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Hello fellow flight simmers, I’m back again this month with kind
of a different article on flight simulation, an etiquette guide to
surviving online flying and to offer some pointers for those of us
new to networks such as Vatsim.Ever since I was a young child, I can remember being groomed well with proper manners, and respect for other people in the world. That holds true with me to this day, and I have some tips and pointers for those of us who like to fly online, and will enjoy it a lot more after reading my list of pointers, and things that I have found not only to be rude, but I’m sure aggrevating to other fliers as well who are out in the virtual skies over our big world and it’s shocking to hear how many people don’t have the proper manners in a public environment.
Proper use of the radio: Going back to the CB days, when I used to fool around with CB radio communication, I remember how irritating it was to get “squashed” on by an impatient party on the other end of the line. One tip to all you fliers out there, whether it be contacting departure, ground, tower, center, or approach, please give your fellow pilots a chance to submit their full request for whatever the situation may be. You may be interrupting a situation that is brewing for that other pilot such as an in flight emergency. My suggestion - after everyone has completed their requests, wait at least a four or five second count to begin your request. I know that with the default ATC in the Flight Simulator itself, it’s easy to keep on pressing the number of your choice to get in depending on the air traffic. But remember - that’s real people you’re dealing with out there, not AI, and it will save on controller’s nerves and allow them to control their air space a little bit longer.
How many of us have bought new aircraft and couldn’t wait to get up in the air flying it, and because we love the Vatsim Network so much, that is the only way we’ll fly from now on? Here’s a quick tip: when tuning radio frequencies on the Vatsim Network, try this instead of using the mouse and clicking your way through a confusing radio with difficult operations. When you are given the hand off, for example when the controller says “N6229er contact Boston Center on 134.70,” in the text dialogue box type the following: .com1 134.70 and hit enter. That will change your radio frequency automatically for you, without having to fidget around with a mouse.
My next tip is a fairly easy to use one as well. Sometimes online, we can start flights with heavily controlled airports only to find out that for some reason or another that the air traffic controllers at our destination signed off. Oh no! What do we do now for proper descent changes to arrive safely at our destination? In the Microsoft Flight Simulator, after planning your route go to the button called Navigation Log, and click on it. Then you can print out the log, and it will show altitude transitions and also show headings to the waypoints.
Performance on computer systems will vary so please don’t email me
about my FPS too slow if I mention them on mine. Computer system for
this article and all others of Flap’s Flap is the following:
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If you happen to come up with some tips on your own, please feel free to email them to me for future publications in my Flap’s Flap articles - Be sure to include your real name so I can give you proper credit as well.
Now, for some light legal stuff:
Flap’s Flap does not accept any responsibility for varied performance in systems. Please note my system specs and the display properties work fine with MY system. Set your display properties accordingly to your computer. Also, with any How To items that are given in these articles, please use at your own risk! I will hold no responsibility to any damage done to your system. And, as always, remember: Back up your files before changing them!
John J. Thuot II
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Flap's Flap #1
ragtopjohnny01@aol.com
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Flap's Flap #2
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Flap's Flap #7
