Aircraft
Manage individual aircraft registrations with optional overrides for capacities, SimBrief settings, and images.
Aircraft represent individual registrations within your fleet. Each aircraft belongs to a fleet and inherits its capacities, SimBrief settings, and image -but can override any of these when needed.
Accessing Aircraft Management
In Orwell, go to Fleet → Aircraft. You need the Manage Aircraft permission.
Aircraft Settings
General Tab
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Name | Display name (e.g., "B737-800 'Spirit of vAMSYS'") |
Registration | Aircraft registration code (e.g., "G-LUJA") |
SELCAL | Optional SELCAL code |
Fin Number | Optional tail/fin number |
Hex Code | Optional Mode S transponder hex code |
Fleet | Which fleet this aircraft belongs to (required) |
Passengers | Override fleet passenger capacity (leave empty to inherit) |
Freight | Override fleet cargo capacity in kg (leave empty to inherit) |
Container Units | Override fleet container count (leave empty to inherit) |
Internal Remarks | Staff-only notes, not visible to pilots. Shown as tooltip in aircraft list. |
Hide in Phoenix | Hides this aircraft from pilots (e.g., for maintenance) |
Capacity fields show the inherited fleet value as a placeholder. Only enter values if this aircraft differs from its fleet.
No Uniqueness Requirement
Aircraft registrations do not need to be unique. You can create the same registration (e.g., G-LUJA) multiple times, each assigned to a different fleet. This is useful for split fleet structures.
SimBrief Integration Tab
Override SimBrief settings for this specific aircraft. These take priority over fleet-level settings.
Available overrides match the fleet settings:
OFP Layout
Airframe Equipment (performance code, weight category, ETOPS, ICAO equipment)
Airframe Weights (OEW, MZFW, MTOW, MLW, max fuel)
Fuel Planning (contingency, reserve, minimum fuel values)
Performance (fuel factor, climb/cruise/descent profiles)
Only set overrides where this aircraft differs from its fleet. Empty fields inherit from the fleet.
Image Tab
Upload a custom image for this aircraft. This overrides both the fleet image and any Planespotters image.
Images are displayed in:
Pegasus during flight
Live Flight map when viewing flight details
Phoenix aircraft resource pages
Orwell aircraft management
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Aircraft Image | Upload image (recommended: 400x300 pixels, highly optimised) |
Author/Attribution | Required if image uploaded |
LinkBack | Optional URL to original image source |
Image Cascade
vAMSYS uses a three-tier image cascade:
Aircraft image - If set, always used
Fleet image - Used if no aircraft image
Planespotters - Automatic fallback based on registration lookup
The same cascade applies to image attribution and linkback.
Bulk Operations
Change Type
Reassign multiple aircraft to a different fleet:
Select aircraft using checkboxes
Click Change Type from the bulk actions menu
Choose the new fleet
Confirm the change
Inheritance from Fleet
Aircraft inherit settings from their assigned fleet:
Setting | Behaviour |
|---|---|
Capacities | Uses aircraft value if set, otherwise fleet value |
SimBrief settings | Aircraft overrides → Fleet settings → Airline defaults |
Image | Aircraft image → Fleet image → Planespotters |
Hide in Phoenix | Both fleet AND aircraft must be visible for pilots to see it |
Tips
Use internal remarks - Notes appear as tooltips in the aircraft list, helping staff identify aircraft quickly
Hide for maintenance - Use "Hide in Phoenix" to temporarily remove aircraft from bookings without deleting them
Override sparingly - Only set capacity or SimBrief overrides when an aircraft genuinely differs from its fleet
Favorites tracking - The aircraft list shows how many pilots have favourited each aircraft
Same registration in multiple fleets - You can create the same registration in different fleets for split operations
Related
Fleet Management - Aircraft type definitions that provide defaults
Aircraft Import/Export - Bulk aircraft management
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