VATSIM First flight impressions.

[Joseph Schillinger 1470707]

After several days of listening I decided to jump in. I flew from KDFW to KSDF between 2030Z and 2230Z. Needless to say, like many noobs, I was fairly intimidated. A perfectionist I am, a supreme multitasker I am not. You could imagine the conflict. I definitely could have used a copilot. Clearance delivery was kind of rough, many things to read back. Taxi went pretty smooth, and take off went well, however I forgot to switch to departure and after 10 minutes went to center only to realize I had a PM that asked me to contact departure. Sorry regional app/dep. Thank god you guys have patients. In flight to SDF went well. Approach was interesting due to the fact when flying without VATSIM I would let the FMC start the decent and basically take the plane to final. Not so when on VATSIM and you have possibly dozens of real pilots in the neighborhood that need to be sequenced. After flailing around to find AWLEE for 35L, I finally brought my triple 7 down with a smooth landing. Thanks Ind. center for the help and vectors. Everyone involved had great attitudes and I truly appreciate the patience.

 

Hope you all got a chuckle out of this.

 

Joe

[Andreas Fuchs]

Hey Joe,

 

thanks for sharing your experience! I think most of us went through the same or at least very similar moments during our first flight(s) online. Routine will come, you will be able to do all of the stuff in a smooth way, just keep on doing it.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Like I like to say -- don't take it personally if you get called out for messing up (i.e. starting descent before cleared to, etcetera). Just learn from it, and don't screw that same thing up again next time; just move onto the next thing to screw up instead. One by one, you'll get an additional piece right, until a dozen or two flights in you'll start to feel like you know what you're doing. Then you'll get [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned a non-precision approach and the process starts all over, LOL. In the end, there's never a point where you know everything, so, be ready to learn learn learn learn learn for the rest of your life.

[Andreas Fuchs]

Even experienced pilots screw up. It's normal. It's all about how you manage the screw up and how you try to avoid it from happening again.

[Andrew McCabe]

Welcome to Vatsim Joe. OK maybe a few glitches on your first live flight, but I [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ure you we were all there at one stage, and even those of us who have been around a loooooong time still get things wrong. But, hey it sounds like you did just fine.

[IAN COIL]

Joe, as a fellow new guy, you didn't do bad at all.   I, in one sitting, gave an IFR altitude on a VFR flight plan, gave Westerly headings while said East, missed my taxi exit onto the runway, and then when I landed totally ignored ground, because when I'd set off, they weren't signed on so I didn't have it written down and I missed the tower's call to change frequency.  I noticed the PM when I got parked.   I apologized and I felt like the dumbest guy on (simulated) Earth.  

That was in Charlotte I believe, and when I missed my taxi after all the other errors, I told the controller that I was just making sure he was paying attention.  He laughed.  Everyone I've encountered has been great.  I am not a real world pilot but I hope to be someday, I appreciate all the patience I've been shown.  Vatsim has 100% been a great experience.