The standard
Standards & conduct
We fly like a real operation — and treat each other like a good crew. These are the essentials; the full Rules & Directives (RAD) live on the platform.
What we stand for
Four values, two sets of rules
VELA is a virtual airline: its flights take place in flight simulation, on the VATSIM network. The standards on this page apply to every pilot who flies under a VELA callsign, and the house rules to everyone in the VELA community.
Respect
Courtesy to everyone, whatever their rank, experience or background.
Realism
We fly the A320 the way it is flown in the real world.
Reliability
You fly your assigned rotations — the crew plan depends on you.
Real life first
Nobody is pressured to fly or be online.
Flight standards
How every flight is flown
The rules of the flight deck, from the plan on the table to the report after shutdown.
Fly by the book
SOPs, flows and stabilized approaches per FCOM — we fly the A320 the way it is flown in the real world.
Every leg is dispatched
No flight without a SimBrief OFP and an operational release from dispatch. You fly the plan you were released on.
Fly your roster
You bid for trips, fly your assigned rotations and report absences early — the crew plan depends on you.
VATSIM standards
The VATSIM Code of Conduct applies at all times, with clean ICAO phraseology on every frequency.
Study-level only
The A320 family in a study-level rendition — Fenix, ToLiss or FlyByWire — is the required equipment.
Close every flight
Every leg ends with a PIREP: fuel, times and remarks filed through vIFM into the flight archive.
VELA house rules
How we treat each other
The rules of the community: in the crew channels, on the platform and on the network.
Respect the crew.
Courtesy to everyone, whatever their rank, experience or background. No harassment, discrimination, hate speech or personal attacks.
Keep the tone constructive.
Criticism addresses the matter, never the person. Newcomers are welcome — there are no stupid questions. No sarcasm at others’ expense, no public pile-ons.
Right channel, right topic.
Operational channels stay on-topic; banter goes in #off-topic. Politics and religion are off-topic here. No recording voice chats without consent.
Fly honest.
No falsified flight data, OOOI times or logbook hours — on the platform or the network. Honest mistakes are never punished; only hiding them is.
Represent VELA well.
Under a VELA callsign on VATSIM: prepared, professional and courteous — especially when things go wrong.
No piracy.
No pirated or cracked sims, aircraft, scenery or navdata — and no “just asking where to find it.”
Keep internal content internal.
Manuals, briefings, liveries and platform data stay within VELA. Screenshots are fine as long as no credentials or others’ personal data are visible.
Your account is yours.
One person, one account. Never share your credentials.
Real life first
Family, work and health always come before VELA — nobody is pressured to fly or be online.
In practice
Moderation and consequences
Staff moderate to keep this space good; their call stands in the moment, with the complaint path open afterwards. Breaking these runs from a friendly word up to suspension or removal (RAD §9). By being here, you agree to the RAD. Welcome aboard.
VELA Airlines · Rules & Directives
Vocabulary
The terms, explained
The rules are written for crews. These are the terms they use, in the order they appear.
- SOP
- Standard operating procedures: the fixed way each phase of a flight is flown
- Flow
- A memorised sequence of cockpit actions, confirmed afterwards with a checklist
- Stabilized approach
- An approach that is on the correct path, at the correct speed and fully configured for landing by a set height
- FCOM
- Flight Crew Operating Manual, the manufacturer’s handbook for the aircraft
- OFP
- Operational flight plan with route, fuel and weather; SimBrief is the service that calculates it
- Operational release
- The dispatcher’s confirmation that a planned flight may depart
- Roster and rotation
- The monthly duty plan, and a chain of flights within it that starts and ends at base
- VATSIM
- The online network on which pilots and volunteer air traffic controllers share one simulated airspace
- ICAO phraseology
- The standard radio wording of international civil aviation
- Study-level
- A simulator aircraft that models the systems and procedures of the real one in depth
- PIREP
- Pilot report: the record of fuel, times and remarks filed after every flight
- vIFM
- VELA’s electronic flight bag for the iPad
- OOOI times
- Out, off, on, in: leaving the stand, taking off, landing and arriving on stand
- Navdata
- The navigation database of waypoints, airways and procedures an aircraft flies by
- RAD
- Rules & Directives: VELA’s complete rulebook, available to crew on the platform