A new addon that utilizes Hoppie for receiving ACARS messages is now in open beta. RealAcars is a free utility addon available on flightsim.to that allows for vital information to be sent to the airplane such as takeoff and landing reports, loadsheets, and even notifications regarding rocket launches and natural disasters.
For those that aren’t familiar with ACARS, ACARS stands for Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, which is a digital datalink system used for transmission of short messages, critical for managing flights efficiently. They’ve become the global standard due to their ability to quickly relay critical information without clogging up busy frequencies, ensuring that information is transmitted clearly and with all the pertinent information pilots need for the safe operation of their airplane.
RealAcars will rely on a Hoppie connection, which is a tool used by many of our favorite addons and can be set up here. While RealAcars can theoretically be used with any Hoppie-compatible aircraft, they’ve found that there have been some unfortunate incompatibilities. It’s compatible with the Fenix and FBW A320s, PMDG B777, TFDi MD-11, and Leonardo MD-80. It is however not compatible with iniBuilds A300 and still requires testing for the Horizon 787.
For some examples of what ACARS messages would look like, check out some of the screenshots below. We’ve also provided a feature list below for everything currently available. Note that future plans will include de-icing reports, fuel slips, and loadsheet timing, all using GSX.
Feature List
- Preliminary loadsheets
- Final loadsheets
- Takeoff report
- Landing report
- CONNEC schedule (airline’s connecting flights)
- Potential aircraft changes
- Next leg changes
- COMP related difficulties (issues related to operations)
- OBT log (confirming your off-block time)
- Rocket launches
- Natural disasters
- Funny messages
- Slot notifications (confirming origin, destination, EOBT, etc.)
- Special events (results of football matches for example)
