Call signs—different for each aircraft?

[breadwild]

Hi,

A couple of questions about call signs on PE.
1. do pilots usually assign a different call sign for each aircraft they fly?
(seems better for separating flights on PEaware if not in your own head, the downside is having it roll off the tongue easily from constant use)
2. do pilots use the same one for the same aircraft every time they fly it? (seems like the best idea)
3. where to pilots get these numbers (I've gotten mine from actual planes I used to fly, but I have a lot more aircraft in my X-Plane hanger)?
4. have there ever been instances of two pilots having the same call sign?

Thanks.

Brad

[JN_]

1. I do. It's good practice for real life when each airplane will also have its own callsign.
2. I do.
3. I randomly generated mine. I know some pilots here use tail numbers from real aircraft.
4. Good question, and I'm not in a position to know the answer. But I'd guess, probably not.

[julio.elizalde]

I personally prefer using a real world approach: if you fly the same aircraft all the time, you use that callsign. If you fly a different plane, you get a new callsign. When you're flying airlines, very often as soon as you start the next leg of your shift, you've changed flight numbers. I think it's a skill that is worth developing.

Once in a blue moon I'll see pilots that use the same aircraft by a certain maker, say the Real Air Lancair Legacy, and you'll see them use the same callsign as one of the paint jobs. Very rare though.

[Keith Smith]

System won't allow two pilots to connect with the same callsign, so it's not an issue on PE.

I save my r/w callsign for my r/w flying. When I fly on PE, I use a callsign that is near and dear to me...the callsign of one of the planes I used to fly before I left Norcal and moved to NJ. I use that for my GA flying. When I'm flying an air carrier flight, I'll either use a r/w callsign that mimics that flight, or a generic air carrier callsign (usually Skywest). Then, for military flights, I typically use a callsign associated with that type.

It really us up to you, though, there's no hard and fast rules, just make sure it's a plausible, legal tail number if you're using a US civil registration.

[julio.elizalde]

Just to clarify - I meant two aircraft consecutively - the second being me....N552L

[Tim Krajcar]

I fly different callsigns with different aircraft - in fact, I use aso.com or controller.com to get a real world type-accurate callsign.

But my dad, who has about 2,000 real world hours more than I do and occasionally flies PE, uses the same callsign on whatever he flies - same as the last plane he owned. He told me he's so used to it that it feels wrong to say anything else

[arb65912]

I was thinking quite hard about what call sign to use, I asked here in forums and I decided for real life callsigns. I fly BE33, JS32 and CRJ2 on PE, I went to Flightaware and picked corresponding call signs that were "pleasant" to the ear and I use them since. Cheers, AJ

[Daddy O]

All of my aircraft have different tail numbers (except for cases where I have the same plane with multiple cockpits) I make sure that I have a legible plackard on the instrument panel, and I have programmed a simple process where I glance at it right before I transmit, just to be sure of the right numbers (I fly a lotta different planes.)

So, if you are an aircraft owner like Kieth, then it makes sense to train with your real tail number (assuming he is flying a model of his real world plane.)

But if you are a renter, and likely to fly lots of different craft, then use different tail numbers during practice. It helps your situational awareness.

You can edit your tail number in plane editor under VIEWPOINT.

[Keith Smith]

Except I don't fly with my real tail number, as I said

[Ryan B]

I'm not cool like the rest of the people here... I just use the same callsign between all my planes.