Hi,:-waveI just want to be sure that I am doing the things right ... :-)1. I know that there are compulsory reporting points (black triangle) which means that I MUST report passing them to the ATC. 2. I know that under normal conditions the ATC station that I should report to is CTR. Suppose that there is no CTR but there is only one or two TWR(s) controller(s) on-line in the area I am flying over .

You have it right for the real world and it would be with Center.Compulsory Reporting Points are marked because they generally lie in an area of poor radar coverage. VATSIM doesn't have that problem, so the use of these points within VATSIM is not common.Maybe one of the ATC folks has some additional background, but in my experience on VATSIM they aren't used. Caveat that with I do most of my flying in the US and Carib areas, so this might not be true in Europe or Asia.Kyle Ramsey

Hi Kyle,Thank you very much for your comment.Yesterday I spoke to some VATSIM pilots and indeed they do not report compulsory points over here in Europe.I hope some VATSIM ATC guru can give some official statement. :-)Have a nice weekend :-beerchug Mladen

Position reports at compulsory reporting points are not required when operating in a radar environment. Since VATSIM operates in a 100% radar environment position reports are unnecessary unless they are requested by ATC. VATSIM is also unique in that you may be operating in what is technically controlled airspace but no one may be controlling it! In that case you're basically on your own. If you're at FL310 TWR doesn't want to hear from you. For that matter, neither does APP. Depending on how they have their filters set in ASRC they may or may not even see you.Mike BromleyBoston ARTCCSenior Controller

Thanks for the clarification. Now, do you guys use reporting points for Oceanic or NAT flights when those Centers are open, or just business as usual because they can see you on their radar, unlike the real world?I've flown the ponds but never with ATC for the crossing.Kyle

I've never flown or controlled an oceanic region but my understanding is that when they are manned they operate them as close to the real world procedures as possible. Reporting points and all!Mike

This is correct. Both Oceania (Pacific ocean/australia) and the Atlantic require reports in oceanic airspace. mostly because an FSS radio station covers such a large area it's too hard to even see on the radar (never mind that in the real world there is no radar) so they do what the real guys do.VatPac has a little tutorial on their website www.vatpac.orgspecifically here:http://www.vatpac.org/~vat-dean/oceanic/procedures.htm