Thanks to KMSP Approach, my first VATSIM experience was very enjoyable

[Justin Rebelo]

New member from western Canada (CYYJ home base). I've been flying enough lately to mistakenly think I was more than ready for a live ATC scenario, so I finally got Vatsim going today and did a lot of reading and setting up to figure out how to use it. Once I was ready I tried to find a place to do a short VFR flight at a trial run. The first couple places I tried there was no one responding so I went to KMSP and did a VFR takeoff, tour around the city with flight following and then full stop landing. I made some pretty stupid errors right after takeoff as the busy radio comms and obviously very experienced controller were intimidating and everything I'd mentally gone over beforehand just went blank, but he was patient with my screwups and after a relaxing tour of the city at night, my approach and landing went smoothly while he was managing what seemed to me like quite a lot of local traffic. Great work, whomever you are, and I look forward to my next flight in VATSIM and many more.

[Brant Marshall]

@Justin RebeloGlad to hear you had a great experience, I forwarded this off to the folks at KMSP, I'm sure they'll love to see this feedback ^_^

 

EDIT: Welcome to VATSIM! Let us know if you need anything or have any questions!

Edited September 30, 2020 at 04:39 AM by Brant Marshall
Added something!

[Justin Rebelo]

4 hours ago, Brant Marshall said:

@Justin RebeloGlad to hear you had a great experience, I forwarded this off to the folks at KMSP, I'm sure they'll love to see this feedback ^_^

 

EDIT: Welcome to VATSIM! Let us know if you need anything or have any questions!

WELL since you offered...

 

I dug around for a "SELCAL" code for the planes I loaded tonight (C152 and C172 in MSFS2020) and couldn't find one anywhere. I ended up just connecting without one as it seemed better than making up a fake one since I figured if not having one was a real problem I'd hear about it right away instead of someone trying to use it and it being bogus. Is this actually necessary? If so, how do I find the correct one?

 

Second, I'm Canadian and intend to use a Canadian tail number. KMSP Approach operator informed me my first tail number was invalid so I reloaded with CJAR, but I have since looked at Canadian tail number docs and it seems like even this isn't strictly correct. All valid tail numbers use a dash, such as CG-XXX etc. Dashes don't work in the connect dialog, so is "CGJAR" sufficient and does the vPilot client make sure no two people use the same tail number?
 

Finally, it will be a while before I expect I'll travel outside of a centre, as I'm a small prop plane guy, but since I have noticed that vPilot seems to only show frequencies close enough to me to be relevant that if I do a flight that crossed into a more distance airspace, it will drop the stations and bring in new stations in real time as I travel?

 

Thanks for the welcome.

Edited September 30, 2020 at 08:51 AM by Justin Rebelo
mistyped type code

[Andreas Fuchs]

Hi Justin,

2 hours ago, Justin Rebelo said:

I dug around for a "SELCAL" code for the planes I loaded tonight (C152 and C152 in MSFS2020) and couldn't find one anywhere.

that's correct, because SELCAL relies on HF radios, not on VHF. C152s do not have HF radios installed, thus they cannot have a SELCAL code. You will find that SELCAL is installed mainly on airliners and business jets.

[Kolby Dunning]

12 hours ago, Justin Rebelo said:

Second, I'm Canadian and intend to use a Canadian tail number. KMSP Approach operator informed me my first tail number was invalid so I reloaded with CJAR, but I have since looked at Canadian tail number docs and it seems like even this isn't strictly correct. All valid tail numbers use a dash, such as CG-XXX etc. Dashes don't work in the connect dialog, so is "CGJAR" sufficient and does the vPilot client make sure no two people use the same tail number?

Yep, I fly (and control) in Canada. You can log in as CGJAR as you should have no issues.

[Derek Hood]

16 hours ago, Justin Rebelo said:

New member from western Canada (CYYJ home base). I've been flying enough lately to mistakenly think I was more than ready for a live ATC scenario, so I finally got Vatsim going today and did a lot of reading and setting up to figure out how to use it. Once I was ready I tried to find a place to do a short VFR flight at a trial run. The first couple places I tried there was no one responding so I went to KMSP and did a VFR takeoff, tour around the city with flight following and then full stop landing. I made some pretty stupid errors right after takeoff as the busy radio comms and obviously very experienced controller were intimidating and everything I'd mentally gone over beforehand just went blank, but he was patient with my screwups and after a relaxing tour of the city at night, my approach and landing went smoothly while he was managing what seemed to me like quite a lot of local traffic. Great work, whomever you are, and I look forward to my next flight in VATSIM and many more.

Glad you enjoyed your first flight and we look forward to you flying in our airspace again!  Glad it was busy so you could hear everything going on on the radio.  You did a good job and I appreciate you having patience with myself as well trying to coordinate the traffic as well as helping you out.

 

Derek

KZMP

Edited September 30, 2020 at 08:16 PM by Derek Hood

[EJ Davis]

Welcome to VATSIM! You'll find tons of helpful folks as you continue to journey around the world on VATSIM.

We look forward to seeing you around!