Same reason there are different States in the US. Certain people believe something should be done one way, and certain others believe it should be done another way. So they form a group that conforms to how they want it done.----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

This response is on a tangent from your question but you might consider joining me in using Radar Contact...for the first time in my case.I am a RW pilot with commercial, instrument and ME ratings and therefore have no "learning curve" associated with functioning in the ATC environment.I have used VATSIM since the newish SB3 introduction and found it to be simple to install and begin to use whereas, with SB3, I had no clue how to get it up and running.My issues with VATSIM are pretty typical...not enough traffic. Some have grumbled about bad controller attitudes but I never experienced that a single time. Possibly that might be related to the fact that I know what I am doing re: functioning in the IFR system and I can imagine controller frustration whith those who don't but that's another story.While I have never used Radar Contact and while it is BIG TIME FUN to talk to real life controllers on VATSIM, I am going to give RC a try due to the fact that you can fly in a vast array of locations 24/7 and have a bunch of traffic and relevant radio chatter along with what seems to be a broad and deep procedural simulation of the IFR environment.I guess, at the end of the day, so long as the ATC interaction I get is accurate and immersive, I don't much care if the voices are live or virtual.Regards,Jim

It's like comparing Coke and Pepsi. Both are great. I fly exclusively VATSIM in the US and IVAO in Europe.Cheers.

Not to derail the thread but can you pause your flight w/o screwing up the virtual ATC system? If nature calls or if your wife is hollaring at you, can you let the ATCs know you have to go AFK for a bit?

If I'm on long-ish flights with little or no ATC or not much traffic, at high altitudes and flying straight I feel it's okay to take a breather or whatever, but I always either let ATC know or state my intentions and I never pause it. I don't think it's okay to pause it anywhere except maybe out in nowhere land, but I wouldn't pause or leave if within 30 miles or so of any major airport. It goes without saying that pausing while flying approach or departure would be the wrong thing to do :-lolhttp://home.earthlink.net/~dawgfighter/sit...es/swvasig1.gif-Jeremy BurchSWVA4806 http://www.virtualswa.com/home.phpThe Ozark Dogfighter http://forums.avsim.net/images/wedge.gifHappy Flying!

Not to derail the thread but can you pause your flight w/o screwing up the virtual ATC system? If nature calls or if your wife is hollaring at you, can you let the ATCs know you have to go AFK for a bit?

You cannot pause during any portion of your flight. But you may step away from your computer as long as you aern't sitting in the middle of the runway, or on final approach or other things like this. The longest flight I ever did was a 22 hour run from Singapore to Newark. This left A LOT of time to watch Top Gear, and take a pooper, and eat, and sleep, etc. You just need to be sure you are not going to aggravate anyone. Most of us VATSIM vets enjoy the professionalism of the network, but nothing can be more aggravating than someone that thinks and treats VATSIM as if it were on the same level as FS Multiplayer. If you think you are going to be a little longer than expected and you are within a controlled airspace, then notify the controller of when you will be returning or just tell him you are stepping away for a moment. Again, don't do this if you are 3 nm from your T/D or turning final or in some other critical section of your flight. If you feel you are going to need to be away from the computer for a long time, then just disconnect.

6 year old thread? Avsim really ought to consider a a time limit! :(

Yeah, there are some websites I've been to where if the last post is older than 6 months a message pops up telling you to let dead posts lie or start a new post.

6 year old thread? Avsim really ought to consider a a time limit! :(

Yeah I cant believe that Kylan dug this thread up for no reason and then said

No wonder he's single if he talks to ladies like that. :( The necroposting has been plentiful in the past few weeks. I guess school must be out everywhere now?

Reacting on a six years old post using very women-unfriendly language.Absurd , uncivilised and uselessThis topic should have been closed ages ago anyway.I`ll do that now.Leen de Jager