Have you ever tried this ? VATSIM flying

[arb65912]

Hello,

My name is Andrzej.

I am X-Plane user and  dedicated VATSIM  pilot.

Just in case someone was not familiar with VATSIM.....

VATSIM is international on-line flying community where Air Traffic Controllers are real people and you fly using real weather.

I believe that this is the closest one can get as far as simulating real life flying.

Since getting started flying on VATSIM is not very easy because of very extensive learning material posted on their website,

I decided to help many people like me who want so bad to try this great  experience but give up after looking at the learning material.

Believe  it or not , I also gave up, I connected to VATSIM, I was totally lost,  did not know what to do and what to say....I just sat there

for a while overwhelmed with phraseology and pilots interactions with Air Traffic Controllers and ...I disconnected.

But since you get bitten by a VATSIM bug, you can not just give up ... few weeks later I have tried again.

This time I have read most of the learning material and my head was spinning but I had to try again.

I did and things started clear out , what I have heard and seen started making a logical picture.

I  was still making terrible mistakes, crashed few times, getting a bad  headache and skyrocketing my blood pressure ..LOL but things

started being fun.

The reason I am saying that is to help people  who does not even know how great on-line flying can be and to provide  them with simple way to get started without

all the stress and headaches.

Click on the link to the web page I have created just for that purpose and see for yourself.

http://groups.google.com/group/arb-x-plane-vatsim-center

I would recommend joining a Virtual Airline.

It helps a lot to be a part of the community with the same interests always willing to help.

Good luck and see you soon on VATSIM.

Andrzej

[garrettm30]

I see you are an ANW pilot. I also fly for them, currently a First Officer. What hub are you in? I've been with the Memphis hub for a little over a year.

I know what you mean about the intimidation factor for VATSIM. I keep learning more to try to get to the level where I will be comfortable with it. Folks say to just jump on in, because that's how you learn. Perhaps so, but I still don't feel ready. I'll be looking more at your linked page; who knows, I may be up on VATSIM in no time.

[arb65912]

I see you are an ANW pilot. I also fly for them, currently a First Officer. What hub are you in? I've been with the Memphis hub for a little over a year.

I know what you mean about the intimidation factor for VATSIM. I keep learning more to try to get to the level where I will be comfortable with it. Folks say to just jump on in, because that's how you learn. Perhaps so, but I still don't feel ready. I'll be looking more at your linked page; who knows, I may be up on VATSIM in no time.

Hi garretm30,

I am in KMEM hub, senior first officer. There is a direct link in http://groups.google.com/group/arb-x-plane-vatsim-center

Yes, you can just jump on, personal preference.

I prefer to know what I am doing before I jump in  ;D

Anyway, check ANW Forums in http://www.airnorthwest.org/forums/forum_topics.asp?FID=55

I am working on very detailed tutorial flights. We can fly together if you want.

Blue skies.

Andrzej

[Nova]

And please SAY if you don't know how to execute the things you are told.

I'm APP on EDDM, and nothing is more frustrating, than someone who reads back everything,

but doesn't do it, or does something else, because he don't want to blame himself for not knowing.  :-[

You don't have to know everything, but at least you should know your aircraft and its systems,

most important the FMC. There are so many pilots out there, who are screwed up instantly when

they get a shortcut, or a waypoint, thats not yet programmed. Or if the A/P fails, then they need

a block height because they are unable to trim the plane right, to stay on told flightlevel or altitude.

Oh, and don't trust your FMC blindly. Every time i clear the standard ILS approach for 08L via MIQ NBD,

while coming from the west, people screw it up by 90% because the FMC doesn't know how to fly it.

And if you tell them then, they get angry because you blame them that they did something wrong,

but their FMC flew it, so it must be right.  :-X

Just my 2 cents  

[OlaHaldor]

I don't dare to go online when it's so serious. I remember when I started with MS FlightSim 2004, I went to a Norwegian forum, got in touch with some guys who wanted to go online and we all had a blast flying (properly!) from point to point, airport to airport, while chatting or talking through Skype or so.

*Sigh* I might be too much of a chicken for it.

[Oliver]

I don't dare to go online when it's so serious. I remember when I started with MS FlightSim 2004, I went to a Norwegian forum, got in touch with some guys who wanted to go online and we all had a blast flying (properly!) from point to point, airport to airport, while chatting or talking through Skype or so.

*Sigh* I might be too much of a chicken for it.

It's very serious yes, but honestly after you learn how to do it it's easy and doesn't seem as serious. It's nerve wrecking to first learn how to do it, but once you know everything a controller asks you to it's a blast! You should definitely try it! It's quite fun, what I do is basically when I'm on unicom I'll chat with the friends I'm flying with on Skype, and when I contact controller I just mute my mic and when I'm free to talk on skype again I open it up at low volume and talk just in case the controller talks again  ;D. I gotta say the worst part is that flying online is addictive! What angers me is when I finish a long flight without fastforward or anything and when I arrive on Final I get an XP error and XP has to quit, sometimes happens to me online and offline, regardless it makes me sooo angry!  ;D

[Nova]

X-Plane crashes? If you would not have said "X-Plane" i would have assumed you were talking about FS9/FSX.

It's so "funny" if i hear people complaining about crashes at events, because of ram errors or what ever, while i have 0 problems even with 30 planes within 30nm.  ;D (if its FS they are talking about)

Some people i know, get all the orders at once, but only because i know, that they can do it:

DLH123, identified, information C current/correct, expect ILS approach runway 26R, when ready descend FL110 to reach level at VAMAS, leave VAMAS on heading 200, after VAMAS descend altitude 5000 ft, QHN 1015.

It was a pilot and controler from my FIR and he did all of it, with no say again.  ;D

Honestly, i wouldn't give more than 3 information/orders at a time. Most poeple would not be able to execute that right.

I had trouble with that myself, when i was new to online flying. But as you fly more, you can get the stuff done more quickly. Nothings enjoys a contoler more, than a pilot who knows how to fly his plane, and executes the told orders right away and not 1 minute later.

[OlaHaldor]

Well, that's the thing about flying a virtual plane. You can't just reach out and adjust a setting with a knob.. You need to either bind keys or use the mouse. Imho, this is too slow. So yes, it might take a minute before I do what I would've been told..  :-\

Even though I know the plane I'm flying, I don't feel comfortable with it virtually compared to the real deal where I have a wider FOV and can just reach out, adjust and deal with it.

Wish the Saitek panels would all just work with X-Plane. (:

[Nova]

I'm mostly flying with the x738 and recently with the 742-F. And from time to time with MU, but thats it.

No matter if 2D or 3D, i use FOV of about 65° if i remember right. Something like 20° more than default.

It feels a bit more real, and you can use every nob you have to.

If ATC tells me something like this "BER987, turn left heading 110, descend FL80, speed 250 indicated" i do the following.

If i hear the words turn/heading/fly then i'm already planing to use the heading nob, when hearing descend, then i'm ready to set a new fl/alt. There is nothing wrong if you need some time when you get a direct. You have to go through the PF and find it first. Or even worse, you have to insert it. But directs are not critical.

When approaching an airport, turning one or even more minutes later means, that you lost a few miles. Plus you may cross another planes route, which causes the some trouble to the controller. Or you screw his sequence up. And if shit happens, than it meight be tough to get you down in time.

And it can't be wrong to know some basic rules, like how to calculate the top of descend ((current FL - goal FL) / 3), the standard 3° descend rate (GS*5) and stuff like that. Especially the last one is something fundamental, because every ATC expects you, to descend with at least 3°, thats how we plan it (im speaking about german controllers, but i guess its the same around the world).

VATSIM is a learning enviroment, and noone will or should be angry of you for making something wrong. They will inform you, that you made a mistake, and what it's meant to be, but not because he wants to show you, that he knows better, but to give you the chance to improve.

Most pilots i have told something were mostly thankful. There are a few, that don't like that, but those are the few, that fly shitty anyway and don't want to get better.

[aph]

I'd like to encourage everyone to do their first flights on VATSIM as VFR traffic. It really is much easier, no procedural departures and arrivals, no instrument approaches. It's not a big deal if you do something wrong, in an uncontrolled airspace you don't have to follow your route strictly.

[arb65912]

And please SAY if you don't know how to execute the things you are told.

I'm APP on EDDM, and nothing is more frustrating, than someone who reads back everything,

but doesn't do it, or does something else, because he don't want to blame himself for not knowing.  :-[

You don't have to know everything, but at least you should know your aircraft and its systems,

most important the FMC. There are so many pilots out there, who are screwed up instantly when

they get a shortcut, or a waypoint, thats not yet programmed. Or if the A/P fails, then they need

a block height because they are unable to trim the plane right, to stay on told flightlevel or altitude.

Oh, and don't trust your FMC blindly. Every time i clear the standard ILS approach for 08L via MIQ NBD,

while coming from the west, people screw it up by 90% because the FMC doesn't know how to fly it.

And if you tell them then, they get angry because you blame them that they did something wrong,

but their FMC flew it, so it must be right.  :-X

Just my 2 cents  

Agreed, if you do not know, ask.

If you still do not know, ask for vectors, most of the times ATC will guide you almost to the runway.

If you can not land ( too high, too fast) declare missed approach and if you do not know how to fly it, ask for vectors again.

FMC is good for flying enroute, approaches should be done by navigating, I do not know any FMC flying arc  ;D

Andrzej

[arb65912]

I don't dare to go online when it's so serious. I remember when I started with MS FlightSim 2004, I went to a Norwegian forum, got in touch with some guys who wanted to go online and we all had a blast flying (properly!) from point to point, airport to airport, while chatting or talking through Skype or so.

*Sigh* I might be too much of a chicken for it.

Go to my link, find ANW link and join, then go to Forums.

I am making tutorials on how to fly on VATSIM, you can fly with me if you want.

You can do it !!!!  ;D

Andrzej

[arb65912]

X-Plane crashes? If you would not have said "X-Plane" i would have assumed you were talking about FS9/FSX.

It's so "funny" if i hear people complaining about crashes at events, because of ram errors or what ever, while i have 0 problems even with 30 planes within 30nm.  ;D (if its FS they are talking about)

Some people i know, get all the orders at once, but only because i know, that they can do it:

DLH123, identified, information C current/correct, expect ILS approach runway 26R, when ready descend FL110 to reach level at VAMAS, leave VAMAS on heading 200, after VAMAS descend altitude 5000 ft, QHN 1015.

It was a pilot and controler from my FIR and he did all of it, with no say again.  ;D

Honestly, i wouldn't give more than 3 information/orders at a time. Most poeple would not be able to execute that right.

I had trouble with that myself, when i was new to online flying. But as you fly more, you can get the stuff done more quickly. Nothings enjoys a contoler more, than a pilot who knows how to fly his plane, and executes the told orders right away and not 1 minute later.

Yes, so many orders is way too much.

But you can always ask to split it and repeat ...

Andrzej

[arb65912]

I'm mostly flying with the x738 and recently with the 742-F. And from time to time with MU, but thats it.

No matter if 2D or 3D, i use FOV of about 65° if i remember right. Something like 20° more than default.

It feels a bit more real, and you can use every nob you have to.

If ATC tells me something like this "BER987, turn left heading 110, descend FL80, speed 250 indicated" i do the following.

If i hear the words turn/heading/fly then i'm already planing to use the heading nob, when hearing descend, then i'm ready to set a new fl/alt. There is nothing wrong if you need some time when you get a direct. You have to go through the PF and find it first. Or even worse, you have to insert it. But directs are not critical.

When approaching an airport, turning one or even more minutes later means, that you lost a few miles. Plus you may cross another planes route, which causes the some trouble to the controller. Or you screw his sequence up. And if shit happens, than it meight be tough to get you down in time.

And it can't be wrong to know some basic rules, like how to calculate the top of descend ((current FL - goal FL) / 3), the standard 3° descend rate (GS*5) and stuff like that. Especially the last one is something fundamental, because every ATC expects you, to descend with at least 3°, thats how we plan it (im speaking about german controllers, but i guess its the same around the world).

VATSIM is a learning enviroment, and noone will or should be angry of you for making something wrong. They will inform you, that you made a mistake, and what it's meant to be, but not because he wants to show you, that he knows better, but to give you the chance to improve.

Most pilots i have told something were mostly thankful. There are a few, that don't like that, but those are the few, that fly shitty anyway and don't want to get better.

The most difficult part for me is when on final, switching to Tower frquency. I have a hearing problem so I use text, I have to hurry up to type so I can still make a landing ... 

Andrzej

[arb65912]

I'd like to encourage everyone to do their first flights on VATSIM as VFR traffic. It really is much easier, no procedural departures and arrivals, no instrument approaches. It's not a big deal if you do something wrong, in an uncontrolled airspace you don't have to follow your route strictly.

Yes, very good idea, just stay away from Class B airspace or your "freedom" will be taken away  ;D

Seriously, good idea , I have tried it with ATC present and it worked just like you said.

Andrzej

[Lukasz]

Would it be a serious violation of Vatsim's rules to organise an x-pilot fly-in, over some generally empty and deserted location?

[Oliver]

Would it be a serious violation of Vatsim's rules to organise an x-pilot fly-in, over some generally empty and deserted location?

Well I can't answer definitely since I'm only a pilot and not a controller, but for the airline I fly for The CEO and I (I'm VP) of the airline organize group flights from certain airports and such and it has never been a problem, I'd have to say an X-pilot fly in would be very fun! I'd be willing to help organize if we could get a definite yes at being allowed to do it! The only thing that pisses off controllers when I fly with the CEO is that our call signs are very similar, the CEO's is ze001 and mine is ze007 and that sometimes frustrates the controller  ;D

[Lukasz]

A formation flight would be even more interesting The controllers are frustrated with your double-oh-seven call sign, jealousy is a horrible thing

[garrettm30]

I might like to take part in an X-Pilot fly-in.

[aph]

Every pilot on VATSIM has a right to fly to any destination he wants, whenever he wants, so a fly-in is not a problem. You may want to talk to someone from local VACC if you want to make sure that the airport will be staffed by a controller.

[arb65912]

Would it be a serious violation of Vatsim's rules to organise an x-pilot fly-in, over some generally empty and deserted location?

I do not see how it could be a problem as long as you follow rules.

There is no law saying that you can not have 50 planes flying into the same location.

Of course in real life these things are coordinated so proper separation is maintained but on VATSIM  should be OK.

Andrzej

[Oliver]

I  sent Cameron a PM asking him if I could try organize an X-pilot fly-in, we'll see what he says  ;D

And yeah Lis, they get angry when they find out James Bond is on a secret flight landing at the airport they're controlling at

[WombatBoy]

I'd fly with you guys if you could get it all together

[Oliver]

I'd fly with you guys if you could get it all together

Still waiting for an answer, when I get a definite yes, I'll make a thread with all the details and such 

[Jack Skieczius]

Vatsim is great,

and you dont need cam to organize it, just do it yourself. lets set a date and time that is best for everyone, and pic and airport to meet up at. having a ventrillo server to chat with voice is also great to have.

I help run a VA called mainland who flies up in BC and alberta. We just get one and the controllers come on if they feel like having fun too. Generally we start flying Calgary, CYYC, to Vancouver, CYVR. Vancouver center normally signs on for us.

I think the largest flying i ever been to was into San fransisco KSFO, once, and it was fun. we had people coming from all over the place. My VA and i flew in from Vancouver. It was a vatsim event so we didn't have to organize it. But for armchair pilots new to Vatsim, it can be a bit crazy going into a large airport like KSFO during an organized event.

Vatsim sponsers many events, for exsample, next Saturday the 11th, there will be the light up DC event which reads:

Have fun over the Potomac

Join the Washington ARTCC as we staff up all of our Potomac airports! Fly into KIAD, KDCA, or KBWI and receive full service all the way in! If you want the most realistic flight possible, join us in the event! With a huge turnout expected, expect to be busy!

I myself, haven't flown in a while since i been working hard on my Q, but soon i will need to test her more so i will defenitly be up on vatsim.