Getting started with online virtual flying- Pilots guide [Archive]

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neoncircles

21st March 2008, 23:50

Online virtual flying is a highly addictive hobby. Believe me, if you start, you'll have serious problems tearing yourself away from it.....

Just decided to put this together as an aid for any wannabee virtual pilots on VATSIM. VATSIM is the virtual air traffic simulation network. It is comprised of virtual pilots and virtual controllers, so instead of using the crappy FS ATC, you can use VATSIM to enjoy a much more realistic experience.

To get started....its pretty simple. Well, what do you need?

Knowledge of flying and how ATC works:: you'll need to know how ATC works, what means what, and of course you'll need to be able to fly your aircraft too ;)
Software: Apart from Flight Simulator, you'll need to download Sqwawkbox or FSINN. (Dont install both.) Sqwawkbox is the recommended option as its easy to work with and not as complicated.
Aircraft: If you plan on doing nothing but vfr circuits, the default aircraft will do you. But, if you want to fly realistic flights you'll need to purchase a decent payware aircraft, like the pmdg 737 series or wilco airbus. These have the FMC (Flight management computeR) which you'll need to fly real world routes, and so on.
Microphone/Headset: while you can communicate with ATC using text, voice is the preffered option. A decent headset with the volumes set correctly makes for an incredibly realistic flight
Charts: For busy/large airports, you'll need charts. You can find them usually on the aviation authority of the relevant country
Route planning: Again, only relevant if you're flying proper routes you'll need to be able to plan routes. vroute is a free piece of software which has a large database of routes. Just to note, you cannot fly direct between two airports, unless VFR or its a very short flight (eg Galway to Knock)
VATSIM ID: You'll need to signup on www.vatsim.net and get a VATSIM ID and password to sign into the network.
Thats a very rough guide. Logging onto the network can be a tad daunting for the first few times, but it gets incredibly addictive. The following links below will be of use:

www.vatsim.net - vatsim homepage
www.vateir.com - Irish division of VATSIM
www.avsim.com - freeware addons for FS
http://www.iaa.ie/safe_reg/iaip/ - Irish airport charts
http://www.ais.org.uk/aes/login.jsp - UK charts (registration required)
http://www.vateir.com/connecting.php - How to get started with sqwawkbox
http://www.vateir.com/pilots.php - Further pilots guides

promo video....
MDhbxdGak4g

Wings11

22nd March 2008, 10:39

Cheers Colm..

Ive been looking at VATSIM a lot lately and wondered how it all worked and youve answrered my questions.

Im hoping to give it a try now that youve explained how to get it going..

Good Work Mate!.

Shamrock883

23rd March 2008, 01:24

Thanks Colm.

You'll have to teach me how to fly SIDs and STARs.
I'll talk again prob when inbound to EINN :p
Best,

Cillian

Wings11

28th March 2008, 11:29

Hi Colm/All

Where can i download the Squwakbox?

Im really interested to get going on this now.

Shamrock883

28th March 2008, 12:25

Hi Wings,

Explains all:
http://www.vateir.com/connecting.php

Have fun!

Wings11

28th March 2008, 21:44

Hi Wings,

Explains all:
http://www.vateir.com/connecting.php

Have fun!

Brilliant, Thanks Again Cillian, Do you use this??

If so i might try and have a flight one night with you from somewhere. Would prefer to start off with someone that uses it so i can get use to it.

Thanks

neoncircles

29th March 2008, 23:47

If anyone ever needs a hand let me know.....my life is spent on vatsim...

Shamrock883

1st April 2008, 16:09

Brilliant, Thanks Again Cillian, Do you use this??

If so i might try and have a flight one night with you from somewhere. Would prefer to start off with someone that uses it so i can get use to it.

Thanks
I do indeed and so does Colm. (neoncircles)
I'd love to fly with you any time (my internet's broken now at the moment so it'll have to be in a week or two:( (lightning))

Wings11

7th April 2008, 15:45

Hi All..

Having some trouble with getting myself up and running.

Ive got the Squawkbox program, but when i go to install it says it cant find a Valid copy of Flight Sim.

This is rubbish, ive got FS9 and FSX but its not recognising either.

Any Ideas guys?

Ta

neoncircles

7th April 2008, 17:12

Try redownloading sqwawkbox, make sure it has the right FS installation detected

If your running Vista run the installation under administrator with win xp compatibility

Wings11

7th April 2008, 18:27

Cheers Colm.

Il try it and see what happens

__________________________________________________ _______
*EDIT @ 19:43*

Just tried that Colm and im still getting the same message.

Am i missing something or doing somehting wrong?

Thanks Very Much Guys!

__________________________________________________ _________

Wings11

16th April 2008, 20:10

Hi All/ Colm

Ive tried on a few different occasions now to get sqwawkbox up and running but its still not having it.

Umm can anyone help?

Thanks very much

Callum:confused:

Shamrock883

17th April 2008, 19:12

Can you explain what you're doing please Callum?
It'll help narrow it down a bit...

Wings11

17th April 2008, 22:19

Hi Cillian,

Thanks for your reply,

Well i run the program select the options to run and instal sqwawkbox etc when i come to the option to Install i get the error message

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg119/Callum90_2008/Screenshot-1.jpg

Does that help??

Ive selected the option " I want to run Sqwawkbox And Flight Simulator on one computer only "

I do have a Valid Copy of Flight sim, Its FS9 and its all right nothing copied or anything it was shop bought

Shamrock883

18th April 2008, 20:35

Try re-downloading Squawkbox and see if it works...
It's odd this problem...

Wings11

20th April 2008, 22:16

can you give me the Link from where you got it from Cillian?

I know that sounds stupid, but what else can it be? The other 3 options below work but not the one i need.

Thanks So Much Mate.

Shamrock883

25th April 2008, 17:06

Certainly.
Here's the link:

http://www.nickwhittome.com/sb3/release/310/sb3setup.zip

I hope this helps and that you can get flying in the near future!
Best,

Cillian

Wings11

26th April 2008, 19:54

Thanks Cillian.

Ive got the one from the link but im still getting the same message. Its not Working :mad:. haha

Which of the 3 Options should i be choosing because im choosing the 1st one of Runniing Flight Sim and Squawkbox together on one computer.

What can it be???????

Thanks so much for sticking with me. lol

( By the way, Colm if you would like me to carry this on off the Board im happy with that. I just dont want to exceed any bandwidth you may have )

dougie-lampkin

26th April 2008, 23:27

neoncircles

26th April 2008, 23:29

Theres no authentication system of such barre a unsecured key code for FS9 so shouldnt make a difference

Wings11

27th April 2008, 09:40

Hi Callum,

If you're definitely using a legit copy of FS9, then the only thing that may happen is that you've installed FS into a different partition/hard drive/directory than default. Other than that, Squawkbox should install fine. I've installed it on 2 different computers and both times it was able to find FS fine...

That looks like Vista from the screenshot. Have you tried running the Squawkbox install in compatibility mode? That might just kick it into working, sometimes it does...

Rob

Cheers Rob, umm i think im running it in the default path that the game suggested, so thats

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9

How do i get it to run in compatibility mode??

And my O.S is XP Media Center, not quite vista. I think it was released about 8 - 12months before the first version of Vista.

*sigh* :confused:

Thanks Mate.

neoncircles

27th April 2008, 17:01

That is why you could be having a problem, its an ODD OS, Media centre....

Right click and press properties, press run under compatibility mode for WinXP and press run as administrator

Wings11

28th April 2008, 20:00

Thanks Colm, Im havin a few Problems getting it in as Administrator,

Its not liking it.

Thanks Guys for still helping me out, its really appreciated. ;)

As far as im aware there is no password, obviously there is. Il have a look in the Comp and see whats up.

neoncircles

28th April 2008, 20:52

Provided u have admin status yourself just put your own username and password in there

Wings11

20th May 2008, 11:25

Hi Colm.

Sorry i havent been on for a while, been up to my neck in work and exams.

I managed to solve the Admin Problem with the password etc.

But now when i run as administrator i get the following message. (see picture)

Any ideas? Cant be far away from solving it now.

Thanks again Colm and Cillian for your Patience.

Callum

Wings11

7th June 2008, 17:36

Hi All.

I ended up battleing on to solve the problem myself which ended up costing me a new keyboard because i smashed the other up in Frustration.

A full overhaul of the comp and reinstall of FS has now cured the problem.

IVAO is now installed and i would like to hear peoples opinions on this over Squawkbox and any tips if i should change to Squawkbox.

neoncircles

7th June 2008, 18:43

IVAO is now installed and i would like to hear peoples opinions on this over Squawkbox and any tips if i should change to Squawkbox.

:eek::eek::eek::eek: IVAO! You should be ashamed! lol!

Nah, IVAO is am much less professional network that none of us use at all anyway

Sqwawkbox or FSinn for Vatsim ;)

Wings11

7th June 2008, 23:36

:eek::eek::eek::eek: IVAO! You should be ashamed! lol!

Nah, IVAO is am much less professional network that none of us use at all anyway

Sqwawkbox or FSinn for Vatsim ;)

oh:(

wasnt sure it would give that reaction... sorry colm lol.

There isnt anything stopping me installing both though is there?

neoncircles

8th June 2008, 15:50

Hahah nothing to stop you from having both, but I do warn you....IVAO are noted for their unprofessional outdated practices.....therefore try again to install Sqwawkbox ;)

Wings11

9th June 2008, 08:58

Ok Colm.

Thanks again for the help you offered me in trying to get it going the first time round, il try to do it sometime within the next week,

Id just also like to say thanks to Rob and Cillian for helping me out also.

Thanks All.

Il let you know how i get on...

Callum

Shamrock883

12th July 2008, 16:37

Hey Callum.

Can you confirm this is a legitimate copy of FS9?
Like, you didn't download it off a torrent or something similar, you bought it in a shop?

Just wondering because it's known to happen with non-legitimate copys.

Hope we can get you set up soon...

neoncircles

12th July 2008, 17:18