Martijn Joon Posted October 29, 2021 at 09:07 AM Posted October 29, 2021 at 09:07 AM (edited) Hi all, The title might be a bit weird but let me explain: I used to fly a lot on IVAO till halfway 2015. I've recorded 670 hours both flying and controlling on IVAO so i'm certainly not a newbie in online flying. I've been out of it for some time now but looking to get back again but a lot has changed! So my question is: how is the participation in Europe/The Netherlands? Back in 2011 the participation on IVAO in Europe was better compared to VATSIM. Then the next question: which software to use? I used FSX before flying mainly airliners but looking to do (for now) some VFR flying now probably within the Netherlands. I already seen that A2A doesn't have any addons for MSFS yet so that makes me think that i beter make the switch to P3Dv5? What are your experiences in that? And which software seems to be more 'future proof'? Thanks in advance! Martijn Edited October 29, 2021 at 09:09 AM by Martijn Joon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Rammeloo Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:17 AM Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:17 AM EHAM is one of the busiest airports on the network. Please check www.dutchvacc.nl for further details. Martijn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Fuchs Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:18 AM Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:18 AM (edited) Hello Marthijn, if you love VFR flying, MSFS will be your SIM of choice. Yes, many aircraft are not yet as good as we wished, but there are some commercial addons on the market, that seem to be good. There's a Piper Arrow and a Piper Seneca, for example. I do not own any of them, I can only talk about what I have seen on streams and read on the internet, you better make your research as well. If you enjoy airliners, MSFS still has some way to go, but its coming. PMDG is in the race, for example. P3D seems to be great if you are looking for professional airliners, but the standard airports are just like plain FSX, nothing special and maybe nothing that you really care for. To make it look really good, you'll have to spend quite some money on airport sceneries! I do use X-Plane 11 (X-Plane 12 is on its way) and am fairly happy. There are some good freeware and payware airliners that are really worthwhile. If you enjoy the 737, Zibo's freeware B738 project is really awesome, it's playing in the league of payware addons. There are many good to great addon airports that are freeware. Otherwise, X-Plane has a very active community that keeps producing those addons. Payware airliners that you could research would be the FJS 727, Flightfactor 757/767 (not the old 777!!), ToLiss A321 and their brand new A340-series. There are some more projects in the pipeline. It all depends on what you are looking for. In terms of scenery, MSFS is the way to go. Great for VFR! Really professional airliners are just not there yet, but are on their way. When? No idea. The best airliner addons seem to be available for P3D, but they are quite pricey. Default airports are not so nice. X-Plane offers good airport sceneries out of the box, aircraft are nice. You'll need to decide between X-Plane 11 and MSFS, in my opinion. You'll have to invest some money to get airliners on a professional level (except for the Zibo because it is free) in both SIMs, but both offer a platform that has a future. I do operate X-Plane 11 and MSFS parallel now. Edited October 29, 2021 at 10:18 AM by Andreas Fuchs Cheers, Andreas Member of VATSIM GermanyMy real flying on InstagramMy Twitch streams of VATSIM flights and ATC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Fuchs Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:21 AM Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:21 AM 2 minutes ago, Martijn Rammeloo said: EHAM is one of the busiest airports on the network. Please check www.dutchvacc.nl for further details. You guys are in the top league indeed. Here's a nice list of airports, airlines etc. with all their stats: https://www.vatsimstats.net/ Cheers, Andreas Member of VATSIM GermanyMy real flying on InstagramMy Twitch streams of VATSIM flights and ATC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Rammeloo Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:23 AM Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:23 AM Just now, Andreas Fuchs said: You guys are in the top league indeed. Here's a nice list of airports, airlines etc. with all their stats: https://www.vatsimstats.net/ It helps to have top-tier neighbours 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Fuchs Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:25 AM Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:25 AM 1 minute ago, Martijn Rammeloo said: It helps to have top-tier neighbours 😉 You mean London? 😄 1 Cheers, Andreas Member of VATSIM GermanyMy real flying on InstagramMy Twitch streams of VATSIM flights and ATC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Joon Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:42 AM Author Posted October 29, 2021 at 10:42 AM Thanks for the quick replies! Regarding software: i do read MSFS is the way to go for VFR but why? For example NL2000 doesn't seem to be available for MSFS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Fuchs Posted October 29, 2021 at 12:58 PM Posted October 29, 2021 at 12:58 PM 2 hours ago, Martijn Joon said: Regarding software: i do read MSFS is the way to go for VFR but why? For example NL2000 doesn't seem to be available for MSFS? Provided that you have a reasonable internet connection, MSFS will stream satellite images from Bing maps into your simulator. Just have a look around on all the videos and screenshots that are available. Cheers, Andreas Member of VATSIM GermanyMy real flying on InstagramMy Twitch streams of VATSIM flights and ATC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frans DECHAENE Posted October 29, 2021 at 03:37 PM Posted October 29, 2021 at 03:37 PM I can vouch for the Dutch Vacc ATC. For me together with the Swiss the best in Europe. Good mix between professionalism and realising it is still a hobby. And Amsterdam almost always staffed in the evening. Throw in the circling approaches they invariably offer you towards 22/04 if you go to "Oost" and you need to look no further! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Joon Posted October 30, 2021 at 06:05 AM Author Posted October 30, 2021 at 06:05 AM Thanks for all the replies. Regarding VATSIM or IVAO it’s also pretty clear: I’ve posted the exact same message on the IVAO forum and had… 1 reply. okay I have to admit I’ve been a bit adolescent (I’m 33 so you’d think I’d already way past that now :p) but I installed P3D with the free A2A P-40 and some addons from NL2000. I have to say I was surprised by the graphics, these are really bad!! one think that really holds me back to use MSFS is the fact that it’s also available for Xbox: is it really a sim? It feels like a Need for Speed game because of that instead of a simulator (I used iRacing during my time off from flying if you want to know). Also ActiveSky is not available for MSFS? long story short: if I really want to go for realism is MSFS still the game of choice of better go for P3D then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauri Uusitalo Posted October 30, 2021 at 06:44 AM Posted October 30, 2021 at 06:44 AM I guess Xbox has more ooomph than many PCs today... and I am not sure if ActiveSky is that good/necessary. Even though I do use it with x-plane, it feels old and does not e.g. provide correct winds for different flight levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Fuchs Posted October 30, 2021 at 09:32 AM Posted October 30, 2021 at 09:32 AM So far, external weather programs cannot do anything with MSFS, because Microsoft/Asobo are keeping this door shut and there seems to be no will from them to change this. The live weather that MSFS offers, seems to be okay. I think that MSFS is a good platform, but it still needs to be mature a bit. For VFR you can use it now without issues. For proper IFR jet flying you can use the available modifications for the A320, CJ4, Citation Longitude and a few others. But fly them offline for a few hours and get used to them and their behaviour. Cheers, Andreas Member of VATSIM GermanyMy real flying on InstagramMy Twitch streams of VATSIM flights and ATC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Joon Posted October 30, 2021 at 12:23 PM Author Posted October 30, 2021 at 12:23 PM Thanks! Other question: on IVAO there are several tours which you can fly during the year. I dont see any at VATSIM, you don't have that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Rammeloo Posted October 30, 2021 at 12:59 PM Posted October 30, 2021 at 12:59 PM 35 minutes ago, Martijn Joon said: Thanks! Other question: on IVAO there are several tours which you can fly during the year. I dont see any at VATSIM, you don't have that? Google: vatsim event tour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Joon Posted October 30, 2021 at 01:10 PM Author Posted October 30, 2021 at 01:10 PM Thanks! I will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Joon Posted October 30, 2021 at 03:30 PM Author Posted October 30, 2021 at 03:30 PM Installed MSFS and had a short hop over Netherlands and definitely hooked! which addons do I need for the A320, CJ4 and Citation? and any other addons which are kinda must have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Fuchs Posted October 30, 2021 at 04:48 PM Posted October 30, 2021 at 04:48 PM Look for FlyByWire A320, use the "Experimental" version. The CJ4 and Longitude Mods are made by "Working Title". Your place to download mods, sceneries etc. will be "flightsim.to". Cheers, Andreas Member of VATSIM GermanyMy real flying on InstagramMy Twitch streams of VATSIM flights and ATC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Joon Posted October 30, 2021 at 04:48 PM Author Posted October 30, 2021 at 04:48 PM Thanks a lot! What are you using for flight planning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matisse VanWezer Posted October 30, 2021 at 05:17 PM Posted October 30, 2021 at 05:17 PM On 10/29/2021 at 12:25 PM, Andreas Fuchs said: You mean London? 😄 Pretty sure he meant Brussels, isn't it Martijn? 😜 1 Streaming Brussels Control since 2018 on MatisseRAdar - Twitch to create time lapses on YouTube and TikTok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Joon Posted October 30, 2021 at 05:21 PM Author Posted October 30, 2021 at 05:21 PM Oei! I’m new here so I won’t go into details about my neighbours. Only thing I can safely say is that somehow London isn’t part of the EU anymore… 😛 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Rammeloo Posted October 30, 2021 at 05:39 PM Posted October 30, 2021 at 05:39 PM 21 minutes ago, Matisse VanWezer said: Pretty sure he meant Brussels, isn't it Martijn? 😜 Neighbours = plural 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Fuchs Posted October 30, 2021 at 06:26 PM Posted October 30, 2021 at 06:26 PM 1 hour ago, Martijn Joon said: Thanks a lot! What are you using for flight planning? Primarily Simbrief.com Cheers, Andreas Member of VATSIM GermanyMy real flying on InstagramMy Twitch streams of VATSIM flights and ATC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Christie Posted October 30, 2021 at 11:30 PM Posted October 30, 2021 at 11:30 PM 11 hours ago, Martijn Joon said: I dont see any at VATSIM, you don't have that? Worldflight starts on the 6th of November UTC leaving YSSY for 7 days of non stop around the world flying for charity. Join several fixed base home cockpit sims, with full coverage ATC as they fly 24 hours a day around the globe. https://www.worldflight.com.au/web/ Kirk Christie - VATPAC C3 VATPAC Undercover ATC Agent Worldflight Perth 737-800 Crew Member Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matisse VanWezer Posted October 31, 2021 at 09:23 AM Posted October 31, 2021 at 09:23 AM 15 hours ago, Martijn Rammeloo said: Neighbours = plural 😉 Brussels +-= plural Checkmate 😆 1 Streaming Brussels Control since 2018 on MatisseRAdar - Twitch to create time lapses on YouTube and TikTok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Joon Posted October 31, 2021 at 09:31 AM Author Posted October 31, 2021 at 09:31 AM Thanks a lot for all the help/answers. regarding events it’s clear to me. Tours (like a VFR tour thru Benelux for example) doesn’t seem to be existent right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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