Simviation Forum - IFR Training Flight Plan.

Jun 27^th, 2010 at 7:37am

Fozzer Offline
Colonel
An elderly FS 2004 addict!
Hereford. England. EGBS.

Posts: 24861

FS 2004.

Well, what do you know, Chums!

This morning was the first time in over 10 years daily "flying" that I have actually filed an "IFR" Flight Plan in the Sim!
I normally file a "VFR" Flight Plan, General Aviation, and plan my own route, VOR to VOR, NDB to NDB, etc, using ATC; "Flight Following" for help and advice along the route.

Today was a new experience for me, flying under total control of Air Traffic Control, from departure Airfield to arrival Airfield, and obeying all their instructions en route!.

Salinas Muni (KSNS) to Paso Robles (KPRB) in my Beech Baron 58 with its full Bendix-King Radio Stack.

It was only a short journey, 76 Miles, but my time was fully occupied with being guided by ATC, which took me on a complex route which I would not normally have taken in my usual VFR flights!

It worked out marvelously, and certainly kept me on my toes, with all the other various flight activity and Radio chatter going on all around me!

..."Say again"...was my favourite reply over the Radio!

What encouraged me to try it out, was reading some of my excellent FS 2000, Flight Unlimited II, and Pro Pilot '99 Flight Manuals...(Wonderful stuff!).

An excellent learning experience...and...a lot of fun to boot!

Must try it more often...(...as the Bishop said to the Actress!)

Paul..G-BPLF...FS 2004..FS Navigator...Beech Baron 58.....and a very nice Lady Air traffic Controller!..

Dell Dimension 5000 BTX Tower. Win7 Home Edition, 32 Bit. Intel Pentium 4, dual 2.8 GHz. 2.5GB RAM, nVidia GF 9500GT 1GB. SATA 500GB + 80GB. Philips 17" LCD Monitor. Micronet ADSL Modem only. Saitek Cyborg Evo Force. FS 2004 + FSX. Briggs and Stratton Petrol Lawn Mower...Motor Bikes. Gas Cooker... and lots of musical instruments!.... ...!
Yamaha MO6,MM6,DX7,DX11,DX21,DX100,MK100,EMT10,PSR400,PSS780,Roland GW-8L v2,TR505,Casio MT-205,Korg CX3v2 dual manual,+ Leslie 760,M-Audio Prokeys88,KeyRig,Cubase,Keyfax4,Guitars,Orchestral,Baroque,Renaissance,Medieval Instruments.

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Reply #1 - Jun 27^th, 2010 at 9:11am

Brett_Henderson Offline
Colonel
EVERY OUTER MARKER SHOULD
BE AN NDB

Gender:
Posts: 3593

Fun stuff

All in all, MSFS ATC is a little weird, and that weirdness is amplified for IFR.. but it does give you a feel for what it's like.

Did the weather warrant IFR ? I know many pilots who file IFR no matter what the weather might be (real life), because they like being "in the system", even on a beautiful, clear day.

Next step is to set weather to overcast; 1.5 mile visibility.. and find your way to the runway via this:

http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/1006/00858VGA.PDF

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Reply #2 - Jun 27^th, 2010 at 9:26am

Fozzer Offline
Colonel
An elderly FS 2004 addict!
Hereford. England. EGBS.

Posts: 24861

It was a clear blue sky day, mid-day, so as not to complicate things... Wink

...!

(I did dial up real local weather via Jeppeson, but as you know, the Sun always shines in California!)... Cool

...!

But I am always amazed at Microsoft's Air Traffic Control System.
It may not be totally realistic, but I think they made a pretty good job of it for we "imaginary" Pilots.... Grin

...!

I was surprised how far out of my usual VFR filed flight path ATC kept vectoring me, but they constantly kept track of me via my Transponder and guided me from start to finish.

"Well done", I thought... Grin

...!

Mind you....when it comes to inclement weather, I generally stay on the ground until it has passed, during my VFR flights.
...Clouds worry me... Wink

...

...!

Stage II coming up. Got all the required info on my FS Navigator display!

Paul...G-BPLF...FS 2004...FS Nav...poor visibility...and a Homing Pigeon... Wink

...!

Dell Dimension 5000 BTX Tower. Win7 Home Edition, 32 Bit. Intel Pentium 4, dual 2.8 GHz. 2.5GB RAM, nVidia GF 9500GT 1GB. SATA 500GB + 80GB. Philips 17" LCD Monitor. Micronet ADSL Modem only. Saitek Cyborg Evo Force. FS 2004 + FSX. Briggs and Stratton Petrol Lawn Mower...Motor Bikes. Gas Cooker... and lots of musical instruments!.... ...!
Yamaha MO6,MM6,DX7,DX11,DX21,DX100,MK100,EMT10,PSR400,PSS780,Roland GW-8L v2,TR505,Casio MT-205,Korg CX3v2 dual manual,+ Leslie 760,M-Audio Prokeys88,KeyRig,Cubase,Keyfax4,Guitars,Orchestral,Baroque,Renaissance,Medieval Instruments.

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Reply #3 - Jun 27^th, 2010 at 10:09am

Brett_Henderson Offline
Colonel
EVERY OUTER MARKER SHOULD
BE AN NDB

Gender:
Posts: 3593

Quote:

But I am always amazed at Microsoft's Air Traffic Control System.
It may not be totally realistic, but I think they made a pretty good job of it for we "imaginary" Pilots.... ...!

Agreed.. there is more that is correct about it, than is incorrect.. I think overall it's very good.

Quote:

I was surprised how far out of my usual VFR filed flight path ATC kept vectoring me, but they constantly kept track of me via my Transponder and guided me from start to finish.

"Well done", I thought... ...!

Well done, indeed.. but yeah.. it's the "one-size-fits-all", IFR vectoring. MSFS ATC will vector your little Baron as though you were a big jet landing at a busy airport.. and if you ARE a big jet, they'll have you flying most of "alignment" at GA altitudes Cheesy

Be advised.. that flying an entire flight when you can't see ANYthing, until you're almost ON the runway, is as mentally exhausting as it is in real life. I've gotten up from the the computer chair after a long, intense IFR flight, with a sweat-soaked shirt .. Grin

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Reply #4 - Jun 27^th, 2010 at 10:35am

Fozzer Offline
Colonel
An elderly FS 2004 addict!
Hereford. England. EGBS.

Posts: 24861

Made it back again from Paso Robles to Salinas, but it did feel strange being constantly vectored at 90* angles, backwards and forwards, at 6,000 feet (low altitude selected), across the Salinas Valley, instead of a direct route up the valley!
Landed OK, Runway 31, using the ILS frequency, and received the usual warm welcome at the Salinas Fuel Pumps.

Time for Tea now!...

...!

Paul...G-BPLF...FS 2004...FS Nav...and Salmon and Cucumber Sandwiches!... Kiss

...!

Dell Dimension 5000 BTX Tower. Win7 Home Edition, 32 Bit. Intel Pentium 4, dual 2.8 GHz. 2.5GB RAM, nVidia GF 9500GT 1GB. SATA 500GB + 80GB. Philips 17" LCD Monitor. Micronet ADSL Modem only. Saitek Cyborg Evo Force. FS 2004 + FSX. Briggs and Stratton Petrol Lawn Mower...Motor Bikes. Gas Cooker... and lots of musical instruments!.... ...!
Yamaha MO6,MM6,DX7,DX11,DX21,DX100,MK100,EMT10,PSR400,PSS780,Roland GW-8L v2,TR505,Casio MT-205,Korg CX3v2 dual manual,+ Leslie 760,M-Audio Prokeys88,KeyRig,Cubase,Keyfax4,Guitars,Orchestral,Baroque,Renaissance,Medieval Instruments.

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Reply #5 - Jun 27^th, 2010 at 10:56am

RickG Offline
Colonel
I Fly Sim!
Southwest Canada

Gender:
Posts: 245

I agree that flying IFR can be interesting, what with having to follow all the atc directions, but sometimes I wonder if they are on drugs. I certainly have no idea about real life vectoring, but in FSX, they sure seem to send you on a bit of a tour sometimes. Still fun tho.

Win7 Home Premium X64, P55-USB3 mobo, Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.80 ghz, 4gb ram, GeForce GTX 460 FSX Deluxe SP1&2

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Reply #6 - Jun 27^th, 2010 at 11:30am

Fozzer Offline
Colonel
An elderly FS 2004 addict!
Hereford. England. EGBS.

Posts: 24861

One thing I learned today, is to write all the ATC instructions down as they arrive over the Radio, because you only have one attempt at; "Say again" before they are lost, (and so are you!).... Cry

...!

That's when the Co-Pilot comes in handy?

Paul...G-BPLF ....FS 2004 ....FS Nav.. Pencil and Paper.... Wink

...!

Dell Dimension 5000 BTX Tower. Win7 Home Edition, 32 Bit. Intel Pentium 4, dual 2.8 GHz. 2.5GB RAM, nVidia GF 9500GT 1GB. SATA 500GB + 80GB. Philips 17" LCD Monitor. Micronet ADSL Modem only. Saitek Cyborg Evo Force. FS 2004 + FSX. Briggs and Stratton Petrol Lawn Mower...Motor Bikes. Gas Cooker... and lots of musical instruments!.... ...!
Yamaha MO6,MM6,DX7,DX11,DX21,DX100,MK100,EMT10,PSR400,PSS780,Roland GW-8L v2,TR505,Casio MT-205,Korg CX3v2 dual manual,+ Leslie 760,M-Audio Prokeys88,KeyRig,Cubase,Keyfax4,Guitars,Orchestral,Baroque,Renaissance,Medieval Instruments.

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Reply #7 - Jun 28^th, 2010 at 8:59pm

olderndirt Offline
Colonel
Flying is PFM
Rochester, WA

Gender:
Posts: 3574

RickG wrote on Jun 27^th, 2010 at 10:56am:

I certainly have no idea about real life vectoring

In real life, a vector from an enroute facility is usually to avoid traffic at your altitude, or to establish a line up into a busy terminal area - an off course vector is always followed by the reason. A weather avoidance vector is at pilot's request - ATC can only 'suggest' it. Vectors in a terminal area are mostly to establish an arrival sequence for the runway in use. Sometimes you're also given a speed adjustment so you'll fit in a certain slot. The end result is traffic in trail on the final approach course holding their appropriate wake turbulence distances - "call the tower, 118.3, at the marker". Departures, usually flying a SID, seldom need vectoring unless there's a conflict. If the Center wants them on a heading, they'll let you know at or before the handoff.

THIS IS NOT A PANAM CLIPPER

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