Pilots

So you decided to join the enthusiasts, like yourself, and start flying in flight simulator. What should you start with?

Obviously the first thing to do is to get yourself a flight simulator. As of today the market offers us a few options, the best of which would be either Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane 12. Those are brand new Flight Simulators, providing the best experience the developers could bring.

If you're a more old-school person or your PC is not very powerful you might also check out one of an older options, such as Microsoft Flight Simulator X, X-Plane 11 or Prepare 3D. These simulators are quite old, won't produce a beautiful picture, but still they will let you perform your virtual flight.

All the Flight Simulators may be bought through many distribution services such as Steam, G2A etc.

Since those are civil aviation simulators, mostly they allow you to fly civil aviation, whether it's a small Cessna, a popular by airlines Boeing 737 or a giant Airbus A380. Though today you may also find a military aircrafts, you will not get a military flight simulator capabilities - like shoot rockets, throw bombs etc.

There are a few options provided with modern Flight Simulators. First and the easiest way is to fly using inbuilt multiplayer session.

But, if you would like to bring your experience to as realistic as possible - you would like to fly in air traffic simulation network, such as VATSIM.
In order to join VATSIM you should create a personal account with VATSIM on the official website. Upon registration you will be given instructions on how setup your Flight Simulator, what extra addons you need, how to join the server etc.

Luckily today, the official VATSIM resources provide good instruction material that you may find in your VATSIM dashboard, but if you encounter any difficulties you may always ask for assistance on our Discord server or contact us through email.

VATSIM is the Virtual Air Traffic Simulation network, connecting people from around the world flying online or acting as virtual Air Traffic Controllers. So basically this allows you to fly in a way, when every and each airplane is controlled by a real human being, no AI at all, and every Air Traffic Controller you encounter, yes, you guess it, a real person.

Though VATSIM is a great a way to spend your time in Flight Simulator or even use it as a learning environment if you're interested in gaining some knowledge or skills in terms of aviation, VATSIM does have it's requirements and limitations.

First of all, you have to comply with all the Policies provided by VATSIM upon registration or in your personal Dashboard. Keep in mind that this network aims for realism, so no fooling around is permitted - you have to follow real life procedures, communicate with Air Traffic Controllers, use charts etc.

Second, if you would like to play a role of Air Traffic Controller, unlike being a pilot, prior to performing this functions you have to get a proper training and pass the exams to gain an ATC rating. Each ATC rating allows to control a proper positions and to provide service in a determined area - you have to get training in that location. For example if you want to provide Air Traffic Service in Lithuania - you have to get your training with vACC Lithuania.

First of all we highly recommend you to stuck with one airplane. Pick the one you like the most, no matter if it is big or small, prop or jet - the idea is that you will enjoy flying this airplane.

When you are done with choosing the aircraft you have to get familiar with it - read manuals provided with aircraft or find some online, watch YouTube tutorials on how to operate this craft's systems etc.

So you feel yourself confident operating the aircraft you have choose? Let's get even dipper in realistic flying.
For many in may come in surprise, but airplanes does not fly in a straight line from point A to point B, they use Air Routes with waypoints and tracks, a special departure and arrival procedures and so on.

So the next step will be to get yourself familiar with the rules under which airplanes are flying. There are many ways to do this, but we would recommend either of the next two ways - get yourself trained in the Authorized Training Organization in VATSIM or join our Discord server, get in touch with other virtual pilots and ask for their help. The Rules of Air topic is quite wide and there is no person in the world to learn all of it, so it's a point of constant self-development and it lasts as long as you're interested in it, so we won't describe this topic furthermore.

Last but not least, the time comes when are ready to do flying under Air Traffic Control - so grab some manuals on how to communicate with ATC (there are already plenty of them online as well as there are a lot of useful tutorials on YouTube) and start practicing your communication in VATSIM flying to and from the airports covered by Air Traffic Control at the moment of your flight.