On The Glideslope

Category: PilotEdge

  • Victorville (KVCV) to Boulder City (KBVU) – And The Cuban Missile Crisis

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    Last night on PilotEdge I decided to fly from Victorville, CA to Boulder, City, NV (just outside Las Vegas). This is the first leg of a two-leg trip VFR PilotEdge flight from KVCV to St. George, Utah. KVCV is the old George Air Force Base, and is now a towered public field working as Southern California…

  • CTAF 101

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    A lot of the airports in the PilotEdge coverage area are “nontowered” airports, meaning either there is no control tower at that airport, or there are times of the day when the tower is not staffed. This means there is no local air traffic control at those airports, and it qualifies them as “Class G” airspace to the…

  • Hello PilotEdge V-02 Rating

    Last night after the kids were asleep I decided to take an hour and try for my V-02 VFR rating in the PilotEdge training program. This is a ATC “flight following” flight from John Wayne’s (KSNA) Class Charlie airspace to Ontario, CA (KONT). The flight requires several handoffs: from KSNA clearance, to ground, to tower, to…

  • How To Talk ATC

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    As I’ve been learning my way around PilotEdge I have by necessity been learning my way around the language of Air Traffic Control. One thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes pilots on PE seem to be working hard to sound “official,” whereas what I’ve noticed when listening to the real thing is that real-world pilots (and…

  • PilotEdge, Take 3 (And A Rating To Boot)

    The past few days I’ve been writing about my trial on PilotEdge, the as-real-as-it-gets subscription ATC service that covers most of the SoCal operating area. My first flight was all nerves (and a learning moment), the second more relaxed and fun. Today I went for flight number three, which was an attempt to qualify for…

  • PilotEdge, Take Two

    This afternoon I returned to PilotEdge for a second flight, with the good and not-as-good of last night under my belt as experience. Taking the advice of the PE forums seriously, I spent some time in the PE pilot resource center, and watching most of the general VFR workshop in particular (and now I’m a…

  • Flying On PilotEdge (And On Being A Noob)

    One of the things that’s a challenge with simulation flying is realistic air traffic control. There is automated ATC in the software, which you interact with via a keyboard. It sounds OK, but ties you to the keyboard and shows a window on screen, both of which can kill the immersion. It also is very basic…