International VFR flying on vatsim

[Andreas Stangenes 1,628]

So now that the simconnect deal is fixed, I have like many enjoyed vatsim a lot! I have a question regarding vfr planning when flying on vatsim though, because many times you will get reporting points like  "clear to exit the control zone via Nannestad, 3000 feet or below" (Norway), or "due to incoming traffic, hold over Bibi" (Sweden). Where do I find those reporting points? Do I have to go to each respective country's icao page and find them there? Tried looking in skyvector, little nav map and navigraph, but they don't have the vfr charts with the reporting points. 

If I need to do a bit of detective work everytime I feel a vfr flight plan, that sounds like a bit of a hassle to be honest. In ifr I can have a flight planned and ready to go within a couple of minutes. Of course, I could just say that I don't have the charts for vfr, but that sounds a bit silly on a network like vatsim... The point is to be prepared. 

Edited September 5, 2020 by Andreas Stangenes

[Andreas Stangenes 1,628]

There has to be people here who fly a lot of GA (I know you do!) and do so in accordance with real life procedures. What tools do you use when flying VFR in locations that are unfamiliar to you - like in a different country? How do you plan that so you are in compliance with ATC? a little embarrassing blurting out you dont have the relevant chart... 😄

[wim123 758]

did you try lilnavmap(free) i think it has all the relevant info.

also there are sites with charts, and airportcharts, and sites where you can setup flightplans.

[CJ1045 469]

Squirrel did a flight on you tube in a Cessna to Duxford and that included a package he used for his flight plan with vfr reference points. I guess similar packages exist worldwide.

[sidfadc 1,340]

2 minutes ago, CJ1045 said:

Squirrel did a flight on you tube in a Cessna to Duxford and that included a package he used for his flight plan with vfr reference points. I guess similar packages exist worldwide.

That was Sky Demon, the UK equivalent of Foreflight.  

[CharlieDont5urf 17]

Hey, back in P3D times i was  very happy with the following combination especially for VFR in europe:

1. P3D with FSUIPC connected and sending GPS data to a tablet like in this tutorial
2. an old Android tablet with Orux Maps installed + open flight maps imported from here

With that combination you have a perfect moving map for VFR in Europe for free. Did not tried in MSFS but should work with the FSUIPC beta.

Edited September 5, 2020 by CharlieDont5urf

[Andreas Stangenes 1,628]

Skydeamon is exactly what I was looking for. I dont know the price yet, but just go the free trial. It has all the vfr reporting points for Norway, and probably elsewhere too. Thats great 🙂

[hs118 706]

Every country publishes AIP but some charge for the service.

https://avinor.no/en/ais/aipnorway/

 

[CaptMatto 238]

I've just bought a subscription to Navigraph, which is mostly for IFR but the team are developing VFR maps. The moving map on the tablet with approach charts has made a massive difference to my flying.

I also have Plan-G (Beta) and Little Nav Map which are good for VFR planning.

Until there is a catch all I think we are going to need to move between tools.

[Andreas Stangenes 1,628]

1 hour ago, yurei said:

Every country publishes AIP but some charge for the service.

https://avinor.no/en/ais/aipnorway/

 

That site is a nightmare to navigate. I had to look at the visual approach charts to get any vfr reporting points for ENGM, but it doesn't have the ones in the south. Instead it should be filed as VFR charts, but they don't exist for engm, yet the reporting points do. if you were a foreigner you would have a hard time findout out anything. I only found out how to navigate the norwegian aip site after about an hour (then it started to make a little sense, but  I dont have the time to manouver through sites like that for every little trip I wanna do around the flightsim world. 

However, Skydemon has it all it seems, so for now Im good 🙂 

[hs118 706]

1 hour ago, Andreas Stangenes said:

That site is a nightmare to navigate. I had to look at the visual approach charts to get any vfr reporting points for ENGM, but it doesn't have the ones in the south. Instead it should be filed as VFR charts, but they don't exist for engm, yet the reporting points do. if you were a foreigner you would have a hard time findout out anything. I only found out how to navigate the norwegian aip site after about an hour (then it started to make a little sense, but  I dont have the time to manouver through sites like that for every little trip I wanna do around the flightsim world. 

However, Skydemon has it all it seems, so for now Im good 🙂 

You asked, I answered.

[SAS443 1,704]

Skydemon also has in-app purchases where you can download VFR charts /TMA charts for each country. 

In my Skydemon I have purchased the "Swedish Airfields" package, and I suppose I could add Norways equivalent at a cost. 

majority of the people at my club (incl myself) still subscribe to the old paper binder covering VFR charts for all domestic airports.

[sparkie66 81]

Chart, plotter, lines, vfr notam brief. 🤪 old school navplan. Very satisfying when it matches up when you fly it.

[Andreas Stangenes 1,628]

1 hour ago, sparkie66 said:

Chart, plotter, lines, vfr notam brief. 🤪 old school navplan. Very satisfying when it matches up when you fly it.

It is, but it is also much more difficult finding the relevant charts for VFR flying around the world than it is finding the relevant ifr charts. You cant just use your "roads of Europe" book to plan your flight, because the ATC will all of a sudden ask you to fly to something very obscure location that isn't marked on that kind of map. 

[meandme 1]

I have started adding links to free VFR charts that I find here and there to my worldwide list of links to charts: aviation.allanville.com/charts

Edited October 16, 2021 by meandme