We tried Simventure this year and.....

[Wittpilot]

..it was pretty amazing....
Even though it was a last minute decision, my brother and I decided we would try to do the FISK Arrival into Simventure this year hosted by PilotEdge. Scanning through the nearly 30 pages of instructions and getting it all set up took some time. It was busy... VERY busy... but the experience was extremely rewarding. My rig definitely struggled with the FPS on the approach into KOSH with the traffic and the scenery, but I did manage to get her down and didn't get yelled at! We got split up at Fisk, he went East and did the 18 arrival and I went North and did the 27 arrival. We both got down and met up near the 17 to park. I strongly encourage anyone who is interested to try it next year. It is intimidating for sure, and I genuinely can't believe this, but my hands were actually shaking on that downwind, base, and final.... but listening to the controllers and getting there was really neat. Sign up for the free trial and give it a go next year!!!

-Witt

 

[K5083]

Glad you enjoyed it! I was wondering if anyone else on here was doing that. I did it this year as well.

Relative to last year I think it was a little more challenging for the controllers with more participants and a greater variety of aircraft types. A few times I had to execute my base and final turns at my own discretion when they were too busy to direct me.

The pucker factor for a pilot was the same as last year and very enjoyable but I had the same FPS issue on short final, and when you are flying a short, non-stabilized turning approach for 18R or 27 with a momentary drop to 5 FPS, It is hard to make the adjustments needed for a smooth touchdown. It was easier landing the warbirds because you could line up on 36 or 27 from miles away.

All in all, a great time. A few youtubers have steamed it for those wanting a taste of what it was like. Some of those guys have invested very heavily in slick flight simming gear, but have put very little time into reading NOTAMs!

For those who would like to try a free version and not have to wait till next year, there is a thing this Wednesday and Thursday on VATSIM. https://forums.vatusa.net/index.php?topic=10665. I am thinking of giving it a try. Format looks similar but they are using VATSIM controllers, not actual Airventure controllers.

August

 

[Wittpilot]

The pucker factor for a pilot was the same as last year and very enjoyable but I had the same FPS issue on short final, and when you are flying a short, non-stabilized turning approach for 18R or 27 with a momentary drop to 5 FPS, It is hard to make the adjustments needed for a smooth touchdown. It was easier landing the warbirds because you could line up on 36 or 27 from miles away.

Yeah, I really didn't have any problem with the FPS drop until that base to final. I have a mid-range PC I would say but it really got hairy at the end. Dropping that much altitude and airspeed that quickly, I really wasn't sure I was going to pull it off. It seems really against base-to-final etiquette! lol But it was so much fun and I think we will def. be doing it again next year! Will have to get another email address for another free trial.

I laughed out loud when a guy came over on the radio and tried to request a runway for landing.... Only thing I really screwed up was after starting and re-starting the sim several times in preparation to getting it ready I forgot on the last time to set the weather to clear skies. OOPS!

-Witt

 

[K5083]

I have watched a guy crash and die attempting that final turn to 18R at OSH in real life, so I have some respect for it. It is important to keep that turn flat, use a lot of rudder and don't bank too much, and count on losing speed in the turn so go in with some extra and keep the power up. Don't be obsessed with hitting the pink dot if it means not establishing a reasonably controlled final after the turn for at least a few seconds. I'll be continuing to practice it through the dates of real-world Airventure, even just in offline mode.

On Saturday's Simventure I heard a guy crash on 36, and the Simventure controllers pretended his wrecked airplane was disabled on the runway and diverted traffic to other runways for a while. Talk about adding insult to injury, although the guy probably had disconnected by then. Anyway it was pretty funny and allowed the controllers to practice the crash drill.

August

 

[K5083]

I participated in VATVenture tonight and did three arrivals. Here are some thoughts on how it compares to SimVenture.

The VATVenture controllers do a pretty good job, not quite as polished as the real controllers on SimVenture but good enough to give you a good sense of the Oshkosh patter. The guy on the 120.7 approach frequency tonight did a better job than the SimVenture controllers of periodically mentioning which transition was in use.

VATVenture has fewer participants, so you don't get the feeling of the peak times at OSH, maintaining spacing is not such a problem, and the controllers don't have to talk constantly. It feels a lot like the early arrival days at OSH before things really heat up. More people playing would make it more fun.

Pilot discipline and professionalism was almost equally good on VATVenture as SimVenture.

The most positive difference about VATVenture was that it used real weather. SimVenture requires you to select the clear sky, no wind preset. In VATVenture the clouds and changing winds add visual interest, complicate your approach, and make every arrival more unique. At one point tonight, a thunderstorm went through Oshkosh and the controllers put a hold on the traffic and made us orbit the lakes for 20 minutes until it cleared up, which was realistic and awesome. Radio comms got a bit casual while we were waiting but that happens at real AirVenture too. They let us back in under marginal conditions and I had to put my Staggerwing down on 27 in the rain, which added to the tension.

I used the PilotEdge SimVenture scenery for my VATVenture and it worked fine, and there was less of a frame rate hit on short final than I had with SimVenture.

Even though I used VPilot as the connection client for both SimVenture and VATVenture, it worked more reliably on the VATSIM network than on PilotEdge.

Overall, I enjoyed VATVenture just as much as SimVenture but in a different way, and it's free! I'd recommend trying it out tomorrow night. Every pilot who comes out and adds to the traffic and difficulty is making a contribution to the realism.

August