CADS is Here!!!
As part of our 7th birthday celebrations today we unveil CADS, the Compass Automated Dispatch System. This system has been in closed development and testing for the past two and a half months and realises a long held dream for us to have a sophisticated flight generation system.
After many attempts to find a developer who could build us a sophisticated flight generation, PIREP and ACARS system we finally decided that the only option left to us was to throw caution to the wind and see what we could develop ourselves. The system has been undergoing behind the scenes testing by the management team, assisted by our Senior Captains.
At the heart of CADS is a database of all our flights, and a wealth of operational data on all the sectors we fly or are likely to fly and on the capabilities of our aircraft. The entry portal to the system is the current schedules page, in addition there is a link to CADS on the sidebar menu on every page. Here you will find a new form that allows you to search the schedules based on a variety of criteria. Once your search is made you will be presented with all the flights in the schedule that match.
This is where the real advance in CADS lies. Once you have selected your flight you then have the option of proceeding to the new automated dispatch system. To use the dispatch portion of the system you must be a registered Compass pilot and you will be required to enter your Compass Pilot ID and password, the same ones you use for the PIREP system. You then can confirm your flight details and the system will then assign you an aircraft from the fleet, give you the timings of the flight and generate realistic crew, passenger and cargo loads.It will give you the company preferred route, advise if a flex track is an option for your selected flight and even give you the remarks section for your flight plan. You can then print out a detailed dispatch sheet for reference during further flight planning and the system has had some basic smarts built into it so that two Compass pilots are not flying the same aircraft at the same time.
The system is now functional and useful, but we still hope to develop it further. We welcome your opinions as we try and make it even better. Please enjoy CADS, we think it will make your online flying experience with Compass even better. |
Our best year ever !
As 2008 draws to a close it's been a great one for our virtual airline.
We have seen a record number of new pilots this year, many who have gone on to fly a great many hours. We have celebrated our 7th birthday in a hobby where many do not last 7 weeks. We have seen a record number of hours flown, with 2 out of the last 3 months topping 1000 hours and we seem on track to do that again this month.
We now have a presence and a reputation amongst the online community that is second to none. The "Compass Cruise" team are to be congratulated on their efforts in stimulating online interest.
Our fleet has been updated and we now have paints for most of the currently popular add ons and a few more beside. A few more are to follow.
The big thing of the year was the launch of CADS, this rivals the dispatch systems seen in any other VA, it is one of the key features that set us apart. We are hoping to update it further in the coming 12 months to include Express and Logistics and also to have a live monitoring feature linked bck to the website.
Finally as well as the 1000 hour target this month there is another taget that is tantalisingly close. With one week to go of the year we have 7665 hours so far for the year.
With the holidays upon us we might with a bit of effort from all of us crack 8000 hours for the year.
And next year we can aim for 10,000!
Merry Christmas everyone. |
