AusFlightSim - How to Connect to VATSIM using FS9 and SB3

Squawkbox

If you haven't flown online before you're missing out an a very exciting part of flight simulation. If you've never flown online with real people providing air traffic control then you absolutely need to get yourself an account at either VATSIM or IVAO and get connected. In this article I will explain step by step exactly what is required to connect Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 a.k.a. FS9 to the VATSIM network so you too can enjoy the great online world of simulated air traffic control.

1. Sign Up

The first step in this process is to sign up for membership at VATSIM (http://www.vatsim.net/). Be sure to enter a valid email address and one that's not a free mail account. Your email address will be validated. If you are an Aussie you'll want to sign up with the Oceania region. The air space over Australia and New Zealand is co-ordinated by VATPAC (http://www.vatpac.org/), the pacific division of VATSIM in the Oceania region. The VATPAC website contains alot of important information that you'll need when flying in Australia so be sure to visit.

2. Download Squawkbox

The next thing you'll want to do is download Squawkbox 3 (SB3). This is a free add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator that enables you to connect to the VATSIM network. There are a number of pilot clients available, FSInn by the FS French Development Team (http://www.mcdu.com/en/index.php) is one that has become popular with many pilots, although this article centres around SB3. Squawkbox can be downloaded from VATSIM in the Pilot Resources/Pilot Software section or from the official Squawkbox site at http://squawkbox.ca/.
Once you've downloaded the ZIP file extract it to a temporary location and double-click the EXE. Then it's a simple matter of following the installation steps.

3. Connect

In step 1 you would have received your VATSIM ID and password. You'll need to enter them into SB3 to allow you to connect to the VATSIM network so have them handy now. Start up Flight Simulator and position yourself on the ground at an airport somewhere away from all runways and taxiways. When you connect, if you're sitting on an active runway there's a good chance you could cause an approaching aircraft to go around, something no one appreciates having to do unless it's absolutely neccessary.

Once you've positioned yourself somewhere out of the way you can start up SB3. You do this by opening the Modules menu and clicking Start Squawkbox. You'll then see the SB3 splash screen and then the main SB3 window will appear.

Click the Start button on the main SB3 window and click Connect... The Connect dialog will open. This is where you will need to select a server closest to you geographic location as well as enter your VATSIM user ID and password. You also need to enter a callsign and your first and last name.

The last thing you need to do is define the aircraft you'll be flying during this session. To do this click the Aircraft List... button followed by the Add... button. Enter your own name for the aircraft and select the type of plane from the aircraft type list. If you want you can choose the livery as well.

Once all the information has been entered and you've defined the aircraft you can click the Connect button to be connected to the air traffic control server. You should see the following dialog indicating that Flight Simulator is joining the multiplayer session.

4. Fly

If you've been over the information at the VATPAC website (http://www.vatpac.org/) and observed the interactions between a few pilots and contollers you'll be ready to take to the skies yourself. Before you do though you'll need to plan your flight and file your flight plan using SB3. For examples sake lets assume we want to file for an IFR flight from Sydney to Port Macquarie in a DeHavilland Dash 8-300. The details of our flight plan are likely to be:

Type: IFR
Departure: YSSY
Destination: YPMQ
Altitude: FL210
Route: DCT SY W139 WLM W182 NICLA W106 PMQ DCT

To elaborate:

* YSSY is the ICAO code for Sydney Kingsford Smith International airport.
* YPMQ is the ICAO code for Port Macquarie airport.
* FL210 is the cruise altitude. Because the general direction of the flight is east-bound an altitude that is at odd thousands of feet is appropriate.
* DCT SY W139... is the route between Sydney and Port Macquarie. This includes the airways that will be travelled during the flight. E.g. W139 is an airway that comprises of the waypoints SY VOR, KAMBA, TOOKI and WLM NDB. Information about airways can be found in the Air Services Designated Airspace Handbook (DAP) at http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/publications/aip.asp.

The Comments section of the flight plan can be used to enter any further information that you would like the controllers to know about your flight. Perhaps you'd like them to know that you're new to VATSIM, maybe you're not using the default weather etc.

Once you've filed your flight plan you're ready to request your clearances from ATC and get going. Unfortunately this is out of the scope of this article, but if you've read over the training material at VATPAC you should have some idea of how to make your clearence request. All the best with your new venture into the world of online flying with real air traffic control services.