The CIX VFR Club is a group of Flight Simulation enthusiasts who enjoy flying extremely realistic simulated light aircraft, chiefly around the United Kingdom, across a computer generated landscape made up of real photographs, and within an Internet community environment. We have around 900 registered members in 65 countries, which reflects the world-wide appeal of aviation simulation.
Latest News |
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The Club now fully embraces Microsoft's FS2020, with a number of members regularly and sometimes exclusively using this application for their flights. Development seems to be slow, however, and new features and aircraft seem to be less important than continual correction of bugs and glitches. It is a complex tool, no doubt, but, apart from the enhanced visuals we now see with scenery and cloud textures, the number of available aircraft is still quite limited. As we said last year, to have the broadest possible appeal, the existing FSX and P3D developers who have been creating superb aircraft and scenery over many years MUST be included in Microsoft's expansion plans. The Club has had a number of new members join us recently, and a couple of dormant members return to active flying. Welcome to them all. Join in and have fun, because that is what we are here for. It is with sadness however, that we have to report the passing of our oldest Member, John Crockatt aged 101. John was a radio operator in the Merchant Navy in World War II, a real world pilot who was the first amateur pilot in the UK to obtain an Instrument Rating, back in the 1950s. He was an active Club member up to his 98th year, an achievement which will take some beating. Blue skies up there, John. |
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Club Nights |
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The Club runs informal group flights on
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays
at present. These are mostly tours of interesting
places with spectacular scenery, with the occasional
tricky landing thrown in. Whilst flying, members
enjoy informal chat and banter on our Teamspeak
channel, which makes these events very sociable.
New members are always very welcome on these tours,
and beginners are given all the help they need to get going.
The current tours are listed on the simple calendar
on the right. On Thursdays, we operate "on demand" workshop flights for new members and new pilots when there is a request for them, to ease them into the world of on-line flying with other pilots and Air traffic Control (ATC). It's the ATC that often gets new pilots all nervous, just the same as in the real world, and these sessions are designed to help overcome nerves. Similar help is also available on our other weekly flight nights, but the workshop flights concentrate specifically on getting new pilots airborne and comfortable in the on-line world. |
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April Event |
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The April Star event was another visit to the infamous Tenzing-Hillary Airport at Lukla in the Humalayas. There are many considerations for the pilot here, not only altitude and runway length, but the limitations on go-around / missed approach due to the geography. Add poor visibility and / or high crosswinds into the equation and things start looking slightly more precarious! Real World flights are usually scheduled in the early morning due to the equatorial environment (clouds). Our Club flights to Lukla try to incorporate those enironmental conditions as realistically as possible. You can read the briefing on the Monthly Events page. |
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Initially created by retired member Mel Kirk, this event is a test of many aspects of flying and airmanship, as well as being great fun. This year's Mayhem starts and ends at Norwich EGSG, Members fly to four small airfields and return to Norwich for a Touch and Go, before departing to the next airfield in the list. The task is completed on return to Norwich from the last airfield. Needless to say, it will get very busy around Norwich, and possibly the other four airfields too. We hope that Mayhem is not a synonym for chaos, however. To get the best from the event, members need to plan it carefully, anticipating possible problems and appropriate solutions. The Briefing is on the Monthly Events page.
Hover the mouse over the Day to see the details.
We normally offer two flight training courses: - a basic "get
you flying" course and a comprehensive General Flying
Course, which is modelled closely on the real world
Private Pilots Licence course. However, one-to-one
training availability is currently limited, so we are
running "newbie help nights" on Thursday evenings
commencing January 9th starting at 19:00UTC. We guarantee
that these evenings will be relaxed, fun and informative.
Join in on TeamSpeak. Other Informal training on specific
topics can also be arranged. Just post a request on
the forum.
We can also run Radio Telephony courses, again modelled on
real world practice.
Click on the Training menu tab on the Menu Bar for full details.
Some of the spectacular views available when flying light aircraft, whether real world, or in a simulation. They reinforce our enthusiasm for this hobby.
Neville Munro's UK airfield datasheets were updated again in April with Shipdham EGSA and Tibenham EG2U added, and Norwich EGSH updated.
Click on the icon above to see which of our club members are online now
If you would like to know more about what we do, please browse this site at your leisure. A summary of what we do and why can be found on this page.