AeroTexas NOTAMS

ATAVS 8 Released

2012-06-07T17:48:00.000-05:00

ATAVS Version 8.1 was released today. We're really excited about this version as it makes some substantial improvements over the version 7 releases in 2010, and sets the stage for more general use by other virtual airlines. This version includes an updated clock synchronizer, better handling of network network connections, flight log summary details, and revamped status bar with block time, distances, ETA, TOD displays. Flight reports sent with previous versions are no longer accepted, so get the new version in the Members Only area before your next flight - I am sure you will love it!

New Summer Routes!

2012-06-04T14:36:00.003-05:00

This summer AeroTexas adopts a route structure from the history books: the 1974 Texas International timetable. Service highlights include The Texas Connection...excellent service between Los Angeles and more than 20 cities in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. The International Connection...flights to Mexico City, Merida, La Paz, Mazatlan, Cancun, Tampico, and Merida. The Ski Connection...the snow's still great near Denver, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque - flights from Dallas, San Antonio, and New Orleans.

First Pilot with 10,000 hours

2012-04-16T22:01:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to Master Commodore Richard Sill for reaching the 10,000-hour milestone at AeroTexas! Richard consistently continues to amaze and impress: now with almost 6000 flights, he actively maintains a CAT IIIc certification, serves as a Partner, and is airborne more than most of us sleep. Richard was born to fly and for that AeroTexas says, Thank you Richard Sill!

Major Update to ATAVS

2012-03-06T18:02:00.002-06:00

Just now going beta with the newest evolution (V7.6+) of ATAVS - the Alpha Tango Aircraft Validation System. Interested in trying it out? Send me an e-mail!

ATX Says Adios to Ferry Flights

2012-03-03T09:59:00.002-06:00

The Return/Ferry flights program has been discontinued.

10th Anniversary Planning

2011-12-13T19:22:00.002-06:00

We're just putting the finishing touches on our 10th anniversary plans. Included will be 10 codeshares with other airlines, a world tour, and an online event. Stay tuned.

Around the World

2011-10-10T08:50:00.001-05:00

Several ideas are in the works to celebrate the 10th anniversary of AeroTexas, including codeshares with real-world Flight 10s by selected airlines, one or more online events (VATSIM), and our first world tour! If you have any suggestions for destinations on the world tour please post them in the forum with their ICAO airport code. Ideally these would be very interesting and/or challenging places to fly. Also opening up the discussion here for online events - including proposed dates/times and can include potential partnerships with VAs/ARTCCs. Deadline for ideas : October 28th.

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-25T09:30:00.004-05:00

A special hurricane charter series has been posted for flights along the East Coast. Click here for details

North Atlantic Tracks

2011-06-11T08:17:00.002-05:00

AeroTexas now has a rudimentary, though very useful North Atlantic Flight Planning page. The updated page now links to outside pages for North Atlantic weather and North Atlantic Tracks. Look for this information to be more commonly used by AeroTexas pilots beginning later this Summer with flights to Europe! ...stay tuned

North Atlantic Flight Planning

Let's Go Fishing!

2011-05-16T09:38:00.002-05:00

Are you ready for some flying and fishing adventures? AeroTexas has developed three charter routes to prime fishing spots along the coast in Texas and Louisiana, including: Port Aransas, Galveston, and Harlingen with side trips to Port Mansfield and lake trips to Lake Green and Lake Palourde. And along the way here's your chance to do some bush flying along the way - South Texas style!

These routes were developed by members J.C. Martin and Francisco Melero, working in conjunction with Tommie Wood, who developed special liveries for this Summer and Fall charter series. So let's take a look at what they've found:

Galveston Island - For the excitement and thrill of catching bull reds the surf waters off of Galveston offer some of the best bull red fishing on the entire Gulf Coast. Includes a float trip to Lake Palourde in Louisiana.

Mustang Beach Airport - Known by many as the "Fishing capital of Texas" Port Aransas has fishing for everyone. Go offshore for kingfish, marlin, tuna, tarpon, black-tip sharks, and more; pier fishing for flounder, black drum, and trout. Side trip on floats to Lake Green.

South Padre Island - Pompano, whiting, redfish, flounder and jack crevalle thrive in this fishing area. Jetty fishing, surf fishing, spear fishing, or deep sea fishing offer endless varieties for everyone. Includes a side trip to Port Mansfield for access to the Laguna Madre.

Click here for the Fishing Charters Manual (PDF)

Operation Tomodachi

2011-04-03T18:36:00.001-05:00

Tommie posted a new event on the web page and flights for this event are good until further notice:

Daily AeroTexas Aviation International Relief Aid flights to provide assistance to the Japanese community and support survivors of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. Flights will be staged out of Yokota AB and flown to the Sendai airport, which is back in operation. For online flying, VATSIM Japan is an option, http://www.vatjpn.org/en/

Coast to Coast

2011-01-09T07:56:00.003-06:00

I discovered this routing today while searching for flights with the new flight check page. This routing is currently available to all members, just be sure to verify through the flight check page to see if there have been any changes.

ATAVS 7.6R30

2011-01-04T08:03:00.002-06:00

An update to ATAVS is now available. This is ATAVS 7.6 Release 30, and includes some minor bug fixes related to the FS clock autosync feature, and an updated airports file. Available through the Members Only page.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T00:00:00.000-06:00

On behalf of the Partners and Staff I am happy to wish you a very healthy and prosperous new year in 2011. Salutations!

Seasons Greetings

2010-12-18T12:09:00.002-06:00

ATAVS 7.6 was released today, on December 18th, 2010. This new version incorporates a lot of changes and is the de facto flight reporting software at AeroTexas beginning January 1st, 2011, but you can download it and use it today!

One of the features of the this version will be a new way to validate aircraft. In the past aircraft validation has required modifying aircraft.cfg files. No longer! Now members can make use of more aircraft through an aircraft verification system that has much more flexibility - during beta testing we catalogued more than 300 different aircraft. You can view the current list of approved aircraft at http://aerotexas.com/aircraftlist.html Requests for additons to this list are made only through the "Verify Aircraft" option in ATAVS.

Additional features of the new ATAVS include a customizable pre-flight function that will set the autopilots and heading indicator as well as the flaps and trim. Optional cabin and crew sounds, including pushbacks, checklists, and cabin announcements are also included. This requires some Realplayer components, which are included, but some users have reported they also needed to install Realplayer to get it to work. Finally, this new version of ATAVS includes an option to sync your FS clock to the real world clock. It has been tested pretty thoroughly in FS9 - not so sure about FSX. If you have any questions about the new version of ATAVS you can always send me or any of the Partners an e-mail. However, I have also created an ATAVS Support forum on the website that you may find helpful. Members of the beta team will be watching the Members Only forum over the next few weeks to answer general questions.Please note: after January 1st, 2011, flight reports sent using older versions of ATAVS will not be accepted.

WHERE WE FLY - YOU RETURN

This year the AeroTexas flight system was extensively revised, and route verification was reinstated. With route verification now back in place, you should check the website to see what flights are available before you begin your flight. Even with route verification you should still be able to log most, if not all, of your flights - no matter where you go or what aircraft you use. So cross-logging, exploration flights, and personal non-system flights can still be logged as long as you use ATAVS. However, and this is critical, Non System Flights (NSF) will not count toward official promotions, achievements, or awards.

What flights are valid?
1. All flights on the routes page, including flights for Trans Texas Airways.
2. All cargo flights.
3. Return flights.
4. Special Events

Return flights include any flight that when completed would result in the return of an aircraft to its original point of departure. Basically it's flying a stranded aircraft back where it belongs. Credit for these flights is granted only when flown with the specified aircraft equipment type. For example, if you flew a 737-400 from Austin to Houston, and then to Cancun, the return flight from Cancun to Austin would be considered a valid flight, even though it is not published on the website. Another example would be the return leg of a cargo flight, just remember to use the same type of aircraft to get credit. You may only fly your own return flights and you view the status of these flights from your Members Only page. Remember - return flights are your flights and can not be viewed or flown by anyone else.

FOR MEMBERS ONLY

Now when you login at aerotexas.com you'll find even more features and tools to help you move ahead with your career at AeroTexas. Included are two separate logbooks (more on this later), your own personal awards page with ribbons for various achievments, statistics on aircraft you've flown, a list of authorized return flights (more on this later too), special member's only routefinder, and of course links to our own fuel planning tools, dispatcher loadsheets, and more.

LIVE FLIGHT DISPLAY

inFlight has now been updated with Ajax! No that's not a cleaning solution, but it certainly has improved our live flight display. inFlight is our own flight tracker and it uses the latest web technology to display and update enroute aircraft without even refreshing the page. (Note: we're also working on a mobile browser version!) http://aerotexas.com/inFlight

TWO ROUTEFINDERS

That's right! One for us and another for all the rest. Seriously, though - the routefinder in the Members Only is capable of generating flight paths along airways, including Victor and Jet airways, Q routes, Atlantic routes and others. The one available to everyone else, which is on the home page, is for VOR and INS navigation only.

NORTH ATLANTIC TRACKS

AeroTexas Aviation International now keeps an updated map of the North Atlantic Tracks (NATs). NATs are heavily-traveled routes that connect North America to Europe across the Atlantic Ocean. There are west bound and east bound routes. These routes change daily. AeroTexas maps the NATs and updates track listings daily. http://aerotexas.com/natmap.html

SPECIAL EVENTS

Our new events page is your gateway to international routes, online fly-ins, and other special flights. Event flights, especially online events, are open to all members, and usually come with no equipment restrictions. WEecurrently have several events set up to support international service, including a tour of Austria.

MUCKY METEOROLOGY MADE MUCKIER

Mango Air Cargo is still delivering an hourly dose of the worst weather on the map. The dispatcher was tweaked recently to take advantage of all the rain and snow we've had, and it's been good!

NEW FLIGHT VERIFICATION PAGE

Use the flight verification page to see if your next flight is approved for corporate flight reporting, or to find connecting flights. Can also be used to explore hundrds of available flights that may no longer be on the website, yet are still valid. For example, cargo flights are issued hourly, adding literally hundreds of new flights to the system every month, but persist in the system indefinitely. Note that you do not need to use this if your flight is currently published on the website - those will always be valid flights.

ANNUAL FLIGHT CHECK

There was no annual flight check this year. Please note that beginning early next year members who have not logged a flight in more than three months will be removed from the roster. Also, members who have been on leave, or are still on leave and have not reported a flight in the previous year will also be removed from the roster.

TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Next year AeroTexas will celebrate 10 years as a virtual airline. I welcome any ideas you might have about how we can celebrate this anniversary. There is a topic on the forum dedicated to this as well.

Well that's it folks! I wish you a very happy and safe holiday season. I look forward to next year as we bring Lone Star Service to the World!

Short Trip Cruise Altitude

2010-12-16T11:01:00.001-06:00

Though Texas is a big place, there are still a lot of flights that could be considered short trips, which are roughly less than 200 nautical miles. The chart above is the Short Trip Cruise Altitude diagram taken from the Boeing 737-300 Flight Planning and Performance Manual. For the example shown, a trip distance of 150 nautical miles for an aircraft and a brake release weight of 55000 kilograms, equates to a cruise pressure altitude of 25500 feet.

Using data based on the reference weight of 45000 kg I created an estimator that is very simple to use, and could be helpful when planning short trips for the 737-300 and other large jet aircraft:

ALT = 2428.6 + 174.52 * NM

where ALT is the estimated short trip cruise altitude and NM is nautical miles.

Comparing the simple formula to the example shown, the estimated altitude using the formula is 28607 feet while the charted result was about 12% lower. Probably a negligible difference for a short flight in a large jet.

System Flight Query

2010-12-12T18:14:00.004-06:00

Members can now query the system to verify that planned flights will be eligible for pireps. Use the flight verification system to see if your next flight is approved for corporate flight reporting, or to find connecting flights. Can also be used to explore hundrds of available flights that may no longer be on the website, yet are still valid. For example, cargo flights are issued hourly, adding literally hundreds of new flights to the system every month, but persist in the system indefinitely. Note that you do not need to use this if your flight is currently published on the website - those will always be valid flights.

Here and as a link in your Toolbox when you login.
http://aerotexas.com/flightcheck.php

Bad Weather Ahead

2010-12-08T23:11:00.002-06:00

Low IFR is the norm for our cargo pilots, but at least it's usually been calm winds accompanying all that fog and mist. Our cargo system is now finding plenty of rain and snow to complement your low visibility adventures.

Cargo Flights Updated Hourly

Ottawa Added to Regular Schedule

2010-12-07T17:36:00.006-06:00

This afternoon, AeroTexas authorized flights between Austin and Ottawa as well as flights between Detroit and Ottawa. That ought to be some interesting flying this winter. Have fun!

North Atlantic Tracks

2010-12-05T17:16:00.005-06:00

AeroTexas Aviation International now has a map of North Atlantic Tracks (NATs). NATs are heavily-traveled routes that change daily connecting North America to Europe across the Atlantic Ocean. AeroTexas unique map of the tracks and the track listing are updated daily. Click here to view the current NATs

ZME FNO

2010-11-16T11:52:00.002-06:00

Just posted a new event with multiple flights to Memphis and Nashville on December 3rd.

For more information see here

Frankfurt Overload 2010

2010-11-15T17:24:00.002-06:00

AeroTexas Aviation International Online Event

In conjunction with VATSIM Germany and Langen FIR, AeroTexas has authorized flights from Austin (KAUS) to Frankfurt, Germany (EDDF) combined with a double-connecting flight to Nice, France (LFMN). Additionally you can also start in Frankfurt or Nice and return to Austin as your first leg. All members of AeroTexas can participate in this event and all aircraft equipment type restrictions have been lifted.

For More Information

Cabin and Crew

2010-11-13T09:15:00.002-06:00

Cabin and crew sounds are returning to AeroTexas. Beta testing continues with this old feature now newly returned. The sounds are of course optional, as you can see here. Also notice the other new items in the Options menu.

Interested in beta testing? Just shoot me an e-mail.

Fly to ZID

2010-11-12T12:47:00.002-06:00

This weekend Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center is hosting two events: "Louisville After Dark", which is Friday evening starting at 5:PM CST- and "NFL Madness", which is Saturday at the same time.

AeroTexas members have three routes from which to choose: Dallas (KDFW) to Louisville (KSDF), Cincinnati (KCVG), and Indianapolis (KIND). All flights must first-leg originate in Dallas.

This is a great opportunity to fly out of DFW because it's not part of our regular route network, nor is SDF, IND or CVG. Flying on the VATSIM network from 2300-0300Z is encouraged, but not required. Flight reports for this event are valid through the weekend, and inbound legs to DFW will count as Return flights.

October Stats

2010-11-07T14:06:00.000-06:00

Active Pilots: 17
Total Flights: 136 (Cargo 24)
Total Hours: 200.1
Total Miles: 59088 NM
On Time Performance: 85.3%
Average landing performance: -251