ALISTAIR SIMMONS 1002119 Posted March 19, 2007 at 12:20 PM Posted March 19, 2007 at 12:20 PM Week 3 on FS, week 2 on VATSIM, so please bear with me. Question 1: When flying between two airfields, both uncontrolled by ATC I [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume that once VFR flight plan is filed, and ensuring that VFR rules for UK are observed then I proceed with flight on UNICOMM (text) and 'get on with it'. However, if a CTR controller covering any part of the intended route is (or becomes) online what contact (if any) is required to be initiated by me? I am [Mod - Happy Thoughts]uming that a CTR controller will only be concerned with airspace 'above' VFR altitiude levels, therefore nothing is required from me as I am not within their remit? Is this correct as I want to get it right. Question 2: I can see from the VATSIM Java 'virtual display' and from FSInn which ATC positions are operational, real time. However is there somewhere where I can see when a position is planned to be manned? Question 3: As regards UK airspace, I understand (enough at the moment not to be a complete liability to ATC) the restrictions around controlled airspace as per UK AIP charts for aerodromes. However, where can I find info telling me the ATC callsigns that relate to each sector (are they called FIR's)? Question4: Is it acceptable to fly VFR, CAVOK and not use the VATSIM weather?..as at the moment I am on 'overload' dealing with flying and ATC as it is! Potential tricky weather conditions is something that I could do without for a few weeks until I have practised some croswing landings! Any help appreciated. Believe it or not, I have read through a fair amount of the VATSIM PRC stuff, and looked elsewhere, but no doubt only retained a small percentage! If you see AJS137...best keep a wide bearth for a while Regards, Alistair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig workman 929129 Posted March 19, 2007 at 12:45 PM Posted March 19, 2007 at 12:45 PM (edited) hi there Alistair i will try my best to answer your questions. Q1- if there is no ATC online in the area you are flying you would just proceed as filed on unicom 122.80. however if a center controller does come online (this depends where you are flying i am relating to scottish control) they will usually cover from the ground up, so you would then contact them with your position, altitude, sqauwk code and intentions, after initial contact is made you will probably be given a flight information service or similar en-route with not a lot of communication unless there is other aircraft flying in your area. this all gets a bit complicated but in london there is a position which is reguarly open EGTT_I_CTR which is london information and covers all vfr traffic not inside controlled airspace within the london FIR. Q2- if you go onto www.vatsim-uk.org it shows you all of the positions which have been booked for that day also if you join the forum there you may have more luck getting detailed answers. Q3- all depends on what positions are open and if it is a military or civil airfield but for scotland most airfield will start with EGP* which is basicly translated as E-europe G-great britain and P is the FIR code, this changes slightly for the london FIR as it has different regions but EGTT is london and EGPX is scottish, im sure if you join www.vatsim-uk.org forum they will be able to clear this up more clearly Q4- perfectly acceptable for new pilots to fly with CAVOK if they wish, if anything starting out with CAVOK probably helps you progress quicker to dealing with adverse weather conditions Hope this helps you Craig Edited March 19, 2007 at 12:46 PM by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Horan Posted March 19, 2007 at 12:46 PM Posted March 19, 2007 at 12:46 PM Question 1: When flying between two airfields, both uncontrolled by ATC I [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume that once VFR flight plan is filed, and ensuring that VFR rules for UK are observed then I proceed with flight on UNICOMM (text) and 'get on with it'. However, if a CTR controller covering any part of the intended route is (or becomes) online what contact (if any) is required to be initiated by me? I am [Mod - Happy Thoughts]uming that a CTR controller will only be concerned with airspace 'above' VFR altitiude levels, therefore nothing is required from me as I am not within their remit? Is this correct as I want to get it right. Correct, if you remain outside controlled airspace in the UK there is no requirement to talk to any ATC, just remain on Unicom. There is often ATC available outside controlled airspace, notably EGTT_I_CTR which provides Flight Information Service throughout the London FIR. Many Approach units will provide LARS or ATSOCAS service (again normally FIS) e.g. THAMES_APP (Thames Radar) around the Biggin/London City area and ESSEX_APP (Essex Radar) around Luton and Stansted. The important thing about flying VFR in UK is to remain outside controlled airspace unless otherwise cleared. So for example if LON_NW_CTR (London TMA controller) is online, and you want to fly into London City, you must contact them to get a clearance into the zone. Question 2: I can see from the VATSIM Java 'virtual display' and from FSInn which ATC positions are operational, real time. However is there somewhere where I can see when a position is planned to be manned? For the UK, bookings appear on the front page of www.vatsim-uk.org. Not all intended openings are shown, but you will get fairly good coverage in the UK between 1930Z and 2130Z (changes to 1830Z-2130Z from this weekend). Question 3: As regards UK airspace, I understand (enough at the moment not to be a complete liability to ATC) the restrictions around controlled airspace as per UK AIP charts for aerodromes. However, where can I find info telling me the ATC callsigns that relate to each sector (are they called FIR's)? This information is on www.vatsim-uk.org though probably buried deep within each RTS - for example EGTT RTS section shows how the Centre airspace is split between LON_XX_CTR sectors, EGTT_X_CTR sectors and MAN_X_CTR sectors. Question4: Is it acceptable to fly VFR, CAVOK and not use the VATSIM weather?..as at the moment I am on 'overload' dealing with flying and ATC as it is! Potential tricky weather conditions is something that I could do without for a few weeks until I have practised some croswing landings! Yes but probably worth including in comments section. Further questions may be better asked on the VATSIM-UK forums. (Web site down as I type). Vince Horan UK DCRM, VATSIM Supervisor, Snr Controller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Casey Posted March 19, 2007 at 06:45 PM Posted March 19, 2007 at 06:45 PM Alistair, You seem to have a pretty good grasp of the basics and just have the inevitable pile of questions that need answering, you may find that one chat session with one of the Vatsim-UK Pilot Mentors would answer most of your quessies. Over on the vatsim UK website referred to above you'll find a link to details of our UK Teamspeak server where one of us mentors would be happy to meet up with you sometime to answer any questions you have far quicker than via a forum althouigh reading the UK forum is a mosnter source of info if you use the "search" function. Obvioulsy being UK based you will get UK based information free from the inevitable country variations. Btw, welcome to Vatsim! We're all hooked and believe me, you will be too Bill Casey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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