Bush Pilots Handbook

This handbook explains how to use FrontierWings as a pilot.

The Basic Flight Loop

Most FrontierWings sessions follow this loop:

1. Sign in to the FrontierWings website.
2. Open Missions.
3. Choose a mission from the board, a pending mission, a custom mission, or a tour leg.
4. Read the mission briefing.
5. Accept or activate the mission.
6. Start Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and load the right aircraft at the departure airfield.
7. Open the FrontierWings Windows client.
8. Sign in to the client and load your active mission.
9. Check the aircraft load.
10. Start tracking in the client.
11. Fly the mission in the simulator.
12. Land at the destination and come to a stable stop.
13. End flight tracking in the client.
14. Submit the PIREP.
15. Return to the website to review the result in your career log.

Before Your First Flight

Create Your Account

Use the website registration page to request access.

You will choose:

• your email address
• your pilot name
• your starting career mode
• your password
• required legal and early-access acknowledgements

Your pilot name does not need to be your real name. Pick something immersive and appropriate because it represents you inside FrontierWings.

After registering, confirm your email using the link FrontierWings sends you. Your trial starts when you confirm your email.

Sign In To The Website

After email confirmation, sign in with your email and password.

FrontierWings uses email two-factor verification for interactive web login. If asked for a code, check your email, enter the code, and continue.

You can use remember-me if you want the website to keep you signed in on that browser.

If you forget your password, use the password recovery link on the sign-in page and follow the email instructions.

Use Sign out from the account menu when you are finished on a shared computer.

Check Your Access

Open Billing from your account menu to see your current access state.

The billing page shows:

• whether your access is active
• your current plan
• trial or membership timing
• available membership actions

FrontierWings currently supports a 7-day trial after email confirmation, monthly membership, yearly membership, and a one-time lifetime supporter option.

If paid access is needed, choose a plan and continue through Stripe Checkout. Subscription management happens through the external Stripe billing portal from the Billing page.

If gameplay access expires, account pages remain available. If you already accepted a mission, FrontierWings is designed to let you finish that accepted flight rather than strand it halfway through.

The Website Navigation

After signing in, the main navigation includes the areas most pilots use:

• Missions: find, accept, split, activate, or review flight work
• Career: view achievements, reputation, rank progress, and validation history
• Leaderboard: compare pilot and company results
• account menu: profile, company, custom airfields, billing, downloads, and sign out

Some public pages, news posts, help pages, or download pages may also appear depending on site content.

Career Modes

FrontierWings has two personal flying styles: Freelance and Company.

You can switch between them from Profile.

Freelance Mode

Freelance mode is best when you want to choose your own departure and quickly find a mission board from there.

In freelance mode:

• you can pick the departure airfield on the mission board
• FrontierWings remembers your last freelance departure
• you can create custom cargo missions
• you are not tied to a home base

Company Mode

Company mode is best when you want route continuity.

In company mode:

• you choose a home airfield
• the board follows your last company-mode location
• assignments tend to keep your solo career centered around your operating area
• company credit can be awarded if you are also an active member of a pilot company

Company mode does not mean you must own aircraft, manage fleets, or run an airline. It is still a pilot-focused mission loop.

Finding A Mission

Open Missions to see the mission desk.

The mission desk has several views:

• Current: your active mission, if you have one
• Pending: saved mission remainders and custom missions waiting for activation
• Available: the generated mission board
• Custom: create a freelance cargo mission, available in freelance mode
• Tours: authored multi-leg routes

You can only have one active mission at a time.

Available Missions

The Available board is the normal place to pick a mission.

Mission cards show the work being offered, route, load, distance, and other dispatch details. Open a mission briefing before accepting so you understand the route and aircraft demands.

In freelance mode, choose a departure airfield first. You can search by ICAO, ident, or airfield name.

In company mode, the board follows your company-mode location and home-base continuity.

You can sort the board by:

• board default
• load
• distance

You can also choose ascending or descending order.

Land airfields are always included. If you want specialized route types, enable:

• Seaplane bases
• Heliports

Use Generate New Missions if you want a fresh board. Available missions are disposable board offers, so refreshing the board can replace them.

Mission Briefings

A mission briefing is your dispatch packet.

It may include:

• route summary
• distance
• estimated block time
• load
• operational risk
• suggested aircraft guidance
• operational notes
• departure and destination runway details
• route map
• weather panels
• airport classification and risk notes

Use the briefing to decide whether your chosen aircraft makes sense. FrontierWings does not force one specific aircraft, but payload, distance, surface, runway length, water operations, or heliport routing may make some aircraft unsuitable.

The route map and weather panels load only when requested. Map tiles and weather data may come from external providers when you choose to load them.

Accepting A Mission

If the mission is available and you do not already have an active mission, click Accept mission.

Once accepted:

• the mission becomes your current mission
• the Windows client can load it
• you should not accept another mission until this one is completed or canceled

If you change your mind before starting client tracking, you can usually cancel the mission from the website. If the client has already taken control of the mission, cancellation may need to happen in the Windows client.

Pending Missions And Mission Splitting

Pending missions are saved work on your virtual pilot desk (Pending tab).

They are different from available board offers. Pending missions stay until you activate, split, or delete them.

Why Split A Mission

Sometimes a mission load is too heavy for the aircraft you want to fly.

Mission splitting lets you reduce the current load and save the leftover amount as a pending mission for later.

For example, if a cargo job is too heavy for your aircraft, you can fly part of the load now and keep the remainder for another flight.

How To Split A Mission

Use the website, not the Windows client.

1. Open Missions.
2. Go to Current or Pending.
3. Open Split mission.
4. Enter the amount you can carry.
5. Choose pounds or kilograms.
6. Save the split.

The current or pending mission keeps the smaller amount. The remainder is saved in Pending.

Passenger missions can also be split, but passengers must remain whole people, we don't cut them into pieces. FrontierWings rounds split passenger loads to whole passengers.

You cannot split a mission after tracking has already started for that mission.

Activating A Pending Mission

Open Pending, choose the mission, and activate it when you do not already have a current mission.

Pending missions can also be deleted if you no longer want them. If a pending mission was created as a mission remainder, deleting it means you are intentionally discarding that saved work.

Custom Missions

In freelance mode, the Custom tab lets you create a simple cargo mission.

You choose:

• departure airfield
• destination airfield
• cargo amount
• pounds or kilograms

The custom mission is saved to Pending. It uses the normal mission flow after that: activate it, load it in the Windows client, fly it, submit it, and review the result.

Custom missions are useful when you want to fly a specific route instead of choosing from the generated board.

Mission Tours

Mission tours are authored multi-leg routes.

Open Missions, then Tours.

A tour page can show:

• tour title and description
• author information
• route map
• downloadable .pln flight plan
• total legs
• completed legs
• current or next leg
• cargo and distance per leg

Tours are flown one leg at a time. Completing a leg advances the tour. You can still fly other missions between tour legs.

To fly a tour:

1. Open the tour.
2. Review the route and legs.
3. Download the flight plan if you want to use it in MSFS.
4. Launch the next leg.
5. Fly and submit it through the normal Windows client process.
6. Return later for the next leg.

Completed legs remain counted even if you take a break from the tour.

Custom Airfields

Custom airfields are private addon airfields saved to your pilot account.

Use them when you fly from or to an addon airport that FrontierWings does not already know about.

Open Custom Airfields from the account menu.

For each custom airfield, FrontierWings needs:

• code or ident
• name
• coordinates
• elevation
• longest usable runway length
• runway surface
• whether it is a land airport, seaplane base, or heliport

Custom airfields can be used in normal mission workflows. Only you can see and use your custom airfields.

You can edit saved custom airfields. Deleting may be blocked if the airfield is tied to your home, current location, pending missions, active missions, or past mission history.

Flying With The Windows Client

The FrontierWings Windows client is the bridge between the website and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.

The website handles account, mission selection, career, company, and recognition features. The Windows client handles the actual tracked flight.

The Windows client can:

• sign in with email verification
• restore a saved session
• load your active mission
• show dispatch details
• generate a .pln flight plan file
• check aircraft load
• start tracking
• record flight telemetry
• detect landing and touchdown information
• submit the completed flight
• retry pending submissions if upload fails

Step 1: Prepare The Simulator

Before starting tracking:

1. Open Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
2. Choose the aircraft you want to fly.
3. Place the aircraft at the mission departure airfield.
4. Load fuel, passengers, or cargo as appropriate for the mission.
5. Keep the simulator running while you use the FrontierWings client.

FrontierWings does not manage aircraft ownership. You choose the aircraft, but it must be suitable for the mission.

Step 2: Sign In To The Windows Client

Open the FrontierWings Windows client.

Enter your email and password, then click Sign In.

The client sends an email verification code. Enter the code and click Verify Code.

If the client still has a valid saved session, it may restore your login automatically.

Step 3: Load The Active Mission

Click Load Active Mission.

If no mission is active, return to the website and accept or activate one.

If a mission loads, check the route, departure, destination, and dispatch load.

Step 4: Generate A Flight Plan If Wanted

Click Generate Flight Plan File if you want a .pln file for MSFS.

The client saves generated flight plans in the portable client folder under flight-plans/.

You can import that flight plan into Microsoft Flight Simulator if it helps with navigation.

Step 5: Check Aircraft Load

Click Check Aircraft Load.

The client compares the expected dispatch load with the detected aircraft load.

If the load is not acceptable, adjust the aircraft in the simulator and check again.

If the load passes, the client moves to Ready To Track.

Step 6: Start Tracking

When ready, click Start Tracking.

From this point, the client tracks the mission. Keep the client open while flying.

During tracking, the client shows useful flight information such as:

• aircraft
• route
• distance to go
• ground speed
• altitude
• heading
• touchdown information after landing

Step 7: Fly The Mission

Fly from the assigned departure to the assigned destination.

For a normal successful mission, FrontierWings expects:

• you start near the assigned origin
• you land near the assigned destination
• the flight includes a real airborne segment
• enough telemetry is recorded
• the client remains open while tracking
• the aircraft does not change mid-flight
• tracking is not interrupted by suspicious simulator state changes

Do not use slew, teleport, aircraft swapping, or other simulator actions that would make the flight invalid.

Step 8: Finish At The Destination

After landing at the assigned destination, come to a stable full stop.

When the client is ready, click End Flight Tracking.

The client prepares the completed flight summary.

Click Submit PIREP to send the result to FrontierWings.

After submission, the website validates the mission and updates your career if the flight is accepted.

Stopovers, Alternates, And Recovery

Bush flying does not always go perfectly. FrontierWings supports grounded stopovers and alternate endings.

Continue Later

Use Continue Later when you have flown a real leg, landed away from the destination, come to a stable full stop, and want to resume later.

This keeps the mission active. It does not submit a mission result yet.

Important rules:

• resume must happen on the same PC
• use the same aircraft
• start near the saved stop
• resume within 7 days
• no mid-air saving is supported

End At Alternate

Use End at Alternate when you decide the mission is over somewhere other than the planned destination. This might happen when you cannot land at the planned destination, e.g. due to weather.

End at Alternate finalizes the mission as failed, but valid airborne mission time will be preserved if FrontierWings recognizes the alternate airfield.

Your pilot location will also switch to the recognized alternate.

Closing The Client During A Flight

Do not close the client while tracking unless you intentionally want to lose the current leg.

If airborne, FrontierWings cannot save your mission in mid-air.

If on the ground away from the destination, wait until the aircraft is fully stopped and use Continue Later or End at Alternate if those buttons appear.

The client has crash recovery for landed checkpoints, but this is only for unexpected shutdowns. Treat it as a safety net, not a normal save system.

If Submission Fails

If upload fails, e.g. due to a problem with the website or internet connection, the client keeps a pending submission locally.

Use Recheck Connection when the connection is available again.

Do not discard a saved flight unless you are sure you no longer want to submit it.

You can close the client if HQ is not available and try to resubmit later:

Validation And Results

After submission, FrontierWings validates the completed flight.

A mission can be:

• completed and validated
• failed or rejected
• recorded with flight notes

Validation looks at practical mission requirements such as:

• starting near the assigned origin
• finishing near the assigned destination
• having a real airborne segment
• recording enough telemetry
• avoiding hard invalidating events (like cheating)

Some rough flying can still be accepted but will be recorded as notes. Examples may include firm landings or handling concerns. More serious issues can fail the mission.

Completed missions add valid logged flight time to your career. Rejected missions normally do not count as completed contracts, though recognized alternate diversions may preserve valid airborne time.

Career Page

Open Career to review your pilot history and progression.

The career page includes:

• pilot name and title
• rank or promotion progress
• company membership display, if applicable
• achievements
• awards
• reputation
• validation history

Achievements

The achievements view summarizes milestones and recognition from your flying history.

Achievements are meant to tell the story of your pilot career. They do not replace the main progression loop of flying valid mission time.

Awards And Notifications

FrontierWings includes monthly awards, special awards, and in-app notifications for recognition.

If you receive an award notification, follow it back to your career achievements view.

Validation History

The validation history tab shows completed and failed missions.

You can filter by:

• all outcomes
• completed
• failed
• date range

Each entry can show route, aircraft, distance flown, accepted time, resolved time, logged flight time, touchdown rate, validation reason, and flight notes.

Use this page when you want to understand why a mission passed or failed.

Reputation

Reputation is a recent-behavior readout, not a separate XP system.

It answers: what kind of pilot have you looked like lately?

FrontierWings currently shows three reputation dimensions:

• Reliability: whether you complete recent contracts successfully
• Care: whether passenger and medical flights are handled smoothly
• Fieldcraft: whether short-field or soft-surface flying is handled cleanly

Reputation uses a rolling window of recent resolved flights. Older flights naturally drop out as you keep flying.

Unproven is not a penalty. It simply means FrontierWings does not yet have enough recent flights in that category.

Reputation does not currently:

• change mission offers
• affect rank progression
• show a hidden score
• replace logged flight time

Public Achievements

From Profile, you can choose whether your achievements page is public.

If public achievements are enabled, FrontierWings gives you a public link you can share.

Visitors can see your achievements page, but not your private validation history.

If you prefer privacy, keep public achievements disabled.

Leaderboards And Statistics

Open Leaderboard to compare pilots or companies.

You can switch between:

• pilots
• companies

You can also choose the time period, such as this month, last 90 days, or all time when available.

Leaderboard sections may include:

• flights
• distance
• cargo
• flight time
• smoothest landing
• single-flight cargo
• favourite aircraft
• longest flight

Leaderboards are for recognition and comparison. They are not required to enjoy the main mission loop.

Pilot Companies

Pilot companies are a lightweight social and recognition feature.

They are not airline management, fleet ownership, messaging, or economy gameplay.

Companies can provide:

• company profile
• logo
• headquarter airfield
• description
• roster
• applications
• company flight credit
• company leaderboards

Company pages and company features are member-only surfaces.

Joining A Company

Open Company from the account menu, then browse companies.

Open a company page and click Apply to join.

Applications have no message field. Recruiting and discussion happen outside FrontierWings.

If your application is pending, you can see it in your company dashboard and withdraw it if needed.

Company owners can accept or reject applications.

Creating A Company

If you are not already in a company, you can create one from the company dashboard.

You choose:

• company name
• headquarter airfield
• description

The founder becomes the owner.

Owners can edit company profile information, upload a logo, review applications, transfer ownership, and delete the company if they are the only active member.

Logo uploads are limited to square JPG or WebP images, up to 400 x 400 pixels and 1 MB.

Descriptions allow simple formatting such as paragraphs, bold, italic, and lists. Links and images are removed.

How Company Credit Works

Company credit is awarded only when all of these are true:

• you are an active member of a company
• your personal career mode is Company
• the mission is accepted or activated while both conditions are true
• the mission is later resolved through the normal flight flow

Simply being in a company is not enough. If you fly in freelance mode, that mission is not credited to the company.

Company attribution is saved when the mission is accepted or activated. If you change companies later, old flights remain credited to the company they were flown for at the time.

Profile And Account Settings

Open Profile from the account menu.

The profile page shows:

• pilot name
• title
• email
• total flight time
• career mode
• company membership
• current field
• home field
• last freelance field
• last company field
• missions flown
• public achievements state

From profile you can:

• switch between freelance and company mode
• set or update your company-mode home airfield
• enable or disable public achievements
• change your password
• sign out all simulator clients
• permanently delete your account if the deletion form is available to your account

Signing out all simulator clients is mostly for troubleshooting, shared computers, or when you want all saved Windows client sessions revoked.

Permanent account deletion removes your account and related pilot data after explicit confirmation. Treat it as final.

Downloads And Member Pages

The account menu may include member-only content pages, such as Windows client downloads or other pilot resources.

Use the protected Windows client download when installing or updating the FrontierWings simulator client.

If you cannot see a download page, check that you are signed in and that your gameplay access is active.

Practical Flying Tips

Before accepting a mission:

• read the briefing
• check runway length and surface
• check payload
• check destination type, especially seaplane bases or heliports
• check weather if available
• decide whether your aircraft is suitable

Before starting tracking:

• load the simulator at the departure airfield
• use the same aircraft you intend to fly
• set fuel, passengers, and cargo sensibly
• run the client load check
• generate a flight plan if helpful

During the flight:

• keep the Windows client open
• avoid cheating like slew, teleporting, changing aircraft or payload
• fly the assigned route normally
• land at the assigned destination for normal completion

After landing:

• come to a stable full stop
• use End Flight Tracking at the destination
• use Continue Later only for a deliberate stopover
• use End at Alternate only when the mission is ending away from the destination
• submit the PIREP before starting another mission

What FrontierWings Does Not Do

FrontierWings is intentionally focused on pilot career flying.

It currently does not include:

• aircraft ownership
• aircraft purchasing
• aircraft maintenance
• fleet management
• airline economy simulation
• money or credits as the core progression loop
• shared active company missions
• company-owned mission boards
• built-in company messaging
• multi-simulator support
• weather-driven mission validation
• mid-air saving or mid-air resume

The main progression is still simple: fly valid missions, log flight time, build your pilot history, and earn recognition.

Quick Troubleshooting

The Windows Client Says No Active Mission

Return to the website, open Missions, and accept or activate a mission first.

I Cannot Accept A Mission

You probably already have a current mission, or your gameplay access is inactive. Finish or cancel the current mission, or check Billing.

I Cannot Cancel On The Website

If the mission is already handled by the client, cancel or finish it in the Windows client.

My Load Check Fails

Adjust aircraft load in the simulator, then use Check Load Again. If the mission is too heavy, cancel before tracking and split it on the website.

I Landed Away From The Destination

If you want to continue later, come to a full stop and use Continue Later.

If the mission is over, use End at Alternate.

My Submission Failed

Use Retry Submission when the connection is back. Use Keep For Later if you need to retry later.

My Mission Failed Validation

Open Career, then Validation History. The failed entry should explain the validation reason or notes.

My Public Achievements Are Not Visible

Open Profile, enable public achievements, and copy the public link from the profile page.