I'm very new to VATSIM. Just got my SB working and logged in to listen last night. I am excited to graduate from the canned chatter of FS9 to a live controller. I can't wait. What I would like to know is if I can fly an F-16 or another military plane with a call sign such as "Air Force 956" and fly from mil base to mil base?I want to do IFR and do this but I'm such a noob I'm nervous about it. Should I wait and do some GA VFR stuff first? Or should I just dive into it? I know nothing about SIDS and STARS and that. I have a ground school book I'm reading to learn about airspaces but it's all so confusing.dolph

I'm replying to myself in order to share what I've learned for other noobs that might be interested. Not much activity on this forum. Vatsim has a busy forum for all questions, BTW.You can fly anything you like. The aircraft models in Squawkbox are very, very basic and don't have any textures for eyecandy. There is an addon that you can add PAI textures for better looks but it will kill the framerate. At least on my system. But who cares? At least you can see that others are online and where they are and thats enuf.Flying with a human ATC is unlike anything I have ever done on a computer. Even better than playing RPGs over the 'net. Very confusing at first but slow airports are the place to start.

Howdy. If you've already flew on VATSIM, then disreguard this message. I'm new to VATSIM as well. In fact, I plan on taking my first flight in a few minutes. If you want to do anything IFR, practice on your own in FS, using an IFR flight plan. And learn DP's (SIDS) and STARS. They are integral to the IFR experience. (I may be new to VATSIM, but in real life, I'm a instrument rated, multi-engine commericial pilot who's done alot of IFR flights.)Jeff S.

I agree, the new VATSIM ATC will be enough of a challenge to get everything right at first. So I would recommend working yourself in slowly via a few VFR flights if possible in low traffic areas. This way the controller will have more time for you. Otherwise it may be a aggrevating experience for both and we all want to have fun with this great addition to FS.Once you are comfortable with the VFR side of things read up on the basics of IFR flight and practice that offline at first. FS has pretty decent lessons included and they should get you going at first. Then a few books and you should be good to go.Very imortant for VATSIM or real life IFR flight is having the paperwork in order. Very basically put the SID is a preplanned departure route that makes things easy for both sides. The controller doesn't have to guide you step by step and as pilot you know what to expect.The STAR is the same at the other end of your flight. Again both you and the controller simply agree on the procedure and each knows what to expect next.IFR as far as the actual flying is concerned is actually "easier" because the additional rules also make everything more standardized and plannable. The one thing that makes IFR tough is...you guessed it the weather.