Many VATSIM pilots cannot successfully execute many of the procedures they file,
I think this might be the main crux of the matter. Dave, you made a statement in your initial post that "Pilots know how to fly holds." I'm not sure if that is outdated information or based on a sampling of Canadian Xpress pilots who probably have a higher incidence of procedural understanding than the general VATSIM public. But I think, at least in my anecdotal observation on the network and here in the forums, that the overall average level of IFR procedural knowledge among the average VATSIM user is not what it was years ago. That is what has partially fueled the push for the ATO program, where organizations like mine are trying like crazy to up the overall level of knowledge among pilots on the network. But, we have a tall task ahead of us in that endeavor.
Rob, you make a good point. I agree, I don't think pilots have the understandings of the procedures as we did in the past. The aircraft we have today, have taken away the need for basic understanding of what the procedure means. Saying that however, I think the average pilot does know how to 'push the right buttons' for lack of a better term, to make the aircraft do what they want. They may not understand what it means, but they understand what button to push on the FMC.
And yes, a lot of us at Canadian Xpress have been around this for many years. We are also a VATSIM ATO partner as well, and try very hard to get our own members to take some of the training we offer, and most have.
Maybe we need a secret code for vPilot that will tell ATC how smart we are, so we get front of the line
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