since the PMDG B77W has came out now I see many people using time acceleration on long hauls on network. why is this allowed if you don’t have time for your flight DO NOT FLY. same with even smaller jets and smaller routes like I don’t want to see someone going 8x time and crossing path on a VERY short flight for them. since it has just caused issues IMO time acceleration should be banned on network. Don’t have time for a flight? You don’t have time for VATSIM.
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I beg to differ.
One can still fly on the network if they don’t have that time. What they can do is:
- leave the autopilot engaged,
- disconnect from the network; and when they are ready to resume the flight if they have the time,
- reconnect to the network, refile their flightplan, and contact ATC if necessary.
That way they can keep their flight going, keep it going offline, and then reconnect when applicable. That is at least better than saying “if you don’t have time, you don’t have time for the network.”
BL.
2 Likes
Perhaps we should put a GS limit on all connections?
How does someone else using time acceleration impact anyone else’s enjoyment of the network? If they are maintaining situational awareness they are complying. If Vatsim bans time acceleration I submit that would be unreasonable given that any likely impact on anyone else is already catered for.
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Not to worry. It’s not being considered. We try not to be too unreasonable. 
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I fly 737s for a living. I’ve done almost 8 hour legs. Time acceleration is the SINGLE BEST FEATURE of an entertainment flight sim (and we use it often during training in level Ds as well.)
On Vatsim, it makes sense not to use it in controlled airspace without first getting approval from the controller, or in terminal airspace. But goodness, in cruise in an uncontrolled center? Why wouldn’t you want to hustle along to ToD?
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look around what are we? fake pilots trying to create a realisc flight enjoying the passing ocean/scenery we are not just landing a taking off yk. time acceleration should be a off network thing not a on network.
Ryder can you offer some context as to why it causes problems for you?
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Well… since the 777 came out, I tried time accel on the network and both others and I have not had a single issue with it with just a handful of simple rules to follow:
- max. 2X or 4X time accel, not higher
- take a look at vatsim-radar.com and anticipate what traffic will cross my flightpath and wether or not other pilots have a step climb in their flightplan.
- choose correct FLs: eastwards odd levels, westwards even levels (except FRA, ESP, POR, SUI, ITA: north-even, south-odd)
- reaching out to other pilots that might cross my flightpath and ask with .chat ABC123 if something remains unclear for me
- never leave the sim for more than just a few minutes when using time accel. You must be ready to revert back to 1x as soon as there’s ATC online
I understand the anger about time accel pilots that do not follow those simple rules and causing TA/RAs for other pilots or big issues for online ATC. Apart from that… not many full time employed people have the chance to do a 12h flight in real time. Yet they should be able to simulate flights aswell on VATSIM.
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I would agree with the others here that - as a pilot - time acceleration doesn’t really cause any issues.
Could you be in the unlucky situation that somebody using time acceleration flies directly through you? Yes. But these situations also happen without time acceleration, as does the lack of communication between pilots especially during cruise on Unicom. Those are certainly issues in itself, but nothing that can be blamed on time acceleration.
As a controller, however, I have seen a significant increase in people crossing my sector at what seems like 10x speed without talking to me - presumably because they did not do a good enough job checking for online ATC and, perhaps more importantly, what airspace they cover (though I would actually say that that is more so VATSIM’s fault for not providing a singular official map tool that displays all sectors three-dimensionally and correctly - but again a different issue). Likewise, I have now also had various instances of pilots purportedly activated the time acceleration accidentally and only noticed and turned it off once I asked them about it; and in the often very tight sequences we have to build here, even a few seconds at accelerated sim rate can result in an immense increase to the already high ATC workload just to fix the issue.
I actually think Brad’s suggestion from the beginning of this thread would be quite a good compromise:
When you are using time acceleration, you are almost always in Unicomland and, due to working under a completely different premise than someone without time acceleration, highly unlikely to meaningfully interact with other users, which means there is no real downside to conducting the accelerated part of the flight offline. Being offline, however, reduces the risk of accidentally flying through currently staffed sectors under time acceleration as well as inadvertently causing issues for the few people who seem to have significant problems with it as an uninvolved pilot.
If you think about it, using time acceleration is not so different from being AFK in that regard: a pilot is unable to be at the helm for the entirety of their flight, so a compromise has been made to accommodate that, in this case to be available at a moment’s notice should ATC be online, to disconnect and then reconnect once they can be at the helm again, or - if under ATC already - to obtain permission from the controller. A similar rule for time acceleration allowing the same disconnect and then reconnect when you can resume with 1x rate or (similar to what we already have) - if under ATC already - to obtain permission and to then discontinue the accelerated rate when being sent back to Unicom.
Pilots can, of course, behave that way already, but they could be compelled to with barely any negative consequences while preventing most, if not all, the negative impact on other users.
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Should we ban time acceleration? No!
Should pilots be more aware of their surroundings when using it? YES!
Every now and then I would like to fly a long haul (3+ hours wheels up/down), say from Hawaii to California or refly a flight I enjoyed as “self loading freight”.
I just don’t have the 9 hours plus getting to/from the runway… I do have the 4 hours if I can zoom across UNICOMland in 4x.
I participated in the CTL flying from EDDF to OEMA. That was a 5h30 flight (gate to gate) on a saturday, which the significant other had to sign off on…
I just can’t get approval for a EDDF to FACT flight in real time (according to simbrief 10:46 airtime)… With time acceleration across the med and africa I can make this happen in a reasonable timeframe on the realtime clock.
my 2c
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I could easily make the opposite argument: if you’re in this for just watching the scenery go by, THAT can easily be an off network vs on network thing.
I would say most of us are here for semi-realistic interactions with human ATC while flying semi-realistic renditions of aircraft in pretty realistic departure and arrival procedures. Cruise in reality is low-workload, and in the sim is basically zero workload. I’m not sure I see the point.
But the point is, I wouldn’t tell anyone how to enjoy their sim, or the network. I would suggest that you should do what works for you, and you should probably let others do what works for them.
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Yes, provided of course that what works for someone also works for the other users of the network.
Well of course… And since time accel has been permitted for years, it obviously does.
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Not always, apparently. Not all time accelerators are considerate.
Yeah but that’s true of some on the network that never time accel also. The problem doesn’t come from the existence of any given feature, but the inability or unwillingness of some Vatsimmers to do it correctly 
. The same folks who would time accel into other users were probably going to disrupt their experience in other ways anyway!
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You are totally correct! Well said.
spurious TCAS RA’s
just disconnect, go at 4x, reconnect when you are back to 1x.
you wont look like a ridiculous tcas target causing spurious RA’s either.
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No point, if there’s not conflicting traffic. It’s better to remain on the network so controllers can see you approaching their airspace etc. No reason to be pop-up traffic that just appears out of thin air.
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if i can see a target zipping across my ND at mach 8, thats a “disruption” imo. not to mention the spurious tcas RAs. if i never see them, then thats fine. the fact that I see them means they are causing a problem, so just go offline to accel.
controllers do not care if you pop up at cruise in the middle of nowhere.
i’ve said it before, i consider it rude to use time accelleration on the network. just bad manners. just like going totally against the traffic flow at an airport. yes its allowed, you’re inconsiderate of your fellow users if you do it though.
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