Ah fantastic! Thanks for your patience, still kicking myself with the APU 😅 I’m not why I chose that call sign, I just panicked and made up a random three digit number. I usually fly with my own livery on the channel, would you happen to know if I canjust make up a call sign should I want to fly as “AirNOTT” on VatSim? Providing I don’t inadvertently use a real world one?
Flying online is one of the best think you can do with flight sim if it's not the best. The immersion espacially on your first ever contact with ATC is difficult to describe.. a merge between strees and excitement .. good job my friend and enjoy !
This is exactly how it's done on a first time basis. Not connecting on one of the busy airports during busy times, no "learning by doing" mentality (I mean you've prepared really well and read yourself into it) and a humble attitude as well. Wow, you've earned another Sub!
@@ejpilot3725 Check the box in vpilot when connecting, it means you can see and hear everyone else, but they can't see you. Handy for picking someone to follow and listen out for calls and think about what you would say back
I remember my first flight on vatsim was from bristol on a cloudy day. Was the first time i had worn headphones to play flightsim and one of the first times on live weather (so through clouds). The immersion from the surround sound and first going through the clouds mixed with the stress of vatsim newbie nerves was such a surreal feeling, something i'll never forget.
Hey dude, as a Tower controller I can say you did really well, you were not scared to ask for clearification so you know exactly what you need to do. Next to that you had charts and everything prepared! I would be happy with pilots like you, instead of people who just do whatever. And if you are unsure if you should read something back, read everything back that you have recieved, can not go wrong with that. Dont forget that, when you are ready for it, you are always welcome on EHAM!
@@L.Mitchell Gatwick gets crowded real fast, I can recommend airports like EGSS, EHEH, LEAL etc. These airports are quieter so the controllers are less upset and happy with every bit of traffic they get
My friend graduated and became first officer at wizzair one of his classmates in flight school played flight sim for long time he basically hadn't to study a lot of he was really advanced he pretty much shocked everyone since he was already able to fly a plane alone...incredible what flight sim can do its realistic as real life but at the same time you won't be worried to die
I find it so brave to stream your first VATSIM flight. I’ll go and have my first VATSIM flight in a week or so and you gave me some what more confidence to do it, knowing that I’m gonnna be a little more anonimous! Great video! Respect!
@@infinitewisdom9619 Yeah it seems daunting but after a few flights it becomes second nature. I love it when there's a few asking for pushback and taxing together makes the airports feel more alive.
You did way better than I ever managed before deciding Vatsim wasn't for me. When you've had a German dude give you a serve then disconnect you it's enough to make you see red. I came so close to reconnecting and giving him a blast but decided against it. All because I landed long and overshot the taxiway at which he wanted to vacate the runway causing an aircraft in his sequence to have a missed approach. Must have really wrecked his day.
A small piece of advice: While short flights are very attractive, as you don't spend a lot of time "doing nothing", it's also nice to have slightly longer flights for your first few flights online, so you can actually properly prepare. Short hops are very, very demanding. You look very confident for a first flight by the way!
I took part in my first VATSIM flight a few days ago, our flights were VERY similar in the tiny mistakes made aswell as stress from trying to do things right. At one point during my ascent, the AP just went completely haywire, so i had to fly my SID by hand whilst trying to manage ATC communications on my first flight. Safe to say, it was one of the most stressful times I've ever had playing any game/simulator. Absolutely worth it though, was a blast!
When flying on Vatsim, its good advice to pause when you change to a new radio frequency, to prevent over talking a pilot. Also readback for most things is required. Great job for your first time. well done mate.
This was the same as my first go on Vatsim. The nerves before that first radio call were so high. I can manage ground, take off, departure, and landing. But arriving, or being vectored completely threw me. So I'd recommend practicing those. The best thing I found was to be aware of what the ATC might tell you, so it's not a surprise when you get told something you weren't expecting.
Never forget my first time...in a 'Baron'...talk about work load, orbits around a VOR to let the heavies in, speed up, slow down, loads of mess ups but it really is so immersive, huge stress, huge fun. A few goes later I tried a circuit at Birmingham in zero vis, total soup....Got some praise from the controller...well chuffed.
Haha, getting over the initial call nerves. Priceless. We have all been here. Best of luck on your Vatsim journey, it’s the best way to fly without doubt.
Glad you enjoyed your first Vatsim flight! Flying with VATSIM does become easier overtime as you get more practice, and flying a full flight with full ATC (from delivery to centre back to delivery) is really a breathtaking experience.
Hi, you were correct to repeat the taxiways, its mandatory. Also, when the instruction is "BEHIND aircaft line up BEHIND", you usually have to repeat "behind xx line up and wait behind" to acknoledge that you understood the critical instruction to let the other airplane land first. Then it was very good for a first time. Always pilot and naviguate first, then communicate. After a while, you will always know in advance what the ATC is gonna tell you. Finally, try to not overcommunicate on UNICOM. Go straight to the point and dont announce every single step of your flight. Be aware of the traffic around you. Use Vatspy, VSR or whatever you like to know how many planes will be on your path. According to that, communicate accordingly.
Dude GREAT work. You knew what to do and weren’t afraid to make errors, and the small ones you did make, you’ll never make again (with some practice). Great video as always
I’ll always remember my first attempt at a vatsim flight. Started up at Gatwick (like an idiot), pressed the push to talk button and literally couldn’t speak it was like I was on mute then I just ended up going back to text 😂. Eventually I managed to break through this barrier and started using voice and I’m so glad I did. Being a socially anxious person this was a major step forward for me and now 5 years later I want to do all my flights on vatsim.
min 2:25 . yes you have to read back the Holding Point since it is the acces point you are being assigned where you will enter the runway, you will not allways use the full runway length, especially when flying smaller planes (B736, A318/319 etc). :D
Welcome to Vatsim. It very often feels real when you fly into a busy airport. Gatwick can get very busy indeed sometimes too. From the way you conducted yourself online, I'd say that you won't have any issues at all. I've hit the subscribe button. I'd like to see how you get on with this.
Today i did my first vatsim session doing this route but in reverse and i feel my reaction to everything was close to identical, from the shoddy landing to the scrambling for the notepad when you hear the callsign, great video
Great job, well done ! I have over 2,000 hours in the sim and 99% of that is flying airliners. Also many hours in X-Plane with the Zibo 737 and I’m still terrified about trying VATSIM lol. I use SimBrief and Navigraph Charts on every single flight and online ATC is the last piece of my quest for full realism in the sim. Maybe now is the time 😊
It’s actually really rewarding and fun if you’re looking for that last bit of immersion! In very busy areas and airports (like Europe on a daily basis) It can get hectic though! I’d recommend spawning into a smaller airport with a controller that’s not too busy (the US tends to have many of them each day) and just get used to it.
Don't forget when told to do something near a runway (e.g line up or cleared to land) you should mention the name of the runway in your readback transmission (e.g Cleared to land Runway 26R)
You did an amazing job. I used to control on VATSIM in Munich Germany EDDM Tower and below and can confidently say your coms were exactly what we want to hear. Also, yes taxi instructions need to be read back, just like all instructions. This is important for the controler to know nothing got lost or misunderstood.
Hi Paul, whats required to be a controller on VATSIM? Are the controllers generally controllers in real life? Watching this video they seem to be pretty close to the real thing, infact one of the controllers sounded exactly like one of the controllers at Gatwick.
I love this! You know how to set up and operate your airplane, not like other newbies. You don't know the stress us controllers have to deal with newbies with no sim idea
It’s funny what stress does to you. Not once have I ever disconnected the GPU before having the APU on 😅 Looking forward to getting flight number two in!
Don't be afraid about when to contact controllers, when they need you they will let you know! Other than tower and ground, always make sure to contact them (on final and then on the ground, vacated from the runway), they typically won't send you a contact me. Congrats on your first flight!
I remember my first radio transmission on vatsim.. tried to talk as fast as i could and messed it up and disconnected.. 😅 UK controllers are really friendly.. they have the patience with new pilots..
You did extremely well! My one and only tip would be to use "say again for [callsign]" if you don't catch what the controller says. They prefer that over you either guessing what they said (and getting it wrong) or delaying the readback while you think. 👍
as a 13 year old but european czech republic boy, its hard to me to understand some ATC clereances so i must write on the paper fast i could but, it was great landing brother 😅😂🎉
i still remember my first vatsim flight 10 years ago. it wasnt pretty but it was the best moment of my flight sim career, i flew out of detroit metro wayne county (KDTW) and only had a clearance/ground controller on, but the stress i felt in those 5-10 minutes was real. now days its easier in the US cause most of the airports have auto-pdc systems in place so you only have to talk to them for taxi and above
I've got everything downloaded to do a Vatsim flight... somehow I don't dare to do it... I get all nervous.. then I decide to do a offline flight with Volanta along side, so it still feels there is people around me😅🙈
Well done Just remember all radio comms is -who you are - Where you are -and what do you want ie intentions. Regards Dave Engineer and pilot and addicted to Vatsim over 15 years 😀
Absolutely brilliant for a first flight! I remember sitting there for hours at EGCC before saying anything. Even more interesting and brave doing it out of Gatwick! Well done mate. Might bump into each other online at some point!
I would love to do this, but my confidence just isnt there yet. I love flight sim, and I know this would increases my enjoyment so much more than the dodgy AI ATC that keeps bouncing me between 2 frequencies for some reason. And of course more realistic. I will have to put some serious hours in, researching vatsim and this video is a good start, from a first time experience.
It’s really not that bad mate. A lot of controllers on Vatsim are understanding, especially if you tell them it’s your first few times connecting. They’ll speak slow, repeat info need be, and help you get through. I never used Vatsim myself until I started my flight training a few years ago since that was my only form of real radio exposure and that’s where I learnt the jargon and phraseology. I have 115 hours now (real time) so radios are a zero stress issue for me and Vatsim has actually prepared me more than I could have ever imagined for my instrument rating since flight plans on Airbuses and Boeings always fall under IFR. My advice to you is to start by watching Vatsim tutorial videos on TH-cam, listen to ATC videos on TH-cam as well and familiarize yourself with the procedure and phraseology, and even practice by yourself, everything else will come with time. Start your flying in Vatsim with local VFR flights, fly a Cessna around a local airport so that you’re not juggling the 6,000 things you need to do to configure a transport category aircraft for landing as well as managing coms, get comfortable making calls on Unicom. Vatsim is a fantastic learning tool that will help you with both your coms and procedures in the real airplane should that ever be something you decide to dive into. Good luck!!
I did a flight into Copenhagen/Kastrup 4 days ago, and it was stress city like you, but so much fun, and the sense of achievement once I got to the gate was amazing. Highly recommended for anyone thinking of giving it a go!
I have quite a bit of an experience flying Boeing 737-800 and now I started flying A320. Now I want to fly in Vatsim but I am so anxious about messing up something because I’ve never flown using ATC but this video is a good showcase of how to communicate with ATC so hopefully I’ll be able to make my first flight soon without pilots and air traffic controllers hating me too much. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻. And thank you really much for the video.
Congrats mate, exactly how i felt on my first flight but you smashed it GGs! Im no pro but if you ever need help let me know always happy to share knowledge. Welcome to the community!
Excellent Job, Hope you continue your journey to come. You will get Atc that are Annoyed and Angry, so just don't worry about them. Recommend that you practice the route before hoping on, but well done. Some times also they will say things fast so if you don't understand just ask. Hope to see you around in everywhere on vatsim!
Hey mate, great flight and good landing. A smooth landing is not inherently a good landing! The most important thing in landing is landing within the touchdown zone and as centered on the center line as you can. You did both well, don't beat yourself over it.
2:22 yes you have to read back the taxi instructions and if you say them correctly they won’t reply. and second thing, when they tell you something like “expect late landing clearance” you can just reply with “roger [callsign]”. btw i too started using VATSIM recently, i did my first flight just 3 days ago and you have been way more confident than me for your first time.
I thought you did a great job for your first Vatsim flight and you streamed it! 👏🏾👍🏾🎉 You gave me some confidence to get on the horse and try my first. Thanks !
I still remember the time I decided to take the plunge and do a vatsim flight. I was so nervous that when I got to the destination I received a direction to turn left to a certain heading and I turned right !!! As soon as I realised I'd stuffed up the approach completely, I disconnected ;) lol.
min 13:00 just a thing abt the late landing clearence. ur clearence didnt come in very late, but it CAN happen sometimes (havent seen it often really tho) that a controller clears you to land literally 100-200 ft from touchdown. so if u are unsure, just ask and if too late for comfort u can allways go around. :D just a little thing to that
I will add that the latest you can receive a landing clearance is over the threshold. It can happen if it's busy! Don't go around at 1-2 miles just because you're not cleared to land
When you call up for clearance just say, “EZY212 on stand 512, A320 with GOLF (ATIS), clearance to Manchester please” And after departure just say “EZY212 passing 2400 ft for 5000ft, MODMI1J (SID)” for example. Nice job!
For your first all alone Vatsim flight you did more than good. Most people tend to be extremely nervous when first starting out since ig it can be a bit intimedating. When i first started i was only using text bcs i was too nervous to talk xD, so you did an amazing job, also you callouts were almost allways on spot!, one thing i got to say, which nobody really does tbh, when flying on unicom you normally just announce your intentions and just add the airport ur flying to and then traffic to the message, so when u start you descend you could just go smthn like: Manchester Traffic ABC1234, FL350 descending to 5000 via XYZ1B arrival, expecting ILS rwy01, ABC1234 Manchester traffic. so thats all i still had to say to that. Also a great video, as allways. If theres anything you need help with or want to do some more fly alongs or whatever, yk who to hit up ;). For many great flights to come :D
You did really well for your first time on VatSim. Asking for clarification and most of your calls and read backs were correct. I’m a GND controller and often control Manchester and I’ve never heard use of Bravo Ramp… I’d have said “taxi stand 7 via Bravo, Juliet-Echo”
Just wannaa say you did better with your first vatsim flight compared to mind i had to disconnect after take off. I messsd up my fms. Just a few tips im sure you know already, the aircraft is the most important item all other things are secondary. Remember the good old saying Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, fight. The fight part is for air combat but the principle is the same. You always aviate first. Other than that you did a fine job. Congrats on your first vatsim I am excited to see more from you!
Whilst in the army we were trained to speak into our radio comms, clearly, and with pauses, and the correct speed. There is no point rabbiting away trying to impress if the recipient of your message can’t understand or keep up with what you are saying. Time is then wasted when they are asked to repeat what they are saying. This happens a lot when people leave messages on my telephone answering machine leaving me their telephone number to phone back. I must replay the message several times to work out and understand the number they have given.
on my first vatsim flight i screwed up so bad, i was fumbling a bit way too much and ended up disconnecting. (that was yesterday). Now im watching your vids to prepare myself
@@AirNOTT I have begun using pilot2atc in singleplayer to practice my communication skills, in a week or two i probably will be ready to join vatsim again
@2:25 Yep, read back all taxi instructions. Also the takeoff clearance at @6:40. You don’t have to read back the winds, but you do have to read back the clearance, eg “Cleared for takeoff runway X, Easy 123” etc.
Awesome! You did great. I am EZY crew at Gatwick IRL and being honest I think making calls on VatSim is more daunting and scary than with real ATC - so well done to you, your first calls sounded well experienced. I find for VatSim LGW; using PDC helps to avoid the radio clearance call - I find clearance the worst call because of having to scribble stuff down super quick, the Fenix is great for doing a digital clearance through the MCDU and also has the CPDLC functions when airborne too, If you get the PDC all you have to do is call delivery with a ready message :) Anyways, again great vid!
Thanks for watching, and I appreciate the guidance! It’s funny, you’re the second IRL pilot to say that about VatSim…I wonder why that is? Thanks again.
@@AirNOTT I think I find VatSim can be a little bit too serious at times and I think (for me) that adds a lot of pressure on getting everything right first time which in turn makes it daunting and scary. I think IRL it helps having a second crew member with you to help on the radios where as VatSim its single pilot ops mostly which throws the workload up. But even IRL we mess up on radio calls at least once per flight, calling wrong frequencies, wrong readbacks, missing calls etc, everyone has to start somewhere with ATC and I think VatSim is a fantastic tool for immersion and a good leap into realistic ATC, the Gatwick controllers are spot on!
@@AirNOTT IRL the ATC is there to keep everyone safe and act professionally. On VATSIM the controllers can play god and act up without anyone getting in danger and without anyone reporting them etc... I have not flown VATSIM yet but have watched hundreds of streams and there have been quite a few controllers who would have been replrimanded if they were doing the job IRL.
Great video! as a not english native speaker I fly in vatsim with the same scare. I'll give you an advice. When you got into the DTHR (Displaced Threshold) is a good practice to full stop until the Take off Clearence. I see at 6:31 that you got into the runway and still rolling at low speed until the T/O clearence. That's not a good practice because you're wasting runway distance. In case of an emergency you'll need most runway available so it's better to set TO/GA with the maximum landing distance available. Hope I was helpfull!
Much better than I was for my first time! What I would say is contacting early isn't really necessary they will just send you a contact me which isn't a problem for controllers. Also yeh reading back taxi instructions is needed
this has certainly put into perspective how little i know about commercial flight sim, was planning on giving VATSIM a go at some point but this has confirmed i most certainly will NOT be. no chance am i remembering all of that info great video though, thoroughly enjoyed just made me realise i wouldnt stand a chance in a sim like that lol
Best advice I can give is to connect in observer mode, park up next to someone and pretend you’re them. See if you make there same decisions and get to the same place
Nice one. This is the first MSFS vid I've watched because I daren't watch too many or else I'll get addicted and I doubt my computer would take MSFS so I'm having to stick with FSX for now.
As a person just getting into flight sim. I am bricking it just watching this video. My worry is forgetting everything they say that I have to read back lol
You sounded really professional TBH. I hope my first flight with Vatsim goes as smoothly. I struggle to run the A320 Fenix since the V2 update. I think I might have to delete a folder in the Fenix to make her run smoothly in terms of FPS? My system is a Z790 Motherboard (Gigabyte) AIO Water Cooler with CPU - 24 core 36 hyper core Intel 14900k with a GPU of a Nvidia RTX4090 with 64GB of DDR5. 1000 watt HX1000 PSU, 8TB NVME SSD's and I run a Quest Three for Wireless VR. + 1 x 34 inch and two 27 inch monitors. Only use a Microsoft Force Feedback sidewinder joystick. Fenix should really run as smooth as butter. but it doesnt.
Awesome flight ! I'm still trying to build confidence to make a flight on Vatsim 😂 Btw what mod/ setting do you use to display that flight info at the top of the screen ?
You’ve done very well for your first time. And made respect for flying the entire SID/STAR! I noticed planes in real life look like they vectored to a shortcut into the approach and that’s how I would do it on the sim. I could totally relate to my first time I wasn’t even bothered about the plane performance as long as I said the right things 😂
Great Job! Really the only thing is that the controllers always sound muffled, but not in real life! I hope to see more of your great adventures in the sky!
I was the ground controller at Gatwick! I seem to remember your callsign for no particular reason but I’m glad you enjoyed the coverage.
Ah fantastic! Thanks for your patience, still kicking myself with the APU 😅 I’m not why I chose that call sign, I just panicked and made up a random three digit number. I usually fly with my own livery on the channel, would you happen to know if I canjust make up a call sign should I want to fly as “AirNOTT” on VatSim? Providing I don’t inadvertently use a real world one?
@@AirNOTT Yeah making up callsigns is all alright: just make sure to put it in your remarks so we know what it is
Flying online is one of the best think you can do with flight sim if it's not the best. The immersion espacially on your first ever contact with ATC is difficult to describe.. a merge between strees and excitement .. good job my friend and enjoy !
I agree! Just brings an already realistic game to the NEXT level.
Mate it’s a game 💀
@@Oliverj-ne6iwi know but it is still so scary, a lot more than other games
@@Oliverj-ne6iwyou can still have nerves.
Agreed. I did my first vatsim flight today, loved it.
This is exactly how it's done on a first time basis. Not connecting on one of the busy airports during busy times, no "learning by doing" mentality (I mean you've prepared really well and read yourself into it) and a humble attitude as well. Wow, you've earned another Sub!
Thank you! I’d done a couple of observer flights prior which helped a tonne. The controllers were fantastic too
@@AirNOTT How did you do that?
@@ejpilot3725 Check the box in vpilot when connecting, it means you can see and hear everyone else, but they can't see you. Handy for picking someone to follow and listen out for calls and think about what you would say back
I remember my first flight on vatsim was from bristol on a cloudy day. Was the first time i had worn headphones to play flightsim and one of the first times on live weather (so through clouds). The immersion from the surround sound and first going through the clouds mixed with the stress of vatsim newbie nerves was such a surreal feeling, something i'll never forget.
Can relate! Bristol is a great little airport also 😊
@@AirNOTTIn real life Bristol is a $hithole. Got stuck there overnight 15 hours only I shop open 2 flights cancelled in one day..😢
Hey dude, as a Tower controller I can say you did really well, you were not scared to ask for clearification so you know exactly what you need to do. Next to that you had charts and everything prepared! I would be happy with pilots like you, instead of people who just do whatever. And if you are unsure if you should read something back, read everything back that you have recieved, can not go wrong with that.
Dont forget that, when you are ready for it, you are always welcome on EHAM!
Ah thanks, i appreciate that. Still, the fear of screwing up remains strong! 😅
I have done it a few times Gatwick controller get annoyed the rest not really and scottish controllers aren't bothered@@AirNOTT
You’re born in 06… nice try
@@SamFarley098 you only have to 13 to be a VATSIM ATC. He is 17 years old probably.
@@L.Mitchell Gatwick gets crowded real fast, I can recommend airports like EGSS, EHEH, LEAL etc. These airports are quieter so the controllers are less upset and happy with every bit of traffic they get
My friend graduated and became first officer at wizzair one of his classmates in flight school played flight sim for long time he basically hadn't to study a lot of he was really advanced he pretty much shocked everyone since he was already able to fly a plane alone...incredible what flight sim can do its realistic as real life but at the same time you won't be worried to die
I find it so brave to stream your first VATSIM flight. I’ll go and have my first VATSIM flight in a week or so and you gave me some what more confidence to do it, knowing that I’m gonnna be a little more anonimous! Great video! Respect!
Appreciate it, thanks for watching. Good luck with the flight
Awesome! VATSIM needs all the pilots it can get. Its more fun for everyone ;)
@@infinitewisdom9619 Yeah it seems daunting but after a few flights it becomes second nature. I love it when there's a few asking for pushback and taxing together makes the airports feel more alive.
Well done on getting through your first flight, you did brilliantly! We hope to see you around in the skies!
You did way better than I ever managed before deciding Vatsim wasn't for me. When you've had a German dude give you a serve then disconnect you it's enough to make you see red. I came so close to reconnecting and giving him a blast but decided against it. All because I landed long and overshot the taxiway at which he wanted to vacate the runway causing an aircraft in his sequence to have a missed approach. Must have really wrecked his day.
A small piece of advice: While short flights are very attractive, as you don't spend a lot of time "doing nothing", it's also nice to have slightly longer flights for your first few flights online, so you can actually properly prepare. Short hops are very, very demanding.
You look very confident for a first flight by the way!
Appreciate the advice! Do you find there are many differences if you flew down to Spain, for example?
Not much i would say. Its the accent that could be a bit different. Dont be shy to ask: Say again in those situations :-) @@AirNOTT
I took part in my first VATSIM flight a few days ago, our flights were VERY similar in the tiny mistakes made aswell as stress from trying to do things right.
At one point during my ascent, the AP just went completely haywire, so i had to fly my SID by hand whilst trying to manage ATC communications on my first flight.
Safe to say, it was one of the most stressful times I've ever had playing any game/simulator. Absolutely worth it though, was a blast!
Oh wow, yeah that sounds stressful!!
"That was a terrible landing"
Meanwhile me overrunning the runway and vacating onto a service road my first time 👀
When flying on Vatsim, its good advice to pause when you change to a new radio frequency, to prevent over talking a pilot. Also readback for most things is required. Great job for your first time. well done mate.
Thanks very much, now onto flight number two!
This was the same as my first go on Vatsim. The nerves before that first radio call were so high. I can manage ground, take off, departure, and landing. But arriving, or being vectored completely threw me. So I'd recommend practicing those. The best thing I found was to be aware of what the ATC might tell you, so it's not a surprise when you get told something you weren't expecting.
Yeah I’ve yet to do a hold so should probably do some pretend ones
I just started watching and... wow choosing an airliner for your first flight on VATSIM. That's brave and kudos to you!
Never forget my first time...in a 'Baron'...talk about work load, orbits around a VOR to let the heavies in, speed up, slow down, loads of mess ups but it really is so immersive, huge stress, huge fun. A few goes later I tried a circuit at Birmingham in zero vis, total soup....Got some praise from the controller...well chuffed.
Wow sounds amazing! Yeah I think you’re right, you get a lot out but it requires you to put a lot in. Great fun though
Haha, getting over the initial call nerves. Priceless. We have all been here. Best of luck on your Vatsim journey, it’s the best way to fly without doubt.
Thank you! Maybe see you around in the skies!
This is fantastic, my first time I forgot to start the apu and went to taxi and the plane just shut off, logged off in a flash.
Great minds think alike, clearly 😉
Same with me, so I stopped using the FBW and used the stock a320 because it never turned off 😂
@@Tay12345 hahahaha brilliant, sounds quite common. I bet your a natural now.
Glad you enjoyed your first Vatsim flight! Flying with VATSIM does become easier overtime as you get more practice, and flying a full flight with full ATC (from delivery to centre back to delivery) is really a breathtaking experience.
Hi, you were correct to repeat the taxiways, its mandatory. Also, when the instruction is "BEHIND aircaft line up BEHIND", you usually have to repeat "behind xx line up and wait behind" to acknoledge that you understood the critical instruction to let the other airplane land first. Then it was very good for a first time. Always pilot and naviguate first, then communicate. After a while, you will always know in advance what the ATC is gonna tell you.
Finally, try to not overcommunicate on UNICOM. Go straight to the point and dont announce every single step of your flight. Be aware of the traffic around you. Use Vatspy, VSR or whatever you like to know how many planes will be on your path. According to that, communicate accordingly.
Great advice, thank you!
Dude GREAT work. You knew what to do and weren’t afraid to make errors, and the small ones you did make, you’ll never make again (with some practice). Great video as always
Thank you! Appreciate you watching 🙂
I’ll always remember my first attempt at a vatsim flight. Started up at Gatwick (like an idiot), pressed the push to talk button and literally couldn’t speak it was like I was on mute then I just ended up going back to text 😂. Eventually I managed to break through this barrier and started using voice and I’m so glad I did. Being a socially anxious person this was a major step forward for me and now 5 years later I want to do all my flights on vatsim.
min 2:25 . yes you have to read back the Holding Point since it is the acces point you are being assigned where you will enter the runway, you will not allways use the full runway length, especially when flying smaller planes (B736, A318/319 etc). :D
Welcome to Vatsim. It very often feels real when you fly into a busy airport. Gatwick can get very busy indeed sometimes too. From the way you conducted yourself online, I'd say that you won't have any issues at all. I've hit the subscribe button. I'd like to see how you get on with this.
Thanks! Glad to have you along for the (bumpy) ride 🙂
Today i did my first vatsim session doing this route but in reverse and i feel my reaction to everything was close to identical, from the shoddy landing to the scrambling for the notepad when you hear the callsign, great video
Great job, well done ! I have over 2,000 hours in the sim and 99% of that is flying airliners. Also many hours in X-Plane with the Zibo 737 and I’m still terrified about trying VATSIM lol. I use SimBrief and Navigraph Charts on every single flight and online ATC is the last piece of my quest for full realism in the sim. Maybe now is the time 😊
It’s actually really rewarding and fun if you’re looking for that last bit of immersion! In very busy areas and airports (like Europe on a daily basis) It can get hectic though! I’d recommend spawning into a smaller airport with a controller that’s not too busy (the US tends to have many of them each day) and just get used to it.
what kind of ATC are you using currently?
Don't forget when told to do something near a runway (e.g line up or cleared to land) you should mention the name of the runway in your readback transmission (e.g Cleared to land Runway 26R)
Good point! Thanks!
Goes to show why you need two pilots to fly a plane, with all the work to do with the ATC, great video
Wow time passes really quickly, it only felt like you were just learning the 737 and here you are, flying the Fenix, on VATSIM…
Gg man. ❤
Cheers my friend! Email me btw (address in the about page of the channel) I’ll get you into the discord 👍
for real!? yesss alright! @@AirNOTT
Very nice seeing someone else use a yoke in an airbus :D
First vatsim flight I was more nervous than my first real life flight radio call so I totally understood your hesitation in before first call
You did an amazing job. I used to control on VATSIM in Munich Germany EDDM Tower and below and can confidently say your coms were exactly what we want to hear.
Also, yes taxi instructions need to be read back, just like all instructions. This is important for the controler to know nothing got lost or misunderstood.
Thank you Paul, and I appreciate the guidance, thanks! Here’s to round two!
Hi Paul, whats required to be a controller on VATSIM? Are the controllers generally controllers in real life? Watching this video they seem to be pretty close to the real thing, infact one of the controllers sounded exactly like one of the controllers at Gatwick.
I love this! You know how to set up and operate your airplane, not like other newbies. You don't know the stress us controllers have to deal with newbies with no sim idea
It’s funny what stress does to you. Not once have I ever disconnected the GPU before having the APU on 😅
Looking forward to getting flight number two in!
@@AirNOTT Im going to control in SACO_TWR on sunday at at 8PM zulu, you are more than welcome to hop in the event! let me know if you will be there
Don't be afraid about when to contact controllers, when they need you they will let you know! Other than tower and ground, always make sure to contact them (on final and then on the ground, vacated from the runway), they typically won't send you a contact me. Congrats on your first flight!
Got to start somewhere! Well done! 😎
Thank you very much indeed. Nice to hear from you, big fan of the channel 🙂
I remember my first radio transmission on vatsim.. tried to talk as fast as i could and messed it up and disconnected.. 😅
UK controllers are really friendly.. they have the patience with new pilots..
Yeah they were fantastic. Hats off to them!
You did extremely well! My one and only tip would be to use "say again for [callsign]" if you don't catch what the controller says. They prefer that over you either guessing what they said (and getting it wrong) or delaying the readback while you think. 👍
as a 13 year old but european czech republic boy, its hard to me to understand some ATC clereances so i must write on the paper fast i could but, it was great landing brother 😅😂🎉
i still remember my first vatsim flight 10 years ago. it wasnt pretty but it was the best moment of my flight sim career, i flew out of detroit metro wayne county (KDTW) and only had a clearance/ground controller on, but the stress i felt in those 5-10 minutes was real. now days its easier in the US cause most of the airports have auto-pdc systems in place so you only have to talk to them for taxi and above
I've got everything downloaded to do a Vatsim flight... somehow I don't dare to do it... I get all nervous.. then I decide to do a offline flight with Volanta along side, so it still feels there is people around me😅🙈
I remember my 1st and last when I used VATSIM, totally embarrassed myself, I haven't got the balls now to try again. 😊
Brilliant mate the speech without rambling at the end of the video puts icing on the cake Well Done mate 🎉🤜🏾🤛🏻👌👌👌
Thanks! Appreciate you watching. I must get around to flight number two, if only life would stop getting in the way!
Well done
Just remember all radio comms is -who you are -
Where you are -and what do you want ie intentions.
Regards
Dave
Engineer and pilot and addicted to Vatsim over 15 years 😀
You do great stuff, and work with this video, but.... always remember flying a plane is : Aviate, Navigate , Communicate! In this sequence 😊
Absolutely brilliant for a first flight! I remember sitting there for hours at EGCC before saying anything. Even more interesting and brave doing it out of Gatwick! Well done mate. Might bump into each other online at some point!
Hopefully see you in the skies soon! 🫡
I would love to do this, but my confidence just isnt there yet. I love flight sim, and I know this would increases my enjoyment so much more than the dodgy AI ATC that keeps bouncing me between 2 frequencies for some reason. And of course more realistic.
I will have to put some serious hours in, researching vatsim and this video is a good start, from a first time experience.
It’s really not that bad mate. A lot of controllers on Vatsim are understanding, especially if you tell them it’s your first few times connecting. They’ll speak slow, repeat info need be, and help you get through.
I never used Vatsim myself until I started my flight training a few years ago since that was my only form of real radio exposure and that’s where I learnt the jargon and phraseology. I have 115 hours now (real time) so radios are a zero stress issue for me and Vatsim has actually prepared me more than I could have ever imagined for my instrument rating since flight plans on Airbuses and Boeings always fall under IFR.
My advice to you is to start by watching Vatsim tutorial videos on TH-cam, listen to ATC videos on TH-cam as well and familiarize yourself with the procedure and phraseology, and even practice by yourself, everything else will come with time. Start your flying in Vatsim with local VFR flights, fly a Cessna around a local airport so that you’re not juggling the 6,000 things you need to do to configure a transport category aircraft for landing as well as managing coms, get comfortable making calls on Unicom. Vatsim is a fantastic learning tool that will help you with both your coms and procedures in the real airplane should that ever be something you decide to dive into. Good luck!!
The thing about ATC is that it just comes with practice. I recommend you watch Airplane academy.
Well done good job for your first time
I did a flight into Copenhagen/Kastrup 4 days ago, and it was stress city like you, but so much fun, and the sense of achievement once I got to the gate was amazing. Highly recommended for anyone thinking of giving it a go!
Yeah I really feel like I’m catching “the bug”
I have quite a bit of an experience flying Boeing 737-800 and now I started flying A320. Now I want to fly in Vatsim but I am so anxious about messing up something because I’ve never flown using ATC but this video is a good showcase of how to communicate with ATC so hopefully I’ll be able to make my first flight soon without pilots and air traffic controllers hating me too much. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻. And thank you really much for the video.
Congrats mate, exactly how i felt on my first flight but you smashed it GGs! Im no pro but if you ever need help let me know always happy to share knowledge. Welcome to the community!
Appreciate it, thank you!
Excellent Job, Hope you continue your journey to come. You will get Atc that are Annoyed and Angry, so just don't worry about them. Recommend that you practice the route before hoping on, but well done. Some times also they will say things fast so if you don't understand just ask. Hope to see you around in everywhere on vatsim!
Thanks! Yeah I did a few observer mode flights leading up to this one. Such a handy feature! Maybe bump into you soon!
Hey mate, great flight and good landing. A smooth landing is not inherently a good landing! The most important thing in landing is landing within the touchdown zone and as centered on the center line as you can. You did both well, don't beat yourself over it.
Tell that to my audience 😂
2:22 yes you have to read back the taxi instructions and if you say them correctly they won’t reply. and second thing, when they tell you something like “expect late landing clearance” you can just reply with “roger [callsign]”. btw i too started using VATSIM recently, i did my first flight just 3 days ago and you have been way more confident than me for your first time.
Thanks!
Congrats! It’s an amazing achievement, still remember my first VATSIM flight.
Here’s to lots of successful flights!
Thanks for the insight of your first Vatsim flight.
I am encouraged.
Well done and thanks.
I thought you did a great job for your first Vatsim flight and you streamed it! 👏🏾👍🏾🎉 You gave me some confidence to get on the horse and try my first. Thanks !
Thanks! Only recorded this one, I don’t quite have the courage to do it on stream yet 😅
Brilliant! Like a natural. It's so daunting the first time.
You’re not wrong!
Thanks for the video and funny comments! I've been holding off connecting to VATSIM forever. Seems like a lot of fun.
It’s very stressful initially but very rewarding 🙂
Well done buddy. Great job! I was even getting some 'second hand' nerves watching. It took me back.
I still remember the time I decided to take the plunge and do a vatsim flight. I was so nervous that when I got to the destination I received a direction to turn left to a certain heading and I turned right !!! As soon as I realised I'd stuffed up the approach completely, I disconnected ;) lol.
min 13:00 just a thing abt the late landing clearence. ur clearence didnt come in very late, but it CAN happen sometimes (havent seen it often really tho) that a controller clears you to land literally 100-200 ft from touchdown. so if u are unsure, just ask and if too late for comfort u can allways go around. :D just a little thing to that
I will add that the latest you can receive a landing clearance is over the threshold. It can happen if it's busy! Don't go around at 1-2 miles just because you're not cleared to land
When you call up for clearance just say, “EZY212 on stand 512, A320 with GOLF (ATIS), clearance to Manchester please”
And after departure just say “EZY212 passing 2400 ft for 5000ft, MODMI1J (SID)” for example. Nice job!
Very welcome to the VATSIM community Capt. AirNOTT.
Thank you my friend! Early days, but it’s a start 🙂
readback of taxi instructions always required, you did well by doing it!
For your first all alone Vatsim flight you did more than good. Most people tend to be extremely nervous when first starting out since ig it can be a bit intimedating. When i first started i was only using text bcs i was too nervous to talk xD, so you did an amazing job, also you callouts were almost allways on spot!, one thing i got to say, which nobody really does tbh, when flying on unicom you normally just announce your intentions and just add the airport ur flying to and then traffic to the message, so when u start you descend you could just go smthn like: Manchester Traffic ABC1234, FL350 descending to 5000 via XYZ1B arrival, expecting ILS rwy01, ABC1234 Manchester traffic. so thats all i still had to say to that. Also a great video, as allways. If theres anything you need help with or want to do some more fly alongs or whatever, yk who to hit up ;). For many great flights to come :D
On my first VATSIM flight my mic wasn't working but I didn't know that 😂
that was great, nice to see a beginner ! well done that man!
You did really well for your first time on VatSim. Asking for clarification and most of your calls and read backs were correct. I’m a GND controller and often control Manchester and I’ve never heard use of Bravo Ramp… I’d have said “taxi stand 7 via Bravo, Juliet-Echo”
Oh cool, yeah it threw me a bit, hopefully catch you online soon 👍
And well done with this inaugural vatsim flight !
Just wannaa say you did better with your first vatsim flight compared to mind i had to disconnect after take off. I messsd up my fms. Just a few tips im sure you know already, the aircraft is the most important item all other things are secondary. Remember the good old saying Aviate, Navigate, Communicate, fight. The fight part is for air combat but the principle is the same. You always aviate first. Other than that you did a fine job. Congrats on your first vatsim I am excited to see more from you!
Awesome video! The ground controller at the end certainly needs to upgrade his mic lol
Whilst in the army we were trained to speak into our radio comms, clearly, and with pauses, and the correct speed. There is no point rabbiting away trying to impress if the recipient of your message can’t understand or keep up with what you are saying. Time is then wasted when they are asked to repeat what they are saying. This happens a lot when people leave messages on my telephone answering machine leaving me their telephone number to phone back. I must replay the message several times to work out and understand the number they have given.
VATSIM makes Flight Sim as immersive as possible. In 2024 I will fly 6 years on the network and still enjoy it!
on my first vatsim flight i screwed up so bad, i was fumbling a bit way too much and ended up disconnecting. (that was yesterday). Now im watching your vids to prepare myself
You’ll get there, I’m certainly no expert, just happy to fail and learn in public haha
@@AirNOTT I have begun using pilot2atc in singleplayer to practice my communication skills, in a week or two i probably will be ready to join vatsim again
@@AirNOTT btw thanks for the motivation :)
@2:25 Yep, read back all taxi instructions. Also the takeoff clearance at @6:40. You don’t have to read back the winds, but you do have to read back the clearance, eg “Cleared for takeoff runway X, Easy 123” etc.
Awesome! You did great. I am EZY crew at Gatwick IRL and being honest I think making calls on VatSim is more daunting and scary than with real ATC - so well done to you, your first calls sounded well experienced. I find for VatSim LGW; using PDC helps to avoid the radio clearance call - I find clearance the worst call because of having to scribble stuff down super quick, the Fenix is great for doing a digital clearance through the MCDU and also has the CPDLC functions when airborne too, If you get the PDC all you have to do is call delivery with a ready message :) Anyways, again great vid!
Thanks for watching, and I appreciate the guidance! It’s funny, you’re the second IRL pilot to say that about VatSim…I wonder why that is? Thanks again.
@@AirNOTT I think I find VatSim can be a little bit too serious at times and I think (for me) that adds a lot of pressure on getting everything right first time which in turn makes it daunting and scary. I think IRL it helps having a second crew member with you to help on the radios where as VatSim its single pilot ops mostly which throws the workload up. But even IRL we mess up on radio calls at least once per flight, calling wrong frequencies, wrong readbacks, missing calls etc, everyone has to start somewhere with ATC and I think VatSim is a fantastic tool for immersion and a good leap into realistic ATC, the Gatwick controllers are spot on!
@@AirNOTT IRL the ATC is there to keep everyone safe and act professionally. On VATSIM the controllers can play god and act up without anyone getting in danger and without anyone reporting them etc... I have not flown VATSIM yet but have watched hundreds of streams and there have been quite a few controllers who would have been replrimanded if they were doing the job IRL.
Class mate! Well in!
HEY AS A FiveM ATC ur readbackes were great!!! atc SHOULD have said when ready request push n start but yeh it was great non the less
Great video! as a not english native speaker I fly in vatsim with the same scare. I'll give you an advice. When you got into the DTHR (Displaced Threshold) is a good practice to full stop until the Take off Clearence. I see at 6:31 that you got into the runway and still rolling at low speed until the T/O clearence. That's not a good practice because you're wasting runway distance. In case of an emergency you'll need most runway available so it's better to set TO/GA with the maximum landing distance available. Hope I was helpfull!
Very helpful, thanks for sharing this
Much better than I was for my first time! What I would say is contacting early isn't really necessary they will just send you a contact me which isn't a problem for controllers. Also yeh reading back taxi instructions is needed
Appreciate the advice, thanks!
I’m about to play vatsim for the first time but watching this is making me reconsider I am hovering over the connect button 😰
Great job mate, well done!
Thanks very much! Nerve wracking for sure, but very rewarding. Now onto the next 🙂
this has certainly put into perspective how little i know about commercial flight sim, was planning on giving VATSIM a go at some point but this has confirmed i most certainly will NOT be. no chance am i remembering all of that info great video though, thoroughly enjoyed just made me realise i wouldnt stand a chance in a sim like that lol
Best advice I can give is to connect in observer mode, park up next to someone and pretend you’re them. See if you make there same decisions and get to the same place
Felt that landing down here in Australia :) very nice video, I honestly did enjoy it quite a bit. Hopefully I'll be able to see you up there one day.
Nice one. This is the first MSFS vid I've watched because I daren't watch too many or else I'll get addicted and I doubt my computer would take MSFS so I'm having to stick with FSX for now.
As a person just getting into flight sim. I am bricking it just watching this video. My worry is forgetting everything they say that I have to read back lol
Great job captain
I remember my first time on vat sim very scary at first
Cheers Steve! Maybe next time I’ll venture into Europe a bit and see how things go
You sounded really professional TBH. I hope my first flight with Vatsim goes as smoothly. I struggle to run the A320 Fenix since the V2 update. I think I might have to delete a folder in the Fenix to make her run smoothly in terms of FPS? My system is a Z790 Motherboard (Gigabyte) AIO Water Cooler with CPU - 24 core 36 hyper core Intel 14900k with a GPU of a Nvidia RTX4090 with 64GB of DDR5. 1000 watt HX1000 PSU, 8TB NVME SSD's and I run a Quest Three for Wireless VR. + 1 x 34 inch and two 27 inch monitors. Only use a Microsoft Force Feedback sidewinder joystick. Fenix should really run as smooth as butter. but it doesnt.
Well done. I still have had the guts to do a VATSIM flight. Really must do it though.
That's funny, the same thing happened to me on my first Vatsim flight with the APU :D
Oliver on tower being chill hehehe
fair play dude, did my 1st vatsim flight yesterday and it was terrying enough without recording it lol
Awesome flight ! I'm still trying to build confidence to make a flight on Vatsim 😂
Btw what mod/ setting do you use to display that flight info at the top of the screen ?
You’ve done very well for your first time. And made respect for flying the entire SID/STAR! I noticed planes in real life look like they vectored to a shortcut into the approach and that’s how I would do it on the sim. I could totally relate to my first time I wasn’t even bothered about the plane performance as long as I said the right things 😂
Yeah the plane was right at the bottom of the list! Funny what stress does to you.
My first flight was Stansted to Edinburgh right in middle of across the pond event 😅 was a tad busy
Of my! Yeah I can imagine 😅
Also I subbed this channel is really nice I got to say
Well done great first flight! Great video also ✈️
Thanks, appreciate you stopping by to watch 👍
Bravo Ramp😂 It's actually Juliet Echo taxiway on that side of B Pier
Great Job! Really the only thing is that the controllers always sound muffled, but not in real life! I hope to see more of your great adventures in the sky!
Thanks very much indeed! Appreciate you watching 👍
My anxiety gets the better of me when it comes to Vatsim, feel like i would struggle lol
BeyondATC could be a good alternative once it’s out?
Looking forward to more VATSIM videos!
Me too! Just gotta build up the courage for flight number two 😅