6 hours ago, flieger28 said:

I also like the new rules regarding skynet (multiplayer) which where introduced a few days ago.

I confess I haven't enabled skynet since the change. Given my focus of GA flying to mostly smaller fields, I've never heard much live traffic from other users. When the new rules took effect, I left things at the new default (disabled) and things didn't seem much different. I'll probably go ahead and re-enable today though.

I am also now curious about the higher pricing tier which is said to unlock a better, faster AI. I started the 7 day free trial of that yesterday and, well, you can read about yesterday's less than stellar experience above. So far, I really don't see any difference, and the other features it offers (higher than high traffic levels and cabin crew who remember previous flights and conversations) aren't features I'll use. For my single pilot ops, I don't even have a copilot intercom enabled in the software, though I may do so the first time I try SI with my one and only jet, the Phenom.

Scott

5 hours ago, JetClipperJR said:

And I’m using it without a microphone... which is even more surreal. I can only imagine how much better it must be with a microphone!

I didn't even realize you could do that until noticing some buttons in the Windows app. I don't see those duplicated in the in-sim interface though, so I'd imagine it's a bit challenging unless you're multi-monitor. But you really should try a mic. The immersive interactions are really a lot of fun!

Scott

I have tried sayintensions today and here is my humble opinion.. Having done one and a half flights in the Fenix a320, first flight went from EDDM to EDDL and everything worked as expected and I was very excited to fly the return leg to EDDM. Then right after the departure in Düsseldorf, when I switched over to departure frequency, the controller suddenly wanted to hand me over to Langen Information, which is for VFR GA traffic. It obviously forgot about my IFR clearance and even after me advising the controller about his mistake he still wanted me to be on Langen Info..

Then I went to my home airfield in Bonn Hangelar for a VFR flight and wanted to do a low approach in EDDK in a small propeller plane. The Hangelar Radio guy refused to talk German, the tower controller in EDDK has cleared me for low approach 13L right after I asked for permission to enter the CTR. He should have given me permission to enter the CTR via the reporting point Sierra1 first at least and then have me proceed towards the airport. I asked for confirmation that I'm allowed to enter via Sierra, and was asked to report Sierra 1. After I have entered the CTR, the controller suddenly wanted me to monitor Hangelar Radio ?? I said to him I'd rather stay on tower frequency, being in the CTR. I finally managed to make him tell me to join base leg for runway 13L and he did not specify it to be right base. In real life, unless they give you the instruction to continue downwind and wait for base you can continue in the pattern and wait for the clearance to do the low approach. I did so and ended up being on short final with some airbus lining up 13L right before my nose.

To cut a long story short, the technology is promising, I liked the first flight from EDDM-EDDL a lot. Being able to talk to the ground crew for push is amazing, they really insert the pin, lift your nose wheel up and perform the pushback, then tell you to start the engines in sequence, wow!

Im sure the Langen Information handoff was probably a hickup, but its the VFR part that still needs massive improvement at least for flying in german airspace somewhat realistically. When they get it right in the future, I'll certainly subscribe. For now, it's time for me to brush the dust off VPilot..

Edited September 20Sep 20 by daowl24

That handoff to Langen Information after an IFR departure is the kind of issue that would bother me more than imperfect phrasing. I mostly fly IFR in Europe, and with FSHud I value predictable vectors and sequencing above conversational variety. The reports here make SI sound very immersive when it works, but I would want to see whether it can retain the clearance and context reliably over several legs before judging it for that use.

15 hours ago, daowl24 said:

Im sure the Langen Information handoff was probably a hickup, but its the VFR part that still needs massive improvement at least for flying in german airspace somewhat realistically. When they get it right in the future, I'll certainly subscribe.

I probably should have titled this "from a US GA pilot's perspective", as I recognize that the experience in other countries may not match what I get for primarily North American flying.

3 hours ago, malichek said:

That handoff to Langen Information after an IFR departure is the kind of issue that would bother me more than imperfect phrasing.

Again, I can't speak for other regions but for the US, handoffs, procedures and phraseology are generally as expected, so the overall experience is both immersive and mostly true to life. That said, it isn't perfect, the odd glitch can be a bit off-putting, and there are a few bits and pieces of phraseology or the odd procedure unique to an area that aren't always quite what I'd want or expect.

But if there's a perfect ATC package out there, I haven't seen it. And I highly value actually speaking to a controller (even though I know it's an AI) in a natural fashion and having them understand what I'm saying and can respond in kind, even if my phraseology isn't a perfect canned phrase or if I stumble a bit and have to correct myself as that's also true to life. I also enjoy being able to do real world things like requesting deviations for weather, or shortcuts and other modifications in my route of flight. These are the kinds of things that help make it feel real rather than scripted, even when I know it isn't. And it's also good enough (at least here) that I wish I'd had such a thing available back when I was doing my flight training, as my radio work back in my early days would have been much better, much more quickly.

But I know we all value different things, and others will feel differently about the balance between features and shortcomings.

Scott

That regional split is useful context. For me the ATC conversation is only half the test; I also look at whether the traffic picture around busy European airports remains believable, with departures and arrivals both represented rather than just plenty of aircraft on screen. That is one reason I keep using FSHud Traffic: I can compare what it injects with the real airport flow and judge the whole IFR environment, not only the voices. If I trial SI, I would test the same route and time of day several times before deciding, because one good leg followed by a lost clearance is exactly the sort of inconsistency that matters more than occasional phraseology.

@tttocs, @malichek and @daowl24 Personal feedback if it's matter. I leave in France but fly (real) in France and US (GA only) + regular backseat on airliners in France (Air France), so I know how CDG/Orly communications are. With my MSFS, I only fly in US because the french implementation is really off-reality. Phraseology, pronunciation... Even the new v3 French accent is caricatural. Not even close to reality. But I know french simmers that love their SI experience flying exclusively in France. It's just a matter of expectation.

About odd phraseology, there're several even in US loke "VFR pattern work" (pattern work, circuit is enough, no one mention VFR) and "report midfield each time" that the ATC is reply like a robot are very too much repetitive in SI and not close to reality (based on my experience). I've raise the feedback once or two (maybe in the Feature Requests of their Discord but it requires too much effort to justify and proove this and this. On top of tickets that I regularly open to make an overall improved experience ;)

Edited September 21Sep 21 by vbazillio

22 hours ago, vbazillio said:

@tttocs, @malichek and @daowl24 Personal feedback if it's matter. I leave in France but fly (real) in France and US (GA only) + regular backseat on airliners in France (Air France), so I know how CDG/Orly communications are. With my MSFS, I only fly in US because the french implementation is really off-reality. Phraseology, pronunciation... Even the new v3 French accent is caricatural. Not even close to reality. But I know french simmers that love their SI experience flying exclusively in France. It's just a matter of expectation.

About odd phraseology, there're several even in US loke "VFR pattern work" (pattern work, circuit is enough, no one mention VFR) and "report midfield each time" that the ATC is reply like a robot are very too much repetitive in SI and not close to reality (based on my experience). I've raise the feedback once or two (maybe in the Feature Requests of their Discord but it requires too much effort to justify and proove this and this. On top of tickets that I regularly open to make an overall improved experience ;)

Still the best we have though. Especially for VFR. Beyond ATCs VFR feels like its in a very early stage, Just the voices is like night and day compared to S.I in my opinion. Did a transit over LAX using the non clearance required ”Special Flight rules area transit” VFR and Torrance tower even reminded me to squawk 1701 and communicate on the open frequency before leaving their class D. That is realism! Small things where I remind myself that this is why I put up with the monthly fee 😄

Then again, some stuff are still very much non immersive with SI. I agree. Like when calling a class D airport like 10 miles out and almost immediately getting a cleared to land not having even entered their airspace yet. And its not because the airfield is empty because from late in the approach I see several aircraft waiting for takeoff. Then why clar me to land so early.

Edited September 22Sep 22 by mikced

1 hour ago, mikced said:

Did a transit over LAX using the non clearance required ”Special Flight rules area transit” VFR and Torrance tower even reminded me to squawk 1701 and communicate on the open frequency before leaving their class D. That is realism!

I remember spending some times with SI Dev's to support this Special Flight rules corridor procedure. Sending them my real feedback experience and charts, and script. I also remember tickets opened to try to fine tune it, but finally, our expectations may be over the common expectations. The problem with AI and SI is that once it makes a step forward (the first time you get the 1201 squawk), you want more sharpness. I want to hear the "Radar service terminated, squawk 1201" (not from Torrence but from a SOCAL), at the right time and not too much into the Bravo (before the entrance over one oft he two blvd) and at the proper altitude (3500/45000) ;) And then, we reach a level of too much expectations and a bit of disappointment. Finally, we always want more. I want more and this is my relationship with SI. A look of peak of excitement and a bit of disillusion,

Edited September 22Sep 22 by vbazillio

Hey Vince, from one thing to another. No plans to do L35 Big Bear? Lovely scenic place really.

12 minutes ago, mikced said:

Hey Vince, from one thing to another. No plans to do L35 Big Bear? Lovely scenic place really.

There's already a good freeware isn't it ? https://fr.flightsim.to/addon/3237/l35-big-bear-airport

Well for one its not for FS2024 and has not been updated in years. Hate to be critical also, (especially for freeware) but I have seen better airports and I leave it at that (although to be fair its 5 years old) 😄 I am sure you could make it shine with you attention to detail. Great little VFR trips also open up from your other fields. It differs a bit also from other airfields with that altitude and beautuful mountain views. Just a suggestion 😂

3 hours ago, vbazillio said:

And then, we reach a level of too much expectations and a bit of disappointment. Finally, we always want more. I want more and this is my relationship with SI. A look of peak of excitement and a bit of disillusion,

That pretty much mirrors my reactions. When it's good, it's so good that it sucks you in... and then there's a glitch and it feels all the more jarring. I remind myself not to take things TOO seriously, to keep expectations reasonable and to remember that it's still fun, even when it throws you for a loop. And I can usually negotiate my way out of any glitches and stay "in the system" without having to just go my own way.

For example - yesterday I was given a clearance from about 30 miles out to descend and proceed direct to the FAP (Final Approach Point) on an RNAV LPV approach and was cleared for that approach, all from pretty much the opposite direction. No bueno, and not a proper clearance. So, I requested clearance to the most reasonable IAF (Initial Approach Fix) instead and was granted that clearance. Things proceeded normally from there. And even this has an element of reality, as you can always at least ask to do things differently IRL when you don't think things are working out. Sure you'd never get a clearance like this IRL in the first place, but...

And at the end of it all, I submit a bug report in the hope that it will help with steady improvements.

Scott

Edited September 22Sep 22 by tttocs

I forgot to try that SI trial lol.

I updated and flew BATC tonight. Two short flights. Both in jets, both without sid/stars. The first one was from KLUK - KHTS. That went pretty well except it descended me too low when it gave me vectors to final ry30. The VTF were fine, but the altitude was the altitude before the FAF (2100), but it vectored me outside of an IF, with a charted alt of 3600. But did I die lol?

Flight two was HTS - I69. Not good lol. It turned me on a heading for like 5 minutes, so I turned on course. It asked me my heading. I didnt answer lol. It turned me back 180 degrees to the north. I went through my original route by another 3 or so minutes with no further guidance. I ended it there.

Maybe tomorrow ill have time to try SI.

Too late to edit my own post.

I'm not loving SI at all right now. In fact I'm totally unable to get it going. I thought the trial started when I started a flight but they must have meant when they sent the support email it was active - so I missed that. Ok fine whatever, I paid for 1 month this morning. I feel like it's worth a shot. My account STILL says expired on it lol. The payment went through according to their website. I've tried rebooting and restarting the app, same issue.

I don't always have time to make this stuff work... so I guess it's more waiting, since I've re-opened the ticket I had.

Hopefully I can get it going sometime today (it's my Sunday).