Getting started
Your first evening at AirCrewCentral, from the entry quiz to your first report.
Getting started
AirCrewCentral is a virtual airline. You fly in your own flight simulator, then tell us what you flew. We keep the logbook, pay you, and hand you the next job.
Nothing here touches your simulator settings. Everything on this site is paperwork — the good kind.
What you need
- A flight simulator. Any of them. MSFS, X-Plane, P3D, FSX.
- An account on this site.
- Optionally, an ACARS program that files reports for you automatically. You can also type reports by hand.
That is the whole list. You do not need to buy anything, and you do not need to be good at landing yet.
Signing up
The registration page asks you questions before it lets you in. Basic flying knowledge — nothing you would need to revise for if you already fly. Answer them, pick your airline and your home base, and the account is yours.
If you get one wrong the page tells you and lets you try again. Nobody is counting attempts and nothing is held against you afterwards.
There is no waiting for approval. You are a pilot the moment you finish.
Your first evening
1. Open the Dashboard. First item under PRIVATE in the menu. Everything about you lives there: hours, rank, money, weather where you are parked. Each block is explained in Dashboard.
2. Go to the Academy. Menu → Academy. Start the AirCrewCentral Induction — it is free, it is the entry programme, and it is what unlocks everything else. Nineteen lessons you can read at your own pace, then an exam. Details in Academy.
3. Book a flight. Menu → Operation → Bookings. Pick something short for the first one — an hour is plenty. Booking reserves the aircraft so nobody else takes it.
You do not have to finish the induction before your first flight. But the induction's practical stage wants a real flight from you anyway, so doing both at once saves you an evening.
4. Fly it. In your simulator, from the departure airport to the arrival airport in the booking. Nobody is watching. There is no timer.
5. File the report. If you use ACARS it does this for you. By hand: Menu → Pilot Center → My Reports → new report.
That is one complete cycle. Everything else on the site is a variation on it.
What happens after you file
Your report goes to one of two places.
Accepted automatically — most reports, if your rank allows it. Money lands in your balance, hours go into your logbook, reputation moves.
Waiting for review — an administrator looks at it first. This is normal and not a complaint about your flying; it depends on a setting attached to your rank.
A report that is waiting has not been counted yet. If you are flying a contract, its deadline keeps running while the report waits. This matters more than it sounds — see Contract board.
Where the money comes from
Two places, and they are very different sizes.
Ordinary flights pay by the hour, at a rate set by your rank. A six-hour flight is worth a few hundred dollars.
Contracts pay for your hours, at a much better rate, and carry freight or passengers depending on what your airline flies. A single contract is worth several ordinary flights. This is the main reason to use the Contract board.
Full detail in Money.
The whole path, in order
This is what a pilot here actually does, from nothing to flying whatever they like. Nobody expects you to do it in one sitting.
| 1 | Answer the entry questions | /register |
| 2 | Read the dashboard | Menu → Dashboard |
| 3 | Induction — 19 lessons, exam, one flight, checkride | Menu → Academy |
| 4 | First flights, any route, any aircraft you are rated on | Operation → Bookings |
| 5 | Type rating for the aircraft you want | Menu → Academy |
| 6 | Contracts, for real money | Menu → Contracts |
| 7 | Rank and awards climb on their own | Ranks |
| 8 | A proficiency check once a year, per type | Menu → Academy |
What to read next
- Academy — induction, type ratings, who pays
- Dashboard — every block on your main screen
- Flying — booking, filing, and what the numbers mean
- Contract board — the freight and passenger jobs
- Ranks and awards — what you climb and what you collect
- Reputation — the 0–100 number and what moves it
