Is it okay? (No flight plan)

[Tom Boyd 1304312]

I'm new to Vatsim... but loving it. I'll be flying, not controlling

 

In the real world, I fly little planes at the weekend, generally avoiding anthing bigger than a cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] D airport. (Vatsim may give me the confidence to change that!)

 

In the real world, I often take off from an uncontrolled airfield, and make contact from a distance with a cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] D field, go in, land, go away again. For the practice, for the day I NEED to land at a cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] D.

 

Is it acceptable, in Vatsim, to do this? (Of course, as in the real world, I will understand if controllers decline permission to enter their airspace!) (Oh.. and I have in mind asking to land at cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] C, cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] B airports, too.)

 

And I will be sure to abide by the oft repeated guidelines about not popping into the Vatsim world on a runway or taxiway... to which I would add, "Start on the ground".

 

Thanks for guidance on this. Tom

[Kyle Ramsey 810181]

Yes, you can do that. You can also file a simple plan that just says you are local VFR so then they know what you are doing.

[Bradley Grafelman]

Another aspect to consider... many VATSIM statistic or "live map" sites/programs use flight plans to show information about airborne pilots and airport statistics. So, if you're not talking to a controller, you might still consider filing a flight plan just for the VATSIM-specific purpose of giving those sites/programs the ability to track/display your flight properly.

 

Otherwise, if you are going to be talking to a controller, feel free to follow the more realistic procedure of just calling up the controller with the relevant information and allowing him/her to generate a flight strip (which turns out to be stored in the same location as a flight plan, by the way) for you.

 

If I'm not busy, I try to be realistic and ignore most VFR FPs and specifically ask for aircraft type and destination when someone calls for flight following.

 

EDIT: By the way, welcome to VATSIM!

[Keith Smith]

To avoid negative learning for your r/w flying, I would use the same flow you're using in real life, which almost certainly means you're not filing VFR flight plans. I would bring that procedure to VATSIM and treat it like a real flight. Call the controller, tell them what you want to do.

 

If you file a flight plan on VATSIM, most controllers are going to see that (which isn't what happens in the real system) and act on it. In other words, they'll know who you are and what you're looking for when you're cold calling them. You check in, you get a squawk code, get radar identified, and now you miraculously have flight following to your destination. In the real world, you gotta tell 'em who you are, where you are, and what you want.

 

To give you a fighting chance of replicating a real world interaction, I'd suggest not filing the flight plan to remove the temptation of the controller to 'cheat' in the handling of your flight. If you weren't doing r/w flying, the difference wouldn't be important, but it'd be a shame to have negative transfer from here to the cockpit.

 

Also bear in mind, VFR traffic is in the minority in the US on VATSIM, as is the use of non-radar tower controlling. You're likely to find yourself getting squawk codes and radar identified very quickly after you call up a tower for transition or landing, even if it's a non-radar Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] D.

 

Keep those caveats in mind, and you'll be all set.

[Tom Boyd 1304312]

Thank you for the helpful replies above, and rest [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ured... I shall be watching for any other advice to come.

 

It has been amazing to me how HARD it is to FLY THE PLANE! I "flew" sims for years, before embarking on lessons in real world. Thought I "knew" my sim. You wouldn't think that (or that I have a pilot's license!!) if you'd been the controllers of my first forays....

 

But everyone has been VERY kind, supportive, and I really think I'm "getting there"... and that it is going to be great reinforcement for real world flying... my reason for doing this.

 

As I am weak in my Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] C & Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] B procedures, it is an interesting learning curve, discerning where the sim is accurate, and where it has to make (minor, I think?) compromises for the fact that it IS a sim. Thanks in particular for the advise above about how to keep it as "real world" as possible.