GabethePilot 1 Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Wondering if it's worth the effort learning to use VATSIM or other online ATC. My VA offers one-to-one lessons about using VATSIM, but I know there is a load of stuff to learn, theory and practice, not to mention software configuration etc. I always use Radar Contact when I fly - in fact I don't know how I managed without it. Will I feel the same way using VATSIM ? Will I get that "How did I manage" feeling that makes the investment worthwhile ? n/b I only fly in the UK and Europe, and in Australia of course. Also, is there any benefit to be had from the two main competitors ? One of my main issues is the effect it may have on my abiblity to ise Ai traffic from Ultimate Traffic - couldn't so without that I'm afraid. Thnx for any opinions. Link to post Share on other sites
rob16584 42 Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 The $50m question! I fly on VATSIM a lot, but you only get the 'as real as it gets' if you are flying around the UK/Europe during peak times. When London is fully staffed and aircraft are all over the place it is fantastic. The other side is that when there aren't atc online you loose some of the realism, even if there are other pilots. You need to pay more attention to the unicom to find out what other pilots are doing. But if there is only you in the air, it gets a bit boring and flying offline with ai is a lot better. I'm not sure why people think setting up for online flight is such a chore: Register on VATSIM, download Squawkbox, install, done. You need to be quite good at understanding the instructions as the ATCOs really rattle them off when it's busy. For a noob communicating by text to begin with might be the best thing to do until you are up to speed. The controllers in the UK are very helpful and always patient if you are unsure of something, the Euro controllers are a bit hit and miss. I once had a guy who insisted that I had to fly at a certain altitude to intercept the ILS (forget the airport now), whilst flying at this altitude was fine there was the small problem of a mountain in front of me! When pilots at PAY London ask about flying online I say that the best thing to do is load up on the ramp at an airport which is holding an ATCO exam and just listen to the various frequencies so you know what is going on, and if you feel ready, take to the skies. For the first few flights make sure you use a nice and easy default aircraft beause you don't want to get bogged down with ATC and managing a complex airliner to begin with. After a few flights you'll begin to wonder why you were so unsure about it all. I have a short document that explains how to get up and running on VATSIM, if you want a copy let me know and I'll send it over Link to post Share on other sites
GabethePilot 1 Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Thnx for that Rob. So, fantastic in Europe at Peak Times - which I guess is sort of early to mid-evening ? Also, is it possible to have at least a small amount of Ai traffic on the go (via UT or Traffic 2005 etc) or will this just get in the way ? I guess if you're told to "Line up and wait", and an Ultimate Traffic 747 is landing it may look a bit wierd... ! Is there any way of monitoring a map that show you what other nearby traffic is around ? I just imagine it being - at least visually - a little lonely witohut Ai traffic in-sim. At the moment I can obviously "see" traffic that is nearby, and of course FSC is runing on a second PC/Screen where I can see them all for 50 miles radius. I guess it's a trade-off in levels of realism... if you know what I'm saying! Link to post Share on other sites
rob16584 42 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 You can have ai running if you use UT2. But with other AI programs that don't use simconnect to create the traffic you can't do. I suppose you could use UT2 and aismooth to make sure there are no incursions. Thing in Europe are busy from around 7-10pm during the week. To see which traffic is around you can use vroute, servinfo or vatspy (all free). The various vatsim websites will also have atc bookings etc... listed on there Link to post Share on other sites
GabethePilot 1 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Great, thnx for that. VATSPY says it all I guess. May start by looking at that. Handy feature of UT2 to get rid of aircraft on approach. But with FS9, it may be a little hit and miss. Thnx again. Postscript: it appears that it is a moving map (and can utilise multi-cores) - so would also show the user aircraft... that means the FSX moving map could be dispensed with. Handy! Even shows a departure and arrival board for any airport. That's today gone ! :th_smiles73: Nice one Rob. :001_th_smiles89: Link to post Share on other sites
rob16584 42 Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 No problem. Welcome to vatsim! When I fly online my callsign is PAY8156 Link to post Share on other sites
GabethePilot 1 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Yup. Joined today. Think our callsigns are Skyways and then the flight number. So they'll change every time you fly. Anyway the FlyUK VA gives one-on-one lessons by way of an accreditation course to get ready for VATSIM... starting with software installation and everything. No-one's failed it yet........ ..... ... .. . hoho... there's always a first ! I watched some guy fly into Innsbruck, hang around for an hour and then take off again. Interstingly, there was a heck of a lot of info I was able to drag-up on him, his aeroplaney and his flight details... from various sources of course. Killed quite a few hours actually ! More scarey though, is that a similar amount of info can can be dragged-up on REAL flights too. Less said the better on that I think... :th_smiles73: Of course, I would hope that RW flight data is always lagged by half an hour or so, whereas the VATIM is updated at some 2 minute intervals. Looks cool though, and I'm gonna give it a go... :001_th_smiles89: My main problem is that I'm totally anti-social and not only do I not like talking to people generally, I feel like a real schmuck talking into a mike to faceless people over the internet... :001_th_smiles48: :icon_rockon: Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted November 11, 2010 Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 My main problem is that I'm totally anti-social and not only do I not like talking to people generally, I feel like a real schmuck talking into a mike to faceless people over the internet... I can so agree on the last part of that statement. And that's without taking in to a account the strange looks I'd get from my wife if I should be doing it :th_smiles73: Link to post Share on other sites
rob16584 42 Posted November 11, 2010 Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 After you have talked into the mic a few times you won't feel so uneasy about it. You'll just have to put up with the constant p*** taking from the missus! Link to post Share on other sites
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