I'm one of the noobs that has been brought into FSX by the publication of FSX:SE, so please forgive me if I'm confused about some things, I've been drinking from the proverbial fire hose since the release.  I've spent the last couple of weeks tooling around doing VFR things and I've begun to start studying more regarding IFR with hopes of maybe doing the VA/Vatsim thing in the (perhaps far) future once PMDG updates the J4100 for the steam edition (or maybe Majestic will do the Dash 8 q400, hehehe).

 

With this in mind I purchased the RealAir Turbine Duke v2 and the Flight1 GTN 750 as a platform to start learning and studying.

 

I was wondering if there are any recommendations for:

 

1) IFR Flight Planning Software? (I've enjoyed Plan-G so far, but it is VFR only from what I can tell) I was thinking something like FlightKeeper or FlightCommander?

 

2) An ATC addon that could help me start prepping for the VATSIM environment (so something with STARs/SIDs, etc.)?

 

3) Do  I need some kind of nav DB update? I'm really confused about this topic. I've purchased all the NA Orbx regions, but I'm not sure if this means I'm up to date for those areas?

 

Thank you for any recommendations.

 

I also wanted to thank the forum at large for all the contributions and data you've put out there, it have been an invaluable resource for me. I've been selecting some payware based on the recommendations here and have ended up with the A2A Cherokee, Realair Turbine Duke v2, Aersoft Twin Otter Extended, Flight1 GTN 750, and a bunch of the ORBX scenery and haven't regretted spending any of that money - I'm hoping you can provide me with some equally good recommendations on this topic. 

1) Look no further than PFPX: http://www.flightsimsoft.com/pfpx/

 

2) Read, get online, observe, and fly!  If getting online is your ultimate goal

 

3) Navigraph - One stop shop for all your DB update needs:  http://www.navigraph.com/

As Brendan wrote, PFPX is a great tool for flight planning. I also use EFB and FlightCommander (FSC9) - EFB for the charts and wonderful detail of all airports, and FSC9 for monitoring my flight and traffic. If I did have to make a choice between these two, it would be EFB (it can also create flight plans, but the advantages of PFPX and TopCat are such that they really are the best, particularly for commercial airliners).

 

For ATC, I personally LOVE Radar Contact 4 (RC4) for the immersion. It allows me to fly SIDs and STARs, or choose to be vectored. I've tried ProATCX but soon stopped using it.

 

But if you're looking for training for VATSIM, you may want to consider something like Vox-ATC, which interacts via voice response. The audio is not as real sounding as RC4, but it can get you used to actually speaking to ATC.

My opinion, nothing is going to get you ready for Vatsim other than online flying.  Do what Brendan says...get online, listen, learn, maybe put "new pilot" in your flight plan comments.  Try some VFR online flying in something simple to get your feet wet.  Also, if you like flying SoCal, try out PilotEdge to get a kickstart.  $20 a month but great coverage hours and a great set of controllers.

 

Gregg

I would suggest you, before spending money on PFPX, to try FlightCommander. From the official site you can download the full version that can be run for 30 minutes (you can't export flight plans in the free version, but that shoudn't stop you from writing it down or taking a photo). Once the 30 minutes are over, you just have to close the program and start it again.