Quote from: Lee Sacharin on March 29, 2020, 09:21:13 PM

Not real sure what the GNSS capability of a/c performance has to do with clearing (or filing) to fixes or en-route waypoints.  Remember, for continental operations (not remote or oceanic) aircraft operate on RNP-2, so the GNSS component for this discussion comes to play only on arrival and approach operations.

I doubt most (if not all) Vatsim artcc's have LOA restrictions or discussions regarding en-route directs.  With that in mind, I try to apply what makes sense.  I do not believe in clearing someone 1000nm downrange to a long distance fix, and rarely have I seen this IRL. Clearing aircraft (on vatsim) to a known fix in the next artcc or subsequent following artcc is far enough.  Additionally, a C1 should have a little knowledge of major airspace around the country and the en-route structure.  In other words, if heading to the west coast, you should know there are fixes/vor where airways or arrivals begin and avoid restricted/military airspace (don't clear direct to LAX!).  Same applies to the NE airspace, etc.  There is a difference when the destination is MSP, ATL, MIA, JFK, SFO, vs OMA, AMA, BOI, etc.   

It is an interesting discussion though...

And  that's the funny part.. I was on a OMA-LAS flight once where right over LNK, the pilot put in a request for direct KSINO and got it. I've also heard flights overhead on my scanner where a pilot put in a request direct LENDY and got it. I'm in Sacramento. So I've definitely witnessed where they get approved those requests well and truly much farther out than their sector's boundary, but there is no real standard or correlation to how far, or how much coordination goes on between multiple sectors for it.

BL.

Adding to that, I have a trip that I routinely fly that takes me from ZTL sector up to Allentown.  ZTL will always clear me direct to a fix way down the road (even without me asking), but then ZDC pulls me back out west to my original filed route.  I am not sure what coordination goes on there, but now when ZTL clears me "direct," I always ask to keep my filed route..

Hugh, a few pilot's at the VA I fly for have started using this: http://www.hanse-coders.net/index.php    I have used it once, and it wasn't bad!  Best of all, its freeware.  Hope this helps!