Hello,I have been wanting to do a long haul flight, KJFK-EGLL, and want to start learning the process of flying over the Atlantic. I've done some reading about flying NATs, know where to find them, and have a very general understanding about them.But, I was wondering if there is a good written explanation about doing this type of flight. I would be dong this flight on VATSIM. If anyone has suggestions for study material, I would really appreciate it. I'm not asking for a long description in the forum, since I don't want to waste people's time, but was wondering if anyone had a good source for information material.Thanks for any advice,Chris KPMDG 747-400FS2004

I would recommend getting hold of the book 'Flying the Big Jets' by Stanley Stewart. There are actually several different version of this book, where the author concentrates on different aircraft. The one I have is for the Boeing 747 (that's the Third Edition), but there is another one on the Boeing 777 that I know of (Fourth Edition). Haven't bought that one yet but I certainly will at some point.http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Big-Jets-Boei...8974&sr=1-1The B747 version of the book concentrates on a BA 747-400 flight from Heathrow to JFK, and although it is written in a fashion intended to be understood by the layman, it does not skip any aspect of the flight and covers the entire procedure from the crew arriving at the airport, right through to shutting the engines down upon arrival at JFK, with excellent explanations of using the North Atlantic Tracks, the navigation systems, ATC procedures and just about every other aspect of driving the big Boeing. The entire flight is covered in detail, and in an interesting narrative style, which is great for explaining what is what to those not hugely familiar with the procedures involved.The author, Stanley Stewart, is a BA Captain who at the time of the third edition's publication had 11,000 hours on a large variety of airliners, from right back when he joined BOAC in the late 1960s. His writing style is excellent and his book(s) is one of the best things you'll ever read if you are at all curious about how things are genuinely done on a big jetliner. Pretty much a 'must have' book if you like airliners, and a useful reference for simming with them too.Al

Al,Thanks for the suggestion, I have just ordered the book and very excited about it.My biggest questions have to do with route and plugging in the NAT's into the FMC. I usually use simmroutes.com and flightaware for domestic route planning. Occasionally, I will use the free version of vRoute for reference.Looking at flightaware today i notice several plans (KJFK-EGLL) with different waypoint entry's , i.e. CARPE, DOTTY. How do you know which one to choose?Looking today's NAT's....https://www.notams.jcs.mil/common/nat.html.Lets say I choose REDBY CARPE 54/50 56/40 57/30 57/20 SUNOT OSBOX. How do I translate 54/50 56/40 into my FMC? I remember reading an explantion somewhere on the internet but I am having a lot of trouble tracking it down.Thanks again for any help and if I'm asking too many questions, please say so.Chris K

For example for : CARPE 54/50 56/40 57/30 57/20 SUNOT you'd put in CARPE 5450N 5640N 5730N 5720N SUNOT.If you look on the pmdg Wiki it'll explain the shortcuts for Lat/Lon co-ordinates.Nats info and links you can find on http://www.tekinozbek.net/docs/ganderoceanic.htmlThe blackswan site is verrryy useful.John Ellison

Thank you, that is exactly what I was looking for. Time to go study and do some reading.Chris K.

Chris - since you're doing it on Vatsim then the Oceanic pages of the Vatsim-UK website walk you through the whole process from a Vatsim perspective. Unfortunately the UK site has suffered a bit of a techie problem and isn't available this weekend but should be back up in the next few days. http://www.vatsim-uk.org/ then on the left side of the page there is a link to "Oceanic".

I would recommend getting hold of the book 'Flying the Big Jets' by Stanley Stewart. There are actually several different version of this book, where the author concentrates on different aircraft. The one I have is for the Boeing 747 (that's the Third Edition), but there is another one on the Boeing 777 that I know of (Fourth Edition). Haven't bought that one yet but I certainly will at some point.http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Big-Jets-Boei...8974&sr=1-1The B747 version of the book concentrates on a BA 747-400 flight from Heathrow to JFK, and although it is written in a fashion intended to be understood by the layman, it does not skip any aspect of the flight and covers the entire procedure from the crew arriving at the airport, right through to shutting the engines down upon arrival at JFK, with excellent explanations of using the North Atlantic Tracks, the navigation systems, ATC procedures and just about every other aspect of driving the big Boeing. The entire flight is covered in detail, and in an interesting narrative style, which is great for explaining what is what to those not hugely familiar with the procedures involved.The author, Stanley Stewart, is a BA Captain who at the time of the third edition's publication had 11,000 hours on a large variety of airliners, from right back when he joined BOAC in the late 1960s. His writing style is excellent and his book(s) is one of the best things you'll ever read if you are at all curious about how things are genuinely done on a big jetliner. Pretty much a 'must have' book if you like airliners, and a useful reference for simming with them too.Al

Hi there,I still have the first version, also EGLL-KJFK, but this time it is in the era of the 747-200 classic.This book is great. Very good explanations of weather, radio, even ATC. Happy landings,Wijnand

Thanks all for the suggestions and mentioning Vatsim-UK.I was very excited yesterday to start my first flight. Unfortunatly, I had a crash to desktop for the first time. Not sure what the problem is, but that is for a different forum. I'm not sure if it relates to squawkbox but I have a few ideas to check out.Thanks again,Chris K.Thanks all for the suggestions and mentioning Vatsim-UK.I was very excited yesterday to start my first flight. Unfortunatly, I had a crash to desktop for the first time. Not sure what the problem is, but that is for a different forum. I'm not sure if it relates to squawkbox but I have a few ideas to check out.Thanks again,Chris K.