out of curiosity a question about ATC

[sparkie66 81]

A lot of people complain abouw bad in game ATC, a lot of people use 3rd party atc to compensate for that.

 

Why not fly on an online network like pilot edge/ ivao or vatsim?

 

Great fun, good for the workload too I never understood the fixation of some people on the in game ATC, or a robot voice from a 3rd party addon. Same as I never understood the reluctance of a lot of "bad in game ATC complainers" to fly online, if realistic ATC is such a major concern. 

 

It cannot be shyness, because as i understand it, the 3rd party progs also require talking to? It seems like going such a long way, contending with robotic addon atc's, just to not have to go online?

 

Maybe that's just me though.

[spesimen 135]

i'm sure people's reasons vary but for me it is mostly about coverage (or the lack thereof.)

 

i generally like to fly between the places i have nice addon sceneries for. i looked into ivao and vatsim a bit but i found that when i tried to plan a flight it was very rare that any of the airports i have were actually controlled and it was almost never a situation where all (or even any) of the centers between those places were controlled. a few times i would look for freeware or payware addons for airports that were controlled but this already adds an extra half hour or more of installing and messing about with the sim before i even load it up.

 

pilotedge seems ok too but last i checked they closed down at 11pm and since my simming time is usually in the late evenings (9 or 10 until midnight or so california time..) this meant that i probably wouldn't get to complete a lot of flights, it seemed like a good option though for what it is. the cost is also a factor of course.

 

i suspect that my time slot is generally bad as most of the usa people are going to sleep and the europeans are just waking up for work.

 

when i watch vids it seemed like with a lot of the euro and south american ATC, i find it very difficult to understand them due to accents... and i don't want to be 'that guy' constantly asking for clarifications. i expect with practice that would be not so much of an issue but it certainly adds to the intimidation factor.

 

i will probably dip my toes in again and try it sometime but it just hasn't been a huge priority for me.

 

edit:i should mention that my experience is more with FSX than x-plane, i didn't notice which forum this was until after i posted, but the reasons are basically the same for any sim

 

cheers

-andy crosby

[qqwertz 772]

Hi Roland,

 

I mostly fly on Vatsim, but I also use ATC programs, often simultaneously. The reason is that I like to fly to my favourite destinations, which are often not covered online when I have the time. So I am very interested in high quality ATC programs that can take over when this is the case. And yes, default ATC is not good enough

 

Peter

[Guest]

My reasons: availablity, coverage and having to actually talk. Whenever I have time to fly I want to fly immediately and I don't want to wait for online ATC to find the time for me, I don't want to wait until their is online ATC in the region I want to fly and I simply can't talk aloud in my situation. An ATC addon (I currently use ProATC) is ALWAYS there for me, instantly and wherever I fly and I can interact using just a few keys.

 

So yes, it's just you. You are thinking of your own situation, possibilities and desires only. Some people, like me, have other situations, possibilities and desires.

[Jimmy RFR 406]

 

 

Why not fly on an online network like pilot edge/ ivao or vatsim?

 

- Coverage.  I like to fly in areas that are far, far off the beaten path, so to speak.

- Interruptions. Real life often causes me to pause the sim and walk away for 15 - 20 minutes.  Or more.

- Lack of skill/practice.  Half of the time I'm flying helo's in the bush, or mil jets in random places, and I'm certainly not a real world pilot. This means that the few times that I want to fly with ATC, I'm nowhere near skilled enough to fly online, even with patient controllers.

[sparkie66 81]

hm coverage is t

So yes, it's just you. You are thinking of your own situation, possibilities and desires only. Some people, like me, have other situations, possibilities and desires.

 

fair point, true ofc I'm coming from my own situation, this is why I asked. Never too old to change an idea or stance on some things .

 

Take coverage; Im in the netherlands and fly online in the region, ivao covers a lot of apts in europe, so does vatsim. Outside EU it gets a lot less well covered indeed. 

[Alan_A 1,650]

Interruptions are my main problem - it's unusual for me to get through a flight without being called away from the computer for some reason. I'd love to try online ATC and maybe someday I will, but I worry about having to drop out and inconvenience controllers and other pilots.

[brucek 38]

Interruptions are my main problem - it's unusual for me to get through a flight without being called away from the computer for some reason. I'd love to try online ATC and maybe someday I will, but I worry about having to drop out and inconvenience controllers and other pilots.

My situation exactly... I only get to fly spasmodically, often with flights being terminated due to the need to do something else. I would gor for one of the 3rd party ATC programs if it wasn't for the fact that I use a Mac and all of them seem to use a Windows platform....

[Dave_YVR 968]

 Personally, I'd far prefer to fly with the skies full of AI than a few online simmers. I did lots of Vatsim over 10 years ago and while it was alright, it's spotty coverage and so so ATC practices pushed me to prefer AI and self guidance with better phraseology.

[mdavis 10]

It has been YEARS since I flew on VATSIM.  It's interesting (and perhaps instructive) that VATSIM coverage hasn't grown with the simulator community as much as I would have expected.

 

And, yes, I'm working my way through the old 2004 list by Michael Doherty of Dangerous airports.  Most of them are little airstrips out in the boonies and away from ATC concern.  I'm also not exactly thrilled with the X-Plane version of Squawkbox.