Brendan ORourke 1395899 Posted August 24, 2017 at 03:26 AM Posted August 24, 2017 at 03:26 AM Hello All, My name is Brendan O'Rourke, and I hail from the state of Missouri in the United States. I recently joined Vatsim in order to make flying in FSX a bit more fun and realistic than it already is, I mean what could be better than having ATC with a real person on the other end? Well, to make a long story short, I made my first flight out London's Heathrow airport one night, and I think I made a bit of a fool of myself, I didn't think I would get so nervous as I did, so before I give it another go, I'd like to ask for a little help. My main problem is figuring out what to say for each phase of the flight, as my only IFR flight experience is flying with FSX's native ATC system. I actually prefer flying VFR most of the time, so is it possible to do that in Vatsim, or is it better to fly IFR? Another problem I had was that I didn't have the navigational data for the waypoints that were [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned to me by ATC, so I'd like to know if there are any charts I could download, or perhaps a mod to FSX's native navigational aids such as the GPS, so I don't have to go guessing which way to turn, preferably something simple and easy to use. Well, a little more about me, I really like flying vintage aircraft, both piston-engined and jets/turboprops, from the old warbirds and cargo transports right up to cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ic airliners, though I do like the occasional fictional/fun aircraft (really like the Pan Am Space Clipper). I don't really like the modern gl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] cockpits too much and I like to do a lot of hands-on flying. Thanks ever so much for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to hearing back from you all! Brendan O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wygene Chong 1089621 Posted August 24, 2017 at 09:53 AM Posted August 24, 2017 at 09:53 AM Welcome to VATSIM Brendan! Regarding charts, see a post I just wrote 5 mins ago giving general guidance: viewtopic.php?p=517167#p517167 I would recommend vRoute for getting navigational data to input easily into FSX: http://vroute.net/ For seeing who's online (ATC & pilots), I would recommend the brand new tool, Accomeap: http://accomeap-project.com/ For figuring out what to say, I would recommend taking a P1 course. This is basically a beginner's course to VATSIM. There are plenty of organisations that teach it. See here for starters: https://ptd.vatsim.net/ Finally, local/regional VATSIM websites can often contain a wealth of information for new (or even experienced) pilots. For example, we have our country guides in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands with step-by-step examples of what to say to ATC, plus sceneries, sector break down, airline callsigns and more! See here: http://vatsim-scandinavia.org/pilots/airports/iceland A great way to learn is to just pop up at a terminal stand and listen in to the frequency. No need to actually fly. You might want to just send a private chat message to ATC to let them know you're observing. You can get guaranteed ATC and traffic if you come along to listen at a major event. Events are posted in the Fly-In sub-forum on this VATSIM forum. There are events somewhere in the world almost every day. See here: viewforum.php?f=17 VATSIM is a big organisation, it takes a while to realise how many parts there are to it and the amount of resources that are out there. But it's well worth the effort to get involved! See you in the skies! Wygene Chong C1 Controller | Iceland | Greenland | Faroe Islands VATSIM Scandinavia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted August 24, 2017 at 12:43 PM Board of Governors Posted August 24, 2017 at 12:43 PM Brendan, welcome. In addition to Wygene's excellent advice, here is my suggestion regarding updating your default GPS: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=71316 Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Shearman Jr Posted August 26, 2017 at 02:25 AM Posted August 26, 2017 at 02:25 AM One more -- don't start at Heathrow, LOL. Start at a less busy airport (but still one with ATC and a little traffic -- once you check Accomeap, VATtastic, or VAT-Spy and know how to find that situation), and work your way up to your Kennedys / Heathrows / LAXs once you're more comfortable. A P1 program was recommended -- check my sig for a good source for that. Welcome! Cheers, -R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan ORourke 1395899 Posted August 27, 2017 at 03:58 AM Author Posted August 27, 2017 at 03:58 AM Thank you all for all the excellent advice, I certainly appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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