Join vZKC for a fun night at St. Louis flying your favorite retro aircraft.

Awesome idea!  I love this event.  I'll try to make it.

vZKC member Garrett Yalch compiled a list of retro aircraft in respect to the airlines who flew into STL. You can view that list here.

Very nice!  Minor tweak to the list; but, the Manfred Jahn DC-3 is freeware, and isn't marked as such ;-)

Quote from: Josh Glottmann on July 10, 2018, 07:24:56 AM

The one I’m confused about is the 10% slide. If a plane’s going 180 over the ground, 18 nm seems excessively far.

10% of the first two digits. 1.8nm, not 18.

AKA 1% of the groundspeed in knots.

I'm gonna take a stab & say 20-25 minutes, but I'll get some more firm data & get back with you.

We are a GO for today's Third Anniversary Summer Getaway flight from Atlanta, Georgia to Fort Myers, Florida!  Event time is 1800z which is just under six hours away!

First, I want to say a word of thanks for the incredible support for this event by our VATSTAR Training Partners; Atlanta ARTCC (ZTL), Jacksonville ARTCC (ZJX), and Miami ARTCC (ZMA).  And just behind them I have to thank some of our incredible sponsors for their generosity with the wonderful promotions and giveaways they are furnishing for us: Aerosoft, Flightbeam Studios, FS2Crew, Just Flight, LatinVFR, Orbx Simulations, REX Simulation Systems, and TFDi Designs.  IF YOU FLY FROM KATL TO KRSW DURING THE EVENT TIME WINDOW AND INCLUDE THE WORDS "VATSTAR ANNIVERSARY EVENT" IN YOUR FLIGHT PLAN REMARKS, YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY ELIGIBLE FOR A DRAWING TO WIN SOME OUTSTANDING PRIZES FROM ANY ONE OF OUR AWESOME SPONSORS!

Our flight briefing for today is as follows:

ROUTE: KATL BANNG2 LUCKK SZW TYNEE1 KRSW
DISTANCE: 484.1nm
DURATION: approximately 1h21m, dependent upon aircraft type
CRUISE: odd-numbered thousands (eastbound)

ORIGIN: Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta, GA, USA (KATL)
ARTCC: https://www.ztlartcc.org/
DIAGRAM: http://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/1807/00026ad.pdf#nameddest=(ATL)
GATE MAP: https://travelwidget.com/terminal-maps/ATL/ATL_overview_map.png
BANNG2 SID p1: http://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/1807/00026banng.pdf#nameddest=(ATL)
BANNG2 SID p2: http://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/1807/00026banng_c.pdf#nameddest=(ATL)
FORECAST: 28008KT P6SM SCT035 (as of 1215z)
SCENERY: https://www.ztlartcc.org/scenery
ADDITIONAL INFO:

Generally at KATL the Ramp areas (the areas between the midfield terminals) are NOT controlled by Ground.  In the real world they are controlled by airport and airline staff; not by FAA controllers.  On VATSIM there can occasionally be a "KATL_R_GND" position logged on acting as Ramp control -- but, this is uncommon and most of the time pilots should expect to push and start at their own discretion, taxi to the north or south end of the ramp area (depending upon their assigned departure runway), and call Ground holding short of either F (north) or L (south).  The usual call to Ground would be "Atlanta Ground, {callsign} at ramp {number}{north/south}, information {atis}, taxi to runway {rwy#}."  For example, if you were assigned 27R for departure and were pushing from Gate A5 onto Ramp Area 2, you'd taxi to the south end of it and call with "Atlanta Ground, Delta 1579, Ramp Two South, Information Alpha, Taxi to Runway Two-Seven-Right."

Takeoff clearances at KATL include a verification of the pilot-nav RNAV point that is first on their assigned SID.  On the BANNG2 Departure the first point could be SNUFY, SLAWW, SKNNR, GRITZ, or WLSON depending on the assigned departure runway.  Clearance from Tower will come in this format: "{callsign,} Atlanta Tower, RNAV to {location}, wind {wind direction} at {wind speed}, runway {runway#}, cleared for takeoff."  A proper readback would include the RNAV point, the words "cleared for takeoff," the runway, and your callsign.

ATL_TWR: "Delta 1579, RNAV to SLAWW, wind 280 at eight, runway two-seven-right, cleared for takeoff."
DAL1579: "RNAV to SLAWW, cleared for takeoff two-seven-right, Delta 1579."

DESTINATION: Southwest Florida International Airport, Fort Myers, Florida, USA (KRSW)
ARTCC: http://www.zmaartcc.net/wp/
DIAGRAM: http://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/1807/06757ad.pdf#nameddest=(RSW)
GATE MAP: https://www.flylcpa.com/uploads/pagesfiles/2563.gif
TYNEE1 STAR: http://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/1807/00154tynee.pdf#nameddest=(RSW)
CONFIGURATION: generally arrivals use RWY6 in calm winds
APPROACHES: RWY6 (Bay Visual, ILS or LOC/DME, RNAV(GPS)); RWY24 (VOR/DME or TACAN, RNAV(GPS))
APPROACH CHARTS: (https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/dtpp/search/results/?cycle=1807&ident=krsw)
FORECAST: 08007KT P6SM VCTS BKN035CB BKN100 (as of 1215z) (CAUTION: there may be thunderstorms in the vicinity upon arrival!)
SCENERY: http://www.latinvfr.org/sceneries/south-west-florida-fort-myers-krsw-for-fsx-and-p3d/
ADDITIONAL INFO:

It's important to note that the airport layout has changed significantly since the default scenery in FSX was created, so, it's a good idea to update before the event.  The default FSX scenery has the old terminal building on the north side of the airport; the new terminal building with its three prominent piers is on the south side of the field (i.e. a right turn-off if you land on RWY6).  Our sponsors LatinVFR have a very beautilly rendered version of the airport for a reaonably affordable price which does include the new, updated terminal building and many local landmarks along the Florida Gulf Coast.

Please join us in our Discord server (NOTE: we will be using Discord *INSTEAD OF* TeamSpeak for this event!) in the Public Discussion channel.  An invite link to our Discord can be found on our website under Resources --> Discord.  1800z is the meet-up time; we expect departures to commence around 1815z and hope that most everyone is airborne by around 1845z, with the last arrivals hopefully occurring by approximately 2030z.  We're looking forward to seeing you there!

Hello, all --

In response to member feedback suggesting we should find ways to become more of a "community of VATSIM pilots" as opposed to JUST a place to come get Pilot Ratings, VATSTAR has opened a Discord server for its members to join and converse on.

The "lobby" text channel, we hope, will become the perfect place to share general greetings, screenshots, aviation discussion (real and simulated), and any general chit-chat our members choose. There will also be a public voice channel. Additionally, we are opening text channels for each of our Pilot Ratings programs so students can discuss and get quick answers to questions about each of the particular ratings.

Finally, we are also including "Classroom" text and voice channels, in hopes that we can begin using Discord in addition to, or as an alternative to, TeamSpeak and TeamViewer for screen-sharing during Practice Flight and Checkride Exam sessions. This is still in the highly experimental stages but we encourage our staff and our students to try it out and compare / contrast the two methods.

If you have any questions -- well, Discord is the perfect place to ask them! Our other methods of contact are all still valid, as well.

Our Discord invitation link can be found on our Member Forum at www.vatstar.com .

We hope to talk to you soon!

Quote from: Robert Shearman Jr on May 28, 2018, 12:54:29 PM

I don't suppose there's a way to open the port on my router to both machines?  I'm certainly not a tech guru so maybe there is.  Otherwise, I'm going to try Andrew's suggestion and will report back in a few weeks, I guess.

No.. because when "stuff" comes into that port that isn't part of an already established connection, the router won't know which computer to push it to.  So when the connection gets dropped, there isn't an established.. so it defaults to the forwarded port setting.  If you were able to have more than 1, well, it won't know where to send it.

Gotcha.  That was my understanding, but I didn't know if it perhaps could be sent to both where it would be ignored by one.  But I appreciate the confirmation.

PILOT BRIEFING:
VATSTAR 800th Certification Celebration Flight
May 20th 1800z -- KCYS to KEGE

For our 800th Certification Celebration we are flying from KCYS (Cheyenne Regional / Jerry Olson Field) to KEGE (Eagle County Regional).  Since both of these are towered fields, unlike our last event there is not a separate origin nor destination for a VFR versus IFR plan.  Departures will be between 1800z and 1830z, and the flight should be a little more than an hour.

TAFs as of this writing (0130z) are as follows:

TAF KCYS 192322Z 2000/2024 {...} FM200800 17007KT 1SM BR BKN003
(... from 0800z on, expect winds 170 at 7, visibility 1 mile in mist, ceiling 300ft AGL)

TAF KEGE 192339Z 2000/2024 {...} FM201900 24005KT P6SM FEW090 SCT250
(... from 1900z on, expect winds 240 at 5, visibility 6+ miles, few clouds at 9000, scattered clouds at 25,000)

So as of this moment, the forecast appears more favorable for IFR on departure but possibly VMC upon arrival -- but you can make your own judgment!  Note, the forecast does call for thunderstorms at KEGE at around 2000z with winds 15 gusting to 25 and visibility 5 miles -- so it might get rough if we get in late!

If you do happen to fly it VFR (if the weather is much better than predicted or you choose not to simulate real-world conditions) the general direction of flight is 217 degrees for 132 miles.  Your best bet might be to fly 209 for 76 miles to Lake Granby, then follow the railroad 24 miles west-southwest to McElroy Airport (20V).  That puts you pretty much at Kremmling VOR.  From there if you fly due south 27 miles you'll pick up another railroad and highway that you can turn right and follow west about 23 miles to Eagle County Regional.  To plot that on Skyvector, copy and paste this into the Flight Plan box: KCYS 400948N1055146W 20V 393648N1062648W 394212N1064217W KEGE

If you file it IFR, the basic routing would be KCYS CYS V361 VAILE KEGE, although in reality upon departure we would probably not fly direct to the CYS VOR but would likely be vectored to intercept the V361 southwest-bound from it.  We would also likely pick up the LDA 25 into KEGE from Kremmling instead of following V361 all the way to VAILE.  So really, we're flying KCYS V361 RLG KEGE, but we should file the whole route since we don't know for certain what ATC will do with us.  Filed altitude needs to be 16,000 in order to meet the MEAs along the way.

For those who wish to try it via radio-navigation, here are the basic steps:

(1) prior to departure, have CYS (113.1) tuned and the OBS set to an outbound course of 203.
(2) we'll intercept that course per ATC instruction after departure.
(3) the first leg is Cheyenne VOR (CYS 113.1) out on the 203 radial to 58 DME (aka ALLAN).  Altitude needs to be at least 15,000 by the time we pass DME 24 and at least 16,000 by DME 58.
(4) the next leg is Kremmling VOR (RLG 113.8 ) inbound on the 225 bearing, at or above 16,000.  Be ready with the KEGE LDA 25 Approach chart upon reaching Kremmling.
(5) after passing Kremmling, assuming we've been cleared to do so, we're following the feeder leg on the LDA chart which is at a 184 outbound course.  We can descend (again, if cleared) to 13,800 until DME 13.5, then further to 12,900 between 13.5 and 19.5.
(6) approaching 19.5 DME out from Kremmling we should tune the LDA (same as an ILS, but offset from the centerline) on 109.75 and course 246.  On that signal we should find ourselves approximately at 17.2 DME (AQULA) and should still be holding 12,900 until inside 17.2.
(7) from this point we should track the localizer inbound and follow the charted altitude restictions until acquiring the glideslope: 12,200 to 15.3 DME (WEHAL), 10,400 to 10.8 DME (AIGLE), 9,800 to 9.4 DME (WASHI).
(8 ) from 9.4 DME we should be following localizer and glideslope to the runway.  Minimums are quite high (8330 MSL if we have localizer and glideslope) so hopefully the forecast holds up!
(9) in the event of a successful touchdown, the General Aviation terminal is on the south side (a left turn-off from 25); in case we go missed, it's a climb going direct Snow VOR (SXW 109.2) then outbound on a 001 from SXW while continuing up to 14,500 and 24.2 DME.

REMINDER: Cessna Skyhawks very well might not be able to make this journey (particularly IFR) due to the high altitudes required!  Also, if you're flying a fancy add-on aircraft such as something from A2A Simulations or similar, be sure you are aware that it could well simulate hypoxic effects at high altitude, meaning that you have to either disable that effect or simulate the use of supplemental oxygen for the pilot.  So if you start to experience weirdness with your screen during the flight, that may be the cause!

All in all, it should be a fun flight!  We look forward to talking with you in the TeamSpeak server at approximately 1800z!

REMINDER!

Don't forget, our 800th Certification Celebration flight on Sunday May 20th at 1800z from KCYS to KEGE!  And congrats to Cory Blair (1417467) who on May 10th at 0406z earned his P1 from VATSTAR which officially became our 800th awarded Pilot Rating!

http://vatstar.com/index.php/about-us/800th-cert-celebration