On-line flying

[juniortp]

I am new to the flight sim expierience with only a month on my MSFS2002. I am starting to get bored with the same old ATC a/c and would like to fly in a multi-player environment. My questions are these:

1) Is there an on-line community of real-time flyers?
a. Do they have different communities (commercial airlines/private pilots/military/helos)?
2) Is it possible to join/fly on-line for free?
a. If not what is a fair price?
3) What lvl of expierience is expected before joining an on-line community?

4) Is it safe(virus/security) to fly on-line with others?

5) What is a VA airline?

Any constructive input would be great.

Thanks

[RichmondAir]

Juniortp,
First off - welcome to the hobby!
I'll do my best to answer what I can, I'm sure others here can definately get you pointed in the right direction.


1) Is there an on-line community of real-time flyers?
Check out www.vatsim.net - great place to get involved with online flights. If you are looking for simpler online flights, you can try www.zone.com or www.tradeip.com

a. Do they have different communities (commercial airlines/private pilots/military/helos)?

There are some groups out-there that specialize - these are the "Virtual Airlines" (as talked about more below)

2) Is it possible to join/fly on-line for free?
Yes - if you have a modem/internet connection, fly for free is the most common way.

a. If not what is a fair price?
Why pay? Go for the free stuff, save your cash for great payware add-ons, like the Dreamfleet B737.


3) What lvl of expierience is expected before joining an on-line community?
I think that most VA's and other groups take all levels of experience. Everyone has to start somewhere.

4) Is it safe(virus/security) to fly on-line with others?
I love flying online with others, I use VATSIM the most - and occasionally "The zone". www.zone.com

5) What is a VA airline?

A Virtual airline is just what the name implies. An online group, that tries to immitate or create a "virtual" airline for flight simulation enthusiats. (Like us!) These VA's normally have their own liveries of aircraft, flight routes, and more! I love VA flying, really opens up the hobby to the max. (in my opinion) I have met many great folks since joining a VA, and I even started my own to have even more fun.

There are so many Virtual airlines out there, I won't even list them. I will list the two that I am in: Unity Virtual Aviation Community (www.flyunity.com) and Richmond Air (www.johnbmayes.com)

Good luck, and welcome to the hobby!


http://www.johnbmayes.com/settle.jpg
View "The SkyRat Collection" at www.johnbmayes.com

[juniortp]

Thanks for the input and the welcome.

[ve3ega]

...

What time zone are you in?

I ask because it may be possible for you to fly with a couple of us on Sunday morning at 10:30 EST...

You will need Roger Wilco (voice chat CAPABILITY) free FROM WWW.RESOUNDING.COM

e-mail me at cq_terry@hotmail.com if you are likely to be around?

Terry

[tdrew]

Just curious... Is online flying do-able at modem speeds like 28.8? I don't have broadband access yet, and was just wondering. Thanks!

--Tom--

[Arcano]

I would think so. I've flown on-line with a 56k módem, and the bandwith consumption usually does not reach 1KB/s. It is very time dependant though, so don't have other applications hogging your phone line.

--Arcano--

[tdrew]

Thanks for the feedback. Guess I'll have to give it a try!

--Tom--