What exactly is UNICOM on Vatsim

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1

Hey,

I was flying from Vienna to Athens and using vatsim.

However when i left the austrian airspace they told me to contact unicom.

Im not sure what that is can somebody pls explain?

2

Unicom on VATSIM is 122.8 and is used for pilots to communicate with one another when ATC is offline, or you are in uncontrolled airspace / non towered, etc…

For example, if I am flying into Toronto Pearson (CYYZ) and there is no ATC, I would communicate my intensions on UNICOM and if there are other planes in the area that may conflict, we’d coordinate together to get in.

“Toronto Pearson Traffic Air Canada 121 is 100NM north of the field at FL340 and will be starting our descent via the AVSEP7 arrival MUSIT transition expecting the ILS 06R”

If another pilot here’s that, and it may conflict with their approach or departure, they could communicate with me so we could coordinate and ensure everyone gets to where they need to be.

That is just 1 of a 1,000 examples.

Non towered fields, flying a circuit would be another.

“Timmins Traffic Cessna C62SKP taking off runway 03 remaining in the pattern, Timmins”.

If you google “VATSIM UNICOM” there is a ton of information.

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3

UNICOM is the universal communication frequency for traffic on the vatsim network, usually you will monitor and make calls on this freq when and area is not covered by ATC

4

Unicom also known as The dark World,The dating app for Vatsim,and Loner Paradise is used for communications at field when not controlled by a atco

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5

wait so can i use the ingame atc if no vatsim atc is nearby?

6

Theoretically, but I doubt that would work unless you use it for the whole flight. I don’t think it’s good at picking up mid flight after a few shortcuts, level changes or whatever.
It of course also doesn’t see other VATSIM players, so it makes little sense.

7

No…No Just no,that’s might mess you and everyone up

8

As mentioned, in theory, sure…

In practice, probably not a good idea nor very simply / practical.

Take Unicom as a chance to practice your call outs and listen to other pilots and how they do things :slight_smile: