WHY CAN’T Vatsim make a pilot rating plan for those who don’t wanna ever fly single engine airplanes? for those who only like flying airliners like the PMDG 737 on the network only? i just did some research just to find out that for me to get the (big planes) pilot rating, i need to pass through the slow Cessnas pilot rating p2 which i hate due to their speed and always stalling on take off(due my personal experience).
i have no problem with p1 rating since it teaches my about the basics.
Am a pmdg B737 800 expert in my level like i can fly even on auto pilot.
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i will highly appreciate if someone can give me a reason why i need to start from small engine planes here.
There you go: if you frequently stall light single engine aircraft on takeoff, then you need to learn this. IRL nobody gets to fly a heavy jet from the start, but we all had to start with those small lawn mowers - and that’s for a good reason.
Something to also think about: What happens to your flight should anything/everything in your FMS/FMC fails, including autopilot? At some point you will need to know how to fly your aircraft, and not let the aircraft fly you.
Additionally, you may find that you encounter more traffic at smaller fields than you do at larger fields. I again bring back the point that we at vZLA have had controllers who did not want to pursue anything past a major field and preferred to control smaller fields, like KSMO, KVNY, KVGT, and others, because they noticed a lack of support for those GA pilots who just want to fly. And in doing that, and staffing KSMO, they were able to generate more traffic at that small field than anything we had at a major event for LAX.
Finally, if you need to fly a particular procedure that has you intercepting radials off of a VOR, you would need to know how to do that versus handling anything RNAV. The better you know and learn procedures like that, the better you’d be if anything happens to your FMS, as you can still use your dials to tune to a given VOR or NAVAID, and still be able to fly your aircraft.
Simmers don’t like to hear it, but the reality is that flying the average GA plane takes more stick and rudder skill and finesse than flying a modern airliner does. (I’m obviously not talking about the entirety of operating the aircraft safely, but specifically the act of manipulating the controls to make it go where you want.). For instance, the 737 is probably the easiest aircraft to fly that I’ve ever operated. The most challenging ones have a single reciprocating engine and were all built in the 1940s.
There’s no need to have any pilot ratings in Vatsim. For those that choose to pursue them, it only makes sense that it should be a progression starting at, well, the start.
Hi all,
I completely agree with the fact that a small airplane is not so easy to pilot, and that this is a very good training to appreciate the ways an airplane behaves.
Drawback, at least for me, is that small planes are VFR, which means thet you have to navigate “with the eyes”. Of course you can and must use VOR or DME or ILS, woud it be only to understand how they work, but they are also great help.
I used to have a Private Pilot liicense, and flew VFR without any problems.
But, and this is the point, with the sim’s, I find it very difficult to look outside, especially during approach phases where you must see where you are respective to the airfield (downwind leg, base leg…).
This is the reason why I hesitate to jump in a Simulator Pilot license training and examination.
Flying on autopilot doesn’t make anyone an expert. I recommend watching Children Of The Magenta Line to understand how automation dependency affected real world pilots.
I find older airliners like the 727 more of a challenge, hence more rewarding. Only a very primitive autopilot, only VOR or INS navigation, no VNAV and no autothrottle. Then there’s the DC-3…
For what reason do you want a pilot rating? there is no requirement to have one to fly airliners on the network, and no controller ever sees it when they are controlling you, so why not just carry on buisness as usual?
VATSIM Pilot Ratings are completely optional. They are set up to mimic a real world pilots flight career. No one jumps directly into an airliner. This hobby has so many options in how to fly. For those of us who want a real world simulation means we learn how a real pilot learns. No one is saying you must go through flight school. I’m with VATSTAR and after 20 year in this hobby ang over 1,100 hours on VATSIM I am going back to the basics. A Cessna 152. It ain’t easy, but that is the point. I do not even have the autopilot activated. I never use it. Dale Earnhardt did not jump in a Stock Car his first day. I am sure he started on a Chevy or some such. VATSIM was established to give those who want the most realism a place to fly. I am medically grounded in real life and I am grateful for VATSIM and VATSTAR to give me the opportunity to learn everything I can.
