anyone here fly on vatsim?

ringo747

ringo747

ringo747

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Joined
1 Feb 2006
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hi guys,

as title suggests... any of you guys ever fly on vatsim? Virtual Air Traffic Control Network? I havent been on it in about a year but want to get back to it. Does anyone know if FSX is supported for all the vatsim software yet such as squawkbox?

Havent got my hands on fsx yet cause i know my pc wont run it but after uni is over im going to build a new gaming rig and hopefully get a few flights going.

Jonny
 
im pretty tempted to have a go at this but i really dont understand the downwind leg and holding patterns and stuff. There isnt a decent tutorial on that in game (not tried FSX though) and so i don want to cause a big problem or crash or something. Interested though :)
 
i think on the vatsim website there are some basic flight tutorials.... its dead easy to get onto the traffic patters stuff.

Once you get on to SIDs and STARs its more fun and games!

Even you connect up and just sit on the ground and listen you can still pick up all the jargon etc etc.
 
This is a major bump on this thread but just looking to see if anyone else is using vatsim with FSX? I haven't been on in ages but went on for a few circuits tonight at East Midlands. Really is good fun on VATSIM! Just wondering if anyone uses FSX on VATSIM and how do you find the performance? I run all my utilities using WideFS on my laptop and that leaves the pc to run FS2004. Thinking about upgrading the machine to use FSX.
 
Im awaiting the PMDG MD-11 for FS9, thats released today. Then I will be getting confident in that. THEN I will be playing on IVAO and trying not to make a noob of myself :).

IVAO gets more european traffic then VATSIM, but less in the UK for some reason.

Will probably play on both, although my biggest problem with VATSIM is the horrible voice quality, cant make out what anybody is saying.
 
Didn't realise the MD-11 out today - it looks amazing. I have signed up to IVAO but never played on it. Does it not use squawkbox for voice same as VATSIM? I fly mostly in the UK so there seems to be more controllers online on VATSIM but I wouldn't mind trying the european routes. It would just be nice to get ATC the whole journey. Do you fly for a VA or anything? I used to fly in BA Virtual but got way too time consuming.
 
IVAO uses its own software to connect but it uses teamspeak, same as VATSIM for voice. The one difference is IVAO teamspeak is running a higher quality codec.

At the moment Ive not flown a flight on IVAO or VATSIM but Im planning to change that once I get used to the md-11 :). I was thinking about jjoining a VA, a pretty good looking one as well but they didnt fly the plane I wanted so for now, Im just going to fly solo.
 
I've been banned so many times from vatsim :p

For some reason they don't like me doing fly-bys in fast jets, and they moaned at me for taxi-ing at 100knots. All seems a bit strict for my liking, but i guess people have different ideas of fun :p
 
FrostedNipple said:
I've been banned so many times from vatsim :p

For some reason they don't like me doing fly-bys in fast jets, and they moaned at me for taxi-ing at 100knots. All seems a bit strict for my liking, but i guess people have different ideas of fun :p
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Class! If you join vRAF they have special ops for military stuff. Last night there was a guy doing a test flight in a tornado out of RAF Warton. Maybe you should check it out!

http://vraf.org/

Any yes, generally they expect people to adhere to all the formal etiquette but most beginners haven't a clue so they should go easy! It is quite a big learning curve though for the voice alone nevermind other things like SIDS/STARS.
 
ringo747 said:
Class! If you join vRAF they have special ops for military stuff. Last night there was a guy doing a test flight in a tornado out of RAF Warton. Maybe you should check it out!

http://vraf.org/
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Or get one of the military flight simulators out there and join those of us who fly military aircraft in a realistic manner in combat, rather than just flying around in circles.

MSFS has it's place, military aviation is not it.
 
Eddie182 said:
Or get one of the military flight simulators out there and join those of us who fly military aircraft in a realistic manner in combat, rather than just flying around in circles.

MSFS has it's place, military aviation is not it.
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Are there any military equivalents of vatsim where you can fly online? Also what product do you recommend?
 
I fly using FSX on VATSIM using Squawkbox

http://squawkbox.ca/downloads/

Works really well, got into it about 2 months ago and havent looked baack, really takes the whole flight sim experience that much further forward, and it is so much more realistic. Having to fly SIDs, STARS, holds, real world procedures, and being vectored by human beings raher than the likes of the default ATC is brilliant.
 
parxuk said:
I fly using FSX on VATSIM using Squawkbox

http://squawkbox.ca/downloads/

Works really well, got into it about 2 months ago and havent looked baack, really takes the whole flight sim experience that much further forward, and it is so much more realistic. Having to fly SIDs, STARS, holds, real world procedures, and being vectored by human beings raher than the likes of the default ATC is brilliant.
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I have just joined up to BAVirtual again - its quite good! Did an online flight the other day with SIDS/STARS etc in the PMDG 737. It really is a good a/c to get to grips with for the short haul stuff.

Can I ask what you use for flight planning?

My setup is:

WideFS on laptop running:
Activesky - weather
SB3 - vatsim connection
vroute - amazing flight planner/map/vatsim booking/dispatch sheet exporter
BAV ACARS - virtual ACARS for bavirtual
BAV OSP - to get realworld bav schedules.

Really is a nice setup on bavirtual and if you are serious about flying it is worth checking out.

One thing I am not sure of is how accurate the a/c weights are in MSFS9? If i change the PMDG defaults by using the load manager can i accurately estimate fuel? Other things like enroute weather can be entered into the PMDG FMC but not sure how accurate this is.
 
I mostly use FSCommander for flight planning, but sometimes the controller clearing me doesnt like the FSCommander generated flight plan for some reason or another ( i am still a bit of a newbie on VATSIM). There are a few websites out there (cant remember off the top of my head, but the links were on the vatsim website), that give you recent real world flight plans.

With regards to weight, i just put in to the FMC whatever the FSX fuel/cargo (or whatever) page tells me is the gross/zero fuel weight.
 
I have FSCommander somewhere but not installed. Will have to dig it out again. My pc won't run FSX so FS9 will have to do for now. Do you run WideFS or just run SB3 on the gaming PC itself?
 
I run SB4 on the PC FSX is on, but i do use widefs for FS Commander and ASX on a networked PC. Running SB on the FSX rig doesnt appear to have any impact on performance, so i didnt worry to much about having it running elsewhere
 
i really enjoy my simming on fsx, but honestly, once i get to a busy airport, i struggle.

I dont understand how to fly holding patterns, i dont fully get navigation yet especially using gps in real time, and i have a stubborn refusal to use autopilot to do everything.

I like flying small planes - cessna 172 etc - and just hopping from airfield to airfield, but would love to understand the bigger planes.

Is it worth joining a (big) VA to progress my knowledge? Do they have tutorials etc to help out beginners, or is there an expected level of knowledge to begin with?

thanks in advance!
 
MossyUK said:
Is it worth joining a (big) VA to progress my knowledge? Do they have tutorials etc to help out beginners, or is there an expected level of knowledge to begin with?

thanks in advance!
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To get into BA Virtual I had to do a really small aptitude test but if you have a reasonable knowledge of general aviation terms you should be ok. Things like RVSM, standard speed below FL100, airspace types. It wasn't bad at all.

Most of them do have good training facilities and mentoring schemes. BA Virtual allow you to complete your flights offline (i.e. not on vatsim) which is handy for new starters who aren't confident flying online yet.

My main problem flying online now is that I don't quite know exactly how the PMDG FMC works and usually I end up with route discontinuities and then mess up my approach. In a real world situation there are two people to fly it so if you are doing things exactly by the book then there is a lot to do!

Pestilence said:
One thing I've been curious about regarding these online pilots' clubs is....if you crash, do they write you off the club as dead or what?
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I don't think so! As far as I am aware if you don't reach the destination your flight log for that particular flight is negated and you cannot log it. No other penalties.
 
ringo747 said:
My main problem flying online now is that I don't quite know exactly how the PMDG FMC works and usually I end up with route discontinuities and then mess up my approach. In a real world situation there are two people to fly it so if you are doing things exactly by the book then there is a lot to do!
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Usually a discontinuity is put in by the FMC to seperate the two ends of a cruise and STAR/approach phase or the end of a SID and climb phase.

Stick your map onto PLN and on the LEGS page of the FMC use the STEP LSK to review where your disco is - if it looks like a simple case of joining the dots then simply delete the disco in the FMC and the magenta line should join up fine and you can then fly the SID to climb or STAR down to approach fine.

It helps if you have and understand the SID/STAR charts for the airports you're flying into and out of. You can then match the published procedure with what you see on your display and if it clicks together in your head all you need to do is fly the damn thing and you're home and dry ;)

If you want some up to date charts let me know. Email in trust.
 
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