Hi all,- RC4 give departure instructions that vary according to your distance from the first waypoint.- RC4 normally give vectors for arrival which are different from the star in the cleared flight plan.Though there is an option to choose IAP so that you can fly the cleared star.I wonder how these procedures are handled in real life and also how AVSIM/IVAO controllers deal with sid/star procedures when flying online.Frans

HI Frans,Where I am (Cork ,Ireland) we don't have sids/stars due to the size of the airport it's simply not required (approx 2.5-3million pax/year)For arriving aircraft ATC give the following options;1)proceed direct to the VOR (CRK)2)proceed direct to one of the two holds and vectors or self position from there3)pilots self position for a visual approach4) vectors to the active runwayfor departures radar will normally either;1)give a radar heading after departure due to incoming traffic2)give an initial radar heading after departure and then a direct to XXX instruction3)give a direct to XXX after departureobviuosly for larger airports it's more complicated perhaps someone who lives near a larger airport can fill you in on those...hope this helps answer some of your question

Hi Alan,Many thanks for your interesting answer. I'd also expect to get an idea about the differences between RC4 ATC and VATSIM/IVAO ATC but guess my question was a bit confusing talking about AVSIM ATC :-( RegardsFrans

to me the biggest difference, is that rc's atc is available to you at every airport, every hour of every day. you don't have to fly where the atc is, and hope they're still there when you get close to your destination.since rc is under the scrutiny of several air traffic controllers (US and UK) and real life pilots, the atc differences are minor.jd

Frans,I would say RC is more 'by the book' compared to Vatsim. On Vatsim it will depend as to who is controlling at any given time and this persons level of experience.For what it's worth, Radar Contact helped me tremendously getting through my PPL and Instrument Rating. You should have seen the look on my flight instructors face the first time I demonstrated Radar Contact....he's now a customer as well :-)Cheers,Petehttp://members.aol.com/pzsoulman/myhomepage/logo.gifAMD64-3400,1GB/3200DDRAM,WinXP(SP2),DirectX9.0c,Geforce6800(128MB)(Det.84.21), CH Yoke/Pedals

i think this one post speaks volumes, above and beyond 100 reviews.jd