Help centre · For pilots

Linked shared cockpit

On a shared cockpit flight, the Vaeroly app (ACARS) can link your simulator and your co-pilot's into one aircraft. Switches, levers and controls stay the same in both sims, and you can pass the flying between you. You need no other sync app.

What you need

A co-pilot on the booking. See Get a co-pilot below.
Both pilots signed in to the newest Vaeroly app. Both pilots need ACARS 2.8.97 or newer to link.
The same simulator and the same aircraft on both computers. MSFS runs on Windows only; X-Plane links across Windows, Mac and Linux. MSFS can't link with X-Plane.
Both aircraft at the same gate, before engine start.

Get a co-pilot

There are three ways. Your co-pilot must fly for the same airline.

When you book: pick a Shared cockpit co-pilot on the booking page. They press Accept (see Booking a flight).
Invite from the app: on the Flight page of your booked flight, press Invite a pilot, then type a name or pilot number. They accept in their Vaeroly app or on the crew centre.
Share a code: press Share a code and send the code or link to your co-pilot, on Discord for example. They type it in their Vaeroly app (Join with a code, on the page with no flight) or open the link and press Join as co-pilot. That's their yes. A code works for up to 30 minutes.

Connect

Both pilots open the Vaeroly app and load the flight. A Cockpit tab appears in the side menu, only on a shared cockpit flight.
Both pilots press Connect on the Cockpit tab.
The line at the top turns green and says Connected, with the delay to your co-pilot. If it says Not the same cockpit, it names what differs (simulator, aircraft, aircraft version or flight plan): fix that and press Connect again. If it says the switch list differs, press Disconnect, then Connect, on both computers.

The two apps connect straight to each other when your networks allow it. The Link card then says Path: Direct, computer to computer, which has the shortest delay. If they can't, they go Through Vaeroly. Either way it switches by itself.

When you connect, the following sim takes the flying sim's fuel and payload, so both aircraft weigh the same. While you're connected, a green Cockpit light shows in the top bar on every page. Press it to open the tab.

Who is flying

The tab shows both seats. One pilot is Pilot flying: their sim flies the aircraft, and their yoke, rudder, throttles and brakes are the ones that count. The other is Pilot monitoring, and their sim follows. The captain starts as pilot flying.

To fly, press Take controls. Your co-pilot sees the request on whatever page they are on and presses Hand over controls.
To give the flying away, press Hand over controls. Your co-pilot presses Take controls.

The controls only move when the engines are in the same state in both sims. Your throttles must also be near the aircraft's: if they aren't, the app tells you where to move them. When your co-pilot starts the engines, the app starts yours too, so you can take over at any time. Mixture and propeller levers stay the same in both sims.

Either pilot can flip any switch on the list, and the other sim follows. For study-level aircraft, the platform team adds the aircraft's own switches to the list.

Above 400 ms of delay, hand-flying can feel late. The autopilot isn't affected.

Time, weather and pause

Your sim takes the flying sim's time of day and sim rate. When one pilot pauses, both sims pause, and the tab says Both sims are paused. If the weather differs, the Link card says so: use live weather on both, or the same preset. If a switch stays different, press Sync again. The app also does it by itself.

Someone watching

Your airline's staff can watch a shared cockpit flight from the instructor seat, for training or a check. Both pilots see Name is watching at the top of every page, with Remove. A watcher can't change anything in your cockpit. Staff find Watch cockpit on the Map page, on the Live tab. Their sim follows your aircraft, so they can't fly their own flight while they watch.

Other tools

Only one of you connects to VATSIM or IVAO with the flight's callsign. Either of you can: the flight counts as online.
Only one of you logs on to CPDLC (Hoppie) in the aircraft. Otherwise each message reaches only one of you.
Run AI ATC on one computer only.
The pilot flying runs GSX and other ground services.
Close any other shared cockpit or sync app before you press Connect.
Talk on Discord or your usual voice app. The Vaeroly app has no voice.

Recording and the PIREP

Only the captain's Vaeroly app records the flight and files the PIREP, as on every shared flight. When the first officer is flying, the captain's app records their flight, so the landing rate and the rest come out as usual. The flight log notes who was flying at each moment.

If the link drops

The flying sim flies on. The following sim stops following and pauses where it is. The app reconnects by itself, remembers who was flying, and the following sim carries on by itself. To fly on alone, press Disconnect: your sim is unpaused and the flight carries on.