flying online with 777

[ger 2]

Hi guys ,

 

i m sorry if this is not the right forum to ask this but i m searching more info for flying on vatsim ..

i thought this might be the right place for info especially because i only fly with PMDG planes and i think that a lot more people fly on Vatsim with PMDG

 

I am a long time user of fs but completely new with online  flying although i must say the last 5-6 years i wanted to experiment with Vatsim and looking for something completely new  but never had the courage of doing it   so any help is more than welcome .

 

 What do i need for flying on Vatsim , i read about FSInn or squawbox ,  Servinfo Vat-Spy , witch is better and easyer  , like i said  i am completely new with this .

 

What more do i need ,

 

 

Any help is much appreciated , once again sorry for asking this in the pmdg forum but i hope you can help me with this

 

Thanks in advance ,

 

Gérard

[SKEWR 364]

Hi Gerard.

 

I was in the same boat as you. My suggestions are:

1) Check into vPilot. I found it to be very good. (It replaces the FSINN and Copilot programs)

2) Vattastic works better for me. It is a web page where you can move the map as you need to without downloading a separate program.

 

Good luck in enhancing your simming!

[IFRking 88]

1) Check into vPilot. I found it to be very good. (It replaces the FSINN and Copilot programs)

 

Vpilot is great but to to use it you either need to have two monitors or use FSX in windowed mode.

 

 

 

 

What traffic addon are you guys running? To the OP, if you don't have AI traffic installed, you can get  IVAO's free traffic addon which is great.

Assuming you haven't sign up to Vatsim, here's a link: https://cert.vatsim.net/vatsimnet/signup.html

[liketofly1 11]

Hi Ger

 

 

 

What do i need for flying on Vatsim

 

First let me encourage you, by saying: Nothing more rewarding then flying online. One talks to real people, and fly's with people with the same interrest... just super!!!!

 

So now to your question:

 

1.) One needs to be registered - nothing big, just register and you will get a VATSIM number..... 

 

2.) A flightsimulator of your choice (I guess with you it will be either fsx or fs9).....

 

3.) A microphone (I recommend a headset) (set to a seperate soundcard) P.S: (nothing special, a tiny USB soundcard is more than enough)

 

4.) A program that establishes a connection between your FS and VATSIM (FSINN - Squakbox - or vPilot) I personnally prefer vPilot (and no, you do not need two monitors for that) just use your radios as one should, and at the beginning (login and either fetch or send your flightplan) the rest can be done from within the sim....... ps.: vPilot is the easiest to setup, especially the aircraft/paint model matching of the online traffic

 

5.) A little courage the first time to go online: little tip - log in to VATSIM at a busy airport (you can find one with either VATTASTIC or VATSPY (google them) one is online, the otherone a free download at VATSIM and then - watch - and mainly listen to the online traffic first, just to get a hang of it.... ps.: Don't log on to VATSIM sitting anywhere at a runway.....;-)

 

6.) IFRking mentioned it - some sort of traffic addon (to see the other traffic in the correct paint of the airlines) IVAO's traffic addon is great but I thing one needs to register there aswell to download - I use MyTraffic X..... also works nice.....

 

Good luck, and you'll see - you'll never gonna fly without it.....

[Michar83 7]

In combination with the already mentioned suggestions, you should really pay vatsim.net a visit.

They have quite extensive information and guidance on how to fly, and how to do so online.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

www.vatsim.net/prc

 

As always:

A little bit of reading and research goes a long way.  The basics and general lessons are on the left of the above-linked page.

[747-fan 19]

Just log on and sit and listen.

 

Best thing for the nerves. Register, install the client, and load up on the GA Apron in the default C172 on a manned airport (check traffic via http://www.vattastic.com/ )

 

You could even do a radio check just to see if everything works. "Tower, Cessna N12345 on the GA Apron, radio check." Even that is a real rush the first time. I still remember my first voice call.

 

Perhaps you could even file a flight plan and ask for a VFR circuit or "departure to the north" and fly out of there and land somewhere without traffic.

 

The rush of having successfully done an online flight is fantastic. Remember to write "newbie" in the comments section of the flight plan, that way the controllers will be extra gentle, but they usually are very very very patient anyway.

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

Any help is much appreciated , once again sorry for asking this in the pmdg forum but i hope you can help me with this

 

Also, I feel like I'm plugging my videos a bunch today, for which I'm vaguely sorry, but here's a video of ATC going into IAD on Friday night.

 

I'm saying pretty much the same thing over and over again, but it'll give you insight on what instructions sound like (no audio until about 0:30 in):

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ZfUPzGOk0

 

You could also go to a site like LiveATC.net to listen to real controllers there, but I'd hold off just a bit.  Controllers at airports like JFK and LGA usually issue commands very quickly, which can be intimidating.  Controllers on VATSIM usually don't speak that quickly.

[ger 2]

Hi all,

 

first let me thank you all for all your help, very much appreciated  ,

 

 

 

I just signed up with VATSIM  , did a lot of reading especially about differences between FSINN and squawkbox  , and  i have visited a site (dutchvacc) wich has a lot of info too  even with a introduction flight , the advise on that site is to first just sit and watch at a big airport at the gate so that is the first thing i am gonna do  ,

 

.I read on the site vatsim net that FSINN had some problems with the weather above 24000 feet and the advice was to switch it of or using a different weather source , i have ASN , can i use this for weather too or do i need some kind of online weather source ?

 

Thanks ,

 

Gérard

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

did a lot of reading especially about differences between FSINN and squawkbox

 

Both of those programs are terribly old (and one is kinda half-baked, honestly, not that SB is much better).

 

vPilot is the newest client, and it's actively supported (that is to say, if you have problems, you can go to someone to get them fixed).

 

 

 

.I read on the site vatsim net that FSINN had some problems with the weather above 24000 feet and the advice was to switch it of or using a different weather source , i have ASN , can i use this for weather too or do i need some kind of online weather source ?

 

No matter what client you use, you can disable the weather from it.  I use ASN at all times.  You can actually tell ASN to pull the weather from VATSIM, if you'd like.  It's the same weather, but updated on a different interval, if I remember correctly.

[ger 2]

Thanks Kyle ,

 

 just saw the vPilot site  and is says that it only can run in windowed view and i like to run it full screen so i think i will go for SB  i think this is also the easiest set up ,

 

gonna read some more info first ,

 

thanks ,

 

Gérard

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

and i like to run it full screen so i think i will go for SB  i think this is also the easiest set up ,

 

Problem with that is that you'd still have to get to the start menu after starting the sim to get to SB, too.  It won't launch properly if the sim is off, or the radios aren't powered.  Loading SB through the FSX menus is a known problem, and will lock the sim a good portion of the time.

[ck777 2]

I still fondly my remember my first flight on Vatsim, KLAX-KSFO.  I was so nervous.  I must have flown the route a few dozen times before logging into vatsim and doing the first flight.  I spent a lot of time parked at a gate, listening to ATC to become familiar with the procedures and terminology-I listened a lot to LiveAtc (I still do).

 

Kyle - don't apologize about posting your videos.  They are great.  I often fly in and out of KIAD and forget that you control there; I look forward to catching you sometime.

 

Cheers, 
Chris K.

[PeterAmsterdam 0]

vPilot can be run on a remote machine in your network, separate from the machine running the flight simulator, provided you have the correct version of SimConnect installed on the vPilot computer, and you have configured the SimConnect.cfg file correctly. ^_^

 

Peter Aertssen

EHAM

[Mean Aerodynamic Chord 269]

Gérard, I HIGHLY recommend Vpilot. The other 2 clients are trash.

 

I understand you like to fly with fullscreen mode, but the problem is that when you fly a complex airplane like the 777 or 737 on VATSIM, you might very well need some charts for the approach, departure, or ground movements, and you might also use a program like Notepad to write down your flight plan, frequencies, squawk, etc. (At least that's what I do... Real paper is so 1999) 

 

I recommend what the others are saying as well. Just log in on a busy airport like Heathrow (EGLL) or JFK (KJFK) and listen to how they're operating. But remember that, just like in the real world, aviation regulations, rules, and procedures are different in each country so I would recommend you to pick an area of interest (Say EU) and stay there until you're familiar enough to go somewhere else.