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U.S. pilots flying in europe.


Tim Simpson
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Tim Simpson
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How tolerant are european controllers with U.S. based pilots that aren't experienced with the differences in europe ATC? I've looked at some guides online, but don't relish being denigrated for making a small mistake like calling a "stand" a "gate."

 

What would be a good country/route to get started with, and ease the transition?

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Norman Blackburn
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I would suggest either Scandinavia, Netherlands or Germany. All great places with very tolerant ATC. That said, you should still enjoy your time no matter where in Europe you travelled.

Norman

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Lindsey Wiebe 1101951
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Honestly, any. Just like real life it's awesome on Vatsim when you get an authentic sounding pilot, i.e. Aer Lingus has an Irish accent, BA with British, Lufthansa with German, etc. And like real life the pilots will say things differently. Just listen to JFK for instance on LiveAtc.net . Don't stress it.

 

And the minor rules... ATC will just nudge you.

 

For example this is real life I'm from Vancouver Canada and fly to Seattle very regularly in the US. Well in Canada control zones/floors, etc have a shelf for instance Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] B Seattle above 3000'. Well in Canada I can fly at 3000' and no issues, however in the US I was politely told to be BELOW 3000'. "Roger that"

Mr.

VATSIM P2

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Tim Simpson
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I'm looking at doing a flight from ENGM to ESSA. Seems reasonably straight forward, and not too long.

 

Sound like a good jumping off point?

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Norman Blackburn
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Two great places.

Norman

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Tim Simpson
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Thanks. Will fly it offline first to try it out, then give it a run on the network.

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Martijn Rammeloo
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Hi Tim,

 

You are always welcome in the Amsterdam FIR. We usually book and display our control 'slots' on http://www.dutchvacc.nl.

 

In the end, the differences between the US and proper way of doing things ( ) are quite small. No need to worry about stands or gates. Over here you don't need to file a SID or STAR, but if you do: no problem. Contact GND prior to any movement on the ramp. Some small RT differences.

 

Next Friday, we will be (almost) fully staffed. On Saturday, I will be on ACC .

 

Enjoy Europe!

 

Martijn

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Norman Blackburn
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Just don't be away for 30 minutes until the end of the sector.

Norman

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Martijn Rammeloo
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Just don't be away for 30 minutes until the end of the sector.

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Kevin Yang
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How tolerant are european controllers with U.S. based pilots that aren't experienced with the differences in europe ATC? I've looked at some guides online, but don't relish being denigrated for making a small mistake like calling a "stand" a "gate."

I've personally never had any issues with doing so, and I've flown a lot of places from London to Amsterdam to Prague and even Vienna.

Captain Kevin

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Torben Andersen
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How tolerant are european controllers with U.S. based pilots that aren't experienced with the differences in europe ATC? I've looked at some guides online, but don't relish being denigrated for making a small mistake like calling a "stand" a "gate."

 

You'll be more than welcome in European airspace. Naturally there are differencies, but we are all here to help each other learning new procedures, when we meet them.

Some of the challenges you might find is, that SIDs/STARs are ussually (but not always!) given by the controller, not filed by the pilot and there is a much stricter route structure to comply with than in the US (in my experience). Finding a correct routing can for some destinations be really challenging (even in Free Route Airspace), if you want to check it with Eurocontrol. The many individual states in Europe have their own little differencies, but in our enviroment it is usually easy to overcome.

If you have questions feel free to ask.

 

Torben Andersen,

Torben Andersen, VACC-SCA Controller (C1)

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Daniel Morris 1132365
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Don't be afraid of being wrong, as long as you are humble enough to learn you'll not look stupid.

Controllers aren't there to wrap your knuckles should you get something wrong, more to help you conduct a safe ( and fun, virtual) flight

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Daniel Katz
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If planning to fly in an unfamiliar area in the near future you can connect at a gate (or stand ) taking care to stay out of the way, and tune the comms and spend some time listening to how the locals do it. It won't answer all questions regarding procedures but will definitely help.

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