Activity VATSIM Question

[Thomas Laubscher]

Good Morning Everyone,

I'm new to VATSIM and I'm excited to fly on this Network. I'm just having some basic questions how the Network works.

Currently, I use VATSpy to see where is some good coverage and activity. Then I load my FPL and start to fly. It happens often, that

then the controller is just finishing and I find myself on the Unicom. My question to you is how you manage your flights and how

can I see and estimate, if my flight will have good coverage until Destination? How you manage the process to submit a FPL and start the Flight?

I know there are the Events. But beside those, is there any possiblity in advance to see if, where and how long a controller will be online?

 

Thank you and sorry for the very basic question 😊 But somehow I have to get into it.

BR Thomas

Edited November 11, 2022 at 09:45 AM by Thomas Laubscher

[Alistair Thomson]

You can submit your flight plan while offline using the flight plan section of my.vatsim.net and then when you connect at the gate, ATC will have your flight plan and you would proceed by talking to whichever ATCO is available at your location. If there is none, or ATC disconnects, just continue with your planned route, broadcasting on UNICOM as necessary. You can't reliably anticipate when ATC might become available but as you know, VATSpy will show you existing cover.

[Thomas Laubscher]

Good Evening,

That sounds great, so in this case I didn't do it completely wrong 🙂  Thank you.

So the ATC will anyway only see my flight as soon I will login with vpilot then? So there is no need or good practice

to fill the flight plan some hours before?

 

Kind Regards

Thomas

[Alistair Thomson]

That's correct, but the flight plan will lapse if it isn't activated within two hours, by you going online for the flight.

[Thomas Laubscher]

Ah perfect I understand. Thank you very much for helping! 

[Andrew Crowley]

On 11/11/2022 at 4:39 AM, Thomas Laubscher said:

can I see and estimate, if my flight will have good coverage until Destination?

If you read the controller remarks, you will occasionally see someone post an "expected online until" time.  It's kind of rare, but always appreciated for planning purposes. 

[Sebastian Crane]

Many VATSIM regions also have a 'bookings' or 'schedule' page on their website, like this one: https://cts.vatsim.uk/bookings/calendar.php. Most air traffic controllers don't choose to book in advance, which is rather a shame, but it does let you plan for the 'best-guess' ATC coverage. 🙂

[Andrew McCabe]

You might want to look at vroute .   www.vroute.net.

After you select a route, there is a tab that shows ATC coverage.  As far as I am aware, this show actual bookings, but also a graded scale based on historical coverage to give you an indication how likely it is you will get ATC coverage at a given time of day.

 

Edited November 16, 2022 at 09:10 AM by Andrew McCabe

[Andreas Fuchs]

3 minutes ago, Andrew McCabe said:

As far as I am aware, this show actual bookings, but also a graded scale based on historical coverage to give you an indication how likely it is you will get ATC coverage at a given time of day.

Yes, I can confirm that this is correct.

There is now a number of cool websites that will present ATC bookings in quite well readable formats. I do use a program called Qutescoop that shows ATC/pilots currently active at VATSIM, but also future ATC bookings, both in tabular, but also in graphical form (on the map).

If I had to recommend a website for ATC bookings then it would be this Statsim ATC bookings.

[Mike Teague]

On 11/11/2022 at 1:39 AM, Thomas Laubscher said:

Currently, I use VATSpy to see where is some good coverage and activity. Then I load my FPL and start to fly. It happens often, that

then the controller is just finishing and I find myself on the Unicom.

i fly where i want to fly and if atc shows up, good, if not, fine.

 

if you're only going where atc already is, that means theres other sectors where there is less traffic. and since controllers dont want to control a sector with no traffic, that may make a controller decide not to log in. now that sector doesnt have atc, people that chase atc don't fly there, and around and around we go.