WUS Open To All During Non-ATC Hours?

[Miniwebbs]

About a week ago I was watching SHTOOK's stream (he is a real world pilot that flies the bombardier challenger) and we were going to do a group flight and fly around the WUS area during non atc time. But I realised because I don't have to subscription that I couldn't join the group flight. Would there be any possibility in the future of removing the auto disconnect in the WUS area outside of ATC hours? This would be great for group flights and would make sense since we would not be recieving any ATC service which is what you are really paying for (apart from drones in the area). I completely respect that you must pay to fly in the WUS, but when their is no ATC during the offline hours it would great if it was accessible to all!

I messaged Kieth and he said it was a reasonable request and something that could potentially be added in the future!

This would be great because I quite enjoy bush flying and doing group bush flights around Idaho! But I don't get the same quality compared to flying on another network like vatsim as I won't be able to see any HD CSL's

So what do you guys think? Do you agree or disagree that the WUS expansion area should be open to all during non ATC hours?

[kullery]

I need to respectfully disagree with your suggestion. We all love to get something for nothing, but it ultimately means that someone else is bearing the cost for us. While it's easy to think that there are no costs when ATC service is not being provided, that ignores the fixed costs and development costs which Pilotedge incurred for WUS. By extension, this would also suggest that LAX should be open to non-subscribers during off hours.

If it could be rationalized that offering this area for free during non ATC hours would potentially encourage additional WUS subscribers, then I could see some merit to the idea. But if that is the goal, I think it would be a better idea to build on the success of the 2 week trial. WUS is open to those on trial memberships, but It might make sense to offer a limited WUS trial to existing LAX subscribers once they have been LAX subscribers for a certain period of time. This would recognize that a certain segment of users may not need or want WUS initially, however as their experience increases that could change.

[onevim]

I actually agree with kullery on this one. He actually wrote his argument up quite nicely, so I won't repeat it here. The only thing I would add is that the WUS drone traffic actually takes a lot of time/effort (aka money) to put together. As much as I'd like to get it for free during offline hours, when I put my "business" hat on, it doesn't make much sense. PilotEdge has a great burgeoning community, but at the end of the day, it's still a business; and it's a business that we'd all like to see around for a long time to come. If the WUS revenue allows Keith to improve and grow the service, I'd rather give him more money (not less). But, it's a great question nonetheless, miniwebbs, and one that I appreciate you asking because it spurs thought and great conversation on this forum. Thank you!! And keep 'em coming.

[Keith Smith]

This is an interesting topic and one that hasn't really come up before. I didn't know group flights outside of hours were a thing. I was leaning towards miniwebbs on this one (believe it or not), however there is a hitch.

Just this morning I had to open WUS early for a commercial customer. It doesn't happen often, granted, but it has happened in the past. It happened today. And, it will 100% happen again in the future. The moment I did that, it would've kicked off anyone within WUS who didn't have a subscription.

Even aside from that, what happens if the group flight isn't over by the time the network opens at its normal time? Those without subs will be unceremoniously kicked off as the electric fence is turned on again, even if they're flying into non-towered fields. This will not likely be perceived as a good customer experience.

Also, it blurs the lines from a product positioning and marketing standpoint when we outline what is included in each subscription. Right now, it's very clear and crisp. The change that's proposed would muddy those lines considerably and require explanation. I realize it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it actually is. There's strong evidence that muddy marketing really hurts in conversion rates, plain and simple.

Lastly, as I think it about it, it also marginalizes the value of the WUS subscription that people have paid for. I totally understand the nature of the request, and at the surface it does seem reasonable (as I said when you first posed it on the discord), but thinking it through in more detail, it's not looking so simple.

As a result, for the relatively few instances where this would actually benefit someone (ie, group flight in WUS outside of ATC hours) vs the marketing and support challenges that it poses for everyone, this won't be going ahead.

[Kilstorm]

There have been some nicely worded replies to the OP and an answer to the question from Keith. The only thing that was not mentioned was perhaps the idea of bringing back the pay per hour option available for after hour operations?! The idea would only have merit it there seems to be a demand for such request by a mass of users which I feel is not the case and it didnt interfere with the chance of more early commercial customers. The only reason why I bring it up is that I thought hourly service was once an option so the code to re-enable that might still be there.

[Ryan B]

Off topic, wish that guy would do a you tube channel flying that challenger... cool!

[Keith Smith]

The hourly option doesn't make financial sense. There's a reason that gyms don't generally have a per-visit or per-hour option. It's very hard for those options to co-exist with unlimited-use subscription options, short of charging hourly rates that quickly make them unattractive to any customers.

[MervA]

WUS open after hours for absolutely nothing (free), wonderful, put my name down I'll buy it.

Merv

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