• There seems to be an uptick in Political comments in recent months. Those of us who are long time members of the site know that Political and Religious content has been banned for years. Nothing has changed. Please leave all political and religious comments out of the forums.

    If you recently joined the forums you were not presented with this restriction in the terms of service. This was due to a conversion error when we went from vBulletin to Xenforo. We have updated our terms of service to reflect these corrections.

    Please note any post refering to a politician will be considered political even if it is intended to be humor. Our experience is these topics have a way of dividing the forums and causing deep resentment among members. It is a poison to the community. We appreciate compliance with the rules.

    The Staff of SOH

  • Server side Maintenance is done. We still have an update to the forum software to run but that one will have to wait for a better time.

Does a good 24 hour online Server for FSX with a community exist?

C

cvearl

Charter Member
Does a good 24 hour online Server for FSX with a community exist?

Fellow flyers.

I am loaded for bear! I want to kick it up a notch. I have completed the Private Pilot section of the sim and my book FS for Pilots. I like GA VFR stuff.

My FSX Gold install is laden with my favorite things (must have's IMO)...

UTX Canada
Victoria+ FSX (free)
Tongass Fjords FSX
Bella Coola FSX (free)
Various Airports upgraded in my region (free)
Real Environment Extreme
Plan-G (free and AWESOME!) Google Earth Moving map on my laptop integrated to FSX realtime. Flight planner and all that.

Add in a handfull of quality GA aircraft from Carenado, RealAir, that BeaverX and the like (common Super Cub from Flight Replicas!). Nice.

Once FTX Pacific Northwest arrives and Emma Field X, Misty Fjords X and Glacier Bay X get here. Wow. Might never leave this part of the world!

What would make this experience complete would be a great real time server with voice and all that jazz. Then I could practice communications and ATC ops. Fly alongside others. Seem them come and go. Meet some people and learn more. That kind of thing.

Any suggestions?

Charles.
Merry Christmas everyone! :ernae:
 
Mikrco said:
Come join us @ FSNorthwest.net:jump:
Click to expand...

Ill have to check into that Vatsim thingy...

Is the FSNorthwest.net fairly populated? Is it around the clock or only during "events".

I fly a few hours a night. Hill hopping in the rockies sightseeing or flying in and out of cabins in Tongass. Basically I rip around Seattle area up to around the north end of Vancouver Island and as far East as to Calgary, Alberta via highway 1 and thigs like that but alot of time is in Alaska recently having just bought Tongass.

Charles.
 
In all the years I have been flight simming, I have never flown on VATSIM. It always seemed too daunting and complicated......
 
+1 for Vatsim.

You haven't experienced Flight Simulator until you have flown on Vatsim... An entirely new level of realism. I refuse to play offline these days.

As for it being overwhelming, it is. But only at first... Anyone with a solid understanding of VFR flight will do fine on VS.
 
Navy Chief said:
In all the years I have been flight simming, I have never flown on VATSIM. It always seemed too daunting and complicated......
Click to expand...
I have not flown there at all, however I did "sit" on the parking ramp for one short session many years ago and I found that while they seemed to tolerate newcomers with little knowledge of ATC, they would rather not, lol. They were much more about the proficient pilots who either flew RW or who had been coming to VatSim for years and knew the drill inside and out.

I do remember that they used to hold newcomer sessions from time to time to get the uninitiated into the loop, but I don't know if they still do or not. That one session long ago was enough to tell me I didn't need to be there.
 
Navy Chief said:
In all the years I have been flight simming, I have never flown on VATSIM. It always seemed too daunting and complicated......
Click to expand...


Ditto. I just don't want to have to jump through hoops in my little virtual paradise. I can take off and land, fly over or under where ever I want, without someone's permission. :icon_lol:
 
Vatsim is nice. But yeah, there is a bit of a learning curve at first. Gotta remember most the controllers are wanabees hehe. There are a few real ones out there but moreso real pilots controlling on vatsim. Pick smaller airports. File a direct flight plan between two "hick" airports. That's actually what I do most of the time. You can even fly your Corsair II etc :salute:

Use VATspy to see whos online:
http://www.metacraft.com/VATSpy/

Check out the Pilot Resource Center on the left column, main page:
http://vatsim.net/

For charts, use Skyvector and NACO (USA flying), or vatsim's chartfinder for rest of the world:
http://skyvector.com/
http://naco.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=naco/online/d_tpp
http://usa-w.vatsim.net/charts/#NorthAmerica

You can use text, but talking is much more fun, be sure to have a decent mic
 
ryanbatc said:
Vatsim is nice. But yeah, there is a bit of a learning curve at first. Gotta remember most the controllers are wanabees hehe. There are a few real ones out there but moreso real pilots controlling on vatsim. Pick smaller airports. File a direct flight plan between two "hick" airports. That's actually what I do most of the time. You can even fly your Corsair II etc :salute:

Use VATspy to see whos online:
http://www.metacraft.com/VATSpy/

Check out the Pilot Resource Center on the left column, main page:
http://vatsim.net/

For charts, use Skyvector and NACO (USA flying), or vatsim's chartfinder for rest of the world:
http://skyvector.com/
http://naco.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=naco/online/d_tpp
http://usa-w.vatsim.net/charts/#NorthAmerica

You can use text, but talking is much more fun, be sure to have a decent mic
Click to expand...

Do you end up controlled even at uncontrolled airports?

What of ATIS? Is it FSX default or they actually running real weather and all that jazz.

Charles.
 
I'm a rw controller so hopefully I can answer your Q's.

At untowered airports what happens is:
The pilot calls flight service (or air traffic control if there is a transmitter/receiver on the field) to request IFR release from that airport on the ground. FSS or ATC will issue the clearance and normally give a clearance void time (x amount of minutes to allow the pilot to depart before flight plan is canceled).

Pilot then takes off, announcing intentions on the CTAF or UNICOM of course. Once airborne, pilot calls ATC, atc radar identifies aircraft then issues instructions (climb, fly heading etc etc). So you have to have clearance to depart an uncontrolled field if you are flying IFR.

On vatsim the above happens but it's just the center controller or maybe approach issuing the clearance (no flight service of course). Then you go on your merry way.

Regarding the ATIS - if you fly into a major class B or C airport, usually there is an ATIS recording (on vatsim I'm talking about) and you can pick that up prior to landing. Some poor vatsim soul actually records one hehe. The little municipal airports I fly to don't have ATISes but I use SkyVector to see the METAR and pretend it's like XM weather or something.
 
Getting weather information is very painless these days. FSinn, the program you use to connect to Vatsim, has metars for your departure and arrival airport, and you can enter the icao code for whatever airport you want into a separate area. With the NRST function on most of the GPS units in FSX, knowing the exact weather to expect is never difficult. TAFs are also available on many websites.

Those of you put off by the idea of having to get extra permission to play the sim shouldn't worry - Real world VFR flight doesn't require the submission of a flight plan, and depending on the airspace you are in, it doesn't require you to talk to ATC either. Vatsim is no different. It is entirely possible to take off and go for a full flight without ever coming into contact with anyone. For the simmers that enjoy this type of flying, Vatsim is still great, if for no reason other than to look up and see another plane at 35,000 and know there is a human behind the controls. It is also great because it records your flights. Looking through your records at flights you did over a year ago is very interesting.

On the flipside, flying through certain areas will require you to treat it as though you are up there for real. The NYARTCC on Vatsim is particularly anal about following real world procedures. They simulate things real world pilots consider tedious... Fun? No. A great tool for improving your knowledge of aviation? Absolutely. At the end of the day, FSX is and will always be just a simulator, but one of the things it simulates very well is instrument flight. Filing IFR and taking off from an airport in IMC with near zero visibility, flying your route, and landing in the same conditions, all while having a human ATC in your ear, is very satisfying...

In a nutshell, I understand the appeal in flying a fighter jet at mach 2 at sea level around Miami, but those that have a serious interest in aviation outside of the simulator should give Vatsim a shot. You will learn truckloads about your hobby.
 
Thanks guys...

Maybe in the new year I will slowly look at getting my feet wet. :)

Do pilots and thier rides ever congragate (virtually) at places like Emma Field in Vatsim?

Charles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top