ADIZ Operations in DC Area with Vox ATC

[Guest shootemup]

I'm hoping I can get some help from the forum to tweak my VoxATC for ADIZ operations under Class B airspace in the DC area. I'm a private pilot flying out of Leesburg, so here are some of the inaccuracies I've noticed (Details can be reviewed through the AOPA site.):"Dulles" Clearance, Approach and Departure should actually be "Potomac".ADIZ operations within the class B vail, but under the B airspace requires a ADIZ plan filed for flight in and out of the ADIZ. This is different then a flight plan for search and rescue in that it can expire if you don't call back and it doesn't mean that emergency crews will be out searching for you. Clearance and squawk code must be obtained from Potomac Clearance @ 118.55. You CAN NOT AT ANY TIME squawk 1200 within the ADIZ. If you are leaving the Leesburg traffic pattern, you must contact Potomac Departure at 126.1 as soon as practicable (not 120.45). (FS2004 ATC seems to have the frequence handoffs fairly accurate. Vox ATC needs some work).Before coming into the ADIZ you must receive a squawk code from Potomac Approach. If I'm approaching Leesburg, or some airport just outside of the ADIZ but within range of Potomac radar(e.g. Winchester, Martinsburg, or Front Royal) , once I report "I have Leesburg in sight" they will approve frequence change to Leesburg traffic.Minor changes I'd like to see would be shortening "Leesburg Executive" to "Leesburg traffic". The aircraft I've been flying is a "Diamond" Eclipse. I need to figure how to change this from "Katana". I'm a low time pilot with just 90 hrs, so I'm looking forward to use VoxATC to develop my radio skills. Any suggestions will be much appreciated. As you know, there's a huge aviation population here in the DC area. If you can advertise "VoxATC is Tweaked for ADIZ Operations", I can see that being a huge sell for pilots in the DC area. Even if you're not able to do this, your product so far has been worth the $$. As it is, it should help improve my radio skills. Thanks to the developers of VoxATC for your effort!

[zfehr 1]

Hi Shootemup :),>I'm hoping I can get some help from the forum to tweak my>VoxATC for ADIZ operations under Class B airspace in the DC>area. I'm a private pilot flying out of Leesburg, so here are>some of the inaccuracies I've noticed (Details can be reviewed>through the AOPA site.):The Washington DC area is a very special airspace, especially since 9/11, with strict rules and regulations. It would be difficult to make VoxATC work exactly like you are accustomed to but here are some tips that will help you modify and improve your simming experience.>"Dulles" Clearance, Approach and Departure should actually be>"Potomac".You can change this name for each airport you are flying out of with AFCAD, I have done this for areas that I fly out of in the Pacific Northwest and SF Bay area. VoxATC reads the files provided by Microsoft and in this case they say "Dulles.">ADIZ operations within the class B vail, but under the B>airspace requires a ADIZ plan filed for flight in and out of>the ADIZ. This is different then a flight plan for search and>rescue in that it can expire if you don't call back and it>doesn't mean that emergency crews will be out searching for>you. VoxATC allows for IFR or VFR with flight advisories, making a special case for this particular airspace would be difficult and confusing for many users.>Clearance and squawk code must be obtained from Potomac>Clearance @ 118.55. You CAN NOT AT ANY TIME squawk 1200 within>the ADIZ. For the Leesburg airport you can use AFCAD to change the name of the Clearance Del from "Dulles" to "Potomac." At this point flights originating from non-tower airports are assumed to have a telephoned clearance, just start your flight with this assumed and squawk 3013.>If you are leaving the Leesburg traffic pattern, you must>contact Potomac Departure at 126.1 as soon as practicable (not>120.45). (FS2004 ATC seems to have the frequence handoffs>fairly accurate. Vox ATC needs some work).This frequency information comes directly from Microsoft's programming in FS2004! VoxATC doesn't alter or even touch this information. AFCAD lists 126.1 and "Dulles" as the departure information from Leesburg which you can change to "Potomac." It is possible that your flight has taken you into an adjacent quadrant with different frequency information but VoxATC would not have any control over this, it is whatever Microsoft programmed in from the Jeppesen data provided them.>Before coming into the ADIZ you must receive a squawk code>from Potomac Approach. If you are flying VFR with flight advisories you should be squawking whatever you were told by center, upon being handed off to approach you will be given a new squawk, just don't reset to 1200 :). There are no provisions for reading this type of airspace information so it would be difficult to implement at this time.>If I'm approaching Leesburg, or some airport just outside of>the ADIZ but within range of Potomac radar(e.g. Winchester,>Martinsburg, or Front Royal) , once I report "I have Leesburg>in sight" they will approve frequence change to Leesburg>traffic.The present programming assumes a general and normal procedure for every airport, it would be difficult to program each and every airport for their particular procedures. This can also give difficulties in particularly mountainous regions and in special airspace such as Washington DC. The present programming has you switch to the traffic frequency for a non-tower airport when within about 15 to 20 miles and from that point you can land using whatever procedure you are accustomed to. Your other option is to only fly into this region on an IFR plan and use a custom SID/STAR which you could design to be as accurate as is possible with the present simulation.>Minor changes I'd like to see would be shortening "Leesburg>Executive" to "Leesburg traffic". You can change "Leesburg Executive" to just "Leesburg" with AFCAD, since this a non-tower airport the prompter will show "Leesburg Traffic.">The aircraft I've been flying is a "Diamond" Eclipse. I need>to figure how to change this from "Katana". This information is read from the "atc_type=" under the "General" heading from within the aircraft.cfg file that you are flying. You can manually change this information for this as well as any aircraft to whatever you would rather hear. I have changed all the Cessna twins (310, 421, 441) to say "Twin Cessna" instead of "Cessna" as this is what they are really called. Just change "Diamond" to "Katana" and don't forget to run the VoxATC indexer after making any of the changes listed above, be it an AFCAD change or altering these aircraft.cfg files.>I'm a low time pilot with just 90 hrs, so I'm looking forward>to use VoxATC to develop my radio skills. Any suggestions>will be much appreciated. As you know, there's a huge>aviation population here in the DC area. If you can advertise>"VoxATC is Tweaked for ADIZ Operations", I can see that being>a huge sell for pilots in the DC area. Even if you're not>able to do this, your product so far has been worth the $$. >As it is, it should help improve my radio skills. Thanks to>the developers of VoxATC for your effort!If you compare the cost of setting up Microsoft's sim with VoxATC to any of the ATC training programs and/or any of the professional simulations it is pennies to the dollar. This is still just a game and therefore you can't expect every little nuance to be accurately simulated but for the money you get a great deal of usable simulation.Have fun flyin,Zane

[Guest shootemup]

Thanks for your response and time Zane. I made contact with Paul Carter as well. I appreciate that you guys even take the time to respond. I figure my ADIZ scenerio is a little more complicated.I'll do the best I can with your suggestions. I have been using AFCAD for the airport/comms name changes. In some cases it seem to work, in others not. For example, I've changed everything in Leesburg to drop the additional "Executive", but for some reason VoxATC still uses it. I did rerun the index after my changes, so I'm not sure what's going on. I'll keep plugging away at it. Half the fun of sims are tweaks and problem solving. On a recent flight at Leesburg, Potomac Clearance wasn't answering radio requests. Another pilot and I on the same frequency decided to call using our cell phones. It got the guy's attention. I think from now on I will call in for those Clearances to save $$ while the Hobbs is running.Thanks again for your work on this product. Dave

[zfehr 1]

Hi Dave,You might also want to go in and change the airport name in AFCAD to remove the Executive if it is FSS that is still using the name. Glad you are enjoying the program.Zane