Miscellaneous Tutorials

Two Pilots - One Aircraft - Who has control?

In the applications below, two people running Flight Simulator can share one aircraft cockpit. Aircraft control can be swapped between them quickly and simply. The handling pilot has full control of all aircraft systems. The non-handling pilot has control over the aircraft systems except his joystick and rudders and any buttons on his joystick, so an instructor can demonstrate a manoeuvre sitting at his computer, while the student watches the aircraft being flown on his computer. The student can then practice the manoeuvre while the instructor watches.

Cockpit sharing can be very sociable and a lot of fun as well as hard work for the student. Both pilots can be half a world apart, connected to each other over the internet, but there is no detectable delay in flight performance.

FSX

Instructions for using FSX Cockpit Sharing and VATSIM

Cockpit Sharing is a built in feature of the De Luxe and Gold versions of FSX. Instructor and student can connect either via a direct peer to peer connection, or when the student is ready for the realism to be increased, via VATSIM. They then can take advantage of live ATC as described above. Both members taking part must have exactly the same version of FSX. This includes having FSX Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2 installed.

FS9

The very good FSNet/Co-pilot application for shared cockpit flying in FS9 is unfortunately no longer available. Some level of sharing the Flight Simulator can be achieved using Team Viewer.

Weather

Weather is of vital importance to VFR flights - much more so than for IFR flights. This tutorial gives the lowdown on Flight Simulator weather, and the METAR and TAF weather codes, and the interaction of weather and Visual Flight Rules. It includes the September 2012 change to UK Rules of the Air to allow VFR flight at night. Weather for VFR Pilots

Air Traffic Services Outside Controlled Airspace

Real World Airspace Rules for Club Pilots - ATSOCAS

In 2009, the CAA amended the definitions of Air Traffic Services in Classes F and G airspace. The ATSOCAS link above takes you to a useful interactive guide to the real world airspace definitions. This is required knowledge for Club pilots, as you will need it when communicating with ATC on VATSIM or IVAO.

Instrument Flight

Basic Instrument Flight - The IMC Rating

The UK is unique in the aviation world in having a rating for instrument flight which is designed for VFR pilots who might be faced with adverse weather and need additional skills. The Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) rating provides training which is a sub-set of a full Instrument Rating. This comprehensive tutorial was written during the real world IMC training of one of our members. Pilots flying with VATSIM are recommended to have at least this level of knowledge if flying on instruments. However, it is not a Club requirement.

This is a complex technical document used by a real world pilot during instrument training.  If it seems too complex to you, leave it until you have more experience. A simpler document covers VOR tracking, (see below) which can be useful for pilots flying visually across the default Flight Simulator scenery.

Finding the Way - VOR Tracking

VFR navigation can be considerably helped by partial use of radio navigation aids (navaids). This tutorial explains how to track to or from a VOR and how to use two VORs to get a position fix. For a full instrument flight tutorial, see the item above.