Open Flights
Open Flights let you invite other Canada Air Virtual pilots to fly one of your dispatched flights with you. Pick a departure time, and pilots can join from the CAVacars 2 app or straight from Discord. When the time comes, everyone hops into a voice channel and departs together.
What you need
- The latest version of CAVacars 2
- Your Discord linked to your pilot account. Link it from your profile on the website. You'll also earn an award for it. Hosting requires a linked Discord, and so does joining from Discord.
Hosting an open flight
- Dispatch a flight as normal (a schedule, tour leg or charter).
- Open the Dispatched screen and click Open next to the flight.
- Choose:
- Departure time. Any time in the next 48 hours. The time you enter is your local time; the dialog also shows it in UTC.
- Voice channel. The default is a new temporary channel, which the bot creates for you. You can pick an existing channel instead.
- Note (optional), for example "relaxed pace, all welcome".
- Click Open flight.
Your flight is posted immediately in the #open-flights channel on Discord and appears on the Open Flights screen in CAVacars 2. You can host up to two open flights at a time.
Event flights and ferry flights can't be opened. Events already have their own group flight, and ferry legs have their own rules.
To call it off, go to Open Flights and click Cancel open flight. Your own dispatch stays, and pilots who already joined keep theirs.
Joining an open flight
In CAVacars 2
- Open the Open Flights screen.
- Click Join on a flight, choose your aircraft (the host's aircraft is suggested, but you can fly something else), and confirm.
In Discord
- Find the flight in #open-flights.
- Press Join flight.
Either way, the flight is added to your Dispatched flights, ready to fly. To back out, use Leave (in the app or in Discord). That also removes the dispatch.
You don't have to fly exactly at the departure time, but the group leaves then, so being ready in time is the point.
What happens and when
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| You open the flight | It's posted in #open-flights and listed in the app |
| 30 minutes before departure | A temporary voice channel is created (unless the host chose an existing one), and the post shows it |
| 15 minutes before departure | The host and everyone who joined get a reminder ping |
| Departure time | Fly together! |
| 30+ minutes after departure | The temporary voice channel is removed once it's empty |
| 60 minutes after departure | The open flight closes and the Discord post is marked closed |
If the host deletes their dispatch, the open flight is cancelled automatically.
The Flight Lead award
Host an open flight that at least one other pilot also completes, and you'll earn the Flight Lead award.
Troubleshooting
"Link your Discord account before hosting." Link your Discord from your profile on the website, then try again.
I don't see the Open button. It only appears on flights that are not in progress and are not event or ferry flights.
Where's the voice channel? Temporary channels appear 30 minutes before departure. The post in #open-flights updates with a link when it's created.
The times look different in Discord and in the app. Both show the same moment. Discord shows the time in each person's own time zone, and the app uses your display time zone.
I joined but the flight doesn't show in Dispatched. Refresh the Dispatched screen. If it still isn't there, try joining again, and ask in Discord if the problem continues.