I am a very happy UT customer, and have recently downloaded (but not yet purchased) the Spring UT Schedule.Question, is it worth it? I know that sounds cheesy for only $5.95, but do you guys see an improvement on the winter schedules?What if any enhancements come with the schedule, or is it simply a re-shuffling of the flight plans.I like the "realism" of UT based on real schedules, because it shows accurate placement of liveries at their locations. But if it simply re-orders the flights, I'm not sure if it is worth if FOR ME.I understand it is optional and many will believe it is worthwhile, but I would like some people who could compare and contrast and tell me if spring is a significant improvement over winter.Thanks in advance.

Anyone using Ultimate Traffic have any experience with the Spring schedules? Are they "better" than the Winter? If so, How so?

It has been well worth it for me. It adds a lot of new flights to the schedules. There are many (see the UT forum), but for example, Southwest now flies into Philly. Also, the new Ted airline has flights as well. Of course, you could add all these in yourself manually... but for the price I think that the value is well worth it, based on the amount of work that went into it.

Thanks, I had been wondering about this myself.

I've been using them - the improvements are in terms of data quality and accuracy. There a list of all the airlines included on the ultimate traffic page, I believe - as well at the date that the schedule is accurate for. For me, it seems to include many more flights as well - the size of the compiled .bgl is significantly larger (was 30megs-ish, now it's over 50megs). Additionally, colgan flies between my hometown airport (KLEB) and LaGuardia a couple of times a day during the week, and UT's spring schedule has it precisely, to the point where I was flying the sim on friday evening, got ATC to hold me for a beech 1900 on final, and while I was sitting on the taxiway, I heard the "real" colgan flight out the window, flying overhead on its approach to 25 (my home is right beneath) - that was very cool.I think that the primary value is in accuracy - if you want to see the real world schedules updated, it's worth the few dollars. There's also a value in that it seems to add many more flights, particularly overseas - or so I've heard...I rarely have time to fly around europe, I stick to what I know ;). However, if you don't care about accuracy, and usually fly with the AI turned down to 30% or something to keep frames acceptable, it won't add much to your experience...Best,sg

what about more cargo plans? Like accurate fed-ex and UPS flights as well as Northwest Cargo, etc? it seems like cargo is definately lacking in the winter schedule update... does spring add some more cargo? thanks!

I know that they added a FedEx MD-11, but I'm not sure about cargo schedules. You can look in the UT forums, but I am fairly sure that cargo schedules are rather hard to get, so many of the routes are just not there. Anyway I found this thread which talks about the new a/c:http://dcforum.simforums.com/dcforum/DCForumID4/604.html

If you're a schedule-junkie like me, I want to know what routes United Airlines and others are doing NOW, just like I want my weather accurate to NOW! The latest spring schedule now has United's TED and Delta's Song! so.... it's all taste in the end, but it's what adds the ambiance for flight simming that I came into this hobby for in the first place and finally, some 23+ years later, here it is, significantly accurate simulation of the commerical flying world! (if only FS10+ will get a better ATC engine!......but I digress)Randy Jura, KPDX

Good point about the cargo schedules. But how about just generic schedules instead? i've yet to see any cargo carriers besides fed ex, ups and dhl

Well, FWIW:Here's some data I've generated from my UT install:A PDF of the Map of same:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/77367.jpgA PDF of the [link:cobweb.dartmouth.edu/~gridlock/United Parcel Service TimeTable.pdf]UPS timetableMaps of same:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/77368.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/77369.jpgUPS seems to have gotten a bit more attention! Hope that solves that.Best,sg

Unfortunately none to KBFM in Mobile, AL where they are quite often (both FedEX and UPS).

I would bet that cargo carriers have flight's to and from their respective hubs that are more or less scheduled, and those are in there. The other flights are probably "on demand", even if demand in 99%, which are not...I'm impressed though - fly at night, a lot of the traffic calls on the comm are cargo carriers. The time is right!Best,sg

Whats about the european scheduled charter flights, which were badly neglected if not to say ignored in previous UT versions? In the real world these regular scheduled charter flights make up to 50 % of european traffic during the summer months, in many regions even up to 90 %.So as long as these flights are not included in UT, this programme is by far not "as real as it gets" and I won't upgrade, even if its for only US$ 5,95.Wolfgang

I noted that there are real-world cargo carriers of not-so-familiar names that sub-contract to UPS, USPS, and others. These are listed in the 2nd Edition of North American Airlines Handbook compiled by Airways Magazine. I have not dl'd the new UT schedules yet, but it will be interesting to see if they are in there and compare airline/parking codes (that is to see what airline code is used for the subcontract flights). One exists primarily for USPS service.