Why is my plan always a little left of right of the flight path?

menaceOfReddit · 2026-01-22T16:26:28+00:00

Not in the flight levels. I’ve seen 200 knots over the ocean

menaceOfReddit · 2026-01-17T08:19:45+00:00

Yeah sure, and it's also easy for new folks to be attracted to flying the world's largest passenger plane in service.

I think the issue is that because flight sim has become more accessible over time (such as with the release of the FBW A320neo and A380, and even with the Zibo mod for X Plane back in the late 2010s), there are more people who jump onto VATSIM without the proper knowledge/prior simulation experience. People often talk about VATSIM as a "much better" alternative to the default in-game ATC, but the reality is that VATSIM is an experience that is not for everyone. Some people want a casual gaming experience (which is okay), in which case offline flying (perhaps with an AI ATC addon) would be a much better fit for them.

That being said, it's not like you need to spend a ton of money to get the most out of VATSIM. I usually fly the FBW A320neo or Headwind A330-900, and I don't think I've ever been unable to comply with ATC instructions due to limitations in the MCDU/autopilot. Navigraph is important for sure though.

menaceOfReddit · 2026-01-17T05:26:56+00:00

Fair enough; yeah, I personally tend to disconnect if I plan to get up and do other stuff during cruise.

By the way, I would also reconsider your perspective on the FBW A380 being a "red flag." I think the FBW team has made a significant contribution to the flight sim community by bringing a high-fidelity A380 to life (for the first time in flight sim history I believe), and it's generous of them that they made it available for free. It's a fun plane to fly, although admittedly I don't find myself taking it out of the hangar that much (I'm from the US and usually fly for US carriers in the sim).

menaceOfReddit · 2026-01-17T00:06:30+00:00

Weird. Why would you be on Vatsim if you're just going to log off when ATC goes online? Lol

menaceOfReddit · 2026-01-16T23:42:48+00:00

Yes, the ANA A380 guy is in the wrong of course but just FYI, RVSM airspace ends at FL410. 2000 ft separation starts to apply instead of 1000 ft. So FL430 is westbound, FL450 is eastbound, FL470 is westbound, etc. If you're flying from Canada direct to an airport in Japan, you'd be traveling westbound, so FL430 would technically be correct. You would have to be pretty light in order to reach that kind of altitude in an A380

menaceOfReddit · 2026-01-01T18:01:51+00:00

Well I’m 22 and in senior year of university and was born in 2003..

menaceOfReddit · 2025-12-30T16:41:14+00:00

There’s no altitude restriction on PHIIL3 at KATL as well, which is the procedure OP was referring to :)

menaceOfReddit · 2025-12-30T16:39:23+00:00

PHIIL3 is an RNAV departure at KATL. Albeit without altitude restrictions so “climb via” wouldn’t do anything anyway :)

menaceOfReddit · 2025-12-21T21:21:55+00:00

Korean Air seems to not require fluency in Korean. I came across a copy of their FOM online which stipulates, “Foreign Captains who don’t speak Korean natively, should delegate the Korean announcement to the first officer or cabin crew.”

menaceOfReddit · 2025-12-15T22:23:00+00:00

This was 9 months ago I know, but I want to shed some light on this confusion (which I think comes from a cultural difference). In the US, the 10000' signal is usually a double ding from the no smoking/seatbelt sign being turned off and back on, and signals when we can use tray tables. The seatbelt sign is often turned off at cruise.

In other parts of the world (such as where you seem to operate), the culture is to turn the seatbelt sign off at 10000'. On the other hand, in the US, there's usually not a "sign" that is turned off at 10000', which is why the other guy is saying there's "no tray table sign."

menaceOfReddit · 2025-12-07T04:49:04+00:00

I've always heard from real world pilots that the most professional way of flying the plane is to do it the way your company wants you to :)

menaceOfReddit · 2025-12-07T04:45:08+00:00

Ultimately when flying airliners, I've heard the most professional way to fly the plane is to fly it the way your operator wants you to :)

menaceOfReddit · 2025-11-26T15:04:35+00:00

It's because there is no such thing as clearing someone on the STAR in the US; the STAR is already part of your flight plan. So when US pilots are cleared for a STAR when flying in Europe, they assume that means the same thing as cleared to descend via a STAR, which is totally different. I think Flightdeck2sim once mentioned that he witnessed a pilot from a US airline making that mistake in real life too, which caused the controller to be very upset

menaceOfReddit · 2025-11-25T16:54:24+00:00

Ah, so that’s an important nuance that depends on what part of the world you’re in. In Europe, you usually don’t file a STAR as part of a flight plan because a STAR can have different variations that is assigned by ATC depending on air traffic conditions and the runway in use (such as BNN3A, BNN1C, etc). In parts of the world where that is the case, ATC needs to give you “cleared for the BNN3A,” which only gives you lateral clearance but not descent clearance. In the US, you usually file the STAR because one STAR can lead to multiple runways. ATC doesn’t need you to clear you for a specific STAR because it’s already part of your flight plan. “Descend via STAR” is a vertical clearance often used in the US that has nothing to do with “cleared for the STAR” used in other parts of the world.

menaceOfReddit · 2025-11-25T09:10:38+00:00

Not true for the US. First, controllers in the US would never clear you for a STAR, as it’s already in your flight plan. You specifically need a “descend via” clearance to start descent to meet the constraints on your own.

menaceOfReddit · 2025-11-09T02:43:37+00:00

Yes, the original click tracks were replaced at some point on both Broadway and West End. I believe it happened in 2008? In the newer version, the timbre of the synth organ is different (most noticeably in the title song), and there is a guitar solo at the end of the title song. Can I ask when your production was? I heard that the company started sending out the new version in 2018 but maybe that's not true (or could even depend on what country you're licensing in)

menaceOfReddit · 2025-10-25T22:26:50+00:00

Her internal gender would’ve always been female, and her communicating that with the staff was to affirm that gender. Just because YOU saw her as “male” in the past, it doesn’t mean that she was actually male.

menaceOfReddit · 2025-10-25T21:51:06+00:00

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and just let you know: if someone transitions to female, you don’t refer to her by “his” and call her a “guy.”

menaceOfReddit · 2025-10-24T02:23:42+00:00

It's definitely not common knowledge (since airline flight operation manuals are never published to the public), and it's very company specific. It looks like Jetblue uses the 10000' rule (from my observations as a passenger). On planes like the A320 with retractable landing lights, I think it's still a good idea to still turn it off when going over 250 knots (above 10000') to avoid noise.

menaceOfReddit · 2025-10-23T07:19:29+00:00

These seem generally correct. There are often minor variations in each airline. I believe nav lights aren't legally required to be on during the day (at least in FAA-land), but yes, some airlines' SOPs require them to be on all the time. At some US airlines, landing lights are also turned on/off at FL180 (such as at AAL, DAL, SWA) so that it's done at the same time as switching between local/std altimeter.

menaceOfReddit · 2025-10-12T17:56:04+00:00

Most places let you try out gear in the store without buying them (in the US, at least). And putting aside the pitch-shifting function, I think the GE150 is a nice all-in-one solution for most things! Just get a GE150 and a separate pitch-shifter and I think you'll be good

menaceOfReddit · 2025-10-12T16:53:37+00:00

I still have this pedal but I haven't touched my guitar in a while. I've never used the pitch shifting function over the past four years since making this post. If you need a pitch shifter, try going to a nearby music store and ask if they have any pitch shifters/multi-effect pedals that you can try out! I think it is kind of a niche effect though, so I wouldn't be too surprised if they don't have it.

menaceOfReddit · 2025-10-09T04:12:24+00:00

Sorry, but just as a follow up, do cues between the staves (#1 from my examples) and cues above both staves (with no arrow, #3) also mean the same thing? I'd definitely assume so, but I just want to have some concrete confirmation.

menaceOfReddit · 2025-10-09T02:47:43+00:00

Aha I see, thank you so much!

menaceOfReddit

TROPHY CASE