Hi,

several years ago I flew online for some time. Now after having taken a longer break and using X-Plane 10 mostly I would like to fly online again.

So my question is: Which Pilot client for X-Plane users is better, the one from IVAO or VATSIM? Which is more stable, reliable and keeps being actively improved? is there any difference?

Anything else especially a X-Plane user should know when deciding which network to use? Is one more X-Plane-user-friendly from a technical viewpoint?

 

Thank You!

Anything else especially a X-Plane user should know when deciding which network to use? Is one more X-Plane-user-friendly from a technical viewpoint?

Well, this is easy to answer. Neither of them. PilotEdge is more stable and offers more features, but it is not free and only offers service for the area around California.

Funny, I was going to just recommend Pilot Edge as well.

 

But I'd go with vatsim and xsquawkbox if I did.

Check out www.FSCloud.net. There are some really great features with the new FScloud info tool. 

Haven't hear about FSCloud before.

 

The main consideration that I have is the number of active controllers online.  No matter how good the software is, if there are no controllers, there is, in effect, no ATC.  Things may have changed, but last I knew, IVAO was more European oriented and VATSIM more U.S. oriented, and VATSIM seemed to have more activity.

 

That may have changed, and I've heard some complaints of arrogance at VATSIM which would tilt the table away from them a bit.  Both online communities are several years old now and there are a lot of mature, very serious VA fliers on both of them, so some of the old timers and experienced controllers become so immersed in their realism that they no longer hold much patience for new pilots trying to learn the ropes.  That's unfortunate because they need new pilots to maintain activity and to become controllers eventually.  New pilots are the lifeblood of the system, and without them, things become stale and eventually die.  So patience is needed on both sides.

Thanks for Your replies guys!

Yes, I'm aware of Pilotedge and it seems to be a great service. But I'm from Europe and would like to fly online in Europe and my home country.

The focus of my question is if there are any technical difficulties connecting to VATSIM or IVAO with X-Plane because most users there are still using FSX.

Is one of the X-PLANE CLIENTS and connections better from a technical point of view for a X-Plane user? I know about the general debate and differences between both networks...

 

When clicking on that link for FSCloud my antivirus-guard kicks in with a warning message to open that link...

Both X-iVap and XSquawkbox box work after a fashion, but can be awkward and unfriendly to use (the latter more so).

A new multi-platform open source client called Swift should however be along to delight us in the near future.

FSCloud looks interesting and I will give it a go (thank you jbrett2634).

I use XSquawkbox on VATSIM. It does the job, but could use some work. It is not actively developed at the moment. It's good enough to use until something better comes along.

I'm pretty interested in Pilot Edge.  I do have a couple questions about it:

 

1. I usually fly a Beech Bonanza F33A, but I'm a newb.  I can handle the Bonanza fine without the workload of ATC.  But when I practice the Pilot Edge training exercises offline, and make myself simulate frequency changes, radio calls, airspace considerations, etc., I find that things happen fast in the Bonanza!  Would I be better off swallowing my pride and using a slower aircraft, like a Cessna 172?

 

2. It seems everyone uses real names on Pilot Edge.  I've long been wary of doing this on the internet!  A couple weeks ago I watched a video of a guy being "swatted" while he was playing an online game, and it made me think, man, I'll never play anything online with a real name!  Is everyone expected to use real names on Pilot Edge?  What if I were to make a realistic psuedonym, or perhaps a name vaguely related to my real name?