Two Newbie Questions

[David Mackusick 1480350]

I am brand new and have not flown on VATSIM yet. I will be flying VFR in a Cessna 172. My plan was to start by flying the pattern at a regional airport, but I noticed that there were only a few controllers on the network in the US this afternoon and they were all at major airports (eg, Boston, Dulles, Atlanta, Ft Lauderdale/Hollywood, etc). Probably would not be appropriate IRL, but is it OK to do pattern work (and other GA VFR stuff) in a 172 at these types of airports in VATSIM? Is it considered bad form?

 

Second Question: I understand that a tower controller might also cover ground and delivery if those positions are not staffed. Suppose I'm at an airport with a controller in the tower but no ground controller and want to contact ground for taxi. Do I call on the ground frequency? Or do I call the tower controller for taxi clearance? If I'm supposed to call the tower for ground taxi clearance, do I still refer to that person as tower or as ground (it's the same person) when asking for ground taxi clearance?

 

Thanks for any help and sorry for the newbie questions.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Pattern work at a major airport is usually okay if there's not an event going on there. But keep in mind that via the top-down concept, Approach or Center would cover Tower (and GND/DEL) at Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] D airports within their area, workload permitting. So that might be a way to get ATC services for pattern work but be out of the way of the heavy iron.

 

Yes, top-down means you just call the next controller up, on their frequency, for the service you need. For example, if Dulles Tower is on, you'll call them on 120.1 for your clearance, for taxi, and for takeoff -- all on the same frequency and all referring to them as "Dulles Tower." If they're offline but Washington Center is up on 133.72, do all of that on their channel and call them "Washington Center."

 

Hope that helps!

[David Mackusick 1480350]

Thanks Robert! Super helpful. Logged back in and did some pattern work at a Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] C airport (Greenville/Spartanburg) with light traffic and a very patient tower controller. A positive start!

 

Thanks for your help!