I know we’ve done DCS fly-ins, and xplane treks, why not a X plane fly in?
I’ve been thinking it would be very easy for everyone to get on VATSIM and meet at an uncontrolled airfield for a little Bush plane fly in. VATSIM is free and easy to use so I figured that would be the most likely one.
Thoughts on this? I installed VATSIM and the xpilot plugin to try it out today. The representation of other planes on the network is very good, at least for our purposes.
Maybe pick an obscure field, a time (Zulu), and fly in whatever you want from where ever you want.
Wow, I knew it had been a while since I used VATSIM. ID expired. Looked it up - last date was 2003, November. Seems I need the ‘personal touch’ to get re-instated. Waiting for the email…
Need Ideas for the airfield. Orbx and propstrike have a couple free ones that are nice. Really doesn’t matter though because the scenery is all client side anyway.
So what do you guys think about starting at Portland and hitting a bush field within reasonable distance? Someone that has knowledge of the charts and procedures can plan out the flight so VATSIM doesn’t report us to the FAA. To be honest I have some research to do in regards to requesting clearance other than just local VFR, which I’m not sure if PDX even allows.
Not sure how they do it, but it’s probably at least close to correct. A lotta ppl here might be able to answer a question on it. The act of requesting your clearance is straight-forward (or used to be - they have this odd “line up and wait” thing now - so things do change);
“‘some ATC’ Clearance, N1234, request clearance to ‘somewhere’”
Then have ur pencil handy.
I messed around on it today, the procedures are pretty basic, and adds a lot to the experience just having the chatter in the background. I flew a C172 out KSAN up to Camp Pendleton. Getting out of KSAN was painless, contacted LA Center and proceeded to break all kinds of laws landing at MCAS Camp Pendleton after buzzing up and down the Alpha Ridge, and air dropping some POG bait on the 22 area.
All I remember from it (circa 2003, FS2004) was one night a dude vectored me into a peak NE of KPHX - I of course questioned him as it was approaching and he got a lil, ah, surly with me. Only one incident though. Back then it seemed kinda primitive and usually very quiet.
The easiest way is just to call up the controller and say you’re VFR to the (direction). No flight plan even required, though it helps to file a basic VFR plan.
With Portland it’s all Class C so you just have to be talking to the approach controller if there’s someone up.
Something to remember is that an IFR clearance is always given in a set order. When I was still learning I would write CRAFT down the left side of my note-paper…
C - Cleared to… (your destination airport)
R- Route.
A- Initial cleared altitude… usually followed by ‘Expect (filed altitude/Flight Level) in 10 minutes
F- Frequency (Departure)
T- Transponder (your squawk code).
It soon becomes second nature, but just writing that out and filling in the details as the controller read them to me made a big difference.
Also remember, even the most experienced guys will occasionally not get it right, or the controller talks too fast… just make sure that if there is anything you are not clear on … ask. It is far better to make a fool of yourself at this point rather than end up with a number to call after a possible ‘pilot violation’.
It is my understanding that real Controllers are more friendly than VATSIM controllers…
