jonathan bryant Posted January 24, 2022 at 03:48 PM Posted January 24, 2022 at 03:48 PM (edited) Hi all! I'm Jonathan and I'm new to vatsim - about three days and 8 or 10 flight hours new, to be accurate. So far, I love the environment and I think it'll continue to be great fun and a wonderful training tool. I'm a current, flying private pilot with an instrument rating in real life. I've got a few hundred hours in mostly pipers and cessnas and a few thousand hours in simulators. I started flying simulators as a training aid when I first started ab initio flight training many years ago, and I've flown virtual and IRL ever since. The few thousand dollars I've spent on sim stuff over the years has saved me tens of thousands on instructor and airplane time and I think it helps me be a much more proficient and safer pilot in actual instrument conditions. So, what I've learned in just a few hours vatsim-ing: 1) Getting out of my comfort zone will make me a better, much more confident pilot - when you're flying "in the system" in instrument conditions, IRL, controllers ALWAYS ask you to do something unexpected, and in those conditions, there's stress. Because, you know, you could die if you screw it up badly enough. Not to mention killing your wife or kid. (and, sometimes, dog!) Vatsim will give me as many hours as I need, for free, to be given all those unexpected directions and get comfortable dealing with them in a high workload environment. I've always tried to tell myself I was issuing me my own "unexpected" instructions, but it's just not the same. 2) I can fly more complex procedures in busier airspace than I would normally fly - normally, when you fly a piston single at 90kt approach speeds, you try not to depart/arrive at Bravo airports. Some Charlies are daunting, as well. STARs, SIDs, thirty seven syllable taxi instructons? No thanks. But, after just a few hours in vatsim. . . Going to a Panthers game?? I'll fly into CLT! Also, I sim at odd times, so I've been chasing vatsim ATCs who are online and I've gotten to fly places I wouldn't normally. Yesterday morning there were ZERO ATCs in the united states when I logged on, so I went to Europe. I learned a few things and got some confidence. If I ever get to travel to there again, I might consider renting a 172 and puttering about a bit. Never would've even had that on my radar before. 3) The controllers are GOOD, for the most part. Maybe too good. I've already gotten "yelled" at for doing a couple of things that are maybe not straight out of the FAR/AIM, but are common practice that nobody seems to mind where I fly. i.e. - the phraseology my instrument instructor taught me, and that I've used ever since, when calling for clearance is "Raleigh clearance, N6026Y instruments to Wilmington". Vatsim controller called me out and made me say "IFR clearance to blah blah" Hahaha! When practicing instrument approached at a towered airport, I asked the vatsim controller for "multiple practice approaches - surprise me" and got admonished that I need to list the specific approaches I want and how they will terminate on the FP. 🙂 Maybe I was asking a bit much, but I picked a light traffic airport - they had 3 controllers working 7 or 8 aircraft. I've asked for and received surprise approaches at a class charlie before - and I got thanked, because they could put me where they wanted me so I didn't interfere with their other traffic flow. So, I'm looking forward to learning more about vatsim as I fly (then, maybe control?). I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, and I'm happy to answer any real life flying questions or tell a story or two. Jonathan Edited January 24, 2022 at 05:13 PM by jonathan bryant editid four spelnig and gramor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted January 24, 2022 at 08:26 PM Board of Governors Posted January 24, 2022 at 08:26 PM First of all, welcome! I'm so glad that you are enjoying VATSIM, and are pushing your envelope and expanding your comfort zone! That's great! Yeah, we really to train our controllers to a higher standard. Who knows, those times that you were asking for something fun, and got a decidedly-less-than-fun response, it could have been a student under the watchful eye of an instructor that had to do everything perfectly, else mess up his chances at a certification. Or, you could have been dealing with "one at the bottom end of the normal distribution".... 😉 In any case, depending on who you get as a controller, you'll also find plenty of excellent, and plenty of fun-loving (and sometimes both!) controllers as well. Take any instruction you get as a gift, and hope for the greatest of times -- and there are plenty of those to find here on VATSIM. I wish you all the best, and again, welcome! Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dace Nicmane Posted January 24, 2022 at 09:44 PM Posted January 24, 2022 at 09:44 PM 1 hour ago, Don Desfosse said: plenty of excellent, and plenty of fun-loving (and sometimes both!) controllers And one of them is Don Desfosse. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan bryant Posted January 27, 2022 at 12:29 AM Author Posted January 27, 2022 at 12:29 AM Since I have another thread where I’m complaining about a controller, I thought I would circle back to this one and give some kudos- i got an hour to fly after work today and the northeast controllers were up. I planned and flew a trip from Mass to Maine. I have to say, the controllers (BOS APP and BOS CTR) were OUTSTANDING! APP was controlling clearance, ground, tower and approach for Logan and multiple satellites and was KILLING it. I don’t think he took a breath in the 15 minutes I was with him, but was as courteous and helpful as any RW ATC I’ve had. Center was as busy as I’ve heard anyone else on VATSIM and had me and everyone else sorted from climb out to parking. These guys were handling commercial, private IFR, private VFR all without hesitation. Big ups to these guys. I’d fly with them any day! JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dace Nicmane Posted January 27, 2022 at 01:01 AM Posted January 27, 2022 at 01:01 AM Boston guys are great. Just imagine the amount of training they get to be killing it like they do. You can also join BVARTCC as a pilot and fly their Wings program. Maybe it's something you'd enjoy doing. Keeps your skills fresh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Choran Posted January 27, 2022 at 01:28 AM Posted January 27, 2022 at 01:28 AM 58 minutes ago, jonathan bryant said: Since I have another thread where I’m complaining about a controller, I thought I would circle back to this one and give some kudos- i got an hour to fly after work today and the northeast controllers were up. I planned and flew a trip from Mass to Maine. I have to say, the controllers (BOS APP and BOS CTR) were OUTSTANDING! APP was controlling clearance, ground, tower and approach for Logan and multiple satellites and was KILLING it. I don’t think he took a breath in the 15 minutes I was with him, but was as courteous and helpful as any RW ATC I’ve had. Center was as busy as I’ve heard anyone else on VATSIM and had me and everyone else sorted from climb out to parking. These guys were handling commercial, private IFR, private VFR all without hesitation. Big ups to these guys. I’d fly with them any day! JB Was that between 3-6 PM Eastern today? I'm pretty sure I know who you are and remember you (I am BOS_APP). Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan bryant Posted January 27, 2022 at 11:03 AM Author Posted January 27, 2022 at 11:03 AM 9 hours ago, Jackson Choran said: Was that between 3-6 PM Eastern today? I'm pretty sure I know who you are and remember you (I am BOS_APP). Thanks! Yep, I checked the logs - that was you. I sent you a high five msg at 22:40z. Man, you were on fire! I couldn't believe the variety of traffic and requests you were handling, without a hiccup. It was fun just listening! I'll fly with you again, for sure. I'll try to do it when you're a BIT slower, though! Maybe when the weather's bad and fewer people want to go out and play. JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Choran Posted January 27, 2022 at 12:15 PM Posted January 27, 2022 at 12:15 PM 1 hour ago, jonathan bryant said: Yep, I checked the logs - that was you. I sent you a high five msg at 22:40z. Man, you were on fire! I couldn't believe the variety of traffic and requests you were handling, without a hiccup. It was fun just listening! I'll fly with you again, for sure. I'll try to do it when you're a BIT slower, though! Maybe when the weather's bad and fewer people want to go out and play. JB When the weather is bad, every position will be staffed and it will be 8 times as busy. IMO way more fun to fly in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan bryant Posted January 27, 2022 at 02:39 PM Author Posted January 27, 2022 at 02:39 PM 14 hours ago, Dace Nicmane said: You can also join BVARTCC as a pilot and fly their Wings program. Maybe it's something you'd enjoy doing. Keeps your skills fresh. I just looked at the Wings program, and it sounds like a great refresher for things that may have been forgotten or neglected over the years. And a lot of fun! Thanks for the tip! JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Shearman Jr Posted January 27, 2022 at 05:41 PM Posted January 27, 2022 at 05:41 PM There is a Boston Center controller, Jamsheed Lovelace, who streams his sessions on Twitch: twitch.tv/sh3ed If you need any help with the Wings flights, I have a series on my YouTube in which I fly each one of them on livestream, archived to a playlist. Best wishes! Cheers, -R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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