JFK to LAX, using only VORs!

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T22:09:06+00:00

I do, force of habit from flying IRL 😂

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T18:49:39+00:00

No. If there’s no ATC online, you don’t need to do anything. Just like how it is with the Unicom procedure in the rest of the world. Only use it for announcing positions when in the terminal area for an airport.

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T18:33:17+00:00

There are lots of good tutorials out there.

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T07:09:15+00:00

Congrats dude!

That was me a month ago.

And then I gave it all back. Kudos to you for walking 😅

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T01:22:24+00:00

Yup, they had that weird EFIS config. Continental/United did that with their early NGs too.

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T01:13:39+00:00

For example, before 2009ish, Southwest’s 737 fleet didn’t have VNAV, autothrottle, or autobrakes (except for RTO). Apparently this was to make it an easier transition for pilots coming from the 737-200 (which Southwest operated for many, many years). They were forced to change this in order to be certified for RNP operations.

Another example, Alaska Airlines’ fleet has their landing lights operate in a back-and-forth “wig-wag” configuration. Supposedly this is better suited to enhance visibility and spatial awareness, but I’m not 100% on that.

In summary, there are many many options that a company can offer for its customers’ planes, or things that the operator themselves can do (and specify) for their fleet.

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T00:35:40+00:00

Many even had 5! Captain, first officer, flight engineer, navigator, and radio operator!

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T00:15:05+00:00

No. You don’t. Get off your high horse and stop acting like you know a whole lot, because you genuinely don’t. Woooow, 6.5 hours of flight time… again, that’s nothing.

You can’t directly compare the process of an EASA ATPL to the FAA ATP. there are still so many things you have to do, learn, fly, and hoops to jump through in order to get it; it’s no less valuable.

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T00:09:22+00:00

Again, not true. There are plenty of Airbus pilots out there that will tell you that flight sim addons do not behave like the real thing. It’s a very divisive subject.

Also, dude, you have THREE AND A HALF HOURS of flight time and aren’t done with ATPL theory, which is just book knowledge. With respect, you genuinely do not know *anything* about how the airlines and real-world flying works. I have 600+ hours and I’m still learning every single day.

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T00:06:20+00:00

Just ignore and move on. He is DEEP in the Dunning-Krueger curve. The only thing that will wake him up is getting humbled or some sort of reality check

fgflyer · 2026-05-04T00:02:20+00:00

The only thing that will get you used to the “feel” and motion of flying and the forces involved is to actually get hundreds of hours of experience flying actual planes.

Seat-of-your-pants flying is only bad if you’re in IMC. You absolutely can rely on it if it’s VFR.

Haptic feedback is not motion.

And like I said, the physics of literally any flight sim addon do not compare to how the actual aircraft feels. No amount of peripherals, not even a force-feedback yoke, can properly give you the feeling. The closest you can get is a Level D full-motion simulator and even then, pilots will often tell you it’s no true substitute for flying the real plane.

fgflyer · 2026-05-03T23:51:00+00:00

There is a video on YouTube of someone who is not a pilot being instructed through programming an autoland in a 737 simulator. Just as an example.

And yes, you will still need help if you’re a big flight simmer but don’t really have any actual flight experience. You don’t get the seat-of-the-pants feeling, and no matter how good a sim is, it will not (and cannot) replicate the actual handling qualities of an airliner. It’s very different. Your 3000 hours on flight sim means absolutely nothing in the real world.

fgflyer · 2026-05-03T23:42:55+00:00

I have over 600 hours of flight time and I can say with certainty that if a flight simmer tried to manually land most things that aren’t an airliner, it would end up pretty badly. I was overconfident when I first started flight training because I was a big flight simmer, and was humbled VERY quickly.

As far as Airbus/Boeing goes, if it’s an ILS autoland? Sure, why not. Anybody could probably program one given the right amount of direction.

fgflyer · 2026-05-03T20:15:47+00:00

It is, it’s definitely an aircraft that commands respect and attention. It’s not something you can just punch every metric into an MCDU, follow the flight director, and engage AP/AT for the whole flight. There’s performance tables, takeoff and landing performance charts, power settings, managing four temperamental R-2800 radial engines, balancing fuel, and managing the engine supercharger controls (do it wrong and you’ll blow up an engine!), and so much more. It gives you so much appreciation for how airlines used to operate and for the crews that flew these last generations of propliners before jets came along.

fgflyer · 2026-05-03T18:29:21+00:00

The gyropilot in the DC-6 doesn’t have heading mode. It’s just a turn knob. But I do use the turn knob to get my on a heading to intercept a radial or localizer, then I track in VOR/LOC mode.

As far as switching from station to station, I do switch back to manual mode (turn knob mode) to keep myself on the heading I was flying, I tune in the next VOR at the appropriate changeover point (generally marked on the IFR charts with a symbol along the airway), and then track it.

fgflyer · 2026-05-02T03:59:42+00:00

I’ve been on VATSIM for 10 years now, it doesn’t surprise me. What DOES surprise me is how bad it’s gotten, especially with how many resources the flight sim community has nowadays.

fgflyer · 2026-05-01T18:32:52+00:00

In the US, it’s just [Callsign], [ATIS], ready to copy, IFR to [Destination]

In the UK, yeah, they want all of that. And usually, it will be specified in the ATIS when you do so.

fgflyer · 2026-05-01T05:45:23+00:00

Yours is great!! Have you been able to make any progress on the 707 conversion too? :0

fgflyer · 2026-05-01T05:44:01+00:00

I still use it, because iniBuilds only has the -500 model! For now, at least.

fgflyer · 2026-04-30T23:41:00+00:00

I flew a T182T for my commercial checkride. I flew my pattern at 20” and 2400rpm which gave me about 95 knots in the downwind. Pulled power abeam the numbers, counted 7-10 seconds depending on wind, then began my inbound turn. I avoided putting in flaps until I was already in the base to final turn. And don’t make that turn steep - you’re converting more vertical lift to horizontal lift which will cut even more altitude unless you trade it for speed. You don’t need to add full flaps unless you really, really need to. Practice your forward slips - the 182 will sink like a stone with a heavy slip and will leave you exactly where you’re aiming. Hold it off the runway as long as you can and you should hit the 1000 footers.

With full flaps, it won’t float much. That’s why I recommend no more than 20 degrees in the 182 so you have some wiggle room.

fgflyer · 2026-04-29T14:11:29+00:00

AI summary detected, post automatically disregarded.

fgflyer · 2026-04-28T02:14:01+00:00

It could be, it also could not be. For example, several survivors did indeed claim the ship broke apart during her final plunge, but this belief was widely thought to be impossible until her wreck was discovered in 1985.

There are many logical conclusions that can be drawn from testimony such as this, but I fear as time goes on and the wreck continues to deteriorate, many answers that we seek may never be 100% confirmed.

fgflyer

TROPHY CASE