MD80 virtual airlines?

[ComSimPilot 623]

Hi all,

The Maddog is without question one of the top add-on aircraft in Prepar3D. The Rotate MD88 for X-Plane is also a nice aircraft to fly. However the fact that real world operators have mostly retired the type (especially MD82s), and though searching historical data to find destinations, timetables and callsigns is a possibility, I would really like the idea of a system of virtual airlines (like flyuk.aero), where the MD80s fleet would re-live again in our virtual skies. 

Does anyone knows any well organized Virtual Airline that uses MD82s? It doesn't have to be necessarily a  real world operator VA, it could be also an imaginary one. 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Daedalus

[Raging Bull 23]

Historic Airline Grouo would be the place to look. 

Its a very simple VA but it caters mostly for the classics. A great place to go if you want to fly them - DC-10, 747-100/200, DC -3 etc etc etc. 

 

[TopGun33 124]

Hi,
At the Flying Tigers Group we have plenty of historic MD-80 routes to play with.

Quick list from memory, incomplete : TWA, Spanair, Reno Air, UsAir, Swiss air, Alitalia, Meridiana (Spanish affiliate also), AOM, Andes, Aerolineas Argentinas, JAS. Some airlines have several years in the database.

We are in the process of adding more Classics year-round.

As regular airline we also have Allegiant, Delta and American that fly the Doggo.

 

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

Delta Virtual.

I'd say any real world airlines which flies the MD-80, for which there is a Virtual Airline, would have the MD-80 in it's stable.

 

 

[avgaskoolaid 292]

Phoenix Virtual has all the current Delta, AA, and Allegiant MD-80 flights (substituting an MD-82 for an MD-88, for example, is allowed), as well as ones for very obscure airlines like Hewa Bora, Spanair, Air Uganda, and Cham Wings, some of which have since retired the MD-80. I just did a quick schedule search and came up with approximately 3,500 bookable flights of all MD-80 variants all across the world, all of which are either current real-world flights with real flight numbers and departure times, or were real world flights at one point in the past (some of the currently loaded schedules are a little old). 

The only sticking point is that there's a ranking system, and you need to have 100 hours in smaller regional aircraft before you can fly the MD-80 (I think they do hour transfers from other VAs though). I personally like this aspect of the VA but I can see why it might not work for your purposes. However, do note that after 25 hours flying small turboprops you are allowed to fly larger regional jets, including the 717, for the next 75 hours of the ranking. 

[ComSimPilot 623]

Thank you very much all for your replies! I'd certainly consider all your suggestions. I think the HAG and Flying Tigers would cover most of my needs as I would like to replicate European flights too, where there were many MD-82 operators. However many operators and routes are missing in either of them.

I still think though that a new virtual airline opearting MD-82s would be a great idea. It would be amazing to have all past MD-82 operators in one place. If someone has experience on setting up a VA I think it would get big interest. 

[TopGun33 124]

3 hours ago, Daedalus said:

Thank you very much all for your replies! I'd certainly consider all your suggestions. I think the HAG and Flying Tigers would cover most of my needs as I would like to replicate European flights too, where there were many MD-82 operators. However many operators and routes are missing in either of them.

I still think though that a new virtual airline opearting MD-82s would be a great idea. It would be amazing to have all past MD-82 operators in one place. If someone has experience on setting up a VA I think it would get big interest. 

This is exactly what we are trying to achieve at the FTG through our Classic section. But sometimes it is not worth having all the schedule of all the season and all the years into the database. For example Alitalia had a very static schedule throughout the 1990s so we don't need to get everything.

One problem is sourcing the timetables and the manpower needed to process the paper schedules. We usually buy them of eBay or other sites, then turn them manually into a giant Excel sheet that gives searchable schedules in our website. This costs time and some rare schedules are expansive.

It is also not only having the quantity but also the quality. Sometimes we manage to get some rare schedule, only to find out that the equipment used are not specified. This is the problem I am having right now with Jet'sGo schedule, so I am trying to figure it out another way.

If you join the FTG you will also be able to contribute to this gigantic database.

Feel free to PM me if you want more informations.

One last thing, here are two sets of screenshots I took during my Maddog flights. I hope you enjoy them.

http://flyingtigers.ipbhost.com/topic/63025-calivada-md-82-reno-air/

http://flyingtigers.ipbhost.com/topic/63003-twa-doggy-boston-to-saint-louis/

 

[ComSimPilot 623]

That's really great Guillaume! That's amazing ! Thank you very much for letting me know. I will certainly register and check out the schedules at FTG. It really helps if they are all in one place. I'm also very interested in adding more routes to the database based on printed available timetables on the net. I will PM you in case I have any more questions.

Also, your screens look beautiful ! I'm looking forward to recreating MD-82 historic flights like these 🙂

Edited September 18, 2018 by Daedalus

[Stijn 21]

Always welcome at Platinum Airways. We apply the Open Skies principle, which means you fly the mission of choice with the aircraft of choice at the time of choice. We have a solid flight offering, but you're free to follow it. 

[jamesgunn123 1]

 HAG and Flying Tigers are really great. Thanks all for recommendation.

[TopGun33 124]

On 9/18/2018 at 3:39 AM, Daedalus said:

That's really great Guillaume! That's amazing ! Thank you very much for letting me know. I will certainly register and check out the schedules at FTG. It really helps if they are all in one place. I'm also very interested in adding more routes to the database based on printed available timetables on the net. I will PM you in case I have any more questions.

Also, your screens look beautiful ! I'm looking forward to recreating MD-82 historic flights like these 🙂

Sorry I missed your message. Thank you for the kind words 🙂

[iNerdyBadger 0]

Hello!

Check out http://midwestva.com/ 

Midwest was one of the largest MD80 operators in the US. They flew an exclusively MD80 (and DC9 and 717) fleet for almost their entire existence. We have a multitude of different schedules in our flight system along with accurate gate assignments for every airport. If you get bored of the Maddog, we also offer the full midwest Connect fleet as well (CRJS, ERJs, Dorniers, B1900s) AND a couple of local cargo operators as well (C208s, BE99, EMB120)!

Hope you find what you are looking for!