Installing the Pilops Client

The Pilops Client is a small Windows app that runs next to Microsoft Flight Simulator. It watches your flight through SimConnect, from the gate to the gate, and sends the result to Pilops. Without it, nothing you fly in the simulator reaches your career.

Requirements

Windows. The client is Windows only.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or 2024, installed on the same PC.
An internet connection while you fly.

Download and install

In the Pilops web app, open Downloads in the menu and click Download Pilops Client.
Run the installer. It installs the app named Pilops.
Start it. The first screen says Verifying your client version, please wait.... If a newer version exists, the client downloads it right there, shows the progress and restarts itself to install it. You never need to download the installer again by hand.

Signing in

The client opens a login window the first time it starts. Use the same e-mail and password as on the website. After that, the client remembers you.

Once signed in, you land on the Preflight screen. It shows the flight you prepared on the website, with the aircraft and the load. If you have not prepared one yet it says You don't have any active flight right now. Plan the flight on the website first; see Planning a flight.

Connecting to the simulator

The client expects the simulator to be running and already loaded into a flight, not sitting on the main menu. The screen says: Open the flight simulator and start a flight with correct aircraft and current location.

When you are parked, with the aircraft stopped, click I'm ready to connect. The client then checks a few things and tells you exactly what is wrong if a check fails:

No instance of Flight Simulator was found. Please open Flight Simulator to proceed. The simulator is not running, or it is still on the menu.
You have selected a wrong aircraft, you must select the aircraft: … The aircraft loaded in the simulator does not match the one in your Pilops flight.
You need to start a free flight at airport: … or You are in a wrong airport: (…), you should start at … You are not at the origin airport of your Pilops flight. The client finds the airport from your position.
Your aircraft must be stopped to begin your flight. Set the parking brake and wait until the aircraft is fully still.

When every check passes, the flight is tracked. What happens from here, including the rules that cancel a flight, is covered in Your first flight and Pilops Client.

Finishing a flight

After landing, taxi to parking, stop completely and click Finish and save flight. The client refuses with Your aircraft must be stopped to finish your flight. if you are still rolling. It then shows SAVING FLIGHT, please wait and the result: profit, fees, experience, distance, fuel used and your landing data.

If saving fails because the connection dropped, the client keeps the flight and offers Try again. Do not close it until the flight is saved.

Troubleshooting

The client cannot find the simulator: Load into a flight first. On the main menu there is no SimConnect session to attach to. Then click I'm ready to connect again.

"Wrong aircraft" with an add-on aircraft: The client compares the aircraft's name reported by the simulator with the type in your Pilops flight. If a third-party add-on reports a very different name, the check fails. Try the default version of the same type, or plan the flight with the type that matches.

My flight was cancelled mid-flight: Slew, teleport, the MSFS replay, a sim rate other than 1x and fuel added inside the simulator all cancel the tracked flight. See Flight cancellation.

I want to start over: Reschedule flight on the connection screen takes you back to Preflight so you can reload the simulator and connect again.