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Online Flying

We No Longer Fly Alone

Flying On Line

This particular training programme is web based. The lesson files may be printed, but at present they are not available for download.  "Flying on line" in a Club context means connecting to either VATSIM or IVAO, the two main online systems, in order to fly with other pilots, and to receive an Air Traffic Service from hobbyists who prefer controlling aircraft to flying them.VATSIM stands for Virtual Air Traffic (Control) Simulator. IVAO stands for International Virtual Aviation Organisation. With both of these systems, using freeware software applications, and an internet connection, you connect to a network of servers around the world. You are then also connected to sometimes well over 100 other pilots all flying Flight Simulators on line, and at least half as many virtual Air Traffic Controllers. This series of lessons shows you how to take part in this hobby, a hobby which blossomed in the age of the Internet.

Lesson 1 - Connecting to VATSIM and IVAO

Lesson 1 introduces you to the systems and the software, and gets you talking to Air Traffic Control.

Lesson 2 - Aircraft Control at Smaller Airfields

This series of tutorials and practical flying exercises prepared by CIX VFR Club will introduce members to online ATC and to enable them to learn at their own pace how to use it.  Each lesson consists of a Groundschool section on aviation law and theory, and a Practical exercise to fly using the information in the Groundschool. Lesson 2 teaches you the basics about Air Traffic Control at the UK's smaller airfields.

Lesson 3 - Aerodromes with a "full" Air Traffic Control Service

This lesson describes procedures at Aerodromes (Note: not Airports - such as Heathrow or Manchester) where an ATC service is provided and where the aerodrome does not have a large area of controlled airspace surrounding it, but only the standard 2 miles radius "Aerodrome Traffic Zone" (ATZ).   The Club bases at Gloucestershire, EGBJ, Biggin Hill EGKB and Shoreham EGKA, are aerodromes with a "full" ATC service

Lesson 4 - Airports

This lesson describes procedures at Airports - those larger aerodromes which have a mix of light aircraft and commercial passenger and cargo traffic. Invariably, Airports have a full ATC service and may also (but not necessarily) have a large area of controlled airspace surrounding them, such as Heathrow, Manchester or Liverpool.

Lesson 5 - Planning a Flight

In this lesson, you plan a flight from Gloucestershire Airport south west to the Severn Bridges and back. All the different aspects of planning a VFR flight are covered except weather which is dealt with later.

Lesson 6 - First Crosscountry Flight

You have planned a flight from Gloucestershire to the Severn Bridges and back. Now it's time to fly it. Depart from Gloucestershire on a Tuesday evening, when the ATCO is on duty and fly the route you planned in the previous lesson.

Lesson 7 - First Land Away

his time you plan the flight and fly from Wolverhampton to Gloucestershire and "land away" as it is called. The descriptions in this lesson are comprehensive, "hand holding" if you like, so that by the time you have read through the document, you will be able to fly the detail without any difficulty.

Lesson 8 - Congested Airspace

We move to a slightly more exciting environment. For this lesson, you will fly from Biggin Hill to Stapleford, north of the Thames "have lunch" and fly back again. Flying beneath Class A airspace, and close to Gatwick, London City, Luton and Stansted, this is a flight where you need to keep your wits about you.

Lesson 9 - Flying To a Major Airport

The procedures are a little stricter and the level of traffic (and the size of aircraft) is a little more awesome. It isn't London Gatwick or Manchester, but Liverpool because it is a little less awesome than the others. The flight you will make will be from Sleap near the small Shropshire town of Wem, to Liverpool. It is only a short trip - just over 30 minutes, but long enough to practice the techniques needed to fly successfully in controlled airspace.

Lesson 10 - Flying from a Major Airport

Return to Sleap from Liverpool where you landed in the previous lesson. However, it isn't quite a simple reverse of the last flight as you will find out. The main difference is that you need to learn and practice the procedure for departing from a major airport which is different from that for smaller airfields.