Trial Update 1

• Updates to increase logging and visibility that the VATPAC OzBays Trial is underway. More updates to come as feedback is recieved, so please provide it via https://vatpac.org/helpdesk with anything you believe is important or informative!

Changes

• Live gate data now refreshes every 30 minutes instead of once an hour
• Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane now refresh live gate data across more hours of the day - Fixes edge cases of flights departing and arriving within 2 hours not being captured.
• Feedback is now directed to the VATPAC Helpdesk for the duration of the trial - https://vatpac.org/helpdesk
• Refreshed layout for the Airports list page
• CPDLC bay-assignment messages are only generated when actually being sent to a connected pilot, rather than for everyone.

Fixes

• A single real-world gate covering multiple OzBays stands (e.g., a regional airport like YBSU) is now matched correctly instead of being reported as unmatched. Allowing for future planned expansion.

Additions

• Flight History - Your dashboard now lists your completed flights, with the bay you parked at
• Flying Stats - Charts of the aircraft and airlines you've flown, plus network-wide stats on the home page
• Live Flight Progress - A progress bar showing distance flown and distance to go on your current flight

Changes

• New look for the dashboard and home page
• Real-world bays are only used when the real flight flew the same route as yours

Fixes

• Fixed first-time logins failing for new users

Additions

• Aircraft Icons - Aircraft on the live map now show an icon matching their size, from light aircraft up to the A380
• Real-World Bay Info - A ring around an aircraft on the map shows it has a real-world bay assignment: solid when that bay fits, dashed orange when it's too small for the aircraft being flown
• Over 100 more aircraft types are now recognised, including light aircraft, business jets, turboprops and military types

Changes

• The live map has a new look, with clearer flight and bay details when you click an aircraft
• Map times (ELT & EIBT) are now correct
• Helicopters / Fighters etc show with a helicopter icon and are marked as ignored by OzBays

Bay Assignment Logic

• Aircraft are now given their own airline's bays first, rather than another airline's terminal
• 747s and 777s can now use the same bays (TEMP for testing and may be reverted)
• Fixed some bays that couldn't be assigned because of unrecognised aircraft types

Additions

• Contributor Applications - Apply from your Dashboard to help maintain OzBays airport & bay data
• Bay Long Names - Bays now show their full name on the map and in bay messages, e.g. "Maroomba 1 (MB1)"

Changes

• Team Page now shows each member's name and Discord profile picture
• Live Bays (real-world gate data) now uses AirLabs - More reliable and usable
• Bay messages are now sent as a TELEX from the OZBAYS station on the Hoppie network
• Bay messages now show the assigned bay with its type, e.g. "ASSIGNED BAY: INTL, I8"

Bay Assignment Logic

• Real-world bays are only assigned if your aircraft will fit - the aircraft flying on VATSIM may differ from the real one
• Real-world gates now link to the correct bay (e.g. Melbourne gate C4 no longer links to B24)
• Bay conflicts are resolved immediately for aircraft within 5NM of the airport
• Operator bays can now be opened to all airlines, while still filling with their listed operators first
• Helicopters ignored in System
• Fixed bay reassignments failing for aircraft that had already landed

Additions

• Team Page - Shows all who work on OzBays behind the scenes

Changes

• Discord accounts are now synced to the OzBays system
• New Settings for Discord Announcements

Bay Assignment Logic

• When aircraft overfly an OzBays airport, bay info now gets unassigned when the pilot passes 200nm
• Fix bay logic to match slowly decreasing criteria until a match can be found

Additions

• Changelogs are now recorded on the website from V0.9.2
• News articles: Any important OzBays news will now be posted here
• Notifications: Currently only for news articles and manual sending (disable option via settings available)
• Error 404 & Error 500 - New and improved error messaging format

Changes

• new and improved UI based on modern design styles
• Map now a part of the website, not its own page - Changes to description and aircraft depiction
• System now tracks aircraft arrival data - Visibility and stats data will be available in the future.
• Arrivals Board has been updated with a new design - @BenAChilds

Bay Assignment Logic

• Live Flight Bay Assignments disabled due to cost overruns. Replacement has been found, and implementation will come in a future update

Other

• Numerous administrative changes

Public Changes

• Dashboard
  • New User Settings Option - Allows you to fine-tune your OzBays Experience (Hoppie Usage, Name Format etc)
  • Changes to where settings and discord linkage are

Bay Assignment Logic

• Resolved a cascade error that would result in no bay being assigned to an arrival aircraft.

Other

• YBBN Bay Type updates to support International Arrivals

Public Changes

• Live Statistics on the homepage. Shows the top 4 aerodromes by current bay occupancy & inbound aircraft.
• User Dashboard
  • Flight Information now shows for the user inbound to an OzBays Airport < 1500NM. Shows IRL Bay Info if available, as well as the assigned bay when assigned.

Bay Assignment Logic

• Freight Aircraft assigned correct Freight Bay (Based on Airline, Aircraft & Callsign Number information)
• Live Bay assignments based off AirLabs API. If a match for the Callsign and Airport exists in OzBays, the system will assign the real-world bay if it is available on VATSIM.

Other

• Numerous Backend Administrative Changes