Military Aircraft

[manlyman]

I have been putting off this question for quit sometime. With the expansion of PE, which I'm very excited about! I'm a member of VCW 3 naval air wing, flying P3D. We train out of Fallon, (KNFL) which as you know is in the Oakland ARTCC control. I'm not the most up to speed pilot when it comes to the ATC environment. Have been taking the courses on PE. I do understand that military fields are non-towered fields. I would like to start flying on PE in the Super Hornet to hone my skills within that aircraft. Is it exceptable to fly from Fallon to other civilian fields within the VFR environment? Do I have to stay within the military corridors? We do put tankers in the air so we can practice air to air refueling, FL20 and above. Can that be done on PE?
PE is one of the best things that has happened for the flight sim community ever!

Thanks,
David

[N3141P]

Good question Dave. I have also been wondering this. I do not fly military on PE at current, but if I did, i wonder how I would go about it. I assume I can fly in the military airspace on the chart however I want, but how do I let controllers know I am doing this, and what call sign would I use? How do I transition back to civillian rules to land somewhere else if I want to, or fly to another military field?

[bbuckley]

I've flown my F-14B on PE a bit. I use callsign VVNJ202 (VV is for"Navy" NJ202 is my tail number from a squadron I used to be in). I've flown 3 different types of flights:
1. Operate just as a civil aircraft and fly VFR or IFR from any field that can reasonably handle the airplane. I can take the F-14 almost anywhere I could take a Phenom 100.
2. Fly VFR or IFR from one military field to another (Miramar to Pt Mugu for example). Same rules as 1) above except all military fields are treated as non towered. So if I want to enter the break VFR I announce my intentions on CTAF.
3. Fly from a military or civilian field and depart under normal ATC procedures but I advise I want to cancel IFR or terminate VFR radar services when I enter the Warning Area to conduct carrier (or simply military operations). Th controller advises that when you are ready to return contact them on XXX.XX to either pick up an IFR return or VFR radar services to destination. I operate off the coast in the warning areas so traffic isn't a huge issue. I would assume you could request and receive clearance into a military restricted area as well.

It's actually worked very smoothly. The only current wrinkle is that when DCS goes live on PE I think Nellis (and maybe another field) will be off limits to all aircraft not on DCS, but Keith will have to clarify or correct that for you.
Good luck,
Bucks

[N3141P]

Thanks for the reply Bruce, makes a lot of sense to me.

[ridikamus]

The only current wrinkle is that when DCS goes live on PE I think Nellis (and maybe another field) will be off limits to all aircraft not on DCS, but Keith will have to clarify or correct that for you.

Here's a post where Peter clarifies that military fields in the Nevada area will be closed to civilian traffic but open to military traffic on all platforms - not just DCS.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6746&p=45068#p45069

[bbuckley]

Great, thanks, I had missed that one.

[manlyman]

bbuckley, I can't find any reference to the "W" being a designation for naval aircraft. What is that from?

Thanks,

[N3141P]

If you Google for VV instead of W you'll get it

[bbuckley]

Peter Grey advised me on this when I asked him what to use to sign into PE. It comes from JO 7110.65 ATC Handbook. You can get it online. Here's a blurry pic, sorry.

[manlyman]

Thanks so much, I wondered about the "W" being a VV. Had a 50-50 chance of getting it right. Looked at the document, thanks again.

David