Reserving an aircraft

A reservation holds an aircraft for you. Until the reservation ends, only you can lease it. No other pilot can move it, so it stays at its airport until you fly it. You can fly as many legs as you want in that period.

How to reserve an aircraft

• Open the aircraft page. Select the Reserve pill below the aircraft name. Then select Reserve for 24 hours. A Supporter first selects 24 or 72 hours.
• A reservation starts immediately. You cannot reserve an aircraft for a time in the future.
• You can hold one aircraft at a time.
• If you finish your flights before the reservation ends, open it and select End reservation early. Then other pilots can fly the aircraft.
• After you land, the flight-complete screen shows two buttons. To fly the next leg now, select Lease again. To fly the aircraft later, select Reserve. See The 30-minute rule after a lease.

How many reservations you get

The allowance is for each 30 days, from the date of each reservation.

• All pilots: 1 reservation of 24 hours.
• Supporters: 2 reservations of 72 hours, and also the 24-hour reservation that all pilots get. Select 24 or 72 hours when you reserve. After a reservation ends, wait 24 hours before you reserve the same aircraft again.
• Patrons: unlimited 24-hour reservations on the aircraft you patron. They do not use your other allowance. (General-aviation aircraft can be reserved indefinitely. See Patron lock for more info.)

The 30-minute rule after a lease

• For 30 minutes after a lease ends, the pilot of that lease can lease the aircraft and fly it again, including when other pilots are in the queue. This lets the current pilot complete their planned legs with no interruption.
• If no pilot is in the queue when the lease ends, the current pilot can reserve the aircraft immediately. The reservations of other pilots start when the 30 minutes end, if the current pilot does not lease the aircraft again. The pill shows the time that remains, for example Reserve in 12m.
• If pilots are in the queue, and the current pilot does not lease the aircraft again in 30 minutes, the first pilot in the queue gets the reservation.
• If pilots are in the queue, nobody but the current pilot can lease the aircraft in those 30 minutes. If no pilot is in the queue, other pilots can lease it and fly it.

The queue

Each pilot can join the queue of an aircraft at any time, including the pilot who flies it now. When the aircraft is free, the first pilot in the queue gets a reservation automatically.

• The aircraft is free when nobody holds it or leases it, and its last lease ended 30 minutes ago or more. See The 30-minute rule after a lease.
• Select a condition when you join: only at the current airport, nearby (a distance from 1 to 500 nm), or anywhere.
• The order is the time that each pilot joined: first come, first served. Tailstrike does not show your position in the queue.
• If the aircraft is not at a place that your condition accepts, or you cannot reserve at that time, your reservation is skipped and it does not count against your allowance.
• When your reservation starts, you get a notification.
• A queue entry ends after 14 days.

Rolling reservation (patrons)

The patron of an airliner, or of a different aircraft that is not general aviation, can turn on a rolling reservation. It holds the aircraft for you while you continue to fly it.

• Turn it on from the Rolling reservation pill on the aircraft page.
• The aircraft stays reserved while you fly it, and for 2 days after the end of your last completed flight on it. If you stop flying it, the aircraft becomes available again. When you fly it again, the reservation starts again.
• One time in each 30 days, select Extend 3 days to hold it for 3 more days.
• A rolling reservation is your one held aircraft. Turn it off to reserve a different aircraft.
• It ends when your patronage ends.

A patron of a general-aviation aircraft uses the patron lock instead. See Patron an aircraft.

Aircraft that you cannot reserve

• Rare and heritage aircraft.
• General-aviation aircraft that have a patron.
• Aircraft that a mission uses.