VATSIM new Pilot Questions

[David McClanahan]

VATSIM is wonderful, thanks to all involved.

I started this thread for questions for new pilots 

I just received this flight plan   (as a revision to one i submitted)

KBOS BLZZR4 BLZZR BAF HYPER7 KIAD 

how do I know the destination runway?

I have Navigraph and SimBrief as software.

2nd question what is HYPER7 ?   I can't find it in Navigraph or FAA website but I did find HYPER and could complete the flight path.

Edited July 2, 2021 at 02:07 AM by David McClanahan

[Kirk Christie]

28 minutes ago, David McClanahan said:

how do I know the destination runway?

If ATC is online it will be in the ATIS or issued to you by whoever is running Approach control for that Aerodrome.

If there is no ATC pick the best into the wind runway. You can also check, the local noise apartment procedures for the aerodrome to see if they have a preferred operating system, for little or no wind, example YSSY is 34L Arrivals 16L Departures, as it has the less noise impact. These are available in Navigraph.

Or you can also check flight radar 24 to see what the real world is using. 

29 minutes ago, David McClanahan said:

2nd question what is HYPER7

This is a Standard Terminal Arrival Route, or STAR.

BLZZR4 is a Standard Instrument Departure or SID.

[Lauri Uusitalo]

3 hours ago, David McClanahan said:

2nd question what is HYPER7 ?   I can't find it in Navigraph or FAA website but I did find HYPER and could complete the flight path.

HYPER8 is the latest revision of HYPER RNAV arrival. 

https://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/2106/05100hyper.pdf#nameddest=(IAD)

https://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/2106/05100hyper_c.pdf#nameddest=(IAD)

https://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/2106/05100hyper_c2.pdf#nameddest=(IAD)

Edited July 2, 2021 at 05:42 AM by Lauri Uusitalo

[Robert Shearman Jr]

5 hours ago, David McClanahan said:

how do I know the destination runway?

Before you even take off?  You don't. 

A check of the KIAD ATIS will generally tell you whether we're landing on the 1s or the 19s.  However, sometimes winds shift and the airport changes its direction of operation after your preflight briefing but before your arrival.

Even if you do know the landing direction in advance, there are three runway 1s (L, C, R) and three runway 19s (same).  You'll get assigned your specific runway and approach once handed from Center to Approach.  We can't possibly predict the traffic scenario hours in advance so we can't reasonably be expected to honor each pilot's preferred runway.

If it's not busy, and you get assigned something other than what you planned, you can request a switch -- it may be easy to accommodate or it may require you to accept a delay to work you in.  Doesn't hurt to ask.  But it's generally a good idea, as you strive to become more realistic in your online aviating, to work toward becoming comfortable getting your runway and approach assignment during your descent.  Certainly once you get confident enough to choose to fly during a busy event, you'll want to do all you can to work with the controllers and fit into the flow with a minimum of disruption.

What I usually do is set up the plane with my "best guess" and brief that approach in advance, before top-of-descent, so at least I start the descent having a one-in-two or one-in-three chance (usually) of being ahead of the game.

[David McClanahan]

Thanks to everyone for the answers, I'm flying MSFS 2020 for context and have 12+ VATSIM flights now.

Lauri , how did you find those charts at the FAA, I did a search but didn't find them.

Robert, at what point is the arrival gate assigned to the plane ? (I'm usually flying large airports as Delta in A320 )

I'm learning a lot and enjoying it (I am a SEL Pilot RW and Commercial Pilot and a   CFI-G (gliders) with thousands of hours (mostly in gliders, or serving as the Tow Pilot. so most flights are local)

anyone, in the MSFS A32NX .. I guess the best practice is to spawn a plane at a gate with only the departure and arrival airports defined as a direct Gps flight, and then add the routing as it is defined.

thanks to all involved , a great experience for me .. 

 

[Robert Shearman Jr]

8 minutes ago, David McClanahan said:

Lauri , how did you find those charts at the FAA, I did a search but didn't find them.

Robert, at what point is the arrival gate assigned to the plane ? (I'm usually flying large airports as Delta in A320 )

FAA charts are available at SkyVector.com, AirNav.com, and (my favorite) the actual FAA!
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/dtpp/search/

If by "Gate" you literally mean the jetway where the passengers board and disembark, FAA controllers don't assign those.  In the real world, your airline dispatch team will determine that, or, your airline's operations team at your destination.  On VATSIM, when you land, the Ground controller will ask where you're parking and you can let them know.  It's perfectly acceptable to say in response, "Whatever's closest is fine," or, "Any gate where this airline usually parks is fine" (most of the time, the VATSIM controllers working a certain airport will know this), or, respond with a gate assignment you decided upon yourself.  I usually look on FlightAware to get my routes, and then if there's a certain real-world flight I'm replicating, I'll "borrow" their gate assignments, too.  That way, even if I'm landing at an unfamiliar airport, I'm using a gate that the carrier I'm pretending to fly for does actually use in the real world.  But the level of realism you choose to employ in that regard is really up to you.

I ask for clarification on the word "Gate" because it has a meaning in  terms of Approach/Departure airspace, too, and I wasn't sure if that was what you meant.  The gate by which you enter the terminal area is determined by which STAR you filed in your original route.  Most of the time if you filed a route that makes sense for the origin, destination, and direction you're flying and which uses the most applicable SID and STAR, there's not too much of a chance you'll be reassigned one.

[Lauri Uusitalo]

On 7/2/2021 at 8:33 PM, David McClanahan said:

Thanks to everyone for the answers, I'm flying MSFS 2020 for context and have 12+ VATSIM flights now.

Lauri , how did you find those charts at the FAA, I did a search but didn't find them.

Used google for "faa kiad hyper" and clicked the fourth result.

[Hugh Lemonde]

Hi - am very new to VATSIM, apologies if this is an obvious question. If flying from a small GA airstrip that is within an area controller's space (such as Lon_W_Cen), will the area controller fill role of tower for any such airfields (assuming they are not too busy)? Many thanks

 

[Matthew Bartels]

If the airport has a tower yes. VATSIM uses "top-down" service meaning that a higher controller fulfills the duties of the lower controller if the lower controller is not online.

[Tobias Dammers]

On 8/1/2021 at 4:24 PM, Hugh Lemonde said:

Hi - am very new to VATSIM, apologies if this is an obvious question. If flying from a small GA airstrip that is within an area controller's space (such as Lon_W_Cen), will the area controller fill role of tower for any such airfields (assuming they are not too busy)? Many thanks

 

Generally, yes, as per the "top-down control" policy.

There are a few exceptions to this rule that may not always be obvious, such as:

• Airports that are untowered IRL are treated as such on VATSIM as well, so Center or Approach will not provide GND or TWR at those airports, but they may still issue IFR clearances, and they will be able to pick you up once you're airborne, so if you are departing from an untowered airport and Center is online, then it's still a good idea to call them up.
• Airports that are towered only during certain hours IRL (which includes most GA airfields) are, in principle, treated as such on VATSIM, but controllers may, at their discretion and/or per VACC policy, deviate from the IRL opening hours - e.g., a tower that closes at 1800z IRL may still be open on VATSIM at 2200z, because traffic peaks on VATSIM don't align with IRL traffic peaks.
• Some positions only cover high-level airspace, e.g., the Eurocontrol positions in continental Europe only provide service above FL245, and will not provide top-down control. Similarly, oceanic stations may or maynot provide top-down control.
• Some airspaces have complex shapes, or the airspaces are not depicted correctly on all maps (especially vatspy / simaware etc.). The London area, for example, is quite complex, with airspaces overlapping laterally depending on altitude, so it's not always easy to determine whether your airport is within a controller's airspace or not. If in doubt, just make a best guess and call them up when it's not too busy on freq; controllers know their airspace and will tell you whether you should be talking to them, or to someone else, or depart on UNICOM.