100 hours logged IFR on PilotEdge and loving it

[zfehr 1]

As of last night's flight I have passed the 100 hour mark in the 9 months I have been using PilotEdge online ATC services. My opinions are even stronger than when I wrote the AVSIM review article last year. This is truly one of the missing links for using the flight simulator to maintain a level of proficiency in flight operations AND radio communications. Just a couple weeks ago I did my biennial flight review and flew 6 approaches under the hood, the instructor (Heikki Julkunen of SkyCharts fame) commented on how comfortable I was with radio communications and he was quite surprised I hadn't flown in the system for over six months.

[HercFan 1]

Interesting timing for your post! I actually read your review about 30 minutes ago and was currently browsing the PE website.

 

I am really considering it as part of a new direction for my FSX usage.

[ryanbatc 12,863]

It's an excellent tool for realism, and great for the simmer or rw pilot wanting to take it to the next level or brush up on real world skills.

 

I've been using it since before they officially opened.

[zfehr 1]

Hi Ryan,

 

I knew you were using PilotEdge. What times do you get to go online and what is your pilot #? I'll try to coordinate a flight sometime or at least cause you to have a traffic diversion!

[HercFan 1]

How is the VFR activity on CTAF?

[zfehr 1]

How is the VFR activity on CTAF?

I would look at the focus fields for the day and then check the map to see if anyone else is already flying around one of them. There will be drone traffic running from uncontrolled fields which are not using their radios (happens in real life too!) so you will have to keep your eyes watching for them. There are a few events each month for even more focused flyouts with larger groups so watch the website for their announcements. You can also go onto their forum and announce a time and place you plan to fly from and see if anyone else notices and joins up... sort of plan your own flyout.

 

The most busy times I have found are during one of the bigger airshow events where PilotEdge is displaying. They will announce the airport and times to populate the area with traffic. It gets real fun with parallel runways and mixing VFR with IFR traffic. Of course if you don't want so much action you can pick two non tower airports and fly VFR with flight following during the enroute portion, even transit a towered airport airspace during the trip just to make it more interesting!

[ryanbatc 12,863]

Hi Ryan,

 

I knew you were using PilotEdge. What times do you get to go online and what is your pilot #? I'll try to coordinate a flight sometime or at least cause you to have a traffic diversion!

 

I've seen you on... the times I use it vary greatly. I've got rotating shifts so sometimes in the afternoon, or evening 7-10 pm central...

[BoHappy 12]

Hi Zane

 

I was thinking of joining but I am trying to use prepar3d exclusively

Does pilot edge software support prepar3d platform ?

If not are there any plans in the future?

Thanks

[zfehr 1]

Hi Zane

 

I was thinking of joining but I am trying to use prepar3d exclusively

Does pilot edge software support prepar3d platform ?

If not are there any plans in the future?

Thanks

Yes, Prepar3d will work with PIlotEdge but PilotEdge does not have an installer yet for it. Here is a copy and paste from the email Keith Smith sent me regarding making it work in P3d:

 

1) have FSX installed on the same machine, co-located with P3D

2) install PE for FSX

3) take the changes that were applied to the FSX dll.xml file (namely,

the addition of the transponder and AITraffic dll's) and apply them to

your P3D configuration file

4) copy the VIP and SMS model sets from the FSX aircraft folder over

to the P3D aircraft folder

 

I am hoping to see a dedicated installer from PilotEdge in the near future for use in Prepar3d. For now this workaround will work because I have already done it.

[tttocs 301]

The last time the topic came up I spent some time looking at their website and forums and was certainly impressed with what I saw there. I guess three things still stop me.

 

FIrst, the coverage area. I understand why they focus on one area and the arguments for doing so are good ones, but at the risk of offending SoCal pilots, it's not an area I have great interest in flying. Nor is it an area I have good scenery or airports for and I do care about these things, even when flying sim IFR. I know, shallow, but there it is.

 

Second, I spent some time looking at their forums to get a feel for things, and it seemed to be a very X-Plane centric community. I don't know how much this matters in reality, but would be interested in Ryan's and/or Zane's take on this.

 

And finally - Zane, you mention not having flown "in the system" for about 6 months when you did your BFR. It's been, um... a bit longer than that for me. I freely admit to being a bit of a chicken about going live with a real human controller after all these years and fatally embarrasing myself, a simulation though this may still be. In truth, this is probably the primary stopping factor. :-)

 

Still interested, though. Thanks for bringing this back to my attention.

 

Scott

[BoHappy 12]

 

Yes, Prepar3d will work with PIlotEdge but PilotEdge does not have an installer yet for it. Here is a copy and paste from the email Keith Smith sent me regarding making it work in P3d:

 

1) have FSX installed on the same machine, co-located with P3D

2) install PE for FSX

3) take the changes that were applied to the FSX dll.xml file (namely,

the addition of the transponder and AITraffic dll's) and apply them to

your P3D configuration file

4) copy the VIP and SMS model sets from the FSX aircraft folder over

to the P3D aircraft folder

 

I am hoping to see a dedicated installer from PilotEdge in the near future for use in Prepar3d. For now this workaround will work because I have already done it.

 

Thanks Zane

That's great to hear

Now, I will definitely try the service

I have both FSX nd p3d installed on same drive

I will follow the instructions to install in p3d

If there are issues I will post them on the forum

 

Bo

 

[ryanbatc 12,863]

FIrst, the coverage area. I understand why they focus on one area and the arguments for doing so are good ones, but at the risk of offending SoCal pilots, it's not an area I have great interest in flying. Nor is it an area I have good scenery or airports for and I do care about these things, even when flying sim IFR. I know, shallow, but there it is.

 

Second, I spent some time looking at their forums to get a feel for things, and it seemed to be a very X-Plane centric community. I don't know how much this matters in reality, but would be interested in Ryan's and/or Zane's take on this.

 

And finally - Zane, you mention not having flown "in the system" for about 6 months when you did your BFR. It's been, um... a bit longer than that for me. I freely admit to being a bit of a chicken about going live with a real human controller after all these years and fatally embarrasing myself, a simulation though this may still be. In truth, this is probably the primary stopping factor. :-)

 

1) Nothing can be done about the issue for now... norcal is open on weekends. I think the airspace is fairly complex and a good challenge for vfr and IFR...

 

2) Probably because the founder uses XP... but there are plenty of FSX users... I don't see why it would be different between XP and FSX as far as loading the software etc... what are your concerns?

 

3) I'll answer for myself and tell you I've not logged real hours in 8 years...and it's bee three since I've flown. But flight sim and PE make me want to get back to it :) There's plenty of beginners on PE - some rw student pilots (you can tell hehe) but all the controllers have good attitudes and will help you if their not overly busy....

 

Finally there is a free trial I'd highly recommend!

[tttocs 301]

Thanks for the info Ryan.

 

1) Again, I understand the why of it, and there's no question about the airspace complexity offering plenty of challenges. NoCal on weekends does sweeten the pot and perhaps even more so depending on exactly what the upcoming Orbx NoCal region encompasses. You're right - this is an "is what it is" issue.

 

2) No specific concerns other than that the community seemed almost fanatically X-Plane. Since I started simming and re-awakened my snoozing aviation bug I've learned that most sim products are only as good as the community around them. I guess I wondered if there were any "ugly step-child" issues for an FSX simmer.

 

3) Thanks for the personal perspective. Just like the first time I ever keyed a mic and called a tower IRL (or worse yet, the first time I had to call a busy approach control!) I'll just need to work past the initial stumbles and awkwardness.

 

The stumbling block isn't the cost, it's mostly me. :-)

 

Scott

[zfehr 1]

I have used both xPlane and FSX (and now P3d for that matter) on PilotEdge and there is no difference in operations. You communicate on the real world frequencies and with real world procedures, get a clearance if IFR, taxi, takeoff, fly, land, taxi, shutdown regardless of platform. While I do prefer the visuals in FSX and especially the panels on the payware aircraft I use there are some parts of the the flying operations that xPlane does do better for me and they're mostly directed at operation of the autopilot. In xPlane you can preset an altitude and remain at present altitude without the aircraft starting a climb or descent automatically, you have a working control wheel steering function which is really nice on initial climbout when transitioning from hand flying to autopilot operations. FSX with UTX, GEX and FEX (REX if you prefer) certainly give stunning visuals, Active Sky gives a more realistic weather depiction so the pendulem swings back and forth depending on what it is you are wanting to simulate.

[Jack_C 1]

Yes i wish everyone would switch from vatsim to PE. I like the idea they have there.