Agreed with above. VATSIM helped me tremendously with real life flying before I even took my first lesson. Continued to use it through instrument training too to keep up with approach plates and procedures. Even to this day I’ll hop on once in a while to keep fresh. And the best part, it’s free! With the cost of aircraft rental through the roof, it’s a great way to skip renting to get ATC experience/feel. It is NOT a bunch of children playing ATC, the process to become a controller on VATSIM is pretty in depth and takes a lot of time and training before you’re allowed to be a controller on there. So yes you do need to take it seriously. It’s a platform to simulate real life procedures, not an online multiplayer free for all.
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