The VFR Club
Flight Training
Learn to Fly Flight Simulator : Learn Air Traffic Control Language
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On-Line Flight Training - Tutorials
All training information may also be downloaded from the Downloads page.
Two Pilots - One Aircraft
Who has control? In both 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 maneouvre 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 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.

FS2002 & FS2004

 

The excellent FSNet Copilot available from gates.to makes it possible for two pilots, "instructor" and "student", to fly in one aircraft.  Initial flights are made using the Club's FSHost server.  When the student is ready for live ATC, they connect to VATSIM. An FSNet/Copilot two-person licence costs £7.00 and includes 4 hours flying free.

FSX
Cockpit Sharing is a built in feature 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. Instructions for using FSX Cockpit Sharing and Vatsim
VATSIM - Online Air Traffic Control Services
Radiotelephony Manual for use on VATSIM The use of voice communications adds a great deal of realism to the Flightsim world. Pilots feel the same pressure to perfiorm properly as do real world pilots To help members, we have produced a tutorial, based on real world practice, but adapted for use on VATSIM. The Airborne Flight Plan is the most frequently used piece of ATC dialogue, and needs to be learned and well rehearsed.
Flight Planning & Navigation
Flight Planning

Any two points on the earth's surface may be connected with a line.  Although the earth is spherical, over relatively short distances - less than 500 miles, the line can be considered straight. We can measure or calculate the distance between the two points and measure the angle of the line relative to north.  This defines the line.  To fly an aircraft along that line however, even in FS, needs calculations of speed, time  & fuel required, decisions on altitude, avoidance of controlled airspace, which ATC unit to talk to en route.

Doing all this in the aircraft whilst en route is too late - it has to be done before the flight.

The Club has its own spreadsheet Flight Planner which can be downloaded from the Flight Planning section of the website. If the departure and destination airfields, the winds aloft and true airspeed are all known, the Flight Planner will calculate track, heading, distance and time en route.
Navigation Pilots flying under visual flight rules must fly by reference to ground features, so you need a map, stopwatch, protractor, scale rule, and a good sense of direction.  The pilot analyses the visual clues provided by ground features and acts accordingly to arrive at his/her destination.  The club has produced a navigation theory manual and a practical navigation manual for members.

Navigation Theory

Navigation Practice

Exercises 16 & 17 of the Club Flight Training Manual.
Observation, Analysis and Decision The three essential mental activities every pilot has to do throughout his flight.  These documents are extracts from the journal of a real world pilot flying in busy airspace during separate flights along the same route. Flight 1
Flight 2
Instrument Flight
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 below. Download
Instrument Flight 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 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. Download

This 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.

Page updated 28/05/08