Vatsim is valuable and deserves our thanks

[donpilot 2]

Mr. McDonald,You, sir, are a fine example of why people on VATSIM keep doing what they do. Thank you for thanking folks, appreciating them, and offering to volunteer some of your time to helping others. Thank you!

[Dbcobb 0]

I have 1 little bit of information to add. Before connecting to VATSIM, please, please, PLEASE, understand how to fly the plane you are going to fly. If you are asked to do something by ATC, make sure you can control the plane to do it!Dallas

[NoahBryant 26]

Yes...Don't know how many times I have seen a plane take off and immediately start a hard 180 degree turn right back to the airport because, "the FMC isn't working." lol.

[Dbcobb 0]

the FMC isn't working."

This, so many times THIS. 80% of the flyers on vatsim are flying with either AP's or FMC's. You hardly see alot of hand flying. So learn the systems if you plan on using them~!

[Robert McDonald 167]

Yes...Don't know how many times I have seen a plane take off and immediately start a hard 180 degree turn right back to the airport because, "the FMC isn't working." lol.

I think a lot of the people flying the larger jets are using FMC/AP at first, and then, as they gain experience, begin to understand how to fly the plane by hand. It's not easy - and not always an intuitive process. You need to understand some of the basics, particularly with regard to landing speeds, descent rates, flare, and more. Even the rollout when flying a visual approach in a 737 is not necessarily a 'can of corn' to a newer pilot. Of course, learning by doing, and practice, along with some of the tutorials - all of those things are helpful. And as I've said elsewhere on these forums - having great pilot assist tools (flight planning, moving progress maps, and the SID/STAR charts and current AIRACC information) all of those things and others help the budding pilot do a better job of flying.When you add in 'realtime ATC' of course there are distractions. Knowing why your FMC/AP failed (sometimes just resetting the Flight Director can relieve this issue) is also important. I have had to hand-fly a plane that was not only without the FMC and AP, but was severely non-responsive to the control surfaces and had seriously lost power. Unpleasant and uncomfortable. I didn't declare a full-blown emergency - but I was able to put it down on the ground at the destination, thanks to some understanding ground controllers who recognized I was fighting with a recalcitrant aircraft. Sometimes these issues are pilot-caused (e.g. forgetting to raise flaps and/or gear after takeoff) and other times it can be the PC Gremlins at work in-between service pack releases or other software conflicts. We all know about rogue behaviour caused by interaction between some third party weather programs and FSUIPC.If a pilot has problems with their airplane, we all need to remember that most of us, at one time or another, and to varying degrees, have probably 'been there'. Not the most fun we ever had, no doubt. Some novice pilots simply hit the PC reset button - others will try to turn back to their departure airport. Letting ATC know you are having problems is always best practice - the controller appreciates the courtesy of stating your actual conditions. I have had my fair share of Crash to Desktop (CTD) "blue screen of death" Windows 7 problems, which typically kills your FSX, Squawkbox, REX and whatever else all at once - before you can even tell ATC about it.Simple courtesy would dictate a short radio call to your controller and most ATC will try to 'work with' your problem to the degree your pilot skills permit. Try as I might, I still haven't found one soul who was 'born a pilot' with no training, no practice, no instruction, and no tutorials. On the other hand, some people don't seem to want to improve their skill set or take the time to try to expand their capabilities - which is a personal choice outside the purview of anyone else. I find that adding the AivlaSoft Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) program greatly improved my on-ground experience vis-a-vis taxiing and following the ATC instructions precisely. As far as hand-flying, most of the larger planes you don't see a great amount of hand-flying, typically just at takeoff and at some point during the landing. I try to fly the last 1000 feet to the runway by hand to improve my feel for the plane. I wasn't doing that at the very outset with the 737NGX though.To each their own, eh?

[NoahBryant 26]

In our case, the problem is always that the pilot does not follow the "fly heading XXX" instruction and just presses the autopilot button. The SIDS at Denver all begin at the DEN VOR which are on the airport. Simply taking off and pressing the autopilot button will cause the plane to make a hard turn back to the airport.It's amazing to me how many pilots do not follow the initial heading and initial altitude instructions which, there really are reasons for. I would honestly put the number close to 50% at (DEN at least). A few weeks ago I had an airplane come in at the same time as two or three other planes. He did not follow a single instruction I gave him from start to finish (despite reading them all back) and ended up just landing all by his self. I had to vector the other planes around him.Luckily that's very rare though.

[Robert McDonald 167]

Mr. McDonald,You, sir, are a fine example of why people on VATSIM keep doing what they do. Thank you for thanking folks, appreciating them, and offering to volunteer some of your time to helping others. Thank you!

You're kind to say this - honestly, I think we (as pilots) need to give-back to those generous souls who endure our painful learning curve as we move towards 'real time ATC' to enhance our flight simulation hobby. My hat is off and i'm humbled by these generous men and women who make our shared hobby so much more fun!

In our case, the problem is always that the pilot does not follow the "fly heading XXX" instruction and just presses the autopilot button. The SIDS at Denver all begin at the DEN VOR which are on the airport. Simply taking off and pressing the autopilot button will cause the plane to make a hard turn back to the airport.It's amazing to me how many pilots do not follow the initial heading and initial altitude instructions which, there really are reasons for. I would honestly put the number close to 50% at (DEN at least). A few weeks ago I had an airplane come in at the same time as two or three other planes. He did not follow a single instruction I gave him from start to finish (despite reading them all back) and ended up just landing all by his self. I had to vector the other planes around him.Luckily that's very rare though.

New pilots need to have the tools at hand to be able to comply with ATC. FSKneeboard for iPad/iPhone, AvilaSoft EFB, FlightSim Commander 9, and a variety of free online tools are invaluable aids to flying in a compliant manner. The trouble with being a new pilot is you may not be aware 'what you are missing' - it's a little difficult to fly the SID if you have never SEEN the CHART for it. Next, a pilot must recognize the SID itself typically says, fly heading xxx or fly runway heading until altitude YYYY, then turn to heading ZZZ, and so on... there are VOR waypoints that play into these SIDS, plus the controllers may ask you to deviate or 'fly direct' to a specific waypoint to maintain separation (from other nearby planes). A moving map showing your airplane is incredibly valuable, especially on a second monitor. It's much easier to understand what you're being asked to do if you know specifically where your plane is and which direction you are flying, and where all the VOR waypoints are - that way when ATC says "turn left to new heading XXX, fly direct to VOR ZZZ" you can actually understand what to do!Simply hitting CMD A and then LNAV is not cool, but new pilots are doubtless not sure of what they SHOULD be doing (complying with the SID unless told otherwise).Again, I think there is a definite need for video tutorials to be placed up on YouTube, I would think someone here on AVSIM could produce some great flight-training videos to aid all interested pilots in honing their skill set. If we all understand how to 'play the game', all players will have a better experience. It must be wildly frustrating for a controller to have the pilot not only do crazy things, but not even respond to instructions from controllers! That's part of why I admire Vatsim/IVAO controllers so much. Not just the nuts and bolts of what they do - but to do so with equanimity, even in the face of unruly and unresponsive pilots - that takes something truly special.

[CXA001 5]

Pilots who want to join VATSIM, but don't know where to start should consider joining a VATSIM ATO (Authorized Training Organization). http://linksmanager.com/vatsimvas/authorised-training-organisation.htmlThese organizations have the resources to help you get started on flying on VATSIM, whether it be setting up the necessary software, learning how to communicate with ATC, file flight plans, etc.It takes a lot of the guess work out of how to fly on VATSIM.

[Robert McDonald 167]

Pilots who want to join VATSIM, but don't know where to start should consider joining a VATSIM ATO (Authorized Training Organization). http://linksmanager....ganisation.htmlThese organizations have the resources to help you get started on flying on VATSIM, whether it be setting up the necessary software, learning how to communicate with ATC, file flight plans, etc.It takes a lot of the guess work out of how to fly on VATSIM.

Good idea! Thanks for posting this!