What you need
- Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit);
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or 2024, or X-Plane 11 or 12;
- a free AACO Virtual pilot account.
1. Install
Download the ACARS from Pilot › ACARS and run the installer. If Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, click More info, then Run anyway: the installer is not yet signed with a paid certificate. You install it once: it then updates itself, never during a flight.
2. Sign in
Open the ACARS and sign in with the email and password of your AACO Virtual account. If you joined with Discord, choose Sign in with the browser and click Connect the ACARS on the page that opens. The ACARS stays signed in; you can sign a computer out at any time in Pilot › ACARS.
3. Prepare the flight
- Book a real flight in Schedules and plan it on SimBrief (SimBrief guide). The ACARS shows the booking as a boarding pass; Refresh on the pass imports your latest SimBrief plan.
- Load the booked aircraft type at a gate of the departure airport, engines off.
- Start your simulator: the ACARS connects to it by itself. The Ready for departure checklist next to the boarding pass checks the simulator, the aircraft type, your position, the fuel against the plan, the parking brake and the simulation rate.
4. Fly
Click Begin flight. Recording begins when you push back or start taxiing; your flight appears on the live map. The ACARS shows your vertical profile, altitude, speed, fuel, distance to go, estimated arrival and the story of the flight. Minimise it during the flight and a small pill stays on top of the simulator (windowed or borderless full screen); drag it anywhere, and click it to open the ACARS again.
5. Park and submit
At the gate, stop and shut down the engines (or click Close the flight if you keep them running). The ACARS shows your landing and the score worked out with the website's rules. Add a comment for the staff if you like and click Submit report. If you do not, the report files itself after 20 minutes or when you quit the ACARS. The report, with its details, is in your logbook.
Good to know
- Pausing is fine: paused time does not count in your hours. Slew mode and time acceleration make the flight invalid.
- If the simulator, the ACARS or your PC crashes, restart them: the flight resumes where it was (the ACARS saves it every 30 seconds).
- X-Plane: the ACARS uses X-Plane's built-in network data, no plugin needed. If it does not connect to X-Plane 12, check that incoming network connections are allowed in Settings › Network.
- How each flight is checked and scored is explained in How flights are scored.