PIREP Approval Criteria

To maintain consistency and uphold standards, United Virtual Airlines (UVA) follows specific criteria for Pilot Report (PIREP) approval. Pilots are required to adhere to the following guidelines:

Simulation Rate:

  1. CRUISE Phase Time Acceleration:

    • Pilots may use any simulation rate (time acceleration) during the CRUISE phase only, from top-of-climb (TOC) to top-of-descent (TOD).
    • Time acceleration is strictly prohibited during taxi, take-off, climb, descent, approach, and landing.
  2. ATC Permission on VATSIM:

    • Pilots on VATSIM must receive permission from ATC before using time acceleration.
  3. Phases Jumping Prohibition:

    • Use of any feature allowing jumping between flight phases (e.g., to the next waypoint, top of descent, slewing) is strictly prohibited.

Landing Rate:

  1. Maximum Landing Rate:
    • Landing rate must not exceed -600 feet per minute (fpm).
    • Multiple touchdowns must not exceed -600 fpm each.

Routing:

  1. smartCARS Routing Requirement:
    • Routing must be entered in smartCARS.
    • Direct (airport to airport) routes are not permitted.

Flight Errors:

  1. Stalls, Overspeeds, Violations:
    • Stalls, overspeeds, and >250kts below 10,000 ft. MSL violations may lead to PIREP rejection, based on severity and/or duration.
    • MSFS2020/2024 users: note that using “Active Pause” registers as a stall; avoid using this feature during flight recording.

Fuel Guidelines:

  1. Minimum Fuel at Landing:

    • At landing, fuel must be more than 2000 lbs. for all passenger transport aircraft.
  2. Reserve Fuel:

    • Reserve fuel should be added before departure for emergency, holding, or unforeseen circumstances.
    • Using "Unlimited Fuel" option in any simulator is strictly prohibited.
    • In-flight refueling is NOT permitted and any PIREPs submitted with a logged inflight refueling will be rejected (at Hub Manager/Executive/Admin Staff discretion).

Staff:

  1. Discretionary Approval/Rejection:

    • Staff may approve or reject a PIREP at their discretion.
    • A reason for rejection will always be provided in the comments section.
    • Any administrative team member may overrule a rejection if found unnecessary.
    • Pireps of any staff member must be reviewed by a member of the executive or administrative team.
  2. Self-Approval Prohibition:

    • No staff member may accept their own PIREP. 

Diversions:

  1. Notation Requirement:
    • Pilots must note the diversion airport and reason in the “Comments” section of smartCARS if flight conditions are unsafe or in case of an emergency.

Slew Mode:

  1. Slew Mode Restriction:
    • PIREPs showing slew mode toggled on for more than 3 seconds after pushback completion will be rejected.

Double Dipping:

  1. Hours Accrual Limitation:
    • Accruing hours for another virtual airline during the same flight is strictly prohibited.
    • Violators may face PIREP rejection and possible disciplinary action by the Executive/Administration Team.

Airline & Aircraft Type Restrictions:

  1. General Requirements:
    • Pilots may fly any airline and aircraft type, considering fuel range, appropriate aircraft size for departure and arrival airports, and runway length.
    • Substituting aircraft is allowed, but pilots must leave a comment in the “Comments” section of smartCARS before PIREP submission.

Charter Operations:

  1. Charters Creation Limitation:
    • Charters (also known as Free Flights) can only be created for routes not already in the scheduling system.
    • Aircraft substitutions can be made through smartCARS, so charters/free flights should not be created solely for changing aircraft type.

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Revision #11
Created 24 January 2024 22:51:46 by UAL3 Zac P. | CTO
Updated 6 December 2024 23:14:24 by UAL1 Jay D. | CEO