It seems like a funky alternative to VATSIM. Anyone getting it?

It seems like a funky alternative to VATSIM. Anyone getting it?

Got it... my review should be up soon.

Ahh please do. Video or written?

Ahh please do. Video or written?

It will be an AVSIM review so look for it on the front page in the next week or so.

PilotEdge introduced a free trial program last night allowing users to fly without incurring any costs for the duration of their two week trial. If they cancel during that period, no charge is made to the card on file. If the trial is not canceled, it converts to a full membership at the end of the 2 week period. Users can 'pull the trigger' at any point during the trial and convert to a discounted charter membership (if there are any slots left) at any point during the trial. This program was instituted as a nod to those who wanted to try before they buy. Having the card on file is our attempt to ensure that we are attracting the right audience for the network.

PilotEdge introduced a free trial program last night allowing users to fly without incurring any costs for the duration of their two week trial. If they cancel during that period, no charge is made to the card on file. If the trial is not canceled, it converts to a full membership at the end of the 2 week period. Users can 'pull the trigger' at any point during the trial and convert to a discounted charter membership (if there are any slots left) at any point during the trial. This program was instituted as a nod to those who wanted to try before they buy. Having the card on file is our attempt to ensure that we are attracting the right audience for the network.

No thanks. If I wanted a free trial, I would expect the product to stop working within the 2 weeks period, not my credit card being charged afterwards.

There are two equally valid ways of running trials. Self-canceling, or manual cancellation. This is the latter, and is documented exactly as such. The billing system that we have used does not support the other mode of operation. Truthfully, I would prefer that it worked as the user is requesting. We put together the trial program as quickly as possible to meet the perceived demand for a trial configuration. I will look into having it the other way. If that's truly your only issue with the program, then I'll tell you what, I'll cancel your trial for you by hand at the end of the period (I'll just set a calendar reminder, it's not especially difficult). If I don't follow through for some reason, I commit that we will refund your subscription fee if it is charged at the end of the trial and will cancel your account for you unless we hear otherwise from you. Would you like to participate in the trial now that I've personally configured it to meet your stated requirement?

Kieth, Thanks for the offer, but I'll stick to my other network for now. BTW, what areas are covered, and from XXXX time to what XXXX time?

Gotcha, so it's not actually related to the terms of the trial, then. You've actually already made your decision. Based on your question, I'm guessing the decision wasn't made by comparing the relative merits of each network, since your questions lead me to believe that don't know what it is we offer. I can only guess that the decision was made out of a perceived threat to the network that you currently use. Perhaps I can break some of the tension here. PilotEdge is barely going to make a dent in the VATSIM/IVAO numbers. If anything it might actually draw attention to the world of online flying from an audience that knows very little about it (real world pilots). SOME of those new entrants to the market might end up being satisfied with with VATSIM/IVAO offer, resulting in a net gain for those networks. It's simple, we offer a feature set that costs a ton of money to bring to the market. That's one of the reasons we need to charge people to use the service. For every potential user, the feature set is either considered valuable enough to pay for, or it isn't. A logical consumer, presumably, would seek to find out what those features are, evaluate their worth, and then make a decision. Maybe this will help and I can lay out the results of doing the homework (at least, as I see it, and I've probably thought about it more intensely than most people). If you fly online mostly for recreation/entertainment, can go "either way" when it comes to having ATC being present and fully competent, don't have a requirement to replicate real world radio usage (in terms of frequency selection and use of CTAF at non-towered fields) and you like to roam far and wide in heavy metal jets, then I can make the decision incredibly easy....PilotEdge offers nothing for you and would not be worth paying for. If you fly online for as a training aid, or you simply taking your simming very seriously, if ATC presence is worth paying for, if ATC quality is worth paying for, if you prefer to have a radio that works like the real thing (no controller lists), and if you don't need to roam far and wide because other than select VFR corridors around the country, "flying is flying" no matter where you are in the USA, then PilotEdge is worth a very, very close look. Notice the overlap between the two segments is virtually NILL. Hence, there won't be a mass exodus from any of the online networks. Instead, we're hoping for a mass influx from a segment that is either unaware of, or has entirely dismissed the existing online networks. That segment would be real world pilots. That said, there ARE members of the sim community who find our feature set to be valuable, hence my presence in the sim forums, too. The thing I'm genuinely surprised about is that many people don't see how there is room or any demand from the service we provide. I have ZERO issue with people saying that they understand what we offer but are electing to continue with their current online network, but I really don't understand how people are either threatened by what we've built, or somehow think that it's just like the other networks, but payware. Is it SO hard to imagine that a market exists for the service we provide? I can only assume that people either don't understand the service, or they simply can't imagine there's a market. I've already verified the latter through conversations with hundreds of pilots. I hope this sheds some light on the thinking behind the company and how it should be positioned against other networks. We aren't the enemy. If I was setting up another freeware, volunteer global ATC network, I would understand the reaction a little more. To answer the questions of the previous poster, we provide ATC from 8am - 11pm PDT, 7 days a week (15 hours/day, 105 hours per week). The coverage area is described here: http://www.pilotedge.net/pages/operating-hours-and-service-area

I understand the point of the whole thing. I just want to stay currently with VATSIM. I think the monthly events are cool (fully staffed ATCs are different airports around the world), and that the ATCs don't have that bad of mics. As far as the "No controller lists" thing you're talking about, you simply just close the SqawkBox or FSInn window and BAM, it's like it was never there, and you get a pretty realistic experience. I also enjoy how it's a balance of fun & work. Just like the real world, you'll hear people making mistakes on the radio or people making short jokes over the radio. There's nothing wrong with being serious, it's just that too much is.... well.... you decide.

As far as the "No controller lists" thing you're talking about, you simply just close the SqawkBox or FSInn window and BAM, it's like it was never there, and you get a pretty realistic experience.

We'll have to disagree there. I would be very interested to see how you could successfully conduct a VATSIM flight between two towered airports, end to end (not just the enroute phase) with no regard for the controller list. I had written a lot more than that, but realized there was little point in discussing it.

There's nothing wrong with being serious, it's just that too much is.... well.... you decide.

What a pity you haven't flown on the network to know how much fun a lot of pilots are having. It's actually a lot like the real world...when it's busy, we're all business. When it's quiet, there's plenty of time for a bit of fun. It varies from controller to controller, too. Please don't misinterpret my motivation here. I'm responding to these messages in case other people read your messages and assume that the messages are accurate. I am not actually trying to persuade you personally to fly on the network. Spending this amount of time on the forum for gain/loss of one customer obviously wouldn't scale very well. This being a public forum, though, I figure it's worth trying to straighten as much of it out as I can so that people can make an informed decision.

We'll have to disagree there. I would be very interested to see how you could successfully conduct a VATSIM flight between two towered airports, end to end (not just the enroute phase) with no regard for the controller list. I had written a lot more than that, but realized there was little point in discussing it.

You can. Like I said.

What a pity you haven't flown on the network to know how much fun a lot of pilots are having. It's actually a lot like the real world...when it's busy, we're all business. When it's quiet, there's plenty of time for a bit of fun. It varies from controller to controller, too. Please don't misinterpret my motivation here. I'm responding to these messages in case other people read your messages and assume that the messages are accurate. I am not actually trying to persuade you personally to fly on the network. Spending this amount of time on the forum for gain/loss of one customer obviously wouldn't scale very well. This being a public forum, though, I figure it's worth trying to straighten as much of it out as I can so that people can make an informed decision.

It's always busy in the real world. Oh well.

I won't touch the 'always busy' comment, even though it's wildly inaccurate. I am genuinely curious about your cryptic "you can. Like I said," response to my statement that you can't conduct an END to END flight on VATSIM between two towered airports without ANY reference to the controller list. So, I'll just post a simple scenario, then, and ask you how you'd handle it. You are going to fly from Fullerton (KFUL) to Santa Barbara (KSBA). You position your airplane at Fullerton, you file an IFR flight plan, and you're ready to call for IFR. Without having looked at the controller list, who are you going to call? What callsign are you going to use for the controller who you're calling? How do you know if anyone is going to answer? Maybe I was doing it wrong for the 7 years I flew there.

I won't touch the 'always busy' comment, even though it's wildly inaccurate. I am genuinely curious about your cryptic "you can. Like I said," response to my statement that you can't conduct an END to END flight on VATSIM between two towered airports without ANY reference to the controller list. So, I'll just post a simple scenario, then, and ask you how you'd handle it. You are going to fly from Fullerton (KFUL) to Santa Barbara (KSBA). You position your airplane at Fullerton, you file an IFR flight plan, and you're ready to call for IFR. Without having looked at the controller list, who are you going to call? What callsign are you going to use for the controller who you're calling? How do you know if anyone is going to answer? Maybe I was doing it wrong for the 7 years I flew there.

I get your point now. You could look at the FS map to look at the freq's, but you'd have to try each and every single one of them in order to find out which one is active.