I’ve done a few flights with VATSIM over the past month or so, but given that I was flying in South America it was hit and miss with ATC coverage. Got my first live ATC contact this evening on a VFR flight out of Grenada in the Caribbean. ATC was incredibly professional (I’m a real-world pilot), knew radar coverage limitations, fields, reporting points, the works. I have to say, if all the controllers are like this guy - wow! And they give taxi instructions and landing clearances, approaches, etc., if you’ve IFR. Really neat!
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Haha. Sounds great.
I have never tried Vatsim but I have often been tempted.
Thanks for the report.
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Seems VATSIM takes partnership in MFS development. Wish they can integrated better and bring serious simmers better experience.
DEL: … expect Rwy 9 for departure…
P: Negative. We have winds 270@15 here.
GND: Rwy 27 taxi via C A2 A.
P: Negative. We don’t have C here, A2 has a house on it.
TWR: Clear for take off Rwy 27.
P: Negative. A bus on runway.
So need cooperation and improvement.
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Meh, just run over the house and bus. Gotta show the sim whose boss.
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Now I know the reason they didn’t do collision detection with small entities. 
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Soo kewl! LOL
you need Real Charts.
The airports TWYs are useless
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I’d really like to try VATSIM, all the way back to FSX. It just seems intimidating…
Haven’t tried Vatsim yet. I created an account a while back but haven’t used it yet. I want to, but I’m also rather intimidated by it. I think I’d do ok on a routine flight where everything worked as intended, but I’m just concerned about the sim issues tripping me up and basically turning my Vatsim experience into a ■■■■ show.
Some day…
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Try it! I was like you, and then I finally tried it.
Important things
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Know your aircraft well. I flew the A320FBW, and I know how to fly direct to, use the auto pilot, change SIDs and STARs etc. If you’ve been flying like this anyway, it’s not hard
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For your first flights, pick a route you know well (or fly out of a small field). I flew Toronto-Montreal, which is a short flight with only a couple possible SIDs/STARs. I knew what to expect cause I’ve flown that offline in the sim many many times.
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Sit and listen to traffic for a while first. I sat at the gate for about 30 min and made notes on how the other guys were asking for clearance etc. It’s not too hard once you start seeing the pattern.
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Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Remember that the controller is just like you - someone who is here cause they enjoy simming. They aren’t getting paid to do this, no one will be affected if you make a couple mistakes… it’s just a game after all.
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You mentioned the Toronto to Montreal route - how is the Vatsim coverage in this area? I’m in Eastern Ontario and fly this general region a lot, and I also often fly between Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. I’m hoping that there’s at least somewhat decent coverage in these areas. Canada typically gets the short end of the stick in situations like this, so I wasn’t hopeful there’d be ample coverage, if any at all.
You gonna trigger a bunch of folks with that statement. lol
Haha I know with the “game” statement. In my mind, though - no one gets hurt if you screw up, and no one loses their job, and really, there’s no damage that I can think of.
Professional pilots have plenty of places where they can practice procedures.
Vatsim in Toronto is quite good. CYYZ had two people, and Montreal had one person covering it. Was more than enough to learn without getting overwhelming.
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I’ve flown out of Ottowa and Montreal and the service is great. The pilots/controllers even speak French most of the time, if both pilot and controller engage in it. Always depends on who’s controlling, though… if there’s an event there’s more chance of getting an impatient controller
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Thanks for the info. It makes me a little more at ease that I’ll be able to fly in a familiar area with coverage to start with.
I have been part of the VatSim community for several years now and totally agree with you.
Everything is top notch professional. Of course there are times when the volunteer ATC controller has to go off line and get back to real life but all in all the VatSim experience is very rewarding, educational and loads of fun. In my opinion, Vatsim is a really good system that adds super realism to a product called MSFS… After all, it is called a simulator.
VATSim is great!
AT larger airports and during published events it gets a little hectic so for a rookie I would advise against flying there as controllers don’t have time to be patient.
DEN,BOS,SFO and in Europe all London airports and mostly Germany,France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria.
As for learners I would really strongly suggest ANY Canadian location as they are just like Canadians are, eh. LGA GND and TWR are also always super-helpful and understanding.
If you want fully controlled airspaces, check out the UK or Germany. Crazy good coverage there. Or the US Northeast.
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