I was wondering whether it is absolutely necessary to subscribe to AIRAC data updates (from Navigraph) if one desires to fly an FMS aircraft (like PMDG 737NGX) on VATSIM?

 

Thank you!

 

Grant

No it is not.

Even though it is not mandatory i would recommend that you update your airac in a reasonable time frame (i do it about every 3 months). It is just not very nice for both the pilot and atc if you have to respond to many sid/star/trans/direct calls with 'unable/not in my fmc'. The navdata providers have special deals for a limited amount of cycles per year for the cost of a cheap addon - very much worth the investment!