PilotEdge Forums

Gentlemen, would you mind to share your opinion on the subject? My favorite planes I want to use on PE are BE33, JS32 and CRJ2. I have been using N8383T callsign which is the aircraft I was/will get my real life training aircraft registration number.
I have been using N8383T exclusively for some time now.
My question is, when I fly JS32 and CRJ2 on PE, what callsign should I use? N8383T is already embedded in my brain ( or leftover of it ) and if I used that callsign, I would be able to concentrate more on flying, navigation and ATC interaction but in real life callsigns are unique.

Maybe I should pick real registration numbers for aircraft listed above and use them as I was "renting" the plane?

What do you think?

Thank you, cheers, AJ

Callsigns are completely up to you. Some people keep the same callsigns regardless of the plane that they are flying on the network, others switch it up all the time. My advice would be that if one skill you think you need to improve on is remembering the callsign you are using while in the middle of doing a bunch of VOR navigation work, then switch it up all the time so you get in the habit of taking a glance at a sticky note on your desk that would emulate the callsign plate on the panel in the real world. The network is here to better your real world flying skills and stating your callsign without hesitation is definitely something that is important in the real world to avoid unnecessary frequency congestion.

My two cents is that in the real world, unless you fly the same aircraft all the time, you have to change your call sign. When I fly the network, I only use the same callsign if I'm using one of my standard GA aircraft. My Lancair Legacy is N323DE, my Cessna 340 is N796A, but when I fly Southwest as the PMDG NGX 737, I always change my Southwest callsign to match a real world flight in progress.

Real pilots have to change callsign depending on aircraft and airline pilots have to do it multiple times in one day. It's a real world skill that should be developed unless you intend to fly the same GA aircraft all the time, in which case a real world pilot would indeed have to only remember one set of numbers and letters.

My GA planes each have a unique registration number. I pick a livery and registration number from a real world aircraft and use them in my sim flying for that particular model of aircraft. I liken it to either renting or owning that specific aircraft. If I were flying real world, I would be using the registration number of the particular aircraft I was flying so that's what I do in X-Plane. However, when I fly any Air Northwest aircraft, I use my Air Northwest Pilot ID as my call sign.

Thank you very much for replies. I am convinced. I picked the real world registration numbers for BE33, JS32 and CRJ2 and will use them from now on. Last night started with BE33 and new callsign, it was a bit different but not impossible. I made little cardboard stickers and I put them on Saitek yoke for each plane so I have immediate visual reference to a call sign used which is just like in real life flying. Thank you again for your responses. Cheers, AJ

I fly with the same callsign.... it's easier to remember. I agree it's not realistic but I like to pretend I own a bunch of cool planes with the same callsign (somehow).

Embarrassing story: A few months back I flew our little rental C172 with a coworker around Duluth. I called on the real frequeny MORE THAN ONCE with my PE callsign. Thank goodness my fellow controllers have no idea that I'm on PE (except the PIC to my left LOL).

Then again, it goes both ways. The PIC's father owns a C177. I invited the PIC to my house a long time ago to play on vatsim. He used his father's C177's callsign on the freq even though we filed under a different one hehe.

Hi Ryan, nice story. I was thinking a lot about one callsign versus individual ones for each aircraft and decided on a hard way. I just tested it twice, there is a little hesitation at the times when I repeat abbreviated call sign but in my opinion, that little "delay" is acceptable. Now I have 3 planes with 3 different real life callsigns, keep your fingers crossed.
Read my post viewtopic.php?f=3&t=838&start=120 I will describe some things to be aware of as far as the aircraft use and things.... Cheers, AJ

Hi Guys,

I'm new to PE and so far it's been great. In real life I fly several different airplanes. I fly most often my good friend's Piper Lance II or a rental Piper Arrow if the Lance is unavailable. Additionally, I just started instrument training and am flying two different rental Cessna 172 G1000's I recently got checked out in. Lastly, my first two flights on PE were in "my" Piper Arrow with my personal call sign (birthday and initials, 429RG). I intend to add a Bonanza G36 (G1000) or a fictional G1000 Saratoga to my PE fleet to supplement my instrument training in the coming weeks. I will create yet a different call sign for that plane. I want to keep it as real life as possible. I think you'll get used to flying different call signs with no problem. Airline pilots do it every day!

I wanted to give another shout out to Keith and say "Wow, PE is Awesome...!"

~Rob

It's great to hear of rw pilots flying on here. I think Keith has an exceptional service with PE... I hope more and more join over the years.

I suppose you're flying XP "RG" but if you're on FSX there's a fairly good G1000 replica with Flight1's T182T or Mustang. THey're also working on a King Air 200 with G1000.

Hi Ryan,

I am actually using an add-on from flythissim.com for my G1000 cockpit. I run it on a standalone PC with a separate 23" Acer touch screen monitor for the panel. It is almost like flying the real thing. I have about 15 real hours PIC in a C172 G1000 NAV III. It will be a lot more by the time I finish my instrument rating in a few months. I run the x-plane outside visual is on a separate monitor. The plane I'm using is the G36 Bonanza. The G36 (and the Baron) come with the Beech package G1000 from flythissim. However, you can run the panel with any plane. I still need some time by myself before I fly it on PE.
Check out the real one:
http://www.hawkerbeechcraft.com/beechcraft/bonanza_g36/

BTW - The SimAVIO (flythissim) G1000 is used on real FAA approved flight training devices. The software is not cheap, but it's an excellent training tool. To be honest, it’s actually more difficult for me to fly the sim than a real airplane. I'm used to being able to look outside and feel resistance on the control surfaces, etc. Honestly, after only owning x-plane for a couple weeks, I still have a lot of tweaking on my controls so I can safely fly the plane in addition to talking with Keith and the other controllers.