I bought a career add-on called Fly the Line - Short Haul Edition last night after watching a couple YT videos. The software really focuses on the pilot and is not focused on building up your own airline, unlocking planes, etc. like many do. You can fly pretty much anything in your hangar, and it rates your on-time and landing performance, among other factors. It is a one-time purchase, which is nice. The latest version allows you to start at KDEN, fly to KLAX, and then instead of the next leg being KLAX back to KDEN you can set an option to allow for flights that then bounce to other airports. So KDEN to KLAX, then KLAX to KSFO, etc. This was not available at the time the videos below were created. I don't mind the UI, and although it isn't the greatest, I don't think it would be a reason not to get this add-on. I need different flights to take, and work on my skills, so this seems a pretty good fit - for me. The developer appears to be very responsive to ideas, so we will see how this goes. 

 

 

 

 

Just Flight - Fly the Line - Short Haul Edition

Edited March 20Mar 20 by RobJC

I have this and use it and APLv2 as i want... both are good and rate performance in many areas....

Im sure you'll enjoy it!

One thing I was concerned about was how was it going to play with BATC, since the schedule FTL sets changes the date and time in MSFS 2024. The good news is there is an option to not change your sim date/time settings, so this should play well with BATC. I am going to use the Fenix for this, so I installed GSX Pro, since they appear to play well together. I set my home airport to be KDEN, so on day one my first flight is from KDEN to KSMF. My second flight of the day is from KSMF to KSFO. On day two I have a 3 hour 10 minute commute to KDFW, where I will be flying to KMKE on the first leg, finishing day two flying to KSTL. On day three I am flying from KSTL to KMEM, finishing day three flying from KMEM to KMCI. 

So this is going to take me to some places I would never fly. You can set the minimum runway length, which eliminates your schedule including airports you can't really fly in or out of. 

The UI is pretty small, but I expect that to be addressed in a future update. But a few major issues people have had at launch have already been addressed, so I am liking this so far. 

Edited March 20Mar 20 by RobJC

Well the GSX experiment lasted exactly one flight. Simbrief said to add about 5300Kg of fuel. GSX added almost nothing (charged $18). If i hadn’t of caught it i would have run out of fuel, ruining the whole flight. Second time i tried it, refueling was instant, but it did add the right fuel amount. I am done with this add-on. I will just use the built in Fenix loader. 

Okay did my first flight with FTL. I like it. Flew into KORD from KDEN and changed my airline to UAL. I did this because Denver is a key hub for United, giving me a lot more flight options. Some of the things I like...

1. Like any career add-on it gives you something to do. But this focuses on you and not building an airline empire. 

2. I am not flying the same legs over and over, but after a few flights it does get you back to your home airport.

3. The performance ratings are pretty good imo, and FTL stresses being on time. It is just another aspect that adds to that feeling of trying to be a good pilot. 

4. It creates the simbrief flight plan for you, and the whole thing is pretty easy. FTL is pretty easy to integrate into my workflow without it taking too much focus. 

5. It prompts you to enter the arrival runway so it can grade your landing. I didn't do great my first landing, but my first flight was a 76/100 so I guess I passed. 

6. You get emails from your team before takeoff and after landing, and these are very custom for the flight, and they do provide useful information before and after your flight. 

Overall, I really like it. FTL is a lightweight career add-on. It doesn't get in your way, and it isn't airline tycoon. But it definitely adds to the overall experience and helps you focus on being a better pilot. 

54 minutes ago, RobJC said:

Okay did my first flight with FTL. I like it. Flew into KORD from KDEN and changed my airline to UAL. I did this because Denver is a key hub for United, giving me a lot more flight options. Some of the things I like...

1. Like any career add-on it gives you something to do. But this focuses on you and not building an airline empire. 

2. I am not flying the same legs over and over, but after a few flights it does get you back to your home airport.

3. The performance ratings are pretty good imo, and FTL stresses being on time. It is just another aspect that adds to that feeling of trying to be a good pilot. 

4. It creates the simbrief flight plan for you, and the whole thing is pretty easy. FTL is pretty easy to integrate into my workflow without it taking too much focus. 

5. It prompts you to enter the arrival runway so it can grade your landing. I didn't do great my first landing, but my first flight was a 76/100 so I guess I passed. 

6. You get emails from your team before takeoff and after landing, and these are very custom for the flight, and they do provide useful information before and after your flight. 

Overall, I really like it. FTL is a lightweight career add-on. It doesn't get in your way, and it isn't airline tycoon. But it definitely adds to the overall experience and helps you focus on being a better pilot. 

Spot on 🙂

So, I too just bought this and kind of like it. Not perfect, but what is LOL! But are we a small group enjoying this? Not seeing a lot of chatter and it has been out for 9 months. Just hoping it is not going to just fade away....

1 hour ago, lehbird said:

So, I too just bought this and kind of like it. Not perfect, but what is LOL! But are we a small group enjoying this? Not seeing a lot of chatter and it has been out for 9 months. Just hoping it is not going to just fade away....

The developer seems to be active, so hopefully FTL improves over time. But even if we got no more updates, I don’t really see anything glaring that needs fixing.

I have 4 flights with it so far, and it answers the burning question…where am I flying from/to today? I also like that it rates my performance, and keeps me focused on on-time performance. I am focusing on the Fenix A320, and the flight variation is helping. I am getting better at changing runways and approaches before descent, which I was fumbling with previously.

Right now I fly for United (Denver hub). My flights so far have been…

KDEN > KORD

KORD > KSTL

KSTL > KIAH

KIAH > KSTL

I had a “commute” to KLAX. My next flight is…

KLAX > KDEN

 

Edited March 28Mar 28 by RobJC

6 minutes ago, RobJC said:

The developer seems to be active, so hopefully FTL improves over time. But even if we got no more updates, I don’t really see anything glaring that needs fixing.

I have 4 flights with it so far, and it answers the burning question…where am I flying from/to today? I also like that it rates my performance, and keeps me focused on on-time performance. I am focusing on the Fenix A320, and the flight variation is helping. I am getting better at changing runways and approaches before descent, which I was fumbling with previously.

Right now I fly for United (Denver hub). My flights so far have been…

KDEN > KORD

KORD > KSTL

KSTL > KIAH

KIAH > KSTL

I had a “commute” to KLAX. My next flight is…

KLAX > KDEN

 

Thanks. I am still trying to figure out the scoring. I get scores in the high 70's low 80's with no negatives or guidance on what I am doing wrong.

1 minute ago, lehbird said:

Thanks. I am still trying to figure out the scoring. I get scores in the high 70's low 80's with no negatives or guidance on what I am doing wrong.

You should get a recap email from the big boss occasionally, so that should give you some insight. I am in the 90s now and I need to work on better landings. I was deviating too much from the centerline on takeoff, but i tightened that up. That was hurting my score previously. 

Maybe post your log so people can chime in. 

Btw, when the United / Denver hub gets boring you can easily change airlines and/or hub without starting a new career. I like that. 

3 minutes ago, RobJC said:

Btw, when the United / Denver hub gets boring you can easily change airlines and/or hub without starting a new career. I like that. 

Thanks, I did figure that one out!

One thing that does bother me is that I can't fly in real time. In other words, if it is 7:00 PM in the real world, I want to fly at 7:00 PM, not some preassigned time. But I guess that is not possible. 

2 hours ago, lehbird said:

I can't fly in real time.

This has always been a bug bare for me as well... if you change your time in the sim to real time then you get pinged for being late or early..

Apparently, you'll see in your generated schedule, that your weekly assignments are either earlies or lates or day time... so the program is expecting you to follow that logic...

For me though, i like to fly in the daytime to see my scenery that i bought! LOL... so as no solution that i could see, i switched back to APL2 for a bit... ill probably return to FTL but not until they make it easier to change the time (theres a good to fair chance there is a way but haven't discovered it yet!)

5 hours ago, lehbird said:

One thing that does bother me is that I can't fly in real time. In other words, if it is 7:00 PM in the real world, I want to fly at 7:00 PM, not some preassigned time. But I guess that is not possible. 

There is an option not to change sim time. Then just refresh simbrief departure time and it works fine.