Yesterday I tried my hand at Vatsim; although this post isn’t necessarily about that.
I was flying from Rotterdam in the Netherlands back to Newquay airport in Cornwall in my trusty Bonanza; it was late afternoon and the sun was starting its dip to the horizon.
On taxying out I noticed another pilot on the ramp in a 737; the airport was un-controlled at that point and I was making announcements on Unicom.
The other pilot was also making announcements as to their intensions and we both were on the way out following the same departure procedure, the other pilot called me to check which departure I was flying, amazing!! He courteously waited a few minutes for me to clear before he took off.
I was climbing out to around 9000’ and heading down the Dutch / French coast before crossing IFR to Dover VOR. I was flying direct into a weather front off Calais and around Oostende in I went.
After about 15mins of flying in the soup and turning cross channel to Dover I popped out of the weather and wow…
Off to my right I could see the dark patch of the front with the amazing highlights of the sun setting and out in front of me a few 1000’ lower, patchy cloud base interspersed the city lights of Dover and the stars above!!!
I had the radio tuned into London Centre but wasn’t in their area of operation so it was a joy to hear all the traffic and not have the stress of needing to talk.
The weather, scenery, lighting, and depth of immersion was just unbelievable!
Thanks for the post. These are the dynamics which make this game a great escape for a while. Other post refer to people’s “demands” for Asobo to make “realistic” flight dynamics. I’m never opposed to improved dynamics, but this is a game - not flying IRL. It was fun to read of your experience
Yeah, I like those moments where you feel immersed in the journey and you get the odd snapshot of something unexpected or a feeling of nature displaying something awesome that’s unique to where you are just at that moment in time.
[edit for taking my rambling out into the screenshot megathread]
I always like changes in weather during a journey, because it brings unexpected situations or changing light, clouds, winds and so on. like my flight here:
Thanks for sharing. This sim definitely has its moments where everything goes right, and it’s a great experience.
Its been at least 15 years since I flew on VATSIM, so please excuse my loose memory, on this, but is real world airspace replicated correctly and entirely?
I think a lot of those who are new to the experience would find it beneficial floating around in uncontrolled/Class E airspace nearby, just to listen in on the chatter.
Hey, I believe so. I am very new - I’m only two flights in and the first was VFR. It took me a while to find out who to contact but once I found the map below on the Vatsim UK page it made more sense.
Can relate to that - Personally I am really enjoying the sim, it might have a few niggles but these will be sorted eventually, it is by FAR, a step change as to what is in the market currently. I’m happy I’m here to enjoy the journey.
I dont think screen shots really capture what we experience though, something gets lost to some degree. They can look pretty for sure but they dont convey that wow factor that hits you every so often when it all comes together and the scenery is so good it looks real, you cannot photograph that.
Yep, sorry, I wish I had taken a screen shot / video next time. It was more the surprise of breaking out of the cloud and seeing the world open up in front of me, with the weather front on one side and the stars and clouds etc in front.
