Fellow simmers and pilots- if you keep up with Angle of Attack on a regular basis, you will have noticed that we’ve been a bit quiet recently. There’s good reason for that, and in this article, I’ll share some exciting new features that are coming to your training experience. In other words, we’ve been busy at work- not ignoring you, we promise.
First, why the need for a major change?
Over the past several months, and to a small extent over the past several years, we’ve really wanted to offer more depth to our training. So far we’ve largely offered video training, which to this day and in the future will be our mainstay medium for training. We believe video is still a powerful learning tool, and that is only continuing to grow in today’s internet revolution.
Regardless of the fact that we produce award winning video training, there is a lot more we can do. There is a greater depth to our training that we’d really like to reach.
So we’ve been brainstorming. A LOT of brainstorming. We’ve gathered together a lot of the feedback we’ve received over the past months and years to come up with an enhanced training experience, and a platform that it’s built on to make it easy to use.
I’m going to go through details of what we have coming, and share a little bit why we feel each on is important, in several sentences. I’ll try and keep it short and to the point.
New Responsive Design
Do you view our website on a tablet or smartphone, and you’re frustrated with having to zoom in, move around, and reading impossibly small type? Fear not! All of our new website areas will come with responsive design. This means that regardless of the page you land on, or where you’re at in the training, you’ll be able to view that page in a dynamically adjusted format. Big screen, small screen, it doesn’t matter- the design will adjust to your needs.
Read more about Responsive Design
Training Center
Have you been frustrated with the ‘blog feel’ of your training content? I bet you are, because it’s bothered us too. Now when you enter your training you’ll be in the Angle of Attack Training Center. No more distractions; just a full focus on the training at hand.
New Forums
We’ve had a ton of requests for updating our forums. And we’ve finally found a solution. This will be built on a popular framework used by companies like Avsim and ORBX. And, this will be responsive as well. So when you are on your iPhone (or any other device, PC) viewing the training, and you want to bump over to the forum for a good chit-chat, the design will also be easily legible on your screen- with no steps taken on your part. Ready to check it out? This part of our new website is already up and running! CLICK HERE
New Support Area
We get a lot of support tickets here at AOA. In fact, we just passed the 10,000 mark in our support center. We are in the process of building a new support center that will be topic driven, and regularly updated, so you can get self-help as soon as possible. That means your questions get answered faster. And if something goes crazy wrong and you end up with your engine(s) in a ditch, then you can always email us.
Ranks and Achievements
Have you ever wanted to start off as a trainee, and end up as a Captain? Have you wanted to show off to the FS community that you are “Captain Ready” for the 737, or other model? You’ll be able to do just that with AOA Training! We’ll be introducing these achievements for different training courses you go through, which will give you the opportunity to show off how much you know, and that you aren’t just another flight simmer, but a highly trained individual.
Quizzes
There is a lot of knowledge to take in when learning to fly a new aircraft, or learn a new flying skill. Why not test that knowledge for each lesson? Now you’ll be able to do just that. Test your knowledge, get achievements, and get a completion certificate at the end of your course.
Track Your Progress
Have you ever wanted to know how far along you are in the training? Well, we have a solution for that! You’ll see a progress bar located in various places throughout your training that tells you exactly where you’re at percentage wise, in addition to telling you what lesson you need to do next.
Dynamic Streaming Video
Our current video player (vimeo) leaves a lot to be desired. But, we have a new solution that will dynamically stream the video in the correct size, based on the size of your device or window. This means faster loading of the streaming video, uninterrupted playback, and a slick user interface. And responsive design? Yeah, the video player will scale to your device as well.
HD Downloads
We have been trying to figure out the skyrocketing cost of our HD downloads recently, and have disabled the ability to download videos. However, we feel like we have a solution that will work for everyone. If you’re the type of person that needs to take your videos on the road, or view them offline, we have a download option we’ll be offering for all our videos.
If you’re already a member of that training before this goes live, you’ll be ‘grandfathered’ in. That means you won’t have to worry about it.
Oh, and one last thing on downloads: they’ll be faster than ever before, no matter where you are on this rock we call earth.
Membership Profile
How about one place where you can see all the training packages you’ve purchased, your progress in those packages, and the ability to enroll in other packages at the click of a button? How about all your achievements in one place as well? This new area will dynamically do all of this for you, as soon as you login to the Training Center.
Account Management
Do you need to change your information, even credit card information? Do you need to cancel a subscription? Now you’ll be able to do all these things on your own without contacting support, offering you full control over your training packages and information.
1 Click Enroll
I mentioned 1 click enroll earlier, so what is it exactly? Say that you’ve been Jones’n for a training package we have, but you don’t want to go through the sales and checkout process. No problem! As long as you’ve purchased something with us before, we’ll use the card information you have on file so you can simply click ‘enroll’, you’re prompted to confirm, then you’re in the training. How incredible is that?
You will also be able to do this for the downloads packages that we’re going to offer, straight from the lesson you’d like to download. 1 Click, and you have the downloads for that entire training course.
Consolidated Email Alerts
Do you often get multiple emails for the same promotion or lesson announcement? We’re working to change that. Now you’ll be on ONE list, and you won’t get mailed more than once for one thing. Doesn’t that sound nice?
Conclusion
Our team is super excited to finally be on the cusp of making AOA what we had always dreamed. This new website will be easier not only for you as a user to use, but us as a team to manage. And, we delight in your happiness. We can’t wait for you to enjoy these tools, and learn to a deeper level than ever before.
Join the Conversation!
What feature are you most excited for? Have you been waiting for some of these? Do you like that AOA regularly updates our web presence?
This article was posted in Angle of Attack, AOA, Blog, Community, Flight Simulator, Microsoft Flight, Products, Team
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