Great Afternoon Skies

[Donovan]

Just wanted to say what a pleasure it was to fly on PilotEdge this Sunday afternoon. Lots of traffic in the air and on the ground. Great to see fellow pilots from the ramp and skies -- radio traffic was hopping and my hat is off to all the controllers who kept things clicking right along. Over thirty planes in the air over SoCal and I really enjoyed it -- and it wasn't even a scheduled event!

Thanks to all,what a GREAT experience!

Don

[Pieces]

*EDIT*
Some of this was my fault - on several occasions I pressed my old PTT button so nothing was transmitted. Still plenty of being stepped on, though.
*END EDIT*

I agree the traffic is great, but the staffing levels couldn't keep up when I was flying . The controllers were swamped. They were doing the best they could, but I couldn't get a word in on the radio that wasn't stepped on by another pilot on another frequency. Once in the air, I wasn't getting instructions in a timely manner, and I had to keep asking for things (like getting up to a safe altitude). Even that didn't go great because I couldn't get through on the frequency. Finally just cancelled IFR because I wasn't going to get my approach clearance in time.

I'm going to listen to the recordings and see what was happening during my flight. I'm sure there were things I should have done better, but overall a poor experience for me.

[Rush]

I see this sort of congestion quite a bit in real world as well. Usually approach controllers so busy with arrivals and departures that you can't even get a word in without stepping on anyone. See this a lot in the northeast and socal for that matter. There have been a few times when I wondered if it would turn into a lost comms issue.

I've had Center controllers so busy directing traffic around weather that they hand you off to the next controller already when you were finally able to initiate contact. It's great training when this happens in PE!

[Pieces]

Good point that it could be considered a loss of comms. I essentially treated it as such by cancelling IFR. It would have been quite the stressful flight in actual IMC.

After listening to the recordings, I think at least part of the problem was on my end. I'm still getting used to a new PPT mapping, so several of my calls weren't transmitted at all because the correct button wasn't pushed.

[Sevens]

I flew this afternoon and I think the controllers did a good job with the work load they encountered. Even though it probably didn't seem that enjoyable to simmers I can tell you that's what I find in the real world in busy places. For me it adds one more realistic piece to the proficiency puzzle.

[Donovan]

For me it adds one more realistic piece to the proficiency puzzle.

Exactly!

Don

[Keith Smith]

Sorry about that Reece. Yesterday was flat out the busiest day we've ever had on the network (300+ operations). Extra staff did eventually arrive, but I'm sure it took a while. I'm sorry to hear that you weren't getting instructions issued in time.

[KLRay]

This is my first post on PE forum, and although I couldn't sim yesterday, I noticed online at one point there were 35 pilots, and seemed to be at least 15 or more for most of the day. That's was great to see!

Thanks Keith & PE staff for the great service you provide

- Ray
Currently at I-03 rating

[wmburns]

Sorry about that Reece. Yesterday was flat out the busiest day we've ever had on the network (300+ operations). Extra staff did eventually arrive, but I'm sure it took a while. I'm sorry to hear that you weren't getting instructions issued in time.

Keith, What are your thoughts about this? IE is it part of a trend or is it from people being off for the holidays? Or maybe newbies that got a new sim for X-mas?

I have been a member of PilotEdge for about 18 months. For my own part, I much prefer to be on when other people are online. Having a busy voice channel forces me to be more efficient with each transmission as well as attempt to get the message correct the first time (avoid re-transmits).

One of my "goals" when I started flying online was to improve my short term memory. At first I had to write everything down. Any instruction more than 1 item was likely to be mangled. 18 months later I feel serious improvement has been made. Enough were I would like to have opportunities for more challenges. For example:

xxx cross Seal Beach at and maintain 4,000. Depart Seal Beach heading 100.

In this example, there are 3 memory items. Plus there's the workload task of computing when to start the TOD. My question. Does "pre-stacking" instructions have an impact on the controller's work load (positive or negative)?
http://keith.tristesse.com/object/vatsi ... lling.html

Another question. In real life, will there be times when a controller is too busy to allow things like Bravo transitions, multiple touch and go's, rating tests, or reading weather reports? Is this a tool that the PilotEdge controllers could use to lighten their work load during busy times? Could encouraging more use of "focus fields" help reduce ATC work load?

Has any thought been given to using "pre-departure clearance(PDC)" or "abbreviated delivery clearance"?
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publica ... m0502.html

I was monitoring PilotEdge for a good part of this past weekend and noted the large number of people online. I thought the controllers did an outstanding job of keeping up. I even heard exchanges where controllers were explaining to some of the "newbies" what they needed to do different to improve. I even heard a long exchange explaining why a pilot failed a rating test. To me this speaks volumes to the high level of training and professionalism of PilotEdge controllers.

And yes, there were cases this past weekend where I had to wait for an opening to speak as well as holding short for a few minutes waiting for take off clearance, IMO the positives of the increased traffic FAR outweigh the small negatives.

[stevekirks]

I was on this weekend, flying VFR with advisories and the controller was doing a great impersonation of Michael Keaton in "Multiplicity". I figured at some point he would have to cancel my flight following, especially when I saw three drones within 5-10 miles "near" me. Instead, I got great service!

My reason for increased activity:

I used Christmas monies to fill out the last piece of my Saitek setup - NAV/COM radio for the top of the yoke. I was dying to try it out and it made a world of difference. The new setup coupled with the shiny new Student Pilot Manual (Kershner book) means I'm ready to map out some lessons and really stretch my PE time out...