[bvipilots] sharing some info to talk about.

  • From: "Ron Kolesar" <kolesar16417@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "B V I Pilots" <bvipilots@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:20:13 -0400

Hello to all fellow BVI Pilots.
Here is a interesting article on making FSX as close to the real world as
possible.
I told the author that this is a awsome goal.
But it also must be blind friendly as much as possible.
Here's the article for all to give feedback upon.

Without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of using ATC in FSX
is to help with your navigation skills. Whether you are new to the
series or you just a relatively poor pilot at the moment, navigation
can be a nightmare at first and leave you with more stressful times
than completed flights; thankfully, with the help of an ATC education,
you can cut this problem out once and for all.
We'd love if you could post your comments at the bottom of the
article. Discuss anything you wish regarding ATC in FSX. Also, if you
like the article please "Like" or "+1" the article using the cool
"Care to Share" buttons at the bottom of the article!
View our article here discussing ATC in FSX and some of the options:
https://flyawaysimulation.com/lists/lt.php?id=NU5eVQBNUFAaDQ8HAVE
Using ATC in FSX
2.1k4
Posted on Mon, 27 Apr 2015 18:12:58 GMT
For many of us taking part in flying an aircraft in FSX can be hard work.
With so much to consider as you go through the day, it can be hard work just
trying to put everything into place whilst ensuring that you are going to
get some kind of long-term benefit. This can start to affect your ability to
fly with confidence, making it harder to get through the most difficult
parts of the flight process. This is why so many people tend to turn to some
of the extra features that are provided in FSX these days – things such as
Air Traffic Control can be the extra tool needed to make sure that you can
get a bit more success when flying through your aircraft.
Without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of using ATC in FSX is to
help with your navigation skills. Whether you are new to the series or you
just a relatively poor pilot at the moment, navigation can be a nightmare at
first and leave you with more stressful times than completed flights;
thankfully, with the help of an ATC education, you can cut this problem out
once and for all.
It really is a vital part of flying, making sure that you have all the help
that you need in mastering the art itself. It will take you time and
patience, of course, but once you finally get there you’ll start to see a
rather incredible change in terms of the direction and the style of your
flying ability. You’ll start to find landmarks easier, reduce the time you
spend getting lost, and start getting to your destination far quicker than
ever before. It can be hard work at first, like anything else, but a few
months of hardship and learning will be just what are needed!
What is ATC?
Typically, if you aren’t able to successfully navigate around the world and
aren’t really sure where you are going, you will find that using ATC can be
just the way to get yourself back on track and avoid any long-term problems
or issues later on down the line. Not only will working with ATC give you
far more control over what is going on, you’ll have all the help and
information that you need coming back to you as soon as possible. By
providing you with all the details about what course to take, what altitude
to fly at and indeed even talking you through the process from start to
finish, ATC can be the perfect ally for anyone who is struggling to get
their head around being a virtual pilot.
Basically, using the ATC all comes down to if you set up a specific flight
plan before you take off. If you aren’t sure how the flight planner actually
works, then we can only recommend checking out our guide towards using the
flight planner HERE. This will help you find all the details needed to take
off and land flights like a pro for many years to come.
So, to get started, all you need to do is set the flight planner accordingly
and allow it to generate the flight plan for you – now, you don’t need to
create anything or hope for the best. Now, you’ll have active directions to
follow in your aircraft for maximum composure and to make sure you land your
aircraft in the right manner; now, you can get full instructions no matter
where you intend to fly.
The hardest part of flying an aircraft, of course, is being able to manage
the direction and the distance to your next area; being able to master this
part of aviation takes a lot of hard work, so we’ll give you all the help
that you need to make it easier than ever before thanks to the ATC.
How to use ATC in FSX
Actually, running the ATC in FSX probably couldn’t be any easier. To get
started, all you need to do is go into your flight planner and start
creating your destination and your starting point. This will be really easy
to set up and should only take a few minutes of planning. Before you finish
up in the flight planner, you need to click ‘Find route’ and then save the
route once it’s all finished up and ready. Make sure that you set yourself
to IFR, which is what you would be using in the “real world” if you were to
fly a panel then
Now, you will be directed into the game once you activate everything in the
planer. ATC, then, will come alive and start giving you all the commands and
information that you need to make sure the flight takes off in the right
manner. Here you are expected to follow the flight plan to the very letter
and do absolutely everything that ATC is asking of you. A failure to do so
can make the flight a little bit more challenging as you’ll start to miss
out on key factors of the flight experience itself, including accuracy
Accuracy is a massive part of using the ATC; it makes it nigh-on impossible
to take yourself off of the road and put yourself in trouble later on down
the line. When you are using the ATC you’ll have someone effectively holding
your hand, making sure that you can hit every single aspect of the flight
perfectly. Sure, it will take a lot of planning and learning on your behalf
but once you get there, it’s a massively beneficial feeling that will make
you feel far more confident about flights you’ll be involved with in the
future including following instructions
Flying using the ATC can be hard work, and you need to be able to manage the
entire process from start to finish. Once you get started, ATC will get in
touch to tell you if you should be flying at a certain altitude, and will
take out all of the calculation and hard work for you. Everything will be
easily managed for you via ATC, taking away a lot of the troubles that you
might be facing at the moment with your aircraft, and ensuring that you have
all the help that you need
Real-Life ATC
The differences between using ATC in FSX and real-life are quite marked. For
example, in a simulator you will typically be spending your time dealing
with the kind of features that the simulator is actually capable of
providing. Obviously, a real-life aircraft is far more diverse in terms of
how they fly so this can make your life a bit tougher, too. Now, whether or
not you are a real pilot, you will need to take the time to learn about what
features are taken on by FSX and what features are left behind to make the
actual performance of the aircraft possible.
This means spending a lot of time going back and forth, trying out various
solutions and trying to find something that would genuinely match what you
were trying to go for in terms of authenticity. Because of this, you’ll find
that ATC in both real-life and flight simulators can vary massively from one
airport to the next. You might just get the basics from some airports;
others will be giving you full ATC manual all over again even if you’re
flown from that airport countless times! This is what makes using the ATC so
enjoyable; you’ll effectively spend your time trying out so many different
features and styles in the hope that you can start learning as soon as
possible. Without ATC you are basically on your own so it’s vital to start
getting a real understanding of how it works.
The main difference that a real pilot would need to get used to, though, is
the repetition. If you are used to hearing many different responses from the
experts in your tower in the real world, hearing the same responses over and
over again might throw you a little bit. Take your time to start looking
around and see what you can discover with the help of FSX, and you can start
to improve your overall competence both when it comes to flying aircraft and
when it comes to managing it using the ATC experts!
What’s The Difference?
The biggest difference between using the real thing and using simulated ATC
control is the fact that you will be receiving fixed messages; unless you
are playing online with some RPing as the ATC control staff, you’ll be
getting recorded messages that correlate with the problem(s) you are facing.
This means making up a fair amount of planning in the long-term, ensuring
that you have something well worth remembering since you will have to get
used to hearing the same messages over and over again! However, this lets
you “learn” what is being said just by the first few word and makes it
easier to correspond with what you are being asked
Another big difference between the real thing and simulated ATC is the fact
that your colleagues will be calling everything almost identically as to how
they should. Whereas in the real world you can have mispronunciation and
even misinformation playing a part in your flight, when you start using FSX
ATC you will be getting everything exactly the way that you should have
been. These changes just about everything and will make sure you can start
to master the ATC side of things in the simulator easier than you could have
in the real world
Make sure that you give yourself all the help that you need by using ATC in
FSX to start mastering the real-life side of things; they are both still
very similar despite the scripted nature of the simulation. Whilst this
cannot really be avoided or helped, it can become a bit easier to actually
get used to – working with the real-life ATC can be a nightmare as you try
and learn all of the little instructions they have to provide you with
It’s a vital part of the overall flight process, and it all comes down how
well you are able to form part of the group. Especially if you are playing
online, you might have someone managing ATC who is really in-depth and takes
the simulation side of things very seriously. This means that if you aren’t
quite sure on the procedure you can find yourself taking a bit of abuse from
the ATC controller; this is serious business for some people and can be more
hostile than you would have put up with if you were ever going to use FSX!
IFR vs VFR Flight
As you will no doubt be aware, you have two methods of flight when using an
aircraft, and they are known as;
•Instrument flight Rules – IFR
•Visual Flight Rules – VFR
If you aren’t sure what the difference is then you need to learn as being
able to take on this kind of system is very important. Whether you use the
vision outside the aircraft or the instruments provided for simple
navigation, you need to understand what kind of flight style suits you – and
the plane you are using – best. You’ll need to make sure that you are
capable of flying the aircraft to the values and rules provided, though, as
there are certain things that you need to get your head around otherwise you
won’t be able to fly effectively.
When you fly with VFR, for example, you will feel as if you are looking
directly outside the aircraft – this is all about using the actual vision of
the cockpit to see what is going on in front of you and planning from there.
You’ll always be able ot see below you, and will never be flying into clouds
at ANY time; this is hugely dangerous for someone dealing with a VFR flight.
this is because you will usually find yourself with no vision whatever and
this can make actually getting the aircraft going in the direction you
wanted far more difficult than it should have been.
Typically, the aircraft that fly using VFR are going to be survey planes,
banner towing planes and float planes; they are rarely used for other kinds
of flight and will usually be in an aircraft that is being piloted by a much
smaller crew than your traditional business flights. This is really hard to
manage, of course, and requires you to take a significant amount of time to
get things right and moving. If you feel confident about your flying skills
and how well you could manage an aircraft, then flying with VFR can be the
choice for you.
IFR, though, is built around using the instruments that you have in front of
you and is typically dealt with by airlines, freight plans and medevac
aircraft. This is the best way to fly for many people as it negates the fact
you can’t see anything going on in front of you. Instead you can now fly
even in a limited level of visibility – this can be hugely useful in the
long-term and will remove a lot of the traditional problem that you might
have faced yourself.
When you start using IFR, you need to realize quickly that it’s all about
the dashboard. Taking off and landing at the airport will become vital if
you can’t see, of course, and the only way back down to the ground and
safety might be by using the equipment and information provided here by
using something like IFR flight, though. You will typically need to switch
to this in poor weather conditions or when you reach a worst-case scenario
i.e. flying into a storm.
Everything that you will potentially be using has a totally different style
and result when you use that specific instrument, making it really easy to
work out and manage effectively. This is usually split from the navigation
side of things and will typically make sure that you have full working
control over the engines as well as the overall performance of the flight
itself.
You’ll be managing two engines at once most of the time, and this can leave
you with a huge amount of learning to do fairly quickly – however, with the
help of IFR, it’s a lot easier to start managing.
VATSIM
Of course, you don’t need to just rely on the basic ATC that comes with FSX,
or indeed any simulator. Many gaming and modding mods have been built around
offering a new ATC system in FSX, and this can give you all the help that
you need in truly understanding how flying an aircraft is going to work. One
of the most prominent mods within the ATC community, though, is known as
VATSIM.
VATSIM is an excellent organization who is responsible or one of the finest
mods released for any flight simulator, giving you all the help that you
need in getting an even more responsive, realistic flight simulation
network. Users will typically need to connect to a specific network to get
full use from VATSIM, but it gives you all of the real-life procedures and
uses legitimate aviation technology to help sell the entire project to you
better than ever. If you believe that realism should be a big part of FSX
then you will absolutely need to give VATSIM a try!
Key Features of VATSIM
As one of the most prominent downloads out there for flight simulators, you
can join more than 200,000 regular members who make use of this excellent
software every day for their own development, education and enjoyment.
Hundreds of people take part online at any given time and this means that if
you want to enter a populated world that is using VATSIM you should have no
problem doing this whatsoever. It becomes much easier to manage when you
start going down this route, ensuring that you have the kind of flight style
that you can thrive upon!
VATSIM removes a lot of the hardship that came with the original ATC
provided, giving you far clearer instructions and something far more akin to
the real thing. Add in the fact that the mod helps you get into the swing of
things via providing you with an approximate level of realism – the most
realistic mod out there for ATC updates – and you’ve got one of the most
prolific and enjoyable aircraft simulation mods out there at the moment
VATSIM is used 24/7 by some people, and thanks to the excellent level of
care and precision from the experts who create VATSIM the servers never
really come under threat, either. This can make your life so much easier if
you are able to just plug in to their servers and start playing!
In fact, some of the traffic levels can become somewhat comparable to
real-life in terms of volume in some parts of the world; this really is one
of the most popular mods out there for anyone who takes a keen interest in
flight simulation, particularly the realism element of it
This makes it a hugely useful part of your learning and your development,
making it easier than ever before to start improving and growing as a pilot!
Conclusion
Looking for the easiest ways to start improving your own flight quality and
making sure that you don’t need to miss out on any of the “big” features?
Then all you need to do is get VATSIM installed. It’s the comprehensive
addition to the already impressive ATC provided by FSX, and can be the
perfect add-on for even the most compliant of FSX users.
If you want to see progress and you want to see realism unlike ever before,
you really need to consider giving this a shot for as long as possible; it’ll
give you all the help that you need in jumping over those hurdles you’ll
come across when you first try and interact with the ATC panel!
About Ian Stephens
Ian Stephens is a Flight Simulation enthusiast with a keen interest in
aviation and technology. He has been writing for Fly Away Simulation for
over 9 years.
Care to share?
Using the FSX Flight Planner
Related stories
Free FSX ATC Mission
ATC Radar Available for FSX and FS2004
JSG Panels Releases Updated Universal FMC For FSX
Announcing Vox ATC X
Scotflight For FSX Version 1.1 Released
4 comments
Leave a Response
PaatrickTue, 28 Apr 2015 06:27:17 GMT
Very Instructive, It covers all aspects of Flight Simming!
Trev WaldenTue, 28 Apr 2015 07:17:47 GMT
ATC is what the real world uses to keep air traffic safe by maintaining a
Separation Distance between each and every aircraft and the ground. It's
manned by highly trained people, the more traffic, the more demanding the
task becomes. Using raw radar data and radio transponders the controller
'sees' on his screens all the aircraft in their area, the transponder signal
also gives height, speed and call sign of the aircraft. They are eligible
for IFR flight. Those without transponders are limited to VFR flight,
keeping to safer routes or areas where controllers know they may be
operating and clear of cloud by 1,000ft. A working radio is still required
of course, and an instruction from ATC should always be obeyed promptly.

VATSIM, and IVAO, are manned by trained members to provide a virtual ATC.
Coverage of the major airports is pretty good, in quality and time available
and it makes a real difference to airline flying. They use current AIRAC
cycle (the rules for each airport or districts operation) and SID's and
STAR's (the Instrument Departure and Standard Take-off And Route) routes,
speeds etc to avoid noise restrictions, obstructions, and separations at
each airport. If you want to fly like a real pilot, with other pilot's, then
this is the way to experience it in the virtual world. And knowing a real
person is monitoring your flight is the best way to learn the discipline
that safe flying requires. By joining a virtual airline, I'm with FlyUK, you
can also join group flights, some ten to twenty aircraft on the same route,
maintaining height or distance separation en-route, all under the pressure
of being watched on radar by the pilots around you as well as ATC. And
landings are always harder when people are parked up and watching the
following flights coming in.

Good ATC (FS200x and FSX isn't good) really adds a great deal to your
virtual flying below 10,000 ft and provides route guidance and separation
above in large areas (as real world) so there are not the continual FS ATC
commands and handovers that are so irritating.

Good route following depends on using the Autopilot in GPS mode to track a
flight plan, maintain a given height, and monitor aircraft within about 40nm
on radar as the high level areas are usually not monitored. It's the pilots
job to stick to route and height (flight level) and use radar to monitor
separation of any other aircraft on the same, or opposing, route and level.

Come fly, as real as it gets!
David CunninghamTue, 28 Apr 2015 07:39:41 GMT
Very timely article! Yesterday I created a flight plan in FSX taking me
(supposedly) from Toronto (CYYZ) to Montreal Mirabel (CYMX) via various VORs
etc at 7000 feet IFR. Loaded up the flight plan, confirmed that it was
correctly showing in the GPS, and off I went from 33R at Pearson
International. Initial instructions were runway heading climb to 7000. Then
I was instructed to turn right to 130, resume own navigation, climb and
maintain 7000. I duly acknowledged, started my turn, and switched to GPS
control. Then, a minute or so later, I was instructed to turn right to 150,
climb and maintain 7000, so I switched off the GPS, went back to autopilot
control, and complied with the ATC instruction. The ONLY instructions I got
from ATC after that were the usual frequency changes. I was NEVER instructed
again to resume own navigation. I knew something was amiss when I was headed
for the New York control zone but, like a good little pilot, I persevered
with ATC instructions and ended up flying directly over the Bahamas!! If I'd
had the time, I would have kept going to see what would have happened, but
the way things were going, I would have run out of fuel or ended up in
Antartica! BTW I was flying the Airbus A300 Beluga cargo transport.
Agent OrangeTue, 28 Apr 2015 08:52:12 GMT
When taxiing, why does the "Right Rudder" command (Keypad Enter) sometimes
activate ATC menu items? I've had quite a few problems with unintentional
ATC requests for this reason.

Blind and Visually impaired Pilots mailinglist
//www.freelists.org/list/bvipilots
To post a message to the list, send a message to
bvipilots@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe, send a message to
bvipilots-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and put the word unsubscribe in the subject of
your message.
For other options such as digest, send a message to
bvipilots-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and put the word help in the subject of your
message.

Other related posts:

  • » [bvipilots] sharing some info to talk about. - Ron Kolesar