I want to plan an IFR flight with my Piper using the FS9 ATC. I have the SimPlates2000 and FSNavigator programs. I am curious how IFR pilots, who do this in the real world, simulate this in FS9. My main question is do you set up waypoints based on the SID and STAR that you think you will be using based on the active runway so you get the correct vectors, or do you just turn off ATC when you fly the SID or STAR? Or for the STAR, do you get clearance to land, and then just fly the STAR from there?What happens if the active changes, and you are vectored to a different runway than had been planned for?When you fly the SID and STAR in real life, are you getting vectors from ATC that are shown on the SID and STAR, or are you on your own once you are cleared for the indicated departure or approach?Do you use low altitude airways, or do you use a direct approach with VORs along the route to check bearings?Does Radar Contact make IFR flying more enjoyable? Does it add more variety than the default FS9 ATC? Since you must still use the FS9 ground control, and you can't listen to the FS9 vectoring (just random chatter), is that a big limitation of the product?Thanks alot for any feedback,PapaTango

I can't speak for everyone but if you are flying a Piper primarily-(I have been flying a bonanza ifr for 14 years -cross the country US several times in all directions and have flown a sid/star only twice in my career-and one of those (in denver) was basically a "fly radar vector" type). I wouldn't worry about the sid/stars so much. Like the real world-I usually tune in atis as soon as I can get it for my arrival airport-listen to the runways that are being used-and expect that atc will probably vector me for the active on the atis.I also as a rule never fly into class B airports which may be why I almost never get them(sids/stars)-why try to fit into the speed and chaos of a class B when there is usually a convenient aiport nearby that caters to GA much better without all the troubles and hassle?I always file low altitude airways(good protection in case radar is lost)-and often get direct from atc via "headings when able direct"-sometimes I also request this on my end if it will save time.The stock fs atc does a fairly good job of simulating the type of atc I get-except that the vectors for the approach take you too far out (as opposed to fs2002 which was about right for GA drivers-I understand it was increased due to "heavy complaints" of being vectored too close-can't please everyone!). Also-sometimes the changeover to different controller agencies is a little funky-but I understand the programming reasons this is necessary.Radar Contact is a great add on-so is the new ability in fs2004 to request all approaches-simply incredible!

correction, you don't have to rely on fs9 ground control. rc is gate to gate atc. if nothing else, you should download the manual, and see if it is what you are looking for. http://avsim.com/flightdeck/rcv3/RCv3manual.pdfjd

RC3 highly recommended, it has taught my a lot about ATC/IFR. One other recommendation since you will be flying a GA/Piper: Reality XP's Garmin 530.Rob "Holland&Holland" de Vries http://www.emotipad.com/emoticons/Flying.gif"To go up, pull the stick back. To go down, pull the stick back harder"