Best airport to start circuit-landing practicefor newbies

[Dushyant Varma]

I'm new to VATSIM and I want to know which is the best airport to practice circuit landings on VATSIM, where the ATC is realistic and is helpful to newbies on VATSIM.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Use VAT-Spy or VATtastic or one of the many other available tools to see where ATC and pilots are online, and find a controller who doesn't have too much traffic at that time.  Go there. 

Where that will be will constantly vary based on time of day, day of week, scheduled events, and pure dumb luck -- so naming a specific airport won't help you, unfortunately.  Hopefully this advice does, though. 

[Evan Reiter]

In addition to Rob's comments, I would strongly recommend that while you're searching for an airport with ATC, try to find one that is:

• Staffed by a Tower controller (i.e., ACK_TWR)
• Not a busy/major airport
• Not being featured in an event

Although we run under a "top-down" structure where a Center or Approach controller could provide you with Tower services, including VFR Closed Traffic, at any airport in their airspace, VFR closed traffic is a high workload for Center controllers. You'll get a much better experience speaking to a local/Tower controller who is operating just that one airport. It's also helpful to ensure you're not flying in the middle of an event (if you see all positions staffed and a lot of airplanes, chances are it's an event) and that the airport you choose isn't a large, international airport with lots of jet traffic. Depending on where in the world you fly, some of these major international airports restrict VFR operations.