There’s some various VATSIM-related topics about, but no general discussion topic that I could find solely for VATSIM.
I’ve had a VATSIM account for a few years, passed the initial test, logged in, parked C&D on the ramp, tuned in and listened, but never got beyond that point.
My primary issue was always that I never saw any sort of active ATC in the places I like to fly, so I didn’t see any point to using VATSIM.
Today, I was playing with Navigraph Charts, and noted the VATSIM integration. I turned on both options and was presented with this data:
This is the big question I still don’t feel that I have/understand an answer for:
What are all these people – nearly all of them – flying in the United States using for ATC whilst logged into VATSIM? 95+% of that map has no active ATC. What do you do, as a VATSIM user, in these cases and why? Why login, at all?
I truly don’t get the VATSIM experience, because this is usually how I see massive parts of the states looking when I check out what is happening, live, with the network.
Could someone clue me in here? What am I not understanding about this?
More information is required in order to surmise the intent of the users you see. How long is the flight, how far into it, what’s the O&D, and what type of plane are they flying?
Sometimes you start off in an area with control and then they go offline or you go into an area that’s offline. Sometimes you know that the facility at your destination is usually online at a certain time of day (hopefully your arrival time) and try to hit that mark. Sometimes it’s just hope and play. And sometimes you’re just poking around VFR, making calls to untowered airports in the blind, occasionally interacting with others.
It looks like several here are headed toward Southern California, which has/had a SoCal controller online. The color coding of these maps isn’t representative of TRACON-controlled areas, which can be pretty vast in some regions.
Also, some folks have experimented with using BATC in conjunction with VATSIM, departing with BATC and closing it if a controller comes online. I’d like to see the inverse of that, being able to pick up BATC when you go into a dark VATSIM area.
I’d think that would be easy, since BATC has logic for when it crashes, or you quit and restart it during a flight. It asks what phase of the flight you’re in and it picks you up from there. I’d think being handed off by VATSIM to a “dead” zone to be then picked up by BATC would work, as such.
I’d thought of doing this, but it seems mildly pointless, no? I get the sense I’d be talking to myself, which I can (and) already do!
Vatsim is just a game for people who want to roll-play being ATC controllers. As a pilot, you are just providing content for them. On the flip side of that coin, Vatsim is a service that helps make simming seem more realistic. I tried it once long ago. It’s not for me. Outside of takeoff and landing, you wouldn’t use it much.
I think a lot of people like the idea of being in a multiplayer environment. Not bots/AI, but real humans flying the other planes. I’m one of those people that sometimes flies with no ATC online, but I happen to fly with friends. I prefer VATSIM over the native MSFS multiplayer integration, and occasionally coordinating with other human pilots is a nice experience too.
Of course, the real enjoyment of VATSIM does come with real ATC being online. Many choose our flights based on what airports are currently staffed, and you can also plan in advance by checking out VATSIM’s events page, which guarantees ATC coverage during a certain time window.
I think it’s a great idea to somehow integrate BATC with VATSIM, and to take it a step further, allow BATC to handle multiple human-controlled aircraft at once. I don’t enjoy flying alone, but love the idea of BATC. Not being able to use BATC with my friends I fly with kind of eliminates BATC as an option for me.
Since I do a lot of GA flying in Canada where there is no ATC services VATSIM is perfect, I just make my radio calls on the ATF/MF frequencies IAW CARs…. Great practice for real-world operations…
Additionally as @Snowy3389 stated its an excellent multi-player environment where you don’t have F18s buzzing you every 15 seconds…. Sure there isn’t as much traffic, plus when ATC does come on, they are way more accurate with procedures than the AI models (and FREE).
That’s half of GA flying irl, tbh, unless you’re in a busy area. Honestly, I’d like to see a lot more people participate in the VFR, nontowered side of it. The only way we’re going to see traffic at those fields is to encourage people to do it.
The downside is that technically you’re supposed to know the towered/controlled side of it, too, which probably scares people off. But a person could theoretically jump on and never talk to a controller as long as they understand how to avoid certain airspace and airports.
The hardest part in that case is managing all the traffic pattern procedures, specifically how to get into it from basically any point around the airport and make the appropriate radio calls.
Great points about it not only being an excellent training environment but also a free one!
I started using VATSIM about 20 years ago. It does keep your skills honed for both non-towered and towered operations especially during longer stretches of time when I haven’t been flying in real life.
It’s an excellent tool for those pursuing their PPL to already come into training prepared to speak on the radio. Many students really struggle with that aspect of flying. Having a high level of comfort with speaking to ATC or CTAF is one less thing to worry about when you’re learning to fly a plane. And from what I’ve watched about BATC, while good, I don’t think it’s quite as good as speaking to real humans on the other end.
I use it all the time and if I’m being deliberate about when and where I choose to fly, it can be very interactive. There’s a lot one can get from that on the pilot side. I think it’s debatable about who the consumer is - we all can benefit from the interactions. But there’s a lot more vetting and training on the controller side, while the onus is on the pilot to self-educate, which can be problematic.
I’ve mostly been using SayIntentions instead of VATSIM or BATC recently, but I will concur with others that even when uncontrolled there’s something unique about being on Vatsim with real humans, vice “bots”. There’s just a smidge of extra pressure to do things right and not screw up, either flying or communicating.
SI does have “Skynet” where you fly with other SI pilots along with injected traffic, but it does not coordinate Skynet traffic yet. (I.e. if you were taxiing behind another Skynet pilot, you might get cleared for takeoff at the same time…it happened to me once.)
SI also features handoffs to and from VATSIM, but I’ve not tried that yet.
I think we’re all waiting for the uber-ATC program, which injects live worldwide traffic, and seamlessly integrates human ATC, AI ATC, and multiplayers. Maybe someday!
I have over 10,000 hours on VATSIM and fly GA into and out of airports that get very little to no traffic. I make my calls on the CTAF and sometimes I share the airport with others. Also controllers can pop online at any time.
