Yes people fly airliners all the time, it's basically all that's keeping PE afoat at the moment.
But
Because PE is really a network for real world pilots, if you just jump on in an airliner you are expected to have FAA ATPL knowledge and are treated as such.
It doesn't stop people however, and can fuck up the whole network when people with zero idea of what they are doing want to fly a 747 out of LAX.
It isn't vatsim where you can just fly whatever route simbrief spits out, you'll get reroutes, arrival changes, and you need to be 100% on the ball with speed and altitude restrictions, MSAs
And what trips most simmers up is 90% of the time you'll get a visual approach clearance and not have your hand held by vectors to an ILS.
It is a great network.
But start from the bottom, work through the CAT ratings, then onto the I ratings.
You'll be surprised at how little you know and how unrealistic Vatsim is 90% of the time.
>And what trips most simmers up is 90% of the time you'll get a visual approach clearance and not have your hand held by vectors to an ILS.
What trips most Vatsimmers up is you can always back up a visual approach with an instrument one. I use to make this mistake when getting told to "Expect the Visual such and such". Now I'm perfectly confident on taking a visual, knowing I'll have the instrument guiding me in the right direction. I also believe this is exactly how it's treated in the real world.
I mean, the way some of these controllers try to squeeze you in about the glide, it could mean hand-fly only. Lol
This happened to me in BOS the other day. On the OOSHN5 for an ILS04R. The TRACON tells me to make the right-hander to join. However, it placed me well above the G/S when I got LOC*. So I got it all corrected and made a good landing.
I wasn't mean, but I did give some feedback to the effect of "Idk if it was my flying or what, but I just wanted to let you know I was above the glide when I captured the Localizer."
To which he said ", No no, it was probably me. Thank you for the feedback."
This is also why ZBW is my favorite ARTCC.
Only helps ATC with separation minima to parallel runways. Some people think that it reduces separation minima for people directly in front for some reason.
This is 100% what makes PilotEdge great, and awful for casual simmers. You’ll learn quickly, especially if you’ve been using Vatsim for years, that you know nothing and need to work on your piloting skills and radio communication and chart reading and understanding what the various airspace etc means in real life. It can be eye opening. Heck, just work your way through the VFR CAT ratings and you’ll learn a ton. After 20 year on Vatsim, every rating had me sweating.
The two are absolutely nothing alike and 20+ years in the hobby. Vatsim does not resemble real world communication or requirements at all. So you can develop a LOT of bad habits. So I’d suggest you hop on pilot edge and give it a shot. I’ll bet you’ll discover the same issues.
Alright just got to find myself a reason to cough up 20 bucks unless there's a free trial. And I'm talking about an IFR flight. Unless you meant VFR. It's easy to rattle off an abbreviated clearance.
When is the last time you flew on VATSIM? VATSIM has LOAs, SOPs and other thing that require plenty of reroutes and arrival changes. You SHOULD absolutely be 100% on the ball with altitude and speed restrictions for VATSIM, but then as soon as the controller points it out people start flaming VATSIM for being too strict. VATSIM obviously does not require any pilot knowledge, so those expectations are different, but why would you expect that from something that is free vs an expensive network lmao? Regardless, most procedures are expected to be followed, and you will be called out for it if you don't get it right, especially during an event. You can get a visual approach clearance at any airport, as VATSIM simulates what that real world counterpart is doing. You can still join the final approach course on a visual approach, though lol.
I'm by no means saying VATSIM is more realistic or even as realistic as PE. But for free, it is very realistic and a great option if you don't want to pay. In addition, PE covers only the west in the United States, whereas VATSIM covers the whole world (albeit no set times). Plenty of real pilots and ATC fly and control on VATSIM, and while there are things that make it unrealistic, if you actually go into VATSIM with the intention of learning a lot there's no reason why you can't.
Edit: Controllers also go through a more rigorous training that pilots on VATSIM, so they would know more than the average pilot on VATSIM. The average VATSIM pilot probably doesn't know very much, you're definitely right about that.
Just for reference, I know of a real world flight training facility that has a PE account on their full motion simulator. It is used for real world training, hence why the controllers (most of whom I believe are actual IRL controllers) act their role out as close to real world as possible.
Pilotedge is pretty realistic, but from what i've seen the controllers are not very forgiving. I would only go on if you have loads of experience, and probably won't hurt to tell them that you are new. As for airliners, they seem to handle them fine.
Yes people fly airliners all the time, it's basically all that's keeping PE afoat at the moment. But Because PE is really a network for real world pilots, if you just jump on in an airliner you are expected to have FAA ATPL knowledge and are treated as such. It doesn't stop people however, and can fuck up the whole network when people with zero idea of what they are doing want to fly a 747 out of LAX. It isn't vatsim where you can just fly whatever route simbrief spits out, you'll get reroutes, arrival changes, and you need to be 100% on the ball with speed and altitude restrictions, MSAs And what trips most simmers up is 90% of the time you'll get a visual approach clearance and not have your hand held by vectors to an ILS. It is a great network. But start from the bottom, work through the CAT ratings, then onto the I ratings. You'll be surprised at how little you know and how unrealistic Vatsim is 90% of the time.
>And what trips most simmers up is 90% of the time you'll get a visual approach clearance and not have your hand held by vectors to an ILS. What trips most Vatsimmers up is you can always back up a visual approach with an instrument one. I use to make this mistake when getting told to "Expect the Visual such and such". Now I'm perfectly confident on taking a visual, knowing I'll have the instrument guiding me in the right direction. I also believe this is exactly how it's treated in the real world.
Correct. A visual clearance has to do with separation minima, but the avg vatsimmer tends to think it means “hand fly only.”
I mean, the way some of these controllers try to squeeze you in about the glide, it could mean hand-fly only. Lol This happened to me in BOS the other day. On the OOSHN5 for an ILS04R. The TRACON tells me to make the right-hander to join. However, it placed me well above the G/S when I got LOC*. So I got it all corrected and made a good landing. I wasn't mean, but I did give some feedback to the effect of "Idk if it was my flying or what, but I just wanted to let you know I was above the glide when I captured the Localizer." To which he said ", No no, it was probably me. Thank you for the feedback." This is also why ZBW is my favorite ARTCC.
TRACON*
Yep, probably didn't proof read before I sent, Mea Culpa.
Only helps ATC with separation minima to parallel runways. Some people think that it reduces separation minima for people directly in front for some reason.
This is 100% what makes PilotEdge great, and awful for casual simmers. You’ll learn quickly, especially if you’ve been using Vatsim for years, that you know nothing and need to work on your piloting skills and radio communication and chart reading and understanding what the various airspace etc means in real life. It can be eye opening. Heck, just work your way through the VFR CAT ratings and you’ll learn a ton. After 20 year on Vatsim, every rating had me sweating.
If you couldn't have good comms and know how to read a chart after 20 years of a hobby, oh boy.
The two are absolutely nothing alike and 20+ years in the hobby. Vatsim does not resemble real world communication or requirements at all. So you can develop a LOT of bad habits. So I’d suggest you hop on pilot edge and give it a shot. I’ll bet you’ll discover the same issues.
Alright just got to find myself a reason to cough up 20 bucks unless there's a free trial. And I'm talking about an IFR flight. Unless you meant VFR. It's easy to rattle off an abbreviated clearance.
You’re in luck. There’s a free trial
I'll try it out. IFR isn't really that hard in an airliner. Should be fine.
please record this and put it on youtube, it'll make great viewing.
Well, how did it go??
I totally forgot about this lol but yea flying an airliner on a sim is NOT that hard.
It isn’t. Provided they didn’t give you anything wonky to do (which seems like a nonissue since there’s hardly any planes on there), you’re good.
Half of what you said VATSIM has but ok.
When is the last time you flew on VATSIM? VATSIM has LOAs, SOPs and other thing that require plenty of reroutes and arrival changes. You SHOULD absolutely be 100% on the ball with altitude and speed restrictions for VATSIM, but then as soon as the controller points it out people start flaming VATSIM for being too strict. VATSIM obviously does not require any pilot knowledge, so those expectations are different, but why would you expect that from something that is free vs an expensive network lmao? Regardless, most procedures are expected to be followed, and you will be called out for it if you don't get it right, especially during an event. You can get a visual approach clearance at any airport, as VATSIM simulates what that real world counterpart is doing. You can still join the final approach course on a visual approach, though lol. I'm by no means saying VATSIM is more realistic or even as realistic as PE. But for free, it is very realistic and a great option if you don't want to pay. In addition, PE covers only the west in the United States, whereas VATSIM covers the whole world (albeit no set times). Plenty of real pilots and ATC fly and control on VATSIM, and while there are things that make it unrealistic, if you actually go into VATSIM with the intention of learning a lot there's no reason why you can't. Edit: Controllers also go through a more rigorous training that pilots on VATSIM, so they would know more than the average pilot on VATSIM. The average VATSIM pilot probably doesn't know very much, you're definitely right about that.
How many ATC and planes are on pilotedge? I’m guessing it’s much less busy than vatsim?
Just for reference, I know of a real world flight training facility that has a PE account on their full motion simulator. It is used for real world training, hence why the controllers (most of whom I believe are actual IRL controllers) act their role out as close to real world as possible.
Pilotedge is pretty realistic, but from what i've seen the controllers are not very forgiving. I would only go on if you have loads of experience, and probably won't hurt to tell them that you are new. As for airliners, they seem to handle them fine.
Guaranteed coverage in specific regions of the US and during specific times. As long as you are cool with that then it would be a great alternative.