Do you have to follow the certification things when starting out on VATSIM? I don't really have the patience to start on small hop VFR flights as i just want to fly my heavies lol.

There is no enforcement for pilot certification. Yes, there are formal ratings but I do not have one and I do not need one.

 

At the other side, if you want to work ATC, you have to follow certification process.

If you are on vatsim please know your aircraft. Know how to operate it, know how to fly a hold etc...

That's the thing, i know my payware heavies better than i know my props and VFR rules!

Do you have to follow the certification things when starting out on VATSIM? I don't really have the patience to start on small hop VFR flights as i just want to fly my heavies lol.

You are not required, but I think if you have an attitude like that then I would very highly recommend you should take the ratings. You'll learn a lot, stuff which is basic knowledge to any aviator.

Heavy's fly VFR in the real world. It's odd that on vatsim people do things backwards from real life. Hardly anyone knows how to handle VFR, yet real pilots start out with VFR.

Lets not give Him the wrong idea. In the US, you take a 737 up past 180 and no, you are officially not VFR anymore.

 

I still do see people fly VFR direct in a 737 at 340, but that isn't right.

 

 

Sent from my Apple communications device.

I just don't enjoy flying small props VFR on FS. Don't get me wrong, i used to fly small props VFR in real world, hence i dont like it in FS

One thing I'd definitely recommend is, at least once or twice before you fly, sit as an observer at a relatively busy airport and just connect and listen, so you can familiarize yourself with how people are saying and doing things.

Ok, so I had some time tonight and figured I'd install FSInn/Copilot and sign up to Vatsim. I don't really want to do a flight yet until a study a little more. But, I did want to see if I have everything installed correctly and can at least connect. So, I launched FS, and then the FSInn UI...it went through and indexed my aircraft and the control panel came up. I set up my server and entered my Vatsim ID/password, configured my sound options, disabled weather, etc. However, from there, I am unable to connect. Is there a way I can test everything right now without actually filing a flight plan and doing a flight? I think I should be able to just jump on as an observer, right? Is that as simple as clicking on the VATSIM button in the control panel? Or, do I need a call sign entered and/or anything else before I can connect?

Ignore the last message...I'm on. I forgot to fill out the basic info so it was my bad.

If you are on vatsim please know your aircraft. Know how to operate it, know how to fly a hold etc...

 

Agreed... Even though in the 9 years that I have been on vatsim, I have never once been put into a hold. B)

If you participate in any of the flyins it is quite common though. During "Fly and see Santa" I was put on three consequent holds and we were 5-6 acfts stacked upon eachother in each hold. Very cool

Once you will get online you will never go back. About ATC, you will get most of Europe covered (Germany,Austria,Hungary,Swiss,France..etc) we have Eurocontrol North, South, East and West they are active also. Try Vatsim you will never go back to offline flying!!

Indeed, after I joined VATSIM some ten years ago it seems quite pointless flying around offline except for the occasional checking-out-the-ai-flights!

 

Chase, like Morten said, join the Fly & See Santa or the Cross the event and you'll get your share of holds. I've gotten the "Hold over Lambourne" (EGLL) many times!

if i can be allowed to add my two pence worth.

As A retired pilot the initial thought of once again having atc nag me was perhaps the last thing I wanted and I also was having issues on getting connected as i found some of the vatsim paraphernalia a bit overaweing and difficult to get ones head around . I was befriended by one of the guys in this thread and he helped me immensely by helping me get online and fly using fsinn on vatsim. We did fly a bit together however he was more into using a two crew setup on the maddog  (which I didnt have) and I was more wanting to do my own thing and didnt have the potential to reserve a certain time to go and fly online. But now I go online every now and then and fly mostly around europe and the Med where I live.

One of the really neat things about vatsim here in europe is when you fly in say Greek airspace then the controller nearly always is Greek with a (sometimes difficult)  accent , likewise if you fly in Germany etc and this all adds to the realism, I have had many a laugh when flying in reality listening to a pilot trying to comprehend a clearance that he has been issued with, so there is no need to be shy just sign on and have a go. I would of course suggest you start with a quiet airport and also get up to speed with the correct parlance but no-one is really going to cut you off or make a fool out of you, just do it one stage at a time.

Although I used fsinn for a year or two I did find that at times it crashed or froze for no apparent reason, it also made the firing up of FSX much much longer, so I tried squawkbox and found that to be much easier to install and easier to use and had little or no effect on the speed that fsx started up, but hey its horses for courses, you pays your money (or not in this case) and you takes your choice.