of proceeding, and see how you feel about my plan of action. Like the Water Cooler screen shots, my goal is to support you and meet your needs and if what I'm planning on doing doesn't meet those needs, please let me know.
In the case where a model/panel operate under both FS2002 and FS2004, the choice is clear - the installer will detect and support either version of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Most popular aircraft currently in our Fleet (such as the A320, A330, A340, 747, 757, 767, 777, CV-880/990, F100, ERJ and CRJ) will fall into this category.
Where we are adding a new model that is not supported under FS2002, the installer will be FS2004-only. Since we have already great coverage of Delta's aircraft types, the only aircraft that falls into this category is the DC-9-14/32 installer, which I hope to release by the end of the year.
The sticky situation is where a newer aircraft version comes out that is FS9-only. In such a situation, I'm going to gauge popular support for the old Fleet Library model to see how many folks are using it with FS2002. When you install a package, it logs this on the web site. I track this usage, as well your manual feedback. Based on the results of your pleas, we'll either drop FS2002 support, or keep it. If support is strong, I will re-release the FS2002 installer to remove FS9 support, and maintain it in the Fleet Library. If it's weak, I may put together a hybird installer to assist FS2002 pilots. Support for either FS2002 may be limited.
A good example of this mechanism will be the 727. New versions of the 727 from SGA are FS9-only, but we do have some strong AFV requests for an FS2002-compatible installer. I will probably put together an FS2002-only installer that combines the AF and DAL paints for AFV only, and have the DVA installer FS9-only.
PIREPs this month are around 4:1 in favor of FS9 over FS2002. I'm going to continue to monitor trends and try and focus our support accordingly.
The other important change in our Fleet Library is that I've re-compressed all of our sound schemes using LZMA, and have updated the Fleet Library foundation code to support decompressing LZMA archives and saving your sound files to your local hard disk for use on subsequent installations. My experience has been that sound packages will received a reduction in size of 10-30%; significant on dial-up modems and still noticeable on slower DSL connections.
Because of this, the Fleet Library will be upgraded over the next few weeks and new installers will be pushed out around Christmastime. The sound packages will be on the mirrors by this weekend in preparation for the new installers which should be coming out starting next weekend. The "old" ZIP sound packages will remain on the mirrors for approximately 3-6 months to support older versions of the installers, but I will not commit to maintaining them beyond July 1st, 2005.
The DVA and AFV Fleet Libraries are the most extensive of any virtual airline - having reached approximately half a gigabyte in size recently, spread acros four mirror sites. I'm working hard over Christmas to keep the quality and value proposition up; hopefully in upcoming weeks we shall see new 707, 727, 737, 747, DC-9, A310, A340, F100, MD-88 and MD-90 installers.
Cheers!
Luke KolinSenior Captain, MD-11
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DVA1320
Senior Captain, B777-200
COMM
Joined on August 29 2003
Online Six Century Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Everett Millennium Club
Flying Colonel
Three Million Mile Club
Arlington, VA USA
1,752 legs, 7,042.0 hours
610 legs,
2,627.6 hours online 272 legs,
966.9 hours ACARS 5 legs,
12.2 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 10 2004 03:54 ET by Daniel Ward
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Sounds like the right track to me. Although it is nice to try and maintain a library of aircraft for both 2002 and 2004, at some point it makes no sense to try and cover both. I have both of these versions of FS, but now fly 2004 exclusively. And as much as I like the idea of supporting those who want to stay wtih FS2002, there comes a time when those folks must move on to FS2004 or use the Flightsim and Avsim libraries to satisfy their needs. Luke, you are truly gracious to ask our pilots, and expend all the hours to maintain our fleet. And because of this, I think you are the one who must ultimately decide when it is time to drop support for the FS2002 fleet. I am confident that out pilots will support whatever decision you make. We are truly fortunate to have you...
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DVA1129
Senior Captain, B757-200
E-MAIL
Joined on March 10 2003
Million Mile Club
Millennium Club
Online Six Century Club
""never ever give up"" Ardmore, OK USA
1,210 legs, 3,192.7 hours
602 legs,
1,222.0 hours online 508 legs,
1,054.6 hours ACARS 15 legs,
27.7 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 10 2004 05:50 ET by Craig Davidson
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what new MD-88 is coming out i haven't herd of one?
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DVA1650
Captain, L-1011-100
Joined on April 24 2004
Century Club
"The O-N-L-Y Way to Fly!" Southeastern United States
103 legs, 174.7 hours
49 legs,
94.5 hours online 2 legs,
2.1 hours ACARS 2 legs,
3.2 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 10 2004 10:15 ET by Daniel Malneritch
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Interesting. I've got M$ FS9 so I think I'm covered. Great we get some new planes coming here. (they're actualy old planes... ;))
Daniel MalneritchCaptain, L-1011-100
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DVA1994
Captain, B737-800
Joined on October 30 2004
50 State Club
US Capital Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
Six Century Club
Long Beach 250 Club
Online Triple Century Club
US Mountaineer Club
"Every Day Is A Gift" Concord, NH
682 legs, 1,551.2 hours
301 legs,
859.8 hours online 495 legs,
951.2 hours ACARS 28 legs,
93.7 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 12 2004 04:17 ET by Tom Burrill
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I support your proposal and am very happy with the folks here at DVA. Although new to DVA I have flown both 2002 and 2004. Presently I am in the process of converting all to 2004 with a very few exceptions. Keep up the good work, because it is a plan that is very user friendly and challenging at the same time.
Happy Holidays,
Tom Burrill DVA 1994
Tom BurrillCaptain, B737-800
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