To the newbie - First Time Jitters

[Tom Cody 953646]

I've been in a VA since 2006 and I still can't fly IFR online because I keep freezing up, I forget everything at once and that's scary. I do take strong meds (pain killers) due to cancer but It happens all the time.

 

I start a flight on Vatsim, VFR, Then Center comes on, I freak out and logoff.

I can't explain it, I totally get mem blank. We, at the VA, do multi every Saturday and I don't participate sometimes cause ATC is on.

 

Even when I get my own friend to ATC, I get all confused, I can't understand what he's saying. Talk about a mental block.

 

Helpless in da sky!!!

 

TC

[Romano Lara]

Well, I thinks its time for you to enroll at Westport Virtual Flight school or FS Flying school itself to help you with this especially with phraseology.

[Michael Pare 925029]

I was beginning to think I might be just getting out of the New Pilot stage, I mean I've been online approx 8 weeks and gaining in confidence all the time.

 

That was until yesterday afternoon. My usual flight from Cardiff to Gatwick was filed with my usual STAR I was happily flying along hadn't missed one call, although i was slow in replying to one particular one. No problem..

 

I confidently repeated "Gatwick Tower say again new hdg G-CK"

 

It was then the nerves came back and I started sweating, the new heading was way off my normal route in, he was going to bring me in on a different runway and STAR.

 

All my other flights to Gatwick had been on the regular Star I'd used.

 

Was the controller just testing me? Had I forgot to read the rwy in use? Why was ATC making me dance all over the sky?

 

Jeez I was sweating, my wife came on the flight deck (must get that red light over my study door) and started asking me questions about oil in her car and such like. Stress levels went through the roof.

 

Finally I was established on rwy heading and I could see the VASI lights, I came off auto pilot as I like to hand land my 737, then it happend the weather changed 2 miles out, mist came in, I couldn't see the far end of the runway, i could only just see the VASI, it was going to be tight. ATC was calmly giving me calls, I was flapping like crazy.

 

Imanaged to get my Boeing down but god it was tight, used all the runway. Phew

 

ATC calmly said "G-CK Welcome to Gatwick please exit to your left at your discretion"

 

Yeah right. Dont you just love flying on VATSIM. It's a hell of a diet I lost 5lbs on that flight I'm sure.

 

 

 

 

 

I love VATSIM!, I get nervous as hell as I'm so afraid of screwing up as I am not instrument rated, but it never stops me from trying. I find the controllers sometimes annoyed are pretty forgiving.

[Evan Baach]

Great thread...

 

I'm one of the few guys who remembers the good 'ole SATCO... My first time online, I used the IAD_TWR sector file to control DC_CTR. That was a challenge, to say the least.

 

I don't think I knew a thing about proper phraseology, good vectors for an ILS... short of landing and departing into the wind, I didn't know a thing about real-world procedures.

 

I think our ARTCC didn't even have a website. In fact, few did if I remember correctly.

 

BUT, as time went on, I learned and improved. Thanks to the many guys out there who helped me along the way.

 

VATSIM has come a long way since then, but nothing is more satisfying than looking back at where I started and realizing just how much I've learned and how much fun I've had doing it.

[Allen Martin 1084625]

I took my first VATSIM, controlled flight last night. It was quite the experience. I believe in doing things the hard way. My real life flight time consists of 20 minutes behind the stick of a Boeing-Stearman Model 75. Flown quite a bit of FS2004/FSX with the AI ATC, read the PRC over & over several times, and spent 2 hours on the ground listening to the VATSIM controllers.

 

Parts of it were actually far easier than I expected. I did avoid some potentially challenging issues that I want to work myself up towards by picking low traffic departure & arrival airports, and rolling out my trusted steed, the SR-71.

 

So I mess with FS2004 and setup a simple 7 waypoint route, Ellington Field to Edwards, FL950. I booked a flight plan through SquawkBox, and stared blankly at the screen. Double checked all of my charts, settings, fuel level, climb & descent schedules, and worked up the nerve to call Houston Center. Call Houston Center, and get referred to Houston Approach. Obtained IFR clearance, taxi'd to 35L, and find out I'm not the only person using Ellington, as a Hawker comes in on final and taxis across the runway in front of me. That was awesome.

 

Depart Ellington and get on an westbound track at 14,000. Those minimum speeds are tough. @ 250 under FL100, it just wants to fall out of the sky. Handed off from App back to Center, and get cleared up to FL600, m.99. Requested supersonic.... DENIED! Now I'm chafing a bit. Hanging on the edge of a stall at 60k, having to continually light & cut the afterburners to stay up there.

 

Left Houston Center's airspace and was cleared to climb at will. Jammed in full AB and set a 5k fpm climb straight to 95k for the cruise portion of the flight. Leveled off at 950, cut external lights, and accelerated to a m3.12 cruise. Entertained myself in the meantime, and sort of forgot to pay attention to the descent schedule... which is about 20 minutes up, 20 minutes down. I realized this as LAX Center popped up on my comms... which is entirely too late at these speeds. There is no manuvering, at all, you have to chop throttles to idle, and wait.

 

So, now having completely overshot my original course, I stayed over 60k until I was feet wet, so as to not shatter every window in SoCal. Eventually brought myself down to FL600 and M.99, and started taking radar vectors into Edwards, which prompted another rapid descent to FL240, then to FL070. Once I hit Fl070, I realized another mistake. I took 75% fuel for the trip, instead of 50%. CG was off, gross weight too high. Screw it, I was landing anyways. P[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ed Edwards and got a great view of it, and vectored for approach. Turned in, got the field in sight, and flopped the bird in for a long landing roll.

 

I'm pretty sure LAX Center thinks I'm an idiot. He talked me down perfectly though, and has my gratitude

 

Fun first flight. Time for a few more low traffic excursions, then the fly-ins!

[Greg Murray 1032439]

My first experience on VATSIM was almost the worst day of my life as well as my most enjoyable. I have no real time flying experience and to all of a sudden thrust into a world of ATC was so overwhelming to me. Luckily I didn't have any ATC on that first flight but they where in the vicinity and I can recall freaking that they may pop up in my area. My second, third and etc. flights where a tad more comfortable. Then came my first flight with ATC online at my airport. Not using voice I even stumbled my text out and I am sure this controller must have though, "Oh my goodness, what have we here?". LOL!! -- I flew many more flights using text as my communication and only in the past few months have begun to use voice and then I only use it on certain flights. I still have not overcome the jitters for departure - In flight and descent is better but departure I am still a bit freaked out. What the main problem with me is the fact that most Controllers (not all) but most seem to speak way to fast and I found myself having to ask them to repeat this or that and I am sure it drove them nuts. When I have been in controlled areas where controllers speak slowly, deliberate and don't just ramble off departure clearance at the speed of light, I have felt comfortable and at ease. I am not sure how you all (including controllers) feel about the speed at which they speak makes it so more simple and easier to communicate. I know I personally would LOVE it if ATC spoke slower - Would make my nervousness much more acceptable.

But I am getting better at it but my plea to controllers is please speak slower. I know that in densely populated airspace the controllers have to speak faster to deal with the many pilots demands. Just a few days ago I was flying out of London. No disrespect to the APP controller because it was rather dense on the ground and those on approach. After what seemed like hours (was about 15 minutes) I finally got my taxi clearance. I was told to hold short of runway 27L and so I did. Then I heard the controller getting extremely frustrated with the big demand and eventually he said "I need to get off for awhile" and he logged off leaving me sitting there holding short of runway 27L. I then contacted LON CTR and he gave me clearance to taxi to my holding point at 27R. So from the time that I got actual clearance to taxi and to the time I was rolling down 27R it had taken me well over 45 minutes. I was a tad frustrated but I can understand how these ATC get frustrated with us. It needs a calm person to deal with all this. --- I think I will stick to being a pilot and leave the controllers to those with more patience than me... LOL!!

 

So, controllers I love you guys, but please speak slower...

[Harold Rutila 974112]

Hey Greg,

 

You can let us know to speak more slowly by inserting a comment in your flight plan remarks, ie. "newbie...please speak slowly," or something along those lines. We will most likely see your flight plan, but sometimes we won't. You may also say "xxx Approach (or whatever position you're talking to), [your callsign] checking in with you at 7,000, newer pilot," and they should get the clue. If they're still rambling on at the speed of light, just politely ask them to slow down for you. We're not usually big bad wolves .

[Wade Williams 877539]

Additionally, be sure to keep a notepad next to the computer and jot down what the controller says as he's speaking. Just a shorthand is fine. "Expect a visual approach runway 1L. Depart Clarr heading 070 vectors for the approach, after p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ing Clarr, descend and maintain 7000" can be written as "Vis 1L, Clarr->070/7000" for example.

 

You'd be surprised at how much more the act of writing makes you focus. And those words which flew right by before are both perfectly understandable and right there in front of you when you're ready for your readback.

[Marko Fell 1096953]

I've just done my first entry in vatsim airspace tonight, but it was a bit shortened, i think the next one will be my very first "complete" flight on vatsim...

 

I took off from LSGG flying to LSZH, and was reading charts on the computer, always doing this "alt-tab" thing, making the computer freeze more and more (but the airplane kept flying without problem).

Then, when I was about to approach the runway at Zurich, i opened the corresponding chart, and that's when some spirit came into my flight...

I just reduced the throttles before to loose a bit of speed, descending at the same time. But after reading the chart, i wanted to come back on the flight deck, and NO WAY!!! I think somebody locked the door of the cockpit, but the image freezed forever, just with the sound of the plane, and I could hear what was coming on... First the stick shaker, then the always nice and horrifying "WHOOOPP WHOOOP PULL UP!" and a loud noise that seemed to be terrain coming to visit us.

I then shut everything down with the brutal solution, thanking god that there was no ATC in the area to share my nice experiment.

I think I will come back with a little bit more of preparation, like printing the charts before flying...

See you

Marko

[Randy Tyndall 1087023]

Finally, a thread I can identify with! Ah, my first flight on VATSIM. It was KBOI to KTWF, a short 80 mile hop in a C-182 with instrument panel. The same one I flew offline on FS9 a thousand times. SEA CTR was online, but I was in SLC CTR airspace so I listened in but did no talking. It was all UNICOM and FSINN chat for me. I heard them talking about SIDs and STARs and wondered what the heck they were talking about. I had read the PRC and handouts (I even printed them in .pdf format and put them in a binder to keep with me). I got kicked off (by my system, not VATSIM) because of an FSINN Chat error. The FSINN Help forum helped me a bunch so when I finally got to the point where I could fly, talk occasionally, and land, I started going to the chart center and printed off airport diagrams, departures, arrivals, and approaches. I was nervous as all get out the first time I flew out of a controlled airport (KDEN) but the crew @ DENARTCC did a fantastic job getting me out. SLC CTR was online so I talked to them (after they dinged me cause I forgot to look-they weren't there when I departed Denver).

 

Now three months (and 30 hours) into VATSIM I have 4-1/2 binders of Instructions, Handouts, Charts, Diagrams, and old flight plans sitting beside my computer. My son whispers under his breath when I'm flying on line "Nerd", but in a kidding way. I think secretly he's jealous, cause he does come and watch me. The grandkids wanting to know what I'm doing are a distraction, but one direct from heaven so it's okay, but now I know the real reason the cockpit doors are locked in flight. I now fly the workhorse of the skies (or so it seems) the B-737 and my last flight from KDEN to KBOI I sat on the ground for a good 45 minutes at Denver watching the antics of a young man who had no idea where he was, where he was going, or how to get there. The controller was exasperated, but tried to help as much as he could, juggling me and two arrivals. Finally the young man said, "I think I'll just exit now". The controller, true to form simply replied in a cheery voice, "Have a good day!"

 

I'm not a real world pilot, but if this is even 1/10th of the way it is for real, then I'm hooked. Its thrilling, its exciting, its educational. I love it. The people at VATSIM and those using VATSIM are a big part of the reason why. Now if I could only find the nerve to join a virtual airline.

 

I especially like the tag I saw on one member's avatar (which I wish I knew how to create) "Remember, taking off is optional...landing is a necessity!" Wish I had thought of that.

 

See you in the sky

 

Randy Tyndall

1087023

[Scott Main]

Now if I could only find the nerve to join a virtual airline.

 

Go for it - there are a ton of them out there, and I'm not going to turn this into a big-willy contest for VA's by naming names but many have dedicated training captains and flight schools where you will learn soooo much in a structured and friendly enviroment. A lot of ARTCC's have pilot certification programs for new members too. Have a dig around the various sites linked from the VATSIM home page.

 

Oh, and welcome to VATSIM

[Kenneth Haught]

Randy, glad to hear your flight went well.

 

I especially like the tag I saw on one member's avatar (which I wish I knew how to create) "Remember, taking off is optional...landing is a necessity!" Wish I had thought of that.

If you want to put that in your signature area it's easy. Just select and copy the text, click 'Profile' at the top of the page and paste it in the block next to 'Signature', then click the 'Submit' button at the bottom.

 

As far as finding a virtual Airline I would suggest going to http://linksmanager.com/vatsimvas and finding one that 1) flys in the area you want to fly in, and 2) seems like it fits with what you want to do while flying (i.e Cargo hops, island flying, Scheduled airline, charters, VFR flights...you get the idea.

 

As a shameless plug you should see my Signature area for one idea.. (Sorry guys I had to do this!)

Edited March 11, 2009 at 03:55 AM by Guest

[Rickard Waterman 1100819]

Greetings and Salutations all,

 

I'm a newbie, at least to utilizing comms within VATSIM while simming and I haven't even been on at all as of yet. Trying to learn all I can about it all before hand.

 

Read a good tip here about putting a notice on the flight plan of being new and requesting the ATC to speak a tad bit slower than norm. Another was jotting down "short hand" notes for quick confirmations.

 

So, Me. . . nervous? No, not really.

I just don't want to mess up and have my ticket suspended or revoked for verbally displaying "High Mopery" on the radio or flying while stupid as in: "Wa' cha talkin' about Willis!?", "Go where and do what, when!?"

[Wade Williams 877539]

I just don't want to mess up and have my ticket suspended or revoked for verbally displaying "High Mopery" on the radio or flying while stupid as in: "Wa' cha talkin' about Willis!?", "Go where and do what, when!?"

 

 

Richard,

 

Pilots don't get suspended for making mistakes or using poor phraseology.

 

They get suspended for completely ignoring controller instructions or being malicious to others. You can fly with the confidence that as long as you're trying, controllers aren't going to have a problem with you.

 

If you don't understand the controller's instructions, just ask. Or, if it's super-busy on the frequency, say something like "Approach, I'm not sure I know how to fly this approach correctly. Request vectors." A controller won't have a problem with that.

[Gunnar Seljeseth 883677]

Oh my... Just went back through the stats around my first VATSIM flight, and discovers that I, during that flight, achieved just about every newbee error I can think of. I were doing a flight with the airline Norwegian, and had just become a member of the Virtual Norwegian airline. At least my very first action were correct; I did connect to the nettwork while at a Gate instead of standing on a runway...

 

But that's pretty much it for doing things right. My next move would be a not-so-common mistake, yet all to common; most newbees are not too familiar with ICAO codes, and neither were I. However, instead of using the Norwegian IATA code (DY), I actually used my Virtual Norwegian membership ID; VNAS531 . Then I came to filing a flighplan, and it wasn't too much better... The flight were from ENBR to ENGM, and in the "Route"-segment of my flighplan I wrote; ENBR ENGM. Does anything seem familiar? ENBR is not a particularly complex airport, so choosing runway for departure and the correct taxi-route weren't really a problem. Then, not too long after departure, my airspeed indicator failed. Reason? I'd forgotten the Pitot Heat. Another pilot in the area did of course tell me to activate it, and as you might expect; problem solved. Then, as I approached ENGM, I were going to do an ILS approach. Ã

[Rickard Waterman 1100819]

Richard,

 

Pilots don't get suspended for making mistakes or using poor phraseology.

 

They get suspended for completely ignoring controller instructions or being malicious to others. You can fly with the confidence that as long as you're trying, controllers aren't going to have a problem with you.

 

If you don't understand the controller's instructions, just ask. Or, if it's super-busy on the frequency, say something like "Approach, I'm not sure I know how to fly this approach correctly. Request vectors." A controller won't have a problem with that.

 

Geez Wade! I thought I had responded to your post! Sorry about that.

 

In any case, thanks for the morale boost.

[Jacob Areford 1040027]

Well I just did my first flight and it went horrbily, when I was taxing I couldent hear the controller, let alone in the air all I heard was brrblahhmmmmDELTA TURN

[Frank Otero]

I began my dream of flying in 1991 when I turned thirty years old. I had logged around 500 hours and got my instrument rating around 2000. But unfortunately, in the same year my work took me away from home to places where electricity was a rare luxury and flying was out of the question; I am presently in one of those places. Since then, I have gotten very infrequent RW stick and rudder, as a matter of fact, my last flight was in a Cessna Centurion from West Palm Beach, Florida (KPBI) to Charleston, SC (KCHS) in 2004. Throughout these years away from home, I always managed to fly MSFS and must say it is a great tool to keep your procedures sharp – after all, the hardest part of flying is staying ahead of the plane, stick and rudder is second to that, at least for me.

 

About two months ago, I got FSX installed in my 4 year old VAIO laptop – she was not too happy and could not even install the Acceleration Package. I continued to fly enjoying its new features. Then, I stumbled into VATSIM. After a couple of weeks learning about it and the new software, and arming myself with an inverter to conquer the power cuts by keeping my internet connection alive, I jumped in there and flew IFR KCHS to Miami (KMIA) in my default, 10 FPS, 737 – 800. I was totally hooked. What a brotherhood of people from all over the world sharing a common love.

 

And, YES, I had sweaty palms, my voice was trembling, and felt disoriented as if this was the first time I ever sat in a cockpit, after shutdown I was totally drained. “But wait a second”, I kept telling myself, “This is a simulator, these people do not know you, the fear of crashing is not there”. The reality is that the biggest fear of pilots is not actually death, but rather the fear of making a mistake. Now, as I hand-fly my approaches and get below my [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned altitude or taxi with my cabin door opened, there is at least two of us that know it – one was bad enough. Every flight is a checkride. Pilots are their own toughest critics, and that is why we get sweaty palms even in the anonymous virtual world of VATSIM.

 

I do not know how many hours I have logged so far in VATSIM – after all, it is not the hours behind you that count, but the ones ahead – but the only things I look forward when I get “home” after work is calling my wife and looking for available ATC with the worst weather. I print my approach plates on the back of used paper and group them together by airport with clothes pins. I only have an Enroute Low Altitude Chart ( L 19 – 20) that expired in Sep 2001… LOL. I have ordered new ones but it will take a while for them to get here.

 

VATSIM is not only fun, but also a great learning tool and a rewarding challenge. If anyone finds that flying in VATSIM is less challenging than flying RW, then you are not doing it right.

 

I need a new computer!!!

[Dave Dewhurst 1083325]

Hi Chaps,

 

Just a quick observation regarding the speed some controllers talk at.

 

I think it's safe to say we get a whole spectrum of personalities controlling in VATSIM, which is good, but also bad.

 

Let me just say I have absolutely no problem understanding real controllers, and I spend time listening to them in a variety of countries and locations.

 

But many controllers on VASTIM - I can hardly understand a word.

 

Perhaps some are trying to prove their "eliteness"? I'll leave it to you to decide.

 

Cheers,

David

[Wade Williams 877539]

But many controllers on VASTIM - I can hardly understand a word.

 

Perhaps some are trying to prove their "eliteness"? I'll leave it to you to decide.

 

David,

 

VATSIM uses a low-bandwidth codec. Therefore, the voice doesn't sound as clear as it could. Put that together with fast speech, phrases with which you may be unfamiliar, and you can have difficulty understanding. Understand that in some sectors and situations, the fast speech is absolutely necessary to be able to keep up with the traffic.

 

One of our controllers I can understand perfectly when he controls, since I know every phrase he's going to utter and in what sequence he's going to utter them. However, when he flies, I have more difficulty understanding him because I don't know what he's saying ahead of time. The more time you spend flying under a controller, the better you'll get at understanding him.

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

I agree that some controllers talk way too fast but others are fine. I think that the higher the rank of the controller, the faster they talk. One time when I was flying over Germany I contacted a center and I heard some talking but I thought it was for another plane as the traffic was busy. I contacted him again about 2 minutes later and he told me he had already spoken to me!

[Dave Dewhurst 1083325]

Wade,

 

I'm not sure the sound quality is such a problem, the majority of ATC is of satisfactory clarity.

 

The fact is there are some controllers who speak ridiculously quickly on purpose when slower clearer speach would be easy. Listen to real life ATC at peak times at somewhere like Schiphol or John F Kennedy and although the controllers are stretched, they keep their speech at a comprehendible speed.

 

If we want to be as real as it gets we should keep ATC comprehendible and perhaps even give ATC training when they find they can't speak to pilots without babbling.

 

Just my view on how we can improve even further and attract more pilots who are otherwise discuraged by ATC speaking unnecessarily quickly for whatever reason.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[Jeff Meaden 1104399]

ya hi , i just registered yesterday, now i think i have everything set up , id like to be able to talk to someone who is fimilier with the system , is there a general teamspeak or something ?

 

jeff

[Kevin Jarvis]

Hello everyone. New guy here.

I thought I'd write my first post to say I made my first VATSIM flight and it was great.

 

I've been flying sims for many years. Recently been flying FSE. No matter what forums I've been to there has always been some mention of VATSIM.

 

So I finally made the jump. Luckily over at FSE we have a great group of people who have volunteered to [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ist people like me in getting our feet wet with ATC.

 

I have to say that my instructor for the day, Kyle, was great and we had quite a bit of fun as I did circuits at Nashville.

 

Having the private channel open so Kyle could instruct me step by step was by far the easiest way for me to understand what to do and when to do it.

 

Needless to say ATC was great too.

I first signed on only to observe and was having a bit of trouble with my comms. He was very understanding and gave me a few tips before my instructor showed up. I only wish I could remember his name so I could thank him publicly.

 

So to make a long story short, I could talk about this experience for a long time..LOL...I'll be back in the air with VATSIM soon and often.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Kevin Jarvis 1070159

[Andre Allen 1095505]

To be honest today was my first flight on vatsim and i joined vatsim like 2 months ago.I know people may be asking what took me so long but i was really nervous ,normally i would come here looking on screenshots or sit in my plane listening to ATC but to i did my first vatsim flight it was from KSAN to KLAX in my carenado mooney bravo ,I was so nervous that i used chat instead of using my mic lol and i asked a bunch of dumb questions and did some dumb things but the ATC was very understanding and helped me alot and i landed safely in KLAX .I FEEL LIKE A REAL PILOT NOW lol maybe next time i use a commercial plane and use my mic.

 

THANKS TO THE ATC services GOVERNING KSAN TO KLAX TODAY YOU HELPED ME ALOT AND I THINK I WILL FLY THAT ROUTE MORE OFTEN ,i hope one of them is reading tis my callsign was SB101 hope you guys reply.