Getting started with All African Airways
Welcome to All African Airways, the Virtual Airline (VA) that serves the continent, and beyond.
If you haven't yet applied to become a member of the All African Airways family, please click here to consider some important information.
If you're a new pilot, the information on this page will help you to get started. Should you have any questions related to this, please feel free to reach out to any of our staff members, who'll be happy to assist you in joining our ranks.
We're looking forward to having you flying with us.
Airline Information
| IATA: | FK |
|---|---|
| ICAO: | RFK |
| Callsign: | Secbird (Followed by flight number) |
| Website: | https://allafricanairways.com |
| Liveries: | https://www.flightsim.to |
| Discord: | |
| NewSky (Our Virtual Airline Platform): | https://newsky.app |
Joining All African Airways
It is recommended that, before flying for All African Airways, you fly a flight using the Newsky Academy first.
This is to:
(a) give you opportunity to use the system before going live on the airline, and make sure that you have everything set up properly.
(b) give you the chance to review your first post-flight report to identify any room for improvement, and to understand the NewSky rating system.
You will need to complete at least one flight via the Newsky Academy first, and achieve a rating of at least 8, to be eligible to apply for All African Airways.
Booking a Flight
To fly using Newsky, you must first book a flight. There are currently 2 options for you to choose for this purpose: Free Flight, or Scheduled. (Charter flights are coming soon).
In Free Flight, you can select and fly any aircraft in the All African Airways fleet, on any route you wish, around the world, without the restriction of the route network and scheduling. This is the mode most similar to FS-Airlines. You will still achieve a rating in this mode, and your flight will still generate revenue, penalties and a contribution to the airline - so be sure to fly as well as you can.
When selecting a Scheduled flight, however, you must select one of the routes available in the route network that All African Airways operates. This will expand over time, but the routes in this case may be limited to specific aircraft, days of the week and more. Each route will also only be available if the aircraft is at that airport, ready to operate that sector.
For example, if you wish to fly from Johannesburg (FAOR) to Cape Town (FACT) in a Boeing 737-800, but someone else has flown the last B738 away elsewhere, it will need to be flown back to FAOR before a B738 is available for departures out of Johannesburg again. This is similar to how it would of course be in the real world, an aircraft operating an outbound sector must naturally be flown on the return sector in order to get it back to base.
Cancelling Booked Flights
Please ensure that, when you book a flight, you fly it, and are off blocks within an hour or two of booking. If you need to cancel a flight because you can no longer fly it, please cancel the booking.
The Rating System
Now that you've booked a flight, you need to be aware of the Rating System within NewSky. Each flight is scored out of 10, with 10 being the best score. Newsky uses a very realistic and detailed rating system for grading flights, and at a broader level, pilots and airlines too. The rating system covers all phases of flight, from boarding to disembarkation, and the basics of the system are as follows:
| Configuration: | The aircraft you are operating must be configured correctly in line with the Flight Plan, ZFW, GW, TOW and your LAW must be within limits of the airframe limitations. |
|---|---|
| Basic Piloting Skills: | These include setting the correct Altimeter settings, and ensuring that you operate the aircraft safely and smoothly. You must not stall or overspeed the aircraft, or exceed the aircraft's G-force limitations, as this will incur significant penalties to the airline, and the pilot's score. |
| Lights: | All African Airways (and NewSky more broadly) require aircraft lights to be switched on at the correct times. NAV Lights must be switched on whenever there is any power to the aircraft. BEACON lights must be switched on whenever the aircraft is moving, or whenever any engines are on. STROBE lights must be on when crossing or entering any Runways, and LANDING Lights must be switched off above 10,000ft AGL. |
| Takeoff: | You need to set your Departure Time (Off Blocks) carefully in UTC. All African Airways Pilots (and NewSky generally) require you to be Off Blocks within 15 minutes of the time scheduled for departure, in order to avoid delay penalties. After takeoff, Landing Gear must be retracted within 15 seconds of a Positive Rate call. Tailstrike detection is monitored, as well as any centreline deviations. You need to also ensure you don't exceed any wind limitations like crosswind components. |
| Landing: | You need to configure the aircraft for Final Approach at the appropriate times. You must be fully configured (Flap and Gear set) before 500ft AGL, and fly a stable approach by 300ft AGL, or a Go Around is required. Upon touchdown, centreline deviation is monitored, as well as tail strikes, wind strikes, touchdown within the Touch Down Zone and more. |
| Vacating the Runway: | On High Speed Exits, ensure that your speed is below 50kts. On 90 Degree "Normal" Runway exits, please ensure that you speed is below 20kts. |
| Emergencies: | In the event of any emergency in flight, set the relevant transponder code and click the Emergency button in the NewSky app. This will protect you, and the airline, from any hit to the scores. It'll zero all revenue and penalties incurred, and your report will finalise with an Emergency code instead, so you can handle the emergency without worrying about any impact to your score. |
| Flight Cancellation: | if you need to cancel a flight for whatever reason after booking, please ensure that it is cancelled within 60 minutes of departure time, to avoid incurring a significant penalty to the airline. |
Logging Your Flight
Make sure that you start the flight within the NewSky client prior to boarding, by ensuring that you are at the correct airport, in the correct aircraft for the flight you have booked, before you click Start Flight. At the end of the flight, after parking, head back to the client and click End Flight to submit your Pilot Report.
Some flights will generate profit, some a slight loss - this is balanced across the entire airline. If you book and fly a full flight, then find it made a small loss do not worry! Other scheduled flights will be making significant profit to offset the less profitable routes.
Be prepared to learn, and grow
All of the above may seem to be rather complex and difficult. And yes, a lot of learning, and trial and error will be required before you'll get it right. That's what Flight Simulation is to us, it's more than a mere game, we're all here to grow, to learn and to ultimately enjoy our wonderful hobby.
And always remember that help is just a Discord call away, someone will always be happy and willing to assist you.