Hey everyone,

 

It's been years since I've played a flight sim (flightsim2004) and trying to get back to it is a bit overwhelming. I'm an air traffic controller for the FAA and flying has been a big passion since I was little. I'm wanting to get back into it but there's so much to it now. 

 

A few of my main questions:

 

-Is the computer ATC pretty good in FSX? I would eventully want to get into VATSIM, so what all do I need to participate in that?

 

 

-What should I expect with a core 2 duo with windows XP, and an average G-force video card? Bd or ok performance?

 

 

I'd look into a system upgrade if you want to run any addons or just use fs2004 as FSX is CPU hungry.

 

Here's my build.

Fx-8350 AMD 8 core

Nvida GTX660TI

8GB ram

1 TB hardrive

Windows 7

and a biostar 970 Mobo

 

I think my build cost around $700

and I get 30FPS pretty much everywhere in PMDG NGX

FSX built-in ATC is quite rudimentary, it does not support SIDs/STARs or airway entries in flight plans, holds, flight plan changes such as  direct-to clearances or emergencies. It also has a few quirks such as being a bit overzealous about vectoring or handing you off between controllers when you're flying near the boundaries of different control areas. Nevertheless I use it, but some prefer an addon such as Radar Contact, VOX ATC, Pro ATX/X or Pro Flight Emulator (PFE). These ATC replacements do have their tradeoffs in terms of how well they handle AI traffic, how good the voices sound, etc.

 

If you want to get into VATSIM as a pilot, you should get an account at vatsim.net and then read over the PRC (http://www.vatsim.net/prc/). Give the forums a browse as well. You'll need pilot client software such as Squawkbox or FSInn, and you should also get a data viewer such as VatSpy (or I just use vattastic.com most of the time) so you can see where controllers are online.

 

VATSIM also has pilot ratings and you can got rated via an Authorized Training Organization (ATO): https://linksmanager.com/vatsimvas/authorised-training-organisation.html

 

The virtual ZLA ARTCC also has some nice training and certifications you can do (http://laartcc.org/)

 

If you want to control on VATSIM there's separate training and certs required. I'd ask at the VATSIM forums for recommendations. They have radar scope clients you can download for controlling.