PE is working to combat this with recorded, real, background chatter, drone aircraft, and focus fields where pilots can congregate, but it’s not that effective, in our view. basin, but it’s even quiet by smaller-facility standards. We don’t think it needs to be as busy as the real L.A. There aren’t that many pilots on the PE network at a given time. ![]() The biggest disconnect with reality we experienced was simply low traffic volumes. But it’s possible that could happen in the real world. On one unplanned missed approach, we checked back in and expected the usual “Say intentions.” The controller instead gave us missed-approach instructions and an EFC time. There were a couple misses on ATC’s part. At least he didn’t give us a phone number to call. When we accidently did a CTAF call on San Luis Tower frequency, we got a polite reprimand worded just like it would in the real world. We stumbled on a limitation that X-Plane pilots transmit on Com 1 no matter what the audio panel is set to. In fact, we requested VFR practice approaches just out of habit and, after being given a heading and altitude, were reminded to “maintain VFR.” Also, the PE controllers won’t hear you if you’re on the wrong frequency-or see you if you forget to turn on your transponder. But overall, we found the phraseology, skill at vectoring, and use of real-world procedures quite good. One felt the service he got wasn’t quite up to real-world standards and had trouble understanding the controller (one PE controller happens to be Russian). Two had no complaints other than one tight turn onto a localizer. We had three different pilots try PE on three different systems. The PE controllers are a mix of retired controllers, students of ATC training programs hoping to become controllers and a few enthusiasts who’ve demonstrated professional-level skill. If only you could do that in a real airplane. There are some places where it’s actually better than real: If you took off from one airport and leveled in cruise but now want to zip forward 90 miles to your destination’s IAF, make a request for exactly that from ATC. Want to get vectors for some practice approaches? Request them just like the real world. By the way, if you depart an uncontrolled field, you’re expected to self-announce on CTAF. If you launch from an uncontrolled field, you call the overlying ATC facility for a clearance or pick it up in the air. ![]() Contact the published Tower frequency for clearance to take off. Tune the Com radio on your sim to the local Ground frequency actually used for the real airport to get permission to taxi. Once you map the push-to-talk function on your sim, it works like the real thing. You can fly 24/7 and share the frequencies with other pilots, but there won’t be any controllers on the off hours. That includes all the underlying TRACONs, Towers, and Ground frequencies, however. Center and Oakland Center, as that’s the only airspace covered by PE controllers. You’ll also want to get your charts ready for the area of L.A. If you’re running Flight Simulator, you can also open a chat window with the controllers, but that’s not exactly realistic unless you’re having NextGen fantasies. Once connected, you can file a flight plan from the same pop-up. In the X-Plane sim we were using, there’s a pop-up window to connect to the PE network where you can set your aircraft type and call sign. Setup is simple: Install the right plug-ins, fire up your sim, adjust a few settings and you’re good to go. The system works with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, Microsoft FSX and X-Plane (Mac and Windows versions). We gave PE a try, both with the account they gave us and incognito, and were generally impressed. Last fall, a service called PilotEdge (PE) took the VATSIM idea and went commercial, making the connection process as easy as possible, hiring select staff to handle the air traffic control functions, and setting up a website to support training and community. There are online ATC communities, such as VATSIM, but you’ve got to have the ambition to set up the connection and the quality of what you get varies wildly some volunteer controllers are as good as O’Hare Approach, while others … aren’t. The automated ones built into some home flight simulators are too rudimentary. What desktop simming has lacked is a good facsimile for ATC. It exercises your instrument scan, it solidifies your procedures such as chart briefings, and it keeps you connected to flying when grabbing a real airplane isn’t an option. There’s no question that practicing on your desktop flight simulator will help your instrument flying. ![]() ![]() It’s not quite as real as reality, but it adds a whole new dimension to home practice. PilotEdge offers ATC for your home simulator with real, live humans doing the controlling.
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