PilotEdge Forums

Hello all
My home real life home airport is CYQR. I’ve been a flight sim junkie since the SubLogic days. I am sure I’ve owned all the flight simulators over the past 20 years. I wish I kept track of my hours all I can say is I have a lot of hours accumulated. I was exposed to GA flight as a kid, but what solidified my love for flight was a friend who was training to be a commercial pilot. I spent many hours in the right seat as he accumulated his hours. I learned so much. I came “that close” to choosing aviation as a career, but the economy was different then, family obligations took me down a different road.

In the simulator I’m comfortable flying almost anything. I love hand flying a GA aircraft in IMC/IFR conditions down to minimums, it is such a thrill to see the runway appear in front of you. Lately I’ve fallen for the FlyJSim 732, I am now closing in on 50 flights (non-rnav) in and out of the KLAX and KLAS area following the published SIDS and STARS. I am not comfortable however talking with ATC, I’ve dabbled with Vatsim in the past but I have never got over the fear. I am here as a result of watching Catstrator, HeloPilot7, atomicfrawg (and others) on Twitch, as well as Keith’s shared cockpit flights on youtube. The Pilot Edge workshops are amazing. Thank you “all” very much for that. I am pretty determined to take it to the next level and join in on the fun.

My First Pilot Edge Experience – yeah….. I messed up: I’ve been listening to the Pilot Edge receiver quite a bit over the past month, and I thought I figured out what is expected. My First Pilot Edge flight was the other night, KSNA closed traffic for the V1. Pretty nervous, I planned my communications, made sure I understood the KSNA airport diagram. I connected to Pilot Edge fired up the C206 and made the call. Got the taxi instructions (A-H-C-K) and off I went. I got take off clearance for 20L, I very quickly realized that at takeoff power, the engine noise in my headset was WAY louder than I could hear ATC instructions. First time around I reported midfield, but managed to barely hear the clearance for the option. Second time around, I again report midfield… Still really nervous, unable hear a bloody thing… I swear I heard ATC announce a 737 on final and I was to extend my downwind….. on the extended downwind leg, minutes go by, I’m straining to hear a radio call. I am now coming to the realization that I must have missed the radio call. Then Tower asks for my position…..I didn’t prep for that, I had no Nav radios set, GPS is not even turned on. I was literally speechless; I may have uttered something incoherent. I wasn’t sure if I was 5 or 10 miles out? Straining to hear, I make out my call sign and a position report “you are 7 miles, still cleared to land” (yeah I missed it). And a friendly reminder that a 7 mile pattern is not what is expected. In those 7 miles I work out my audio issues then continued to go around the pattern 3 or 4 more times to prove that I can actually fly. I passed the V1, I’m not sure I would have passed me if roles had been reversed, but I appreciate the patience. I learned some valuable situational awareness lessons that night. I will get better. I look forward to becoming proficient and joining the Pilot Edge community.
D

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to introduce myself. It seems there are quite a few kindred spirits. I earned my PPL at 17 in 1988 -- back when the airspace still had ARSA, TRSA, Postive Control Area, Airport Traffic Areas etc. Not that I went anywhere near that scary stuff flying in and out of my non-towered field!

I have always kept my toe in the water with flight sims knowing that there was just no way I could afford to keep current. $500 hamburgers are just too steep.

Anyway - rebuilding a PC after a hd failure I reinstalled MS FSX and said why not try out X-Plane...that led to videos featuring twitch streams (Froogle, AtomicFrawg,Catstrator) which led me to PE. Just took the plunge and passed VFR1 and VFR2 today. Stressful navigating in a new airplane where you can't tune the d#@$ radio or figure out the GPS/Nav radio in flight! Aaack. Real stress. But I passed. Will try again in a Cessna and not a new Carenado Bonanza next time!

Good luck all!

Todd

Talan2000 wrote:Hi Guys,

Just wanted to introduce myself. It seems there are quite a few kindred spirits. I earned my PPL at 17 in 1988 -- back when the airspace still had ARSA, TRSA, Postive Control Area, Airport Traffic Areas etc. Not that I went anywhere near that scary stuff flying in and out of my non-towered field!

I have always kept my toe in the water with flight sims knowing that there was just no way I could afford to keep current. $500 hamburgers are just too steep.

Anyway - rebuilding a PC after a hd failure I reinstalled MS FSX and said why not try out X-Plane...that led to videos featuring twitch streams (Froogle, AtomicFrawg,Catstrator) which led me to PE. Just took the plunge and passed VFR1 and VFR2 today. Stressful navigating in a new airplane where you can't tune the d#@$ radio or figure out the GPS/Nav radio in flight! Aaack. Real stress. But I passed. Will try again in a Cessna and not a new Carenado Bonanza next time!

Good luck all!

Todd

Twitch is taking over! Welcome aboard!

Howdy folks.

My home airport is KMTJ and I am a 200 hours SEL Private Pilot. I have set a goal of getting my IFR in 2015 and wandered back to simulators to help me with the goal. I never really enjoyed them for visual flying but figured they would make all the difference for IMC. Turns out they are awesome for both these days!

A little background: My first flight sim was on the ZX Spectrum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_Sim ... _software)) but then I upgraded to BBC Micro versions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKI4_jEA9t8). I never really stuck it out with those because, well, they were lame-o and Chuckie Egg was more fun. A few years later I did get addicted to Atari ST Falcon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFCr7f5R9CU) and Amiga FA/18 Interceptor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F/A-18_Interceptor. I have fond memories of RS232 connected Amiga's for head to head action!

Over the years I dabbled with Flight Simulator when it was subLogic but I didn't invest much time in it. Even X-Plane 9 wasn't what I was looking for. Then along came X-Plane 10 AND PilotEdge, which took me a few years to find.

I have quickly realized that this is a great environment to allow me to sneak an hour or two of true immersion practice. I have invested in a custom PC, Volair seat and Saitek stuff. I say invested because this is really going to work out as a financial saving for me in the long run and that isn't taking into account the safety increase that I think can be gained. I also found it a great way to learn how to use my ForeFlight without having to avoid the local mountains and other aircraft.

I also find myself watching youTubes of PE flights and now I am tuning into Twitch. I haven't taken a single hour of professional IFR yet and am going to do the I* ratings before I roll up to the local school. I am sure some will disagree with that approach but it seems like an interesting experiment. I have however already passed the IFR Written o I am supposed to have a bit of a clue but that doesn't help much on actually operations. I was thinking about streaming this experience on twitch because there are sure to be some learning and embarrassing scenarios in there! Would be interested to hear thoughts on that.

Simon

Simon, I cut my teeth on F/A-18 Interceptor on the Amiga, too, it's where I learned most of what I know about low level flying I think your approach to self study before working with a CFII is fine, that's what I did. Just be prepared to go in with an open mind. The CFII may have to tweak or fix some things, but as long as you're open to it, you should be well ahead of the game when you arrive for your first lesson.

I've been flying on the network and lurking on the forums for the past few months, so I suppose I ought to formally introduce myself.

I got completely hooked on flying when I was about 10 years old through the combination of FS95 and riding along in my uncle's Piper Archer. I did a four year aviation degree at a school in Minnesota, and worked there for a couple years as a CFII. Unfortunately some medical issues forced me out. That was about five years ago. I maintained an interest since then, doing some sim flying and reading to keep my knowledge current and my skills somewhat proficient, but discovering PilotEdge was a game changer for me. This is a huge step in sim training, and a resource I wish we had when I was instructing. Being able to fly in the busy, mountainous SoCal area is great experience for someone who's real life time is mostly limited to the flat, quiet Midwest.

I'm about to start using my CFII again, giving ground and simulator instruction at my local airport when I'm not doing my real job as a software developer. Thanks to everyone involved in making PilotEdge what it is!

Ryan

RyanK wrote:I did a four year aviation degree at a school in Minnesota, and worked there for a couple years as a CFII.

Nice to meet you - which school? I attended UND graduated 2006 with my PPL ASEL. I don't fly at the moment but instead work air traffic in Duluth. PE is a way to keep my desire of flying alive hehe....

RyanK wrote: I did a four year aviation degree at a school in Minnesota, and worked there for a couple years as a CFII.

That wouldn't be St. Cloud State would it?

Welcome...

Yep! Graduated from SCSU in '08 and worked at Wright Aero for most of 07-08.

RyanK wrote:Yep! Graduated from SCSU in '08 and worked at Wright Aero for most of 07-08.

Young-en!

I was there '89-'92 flying out of the flight school until medical issues also made me change careers. That's back when you could walk across the street from Holes Hall to the party houses! Good Times, LOL!