Can you declare emergencies? If anybody knows if it is possible to finally declare emergencies with the new ATC, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks. Greg in Asheville

No, you cannot declare emergencies in FS2004.Jozef http://www.dse.nl/~joker32/pictures/signature.jpg

Pity, "as real as it gets" not quiet there yet?I know that Flight Unlimited could do this.I wonder if the ATC can be changed?

To do it right would probably require as much programing as the present atc has. As one who has to declare many real life emergencies-the number of them, and the response from atc can be quite varied.-A prop overspeed? - need to reduce altitude more gradually-rough engine-land on the closest runway (pilots choice)-pitot static problem in imc-need altitude readouts from atc and vectors to nearsest vfr conditions-landing gear problem-need a 360 to handcrank it down-then visual check from the tower-possible engine problem-need to climb and make steep descent to runwayetc. etc.It may be in the next version-but I think MS focused on more important basics like every approach for the world which still amazes me! :-)http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

Geofa...i noticed in another post of yours that you mention you actually receive VECTORS with ANY of the approaches...can you give us an example of how this works exactly within the sim?im asking cause ive seen a conflicting report about this subject that says you will NOT be given vectors for the published apporaches...you will only be CLEARED to fly them and that you better have the plates handy to fly them cause atc will not help you out (they basically ignore you as you fly the approach).You reported otherwise though so maybe this other eport i referred to was from an older beta version and you have gold?...i cant imagine what a monumental task it would have been for ms to program every single published approach into the atc with vector capability....WOW.ThanksDave

But you can change your destination mid-flight can't you?So therefore, if you have a problem and want to land, simply decide on the airport you wish to land at and change your destination to there. I agree, you won't get priority from ATC or get to make that hair raising, spine chilling "m'aidez" call, but most of it is there.Take care,Ian

Also other AI trafic would have to be routed out of your way and placed in holding patterns until you were down.>To do it right would probably require as much programing as>the present atc has. As one who has to declare many real life>emergencies-the number of them, and the response from atc can>be quite varied.>-A prop overspeed? - need to reduce altitude more gradually>-rough engine-land on the closest runway (pilots choice)>-pitot static problem in imc-need altitude readouts from atc>and vectors to nearsest vfr conditions>-landing gear problem-need a 360 to handcrank it down-then>visual check from the tower>-possible engine problem-need to climb and make steep descent>to runway>>etc. etc.>>It may be in the next version-but I think MS focused on more>important basics like every approach for the world which still>amazes me! :-)>>>http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

Yes, you can change your flight plan in mid air and you can also request a different runway as you wish. So about the only thing that is missing is an option to send a "Mayday. Mayday. Mayday".

>Geofa...i noticed in another post of yours that you mention>you actually receive VECTORS with ANY of the approaches...can>you give us an example of how this works exactly within the>sim?>>im asking cause ive seen a conflicting report about this>subject that says you will NOT be given vectors for the>published apporaches...you will only be CLEARED to fly them>and that you better have the plates handy to fly them cause>atc will not help you out (they basically ignore you as you>fly the approach).>The whole point having a specific approach (STAR/SID/whatever) is that you follow it according to your own charts instead of having ATC vectoring every single turn. ATC would not assist in the real world (well, they might if they had to, but you would have to do some explaning about how your dog ate your charts afterwards), so why should they in FS?I am pretty sure a company like Jeppesen has all their approach plates stored in electronic format, so while the task of writing the code to transform the data into something FS can use can still be quite demanding, it is as easy to support the whole world as it is to support 1000 airports. When the code is done, all you have to do is sit back and look at the computer converting the data one airport at the time.

These two shots should clear it up! :-)http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

Will there be documentation on how to use this new ATC? I understand the basics and such. In groundschool they never taught us how to read these charts and such. Just basic non precision approaches.

>-pitot static problem in imc-need altitude readouts from atc>and vectors to nearsest vfr conditionsAltitude readouts from ATC? Isn't the readout they're seeing on your tag tied to your transponder, which is fed from the malfunctioning altimeter? I read a couple accident reports involving B757's with blocked static ports and on the AeroPeru one, ATC thought they were at like 9000ft and really they were slowly decending into the ocean, where the ultimately crashed. Terrible, the pilots had so much erroneous data that they lost track of what was being fed by airdata and what they could rely on (radio altimter, IRS-fed instruments like the EADI, groundspeed)Ryan

Geof,I'm not a RW pilot but my understanding is that here in the US, full approaches (as depicted in the approach plate)are rarely flown because radar coverage is 90 percent or better and, therefore, ATC provides vectors to final in almost all circumstances where an instrument approach is flown. Is that correct?Bob

Yes there is the learning center. The learning center is essentially a web site of information that ships with FS 2004. There

It would be nice if you could dial in 121.5 and have an option of Declare an in flight emegency which would then stop all traffic taking off and all landing traffic to go around in a certain mile range of your a/c. It would be no where close to real but yet a simplifed version. After you did that you could pick your airport either visually or thru changing your IFR flight plan or picking an approach whatever but at least you will have priorty landing and you could spend more time trying to fix the problem and fly the plane. Also it would be nice to make it where ATC reconzies the 7700 and 7600 squawk codes. All with the same results where AI are put on hold around you til you land maybe for the lost communication one AI is put on hold only when your within a tower airspace. I use FSFailure on every flight and have it tune to be realistic so things dont break often but yet every blue moon I might have a radio go dead or something along those lines so it would be nice to add to the ATC for times like that.Kilstorm