Classic British Flight Sim

I've now completed a number of flights using this program now and I must say it has given the game a lot of life back. The learning curve wasn't as steep as I thought it was going to be but then again I haven't used everything in the program.

Departing
The first thing I noticed is that you call for clearance just as before but then you call for push and start followed by taxi clearance. You aren't given a specific roue to taxi to the runway but then at least you don't get held up by ai rolling at 5 kts.

Next came the part when I got a bit lost as to what to do. My first flight from Stansted to Bournemouth had me flying out towards the east coast of Anglia. Turns out I was supposed to fly a departure procedure :think:

As I don't yet know about those, I had 2 options. 1/ RTFM or 2/ Ask Pete P our fellow forum member.
I asked Pete and he explained that any waypoint in the flightplan within 30 miles of the airfield will cause RC4 to think that it is part of the departure procedure and if I delete that waypoint, I will be vectored straight away.

It worked (thanks Pete!) but I've since found that I can fly my own :shock: departure route and join the GPS route to be vectored.

ATC & Voices
Some of the voices sound better than the others but you can select which ones you want to use. For instance I've got my pilot voice set to an English one.
You'll notice in MSFS that the clown who wrote the code didn't allow any time for you to respond to ATC commands before another ai aircraft or indeed another ATC command is given. With RC4, your FO replies for you and always has time to reply before any further RT is heard.
Whilst all that is going on, it gives you time to make heading adjustments etc but as it's not you replying, you have to listen out for your callsign as once it's been said, thats it. If you are instructed to do something and you do not follow the request, you will be reminded by ATC.

Another gripe about the MSFS ATC was "report traffic in your 6 o'clock". Yep no worries, I'll just check the camera mounted in my APU exhaust :roll:
In RC4, you are informed of traffic ahead of you (aircraft type/ALT) and your FO replies with your callsign.

You can also have random pre recorded real world ATC played inbetween your own RT. This as I say is random and you will hear ATC from all over the UK but it really does add to the overall experience. Much of the ATC seems to be Thames and reminds me of my time at LCY which I enjoy. Correct me if I'm wrong Pete.

Cruise
You are vectored around the sky whilst en route and there is also an option to turn holds for weather/traffic on or off. Pete has also guided me through this as you can be vectored or fly round the hold yourself, sticking to the exact route required.
I was held yesterday on a flight from Bournemouth to Stansted. ATC called saying there will be a delay due to the approach being saturated and needless to say the flight took just over an hour whilst I held.... vectored all the way

Descent
You are told to descend when ready although I have also been told to descend immediately as ATC want me level by a certain point. Again this adds to the realism as it's not the same commands over and over.
A couple of my descent routes have been a bit odd but I put this down to MS. I shall be investing in FSBuild tomorrow (payday) to give me some more realistic routings.
Anyway, you have several options for your approach including visual, vectored etc. You can guess which one I go for Once you are near your destination, the ILS freq appears in the small RC4 window which is extremely helpful. No more searching the net or reading books to find a freq and of course you can then dial it straight in and do a perfect approach regardless of weather, time of day etc. How many of you are now thinking what a lazy git I am

I'll also add that the ATC window is a lot smaller than the default one which is good. There are many, many more things in the program which I haven't spoken about or don't yet know about, but I can def recommend it to anyone wanting better ATC.

Many thanks to Pete P as well for putting up with my flow of questions

Many thanks for that Chris.. an interesting read

Will I.. won't I.. will I.. won't I.. :think:



ATB

DaveB :tab:

Bet you do Dave!

Charlie Bravo wrote:You can also have random pre recorded real world ATC played inbetween your own RT. This as I say is random and you will hear ATC from all over the UK but it really does add to the overall experience. Much of the ATC seems to be Thames and reminds me of my time at LCY which I enjoy. Correct me if I'm wrong Pete.

You're absolutely right, Chris - Thames Radar it is.
PP

DaveB wrote:Will I.. won't I.. will I.. won't I.. :think:

Do I detect signs of weakening?

Two things I can confidently promise you (and anyone else from CBFS for that matter):

1. Your IFR flights in RC will never be the same again - it really does add an extra dimension and
2. Your own personal "Support Manager" is just a PM or e-mail away!

Go on... you know you want to... :think:
PP

:think: :think: :think:

A silly question perhaps but would the VFR experience be equally enhanced??

ATB

DaveB :tab:

DaveB wrote::think: :think: :think:

A silly question perhaps but would the VFR experience be equally enhanced??

ATB

DaveB :tab:

Heres the link to purchase it Dave

DaveB wrote::think: :think: :think:

A silly question perhaps but would the VFR experience be equally enhanced??

A far from silly question, Dave - it's actually a "hot topic" in the team at the moment. The straight answer to your question is no it won't as RC (at the moment) is for IFR flights only.

However, RC5 - due sometime after FSX is released - has "VFR Lite" pencilled in. Now, quite what that means, I've no idea but it's not something I'm likely to be involved with. Adding VFR is, to me, a rather low priority for the UK/Europe. We tend to treat VFR rather differently on this side of The Pond and services such as the FAA's VFR Flight Following don't really have equivalents here - services such as RIS and RAS are for IFR traffic only and the Flight Information Service is just that. Apart from landing and take-off clearance and, perhaps some circuit instructions, I'm not sure what VFR would add to UK flight.

PP

Hi Pete,

VMtks for that explanation I do find that the majority of my simming these days is VFR and with me lined up to fly the Rapides for the VA.. I was hopeful that RC4 could add a friendly UK voice. I fully see your point though which is why I wasn't sure if the question would be a silly one or not The panel I made for DG's Rapide currently has no navaids (other than a compass!!) as I based it on AA's DL, which unsurprisingly has no navaids other than what you see on the panel! This said.. TM has a little more sophistication so perhaps an IFR panel could be made. Doesn't sound right though does it :tuttut:

I still very much like the sound of it though and my current type ratings include the Dove so you never know. If I add the One-Eleven too.. the plastic may find it impossible to resist!!

ATB

DaveB :tab:

One other feature which I've just discovered (oh, all right, I should have read the manual sooner.... :tuttut: ) if you opt to acknowledge messages yourself rather than leaving it to your automated co-pilot you get to ask for a repeat if you miss something - that's a really useful feature as the old short term memory is going. I said the old short term memory is going.




Regards

John