Decided to try my hand at pilotedge today. Install for x plane was simple and the service works really well. Had a good time with my first flight. My only complaint would be how the frequencies work on the ATC side in terms of one controller controlling multiple towers, clearances, ect. Kinda sucks when your about to report turning final at KSBP looking for a landing clearance and a guy gets on the air looking for his IFR clearence at KLAX (guess I'll make it an upwind cuz that controller wont clear me to land in time). So you kinda have to fight for radio time if they're busy but other that that very cool. I'll keep trying it out before i decide if its worth paying monthly for.

Yeah, I believe the client for XPlane is called SquawkBox. Not tried it yet, but I'll get around to it.

Wanna give it a try, Tracer? LOL!

Lolz! That puts a whole new angle on Tracer's Balls, huh?

Please note, "Boulder Juggling Festival". Sounds like a THE mission, to me...

Busy month this end, too, but we'll all descend upon Vatsim soon enough and cause some mayhem to them controllers again.

Def gonna try Vatsim as well. With pilotedge you get a 14 day free trail and they dont ask you for and Credit card information up front. Im now about 10 flights in and I must say I am enjoying the hell out of it. If nothing else than just for shits and giggles I seriously suggest trying the free trail.

I fly on VATSIM pretty regularly; control on it too. I'd say it's pretty solid- I'd avoid high traffic ARTCCs during peak hours when all they have a Center controller though. Top-Down controlling is the bane to VATUSA's existence.

This is a topic I'm quite versed in. I actually used to be a traveling salesman/rep for PE a while back. Still a regular user. What you noticed regarding one controller maintaining multiple areas is not totally unrealistic. I am a real world corporate pilot, and it's pretty common for me to speak to the same controller from clearance to departure.

PE is obviously not for everyone. If you are looking for "as real as it gets" and want to keep the riffraff out (being a paid service, this does that quite well), PE is great for you. Thanks to PE, I completed my instrument rating within two weeks and did my commercial rating in three days. It builds your confidence and allows you to practice real world skills using realworld frequencies, charts, etc.

I tried VATSIM early on, but being a real pilot, I wished there was more standardization and guaranteed service. I got that in PE. Must my two cents!

I will admit Quality of Service varies greatly from one ARTCC to the next on VATSIM

I use VATSIM (squawkbox is the plugin for xplane) on most of my flights, Whil a few of us are playing FSEconomy, Cygon, mag and myself are realyl enjoying it. Adds another depth of flying, having a group, and pilots fly for virtual currency, adds in weight and balances, fuel, and you have to do all the math as if a real pilot from airport to airport
add in Sim-brief website, for sim flight plans, and you can save them to your Garmins/FMC just like real life. been really enjoying x plane.