Make no mistake I've no problem with voice comms, it's just that I have to know what I'm talking about. There's 40,000 acronyms to learn for a start! :(

The very FIRST day I had to actually say something on the frequency I was terrified... a lot of people suffer from mic terror... ;) I've been flying EXCLUSIVELY on VATSIM for 5 years now, and its the most rewarding experience in Flight sim you can get... it took me around a month to feel completely confortable... I can even have long breaks (one full year) return to VATSIM and feel completely at home.... and this is from someone who's ENGLISH is not his primary language!!! 99% of my flights are in US Airspace, but when I go down to South America I feel very good as well..The only time I have problems on VATSIM is when I fly to ASIA (Philipines and Kai Tak) very hard to understand them sometimes... also, Aussies speak english with an accent that is VERY hard for me to understand correctly...

I find it odd that VATSIM doesn't have some "beginners class" for pilots. They take all that time to train controllers but they can't run an airport if they don't have any pilots! :( I always thought having a once-a-month two hour class where a a VATSIM instructor would take, say a dozen nubie pilots to some remote airport where they would also have an assigned air traffic controller standing by. Sure you should still have some basics down beforehand but this would help eliminate some initial "mike fright".It could just be a fun little class when each pilot could watch and listen as they taxi up, take-off, do a few touch-n-go's, that sorta thing.Just a thought...Clutch

vatsim is a great service, and I would say pretty much 100% simulation of the real world. very friendly group of people. I however am on and off with vatsim, more off than on. Not because I dont like it, but only because I Dont really like the fact that most of my time spent on vatsim im not being controlled. Unless you fly at events, but I cant really fly at specific times because i have a whole lot of other stuff to do in the real world, so I can only really fly when I'm available to fly. I cant really commit to a certain flight slot so to speak.But It is an amazing system, very realistic and fun.

vatsim is a great service, and I would say pretty much 100% simulation of the real world. very friendly group of people. I however am on and off with vatsim, more off than on. Not because I dont like it, but only because I Dont really like the fact that most of my time spent on vatsim im not being controlled. Unless you fly at events, but I cant really fly at specific times because i have a whole lot of other stuff to do in the real world, so I can only really fly when I'm available to fly. I cant really commit to a certain flight slot so to speak.But It is an amazing system, very realistic and fun.

It also depends the area you fly AND the commitment level of ATC controllers on some ATRCC's...KLAX, KJFK, KMIA, KSFO.. great places to fly at night.. EGLL in the afternoonsA year ago KATL was a great place to fly, unfortunately Atlanta controllers are not that active anymore.Flying (for example) at 7:00PM during weekdays in the Los Angeles area you can expect 100% ATC coverage... NY and Miami are the same.also, ALL friday nights you have a Fly-In in the US.. so, is not really THAT lonely :)

Good thought Clutch.I keep going to the VATSIM website determined to get started. But I'm turned off at the first hurdle. The more I read, the more intimidated I get. There seems to me to be too much to learn before you can start learning. Frankly it's all to complicated for me at my time of life. I have enough trouble remembering what day it is! I'm going to give this a miss, although I CAN see how it can/would heighten one's sense of immersion. Considering that 3 months ago I ask on our forum "what's a good flight sim" because I thought it would provide a welcome break from sim racing. :( I didn't expect it to TAKE OVER from sim racing! :(

For a different point of view, as a 'real world' pilot when I fly in FS the last thing I want to do is to be forced to fly 'real world' procedures. I fly for fun and to be able to do things I could never do in real life.I love flying with friends on multiplayer, but VatSim turms me off for that exact reason. I know a lot like it and thats great, it's just not for me.

I keep going to the VATSIM website determined to get started. But I'm turned off at the first hurdle. The more I read, the more intimidated I get. There seems to me to be too much to learn before you can start learning. Frankly it's all to complicated for me at my time of life. I have enough trouble remembering what day it is!

Meh vatsim just has all those guides which they take from the AIM and 7110.65 (pilot and air traffic procedures) ... it's mainly for realism, you don't have to get into all that stuff at the beginning, no worries!

Another VATSIM flyer here, but due to most of my flying being Atlas/Titan Air cargo flights around the world, coverage doesn't always work well for me. Sometimes I will do unscheduled flights, and I will check out which areas are staffed and plan a flight that in those areas.

Compared to say 4 years ago I fly a lot less on unicom these days,most of it is controlled even though I do not really check if there is atc available.Just the fact any other plane you see has a real human at its controls is way cool imho.Yesterday I flew Birmingham-Menorca and I had atc from the start until entering the english channel,then spent about 15 minutes on unicom,then had atc until landing.It was great fun once again.

The way to fly on VATSIM is to know roughly where and when the coverage is going to be active. Just plan to depart and arrive at those times/regions. This knowledge comes from monitoring where ATC is usually active over a week or so.For example, US Midwest is usually active on weekends around US EDT morning time. So either do an inter-US flight there or depart there for a long haul to Europe and by the time you arrive in Europe it will be evening time in Europe and 75% chances are you will get ATC there.Similarly you can do the same the other way from Europe with late evening US ATC.VATSIM There is no other way to fly! :( Shez

Good thought Clutch.I keep going to the VATSIM website determined to get started. But I'm turned off at the first hurdle. The more I read, the more intimidated I get. There seems to me to be too much to learn before you can start learning. Frankly it's all to complicated for me at my time of life. I have enough trouble remembering what day it is! I'm going to give this a miss, although I CAN see how it can/would heighten one's sense of immersion. Considering that 3 months ago I ask on our forum "what's a good flight sim" because I thought it would provide a welcome break from sim racing. :( I didn't expect it to TAKE OVER from sim racing! :(

If you have the time and money, you should spend a weekend or two and go to your local FBO (fixed base operator) and take a few flying lessons. Nothing too serious, if you don't want to pursue a complete pilot license. But a few flights in your local airport's traffic pattern and talking to ATC would greatly enhance your knowledge of the aviation community, and then VATSIM would be a lot easier to understand, especially if you did it in real life.Just a thought...

I just started using VATSIM a few months ago. Now im hooked. Ive put up over 50 hours per month, which is a lot for me concidering im finishing up my masters right now. I must say once you get the hang out it you will never go back. I had radar contact before, and that is a great program, but seing AI doing stupid things all the time really ruins the realism for me. One thing I will say is that all the flying time with RC really helped me know what to expect regarding phrasing. Now on VATSIM there is no longer aircraft trying to land with 100 feet between them, or a plane on a 7 mile final preventing ATC from clearing a plane for takeoff even though there is enough time for them to clear. Crosswind runways can be used correctly as well as correct runway usage(ie not assigning you a rediculously short runway just because there is a 10knot crosswind on the main one). All in all the most important thing for me is that the other planes out there are controled by pilots not computer codes. This reason alone makes my flight worth it even when their is no atc around. If your worried about making mistakes then but "newbie" in your flight plan comments section and atc will try and help you. Whatever you choose to do have fun with the sim, that is the most important.