December 20, 20178 yr Hi all, just thought I'd share my first contact with ATC on Vatsim earlier today. I had joined a VA that requires all flights to be flown on Vatsim after your initial phase-in. So for the past week or so, I did exclusively VFR flights in non-controlled areas and getting my first taste of Unicom communications. These flights went extremely well, without a single glitch and were all done with GA planes. Easy-peasy. So today, perhaps getting a little cocky, I decided to try the Aerosoft CRJ7. This plane requires your full attention for all stages of the flight but since I planned a CYUL-KDTW route that had no online ATC, I figured, why-not? Of course, as I made my descent to KDTW, I was told to contact Detroit tower (don't these people have REAL jobs!). Trying to keep the panic to a minimum, I struggled to configure the CRJs radios to tune to tower as well as trying to figure out how to set the transponder. With the radios set, I thought I was actually doing a great job, easily handling the instructions given to me, but this was all done by text, not the easiest of chores. I was handed off to approach and was cleared to an ILS approach and that's when all hell broke loose. The approach instructions were a little lengthy (for text, anyway) and while I struggled to "write" back these instructions, I failed to notice the CRJ7 hopelessly losing speed. I could not recover and so ended my first vatsim ATC experience. So damn close! To the Vatsim-KDTW ATC staff, my sincere apologies. The next time you see my call sign, try not to giggle too much. Mario Di Lauro
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