Confusion about when it's my navigation, and when it's ATC

bdl writes:

If you were in "real" IMC it's even worse (at least until you develop
some practice and learn to keep the picture in your head). Always
seems like ATC is telling you to do something just as you are in the
middle of something else.

I've already had that experience in simulation.

On VATSIM, you can communicate by voice or by text. I usually
communicate by text, simply because the sound quality is often so bad
for some controllers that I cannot make out what they are saying.
However, it is true that text is woefully unrealistic, and it also
makes it difficult or impossible to communicate during the most
critical phases of the flight, as one simply doesn't have time to type
(even fast typists like me).

When I listen to real ATC on liveatc.net, it sounds just as bad. The
quality problems aren't the same, but their magnitude is. I'm
surprised more aircraft aren't running into each other. I can only
hope that the audio quality is much better aboard the actual aircraft,
but I doubt it.

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When I listen to real ATC on liveatc.net, it sounds just as bad. The
quality problems aren't the same, but their magnitude is. I'm
surprised more aircraft aren't running into each other. I can only
hope that the audio quality is much better aboard the actual aircraft,
but I doubt it.

My experience is that controllers are always pretty clear, although
they may talk rapid fire. I think this is because controllers have good
headsets.. not much background noise, and powerful (?) ground based
transmitters. As opposed to pilots who have lots of noise around them.

For someone like me that is more visual than auditory (it sounds like
you are similar) it takes practice to be able to visualize what I just
heard. It helps that for almost everything it follows a very standard
format (and controllers are good at following that format) as opposed
to us pilots that tend to try it on the cool, i.e. "uh, up from 4 for
5.2" etc. Those Don Brown columns I pointed you to earlier has a whole
bunch of columns on phraseology and its usefuleness for safety.

Do you listen to Vatsim on a headset? Might make it easier.

bdl writes:

Do you listen to Vatsim on a headset? Might make it easier.

Yes, a headset with a microphone. SquawkBox (the interface module for
VATSIM) complains that I have too much background noise, but when I
ask for a radio check people say I sound fine. Unfortunately, very
often I can't hear them. I don't need to hear other pilots, of
course, but I do need to hear controllers, and sometimes the quality
is so bad that I just use text.

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Mxsmanic wrote:
Do you listen to Vatsim on a headset? Might make it easier.

Yes, a headset with a microphone. SquawkBox (the interface module for
VATSIM) complains that I have too much background noise, but when I
ask for a radio check people say I sound fine. Unfortunately, very
often I can't hear them. I don't need to hear other pilots, of
course, but I do need to hear controllers, and sometimes the quality
is so bad that I just use text.

FYI, i listen to other pilots as well as the controllre instructions to
them. A lot of times it will help with the big picture situational
awareness. For example, knowing that I'm likely to be asked to keep my
speed up on that ILS, because he's vectoring a Hawker behind me for the
same ILS.

bdl writes:

FYI, i listen to other pilots as well as the controllre instructions to
them.

Agreed, but I often have to strain just to understand the controller.

For example, knowing that I'm likely to be asked to keep my
speed up on that ILS, because he's vectoring a Hawker behind me for the
same ILS.

I've not had that experience. Like most sim pilots, I look forward to
areas and periods of high traffic so that I can get more experience in
dealing with congested airspaces. But simulation has the opposite
problem of the real world: the real world has too much traffic, and
simulation has too little. It's getting better, though (even as the
real world gets worse!).

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Mxsmanic wrote:
For example, knowing that I'm likely to be asked to keep my
speed up on that ILS, because he's vectoring a Hawker behind me for the
same ILS.

I've not had that experience. Like most sim pilots, I look forward to
areas and periods of high traffic so that I can get more experience in
dealing with congested airspaces. But simulation has the opposite
problem of the real world: the real world has too much traffic, and
simulation has too little. It's getting better, though (even as the
real world gets worse!).

You should "simulate" the look of fright from your wife sitting next to
you with a look of fear when you acknowledge keeping your speed up.
She's sitting over there imagining a jet that's going to ram you.

bdl writes:

You should "simulate" the look of fright from your wife sitting next to
you with a look of fear when you acknowledge keeping your speed up.
She's sitting over there imagining a jet that's going to ram you.

I'm not married, nor do I simulate marriage.

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