Flight plan fields not well defined

[jonaseberle]

The flightplan format is rather unclear in some parts to me.
We consume it in QuteScoop, but I am sure other programs would benefit from a more stringent format and especially clearer advise for the filing pilots.

I am mainly referring to the data stream https://status.vatsim.net/status.json → data.v3[]

flightplan.deptime
The flightplan prefile form has the "departure time" field labelled "Off Block Time". I believe that has changed? I welcome to use SOBT there, but it is used inconsistently by pilots and understood inconsistently among ATC (when actually used during dense events).
Simbrief interpretes it as SOBT when using their prefile feature.

In the data stream it is still called flightplan.deptime.
In vPilot it is called "Departure Time" (I believe that was the former term used on the official flight plan prefile form, too).
xPilot does not have filing via the pilot client but leads pilots to the official web form (which is preferable IMHO because that actually allows VATSIM to add more guidance to the official web form).

So what is it? SOBT or STD? I think SOBT is a good idea operationally and also used in reality. Can we please bring the data stream field names in line with what we expect pilots to enter there?

flightplan.aircraft / flightplan.aircraft_faa / flightplan.aircraft_short
There's some magic that generates this from WTC/equipment. I would like to ask to expose the raw fields as well or document what happens there.

[kusterjs]

Maybe related to the mix of FAA and ICAO flight plan. For ICAO it's clear that the time is the declared EOBT, so the estimate the pilot provides for his off-block time. Default EuroScope and also plugins I know are also interpreting it exactly that way and don't mistake it for the estimated departure time.
However, I see that a lot of pilots seem not even to care about the value in this field. So they probably only file what was last in there. Some guidance in the form would definitely be appreciated.
Maybe someone familiar with FAA can shed some light on the meaning of this time when it comes to FAA flight plans.

[droesen]

Sorry to intervene here, but the flight plan depature time is EOBT, not SOBT - as @kusterjs stated. SOBT is the airport slot allocation as agreed upon between airline and slot coordinator for the airport. The ICAO FPL departure time is EOBT, what is generally (at least initially) the same time as SOBT.

Please do NOT name anything wrongly as SOBT when we're talking EOBT really, thanks. :-)

[williammck]

Looks like this is mostly answered by our new developer documentation: https://vatsim.dev/api/data-api/get-network-data

[jonaseberle]

Yes, I welcome that this is now documented.

Can you say something about the magic behind flightplan.aircraft / flightplan.aircraft_faa / flightplan.aircraft_short?

[williammck]

flight_plan.aircraft is the raw aircraft type as known by FSD. This can seemingly vary quite a bit, but usually is the full ICAO type designator, weight category, equipment code, and surveillance code. e.g. B78X/H-SDE1E2E3FGHIJ2J3J4J5M1RWXYZ/LB1D1
flight_plan.aircraft_faa is the FAA weight designator, ICAO type designator, and FAA equipment type. e.g. H/B78X/L
flight_plan.aircraft_short is just the ICAO type designator. e.g. B78X

[jonaseberle]

Thanks. That's what I have deducted, too.
curl --silent https://data.vatsim.net/v3/vatsim-data.json | jq -r '.pilots[].flight_plan.aircraft' really varies a lot.