Not heard of Poscon - i’ll look it up. Anyway, all the best and blue skies!
Poscon is no position to challenge VATSIM or even IVAO at the moment. The last time I logged on to Poscon a few weeks ago there were 3 (three) airplanes flying on the entire planet. You’ll rarely see under 300 pilots in VATSIM at any time of the day. Poscon has great potential but isn’t there just yet.
Also if you check Poscon’s immersion requirements, they are much stricter than VATSIM’s. If I remember correctly for one thnig they require you to always use voice when you’re departing/arriving from an airport and at a certain range. Then you can switch to text if you like.
VATSIM/IVAO have been around for so many years for a reason.
■■■■ I guess I should stop taking flying lessons. 
Just like anything else, give respect to get respect. The volunteers at Vatsim strive to maintain a realistic environment for our hobby. Yes, it’s a simulation, but people who use Vatsim or other ATC services want that dose of realism. To help, take time to prepare before signing on by knowing the rules. Sign on as an observer and just listen how the flow goes. As others have suggested, when you go “live” put something in your comments that you are new. Pick a smaller airport that has service. You can check the live map for current coverage.
I was reluctant to hit the mic button for a long time because I didn’t want to mess up. Well, I messed up but because the controllers saw I was brand new, they were professional and helpful. One controller even texted me a .jpg of the airport chart so I new where to taxi to. Yes, I’ve heard some grumpy controllers, but that is rare. I’ve heard vastly more unprofessional pilots than anything else combined.
Bottom line, please try it out. It opened a whole new world for me.
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Well I have always wanted todo VATSIM, I have pilot2atc to practice, was talking to a guy earlier that recommended it, its my problem with confidence I dont want to make mistakes and upset other pilots, just taxiing, advice was go for a smaller airport not EGLL or JFK, So I am really considering it, maybe sit at airport and listen before you file your flight plan.
ANd people getting annoyed and upset thats reality, sure it happen in real life with ATC and Pilots..I am not a real world pilot
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Try EGPH. It’s a training airport but it’s small, which means it’s often controlled but not usually very busy. And the controllers are often new too.
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What did you do to get the warning from a supervisor ? It won’t happen just because you connected to the network. Just blaming the staff without telling what happened seems unfair to me.
And furthermore, what was your problem with vpilot? I am using it frequently with MSFS and i never had any problems and many others use it too. So maybe it’s a problem on your side and not on their side.
Is it possible to go on to VATSIM and just test out the mic etc. and listen without flying?
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Yes, it is. That’s what I did before my first flight on VATSIM. Appear on a parking ramp at the airport you wish to listen. Switch on avionics and tune desired frequency. And listen. Or you can say “ microphone check”. And you can listen, not doing anything else.
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What duracellko said. Essentially you can stay in VATSIM and listen to others for as long as you like, assuming you won’t be blocking anyone in the apron or taking up precious ramp space in busy airports. Doing a radio check in the local frequencies is perfectly acceptable (even Unicom 122.8 could be used for that purpose if there are other pilots around but no ATC).
Or if you’re not interested in ground traffic, you could spawn at a rural airfield without a ground controller or other traffic, tune directly to the Center of that area and do a quick radio check or simply not say a word. Best to use an app like VAT-Spy before that though, so that you can tell which areas are manned by controllers at that time.
If you pick up a busy airspace such as northeast America (e.g. Boston Center 134.7) or central Europe, you’ll be amazed at the amount of work required by the controllers (so best to just listen and avoid radio checks there).
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Thanks, I completed the training and the exam. I’ll slowly ease into VATSIM.
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Good luck! The first time is always the hardest - it gets much easier after that. Don’t wait until you know you’re ready, because that will probably never happen. Dive in when you think you might be ready. And put in your flight plan remarks that you’re new to VATSIM; controllers will take note of that.
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Yes. “NEW PILOT” in remarks is a must, probably for the first 50 hours or more but you can leave it for as long as you feel comfortable with. Also a good idea to add another remark if you don’t have any charts (Navigraph, Aerosoft etc), because VATSIM controllers in general will presume you have charts and will guide you according to them.
I remember doing several mistakes as a “new pilot” and I was never yelled at, on the contrary the controllers even told me politely what was that I did wrong, what I should have done instead, they provided URLs of helpful information etc.
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Anybody in doubt, just do it.
I am now at the point in a short space of time where I get a little bit bored of the Sim when not flying Vatsim.
Look on the Vatsim live map to see where there is a controller at a smaller airport and go for it. Be confident in yourself but don’t be afraid to make errors, everyone has done and I have not heard or seen anyone getting anything other than direct commands or constructive criticism when required following mistakes, which everyone makes.
As I mentioned above, I even turned the wrong direction on my first climb out but that wasn’t a problem, the controller knew this as I put ‘First flight’ in my notes. Happens in real life so the controller and I had to deal with it.
My only regret is why I waited so long to take the plunge!
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Really enjoyed my first experience of VATSIM today despite being called a muppet by the ground controller for a taxiing error after vacating the runway at my destination:-)
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I guess this might not be the most suitable forum or thread for this question but what multiplayer/traffic settings are people using for MSFS on VATSIM?
If I recall correctly you are encouraged, but not quite required, to use live weather. However multiplayer has to be set to off/group, so that the only other players you see are those who are also on VATSIM.
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Thanks it sems I had the correct setup then 
About the live weather: When not using live weather it can use some troubles. Without the proper head or tailwind you might cause separation problems.
I flew into a busy Frankfurt a few weeks ago when the weather was stuck on one date for the whole week. I didn’t encounter the head wind which all other pilots had so the controllers had to take me out of the flow for a while and vector me around.
And obviously the whole airport operations are based on live weather too.
VATSIM is fantastic and a completely deeper experience of flying. It has also doubled my appreciation for MSFS 2020.
I have now completed about 10 flights in VATSIM. All flying the A32NX. At first (the first and second), I found it impossible to hear more than 50% of the communications. I had relied on the MS AI to handle the communications and setting frequencies .. I actually aborted my first flight before I even got to the runway because I could tell I was annoying the Controller with so many repeat (say again) requests. So I just sat and listened.
Then I actually added a script generator to a Flight Assist program I’ve written. It generates the texts for the IFR requests, request for taxi etc. and I was able get the exact phrases and terms in front of me visually. Also the Flight Assist let me set Speed, Alititude, VS, Heading Autopilot nav, and much more so that I could focus on the communication and navigation. I had to deal with flight plan changes in every flight and found it easiest just to set the departure and destination airports in the MCDU and not add the routing until I got it from the Controller.
I’m using vPilot, SimBrief and Navigraph (Navigraph is great for negotiating the taxiways and finding waypoints , STARS , SIDs as I was flying.) I often have to set DIRECT TO waypoints to fill in or correct my flight plan (in the MCDU) …
I am flying large USA airports mostly LAX, SFO, KSAN, BOS, ATL , KDCA, PHL, CLE etc. The choice is often determined by which airports are currently staffed by VATSIM controllers.
This took my MSFS experience 5 levels higher. Now I can get most commuications on the first send and I can adjust on the fly to whatever is required. Review the arrival charts for often I’m told to "descend according to the STAR etc. " … It’s a much deeper , emersive experience and I’d recommend one watch the videos to prepare.
Have to set the MSFS correctly:
Turn AI Traffic off, Multiplayer to Off (Group Only) and weather to Live Weather, Live Players Off.
On the VATSIM forum I wrote, “This is SO COOL and so well done that I can’t believe it’s free.” Thanks to all those that make it possible.
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