VATSIM Flying via disconnecting

[Michael Tran 1331844]

Is it possible to disconnect from your client when flying long distances, with your flight plan still in place?

 

Sometimes while the flight is in action, I take a step away from the computer. Or I could up the simrate this way.

[Norman Blackburn]

Yes its possible. The flight plan remains in place up to 2 hours. If it's longer simply resend your plan.

[Michael Tran 1331844]

OK, thanks.

[Miguel Frias]

Michael,

 

You can prefile your flightplan up to 2 hours before actually logging in and starting your flight. When you log in, it will automatically be there for you. Alternatively you can log on first and send the flightplan to VATSIM. It will be valid as long as you remain online.

 

If you want to disconnect for a break and come back later you will have to resend the flightplan. This is because the flightplan is lost 3-5 minutes after you went offline.

[Johnathan Lee]

I think this the OP want to know if he can do this:

 

 

connect to vatsim/file fp

start flying

disconnect from vatsim

then go afk and "Up the sim rate"

then come back say at TOD and re-connect with fp still intact.

 

I could be wrong but that what i thought his question was. Not sure the answer is the same then.

 

/regards

[Brad Littlejohn]

I think this the OP want to know if he can do this:

 

 

connect to vatsim/file fp

start flying

disconnect from vatsim

then go afk and "Up the sim rate"

then come back say at TOD and re-connect with fp still intact.

 

I could be wrong but that what i thought his question was. Not sure the answer is the same then.

 

/regards

 

With the FP intact? Not after the 2 hours that Norman mentioned. So you'd need to resend the flight plan after that point. It wouldn't hurt to resend it upon reconnecting anyway, as most pilot clients should keep your last FP available, so you could just connect, open up the FP, click send, and be done.

 

I've done that many a time when flying an overseas flight and didn't want to speed up. For example, I would:

1. start in, say, Las Vegas,
   
2. file a flightplan, KLAS-EGLL or EGKK
   
3. depart and reach cruise altitude
   
4. disconnect
   
5. go to bed
   
6. wake up 8 hours later off the coast of Ireland
   
7. reconnect
   
8. send the flight plan

 

Works wonderfully on Sundays, as the US is just starting to wind down, so I get traffic then, and when I wake up, the UK is lit up (they are 8 hours ahead of me), so my Sunday afternoon is their prime time.

 

Gotta thank Alex Bower for that idea.

 

BL.

[Don Desfosse]

Just to clarify, if you have been connected on the network with a flight plan filed, once you have been disconnected for 6 minutes, the flight plan is lost from the network. So after 6 minutes, you'd have to refile. The two hours is how long a flight plan stays in the prefile system before being removed.

[Shehryar Ansari]

I see this should be the way to fly long haul. As a Supervisor I see too many users get caught being away from the computer when flying long hauls and connected to VATSIM. My advice to them, please just log off and log back in when back at the desk. What difference does it make to stay connected when there is hardly any traffic around at FL390 over the mid-Atlantic or wherever? Just log off and back in when ready and resend flight plan and off you go. No disruption to flight.

 

Shez

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

Those tend to be the ones that their VA's restrict them to online only and wont give them credit for completing the flight if they disconnect. but what often isnt mentioned by some of those same VA's is to stick to flights they can do without having to be away. Even when they do advise their pilots about that issue, some still decide to do so. can only hold their hands so long before you have to let them go and make their own decisions

[Ross Carlson]

Those tend to be the ones that their VA's restrict them to online only and wont give them credit for completing the flight if they disconnect.

 

Presumably, those VAs have that rule because they want the accomeulated hours to represent time flown in a realistic environment with ATC. Seems like they could make an exception for long haul flights where there is rarely going to be ATC for most of the trip.

[Luca Flores 1418919]

For some reason after I disconnected flying HND-LAX, I couldn't reconnect. I'm running X-Plane 11, newest update, with XSquawkbox. I go to Plugins> XSquawkbox> Connect, but the little popup saying I'm connected didn't appear. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Nestor Perez]

Last night there were problems with the servers. Try again now to see if it works

[Trent Hopkinson]

Another fun one is when someone else takes your callsign when you are away.

 

1: Check on vatspy or vattastic or accomeap or similar, to see if someone is flying with your callsign now

2: Change server to a different one

 

If you find that you can't do step 1 because the servers are down, well... try step 2 anyway (although vataware/vatstats won't pick up your flight for now, but ATC might still be around)