VATSIM Tutorials | Episode 6: Using UNICOM Properly! Working Together without ATC

[@sofie7373]

You are such an underated youtuber for the flight sim community!! keep it up sir!

[@BritishAvgeek]

Really kind of you to think that, thanks 🙂

[@jaylegen]

I second this

[@BritishAvgeek]

@@jaylegen appreciate hearing it thank you 😁

[@flightsimulationtraveller]

true! 've been learning a lot from this channel and still keep watching!

[@fbwsimpilot]

As always much needed tutorial, has made unicom use much clearer. I'm did my 4th flight on Vatsim tonight with a mix of atc and unicom, these tutorials helped me so much gone from being scared of going on unicom to can't get enough of it., thank you very much 👍

[@BritishAvgeek]

Excellent to hear Bravo! Keep it up, and you'll never fly offline again 😁

[@AllenPortman]

Do you ever hear any other aircraft communicating on the unicom when you're flying? I fly all the time connected to Vatsim on Unicom and I never hear another pilot communicating. I lieve in a metropolitan area of 7 to 8 million population, so I would think periodically I would hear other aircraft flying Unicom?

[@xulphr]

Just an fyi to anyone flying in the US: Make sure to switch to the airport's tower channel for unicom frequencies on VATSIM. You can find them on the VATSIM AIP with the airport's ICAO. I've seen people who mistakenly use 122.8 on the ground even though everyone at the airport is using the tower frequency.

[@dasfunkmeister]

Added to the fact that UNICOM is not a chit chat channel with people discussing their life stories with one another. It's a reporting frequency....formative video Luke and the 1st I've seen of someone explaining how Unicom works in the Vatsim network 👍

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thanks! Hope it covered a lot of key points 🙂

[@yel5ew]

😅

[@Skyvibes10]

Alot of pilots dont read the COC ..iam one of them i got an alreat because i paused my sim

[@davidnasskau7528]

Dear B:A: I came across your Vatsim videos by chance and after watching the first episode I could not stop! After two months of study and pretend practice I finally had the courage to go for my first Vatsim flight. In May I will be 70 years old and as having been a professional Oboist in Germany during my working life I have had many nervous situations but nothing compared to the feeling on my first flight from EGCC to EDDL.Yesterday I did my second flight EGPH to EDDK and experienced my first Vectors given by Amsterdam Radar, as in EGPH the Controllers were magnificent, in EGPH the GND Controller was on his first day so he was in the same position as I was but he was just excellent. Accomplishing all the things you have to do at one time was difficult but the main thing was, the controllers spoke at a tempo, and clearly, that one could well understand what was said.I must say, without having studying your six videos I would never have done this, the more I do the better it will get and hopefully the nervousness and tension will gradually disappear, Practice makes perfect! So to sum up, your Videos are fantastic, the insight that you have given to so many is invaluable and I am sure for many to come, I thank you very much for your time and effort that you have put into your valuable videos and will never forget. I will also be watching your other videos which I am sure are most professional.With blue skies best wishes from David Nasskau

[@BritishAvgeek]

David, that's great to hear! I'm really pleased you found the videos helpful and it's great to hear you have found the courage to get on the network! Keep up the good work, eventually the nerves will settle 🙂

[@stevegills2961]

I'm just getting in to MSFS and VATSIM. This has been SO SO SO SO HELPFULL!!!!

[@BritishAvgeek]

That's great to hear! I'll look forward to hearing you on the network 😁

[@richardalbright6560]

Just saw you uploaded this. Very knowledgeable and a great asset for new simmers on the network. Keep it up!

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thanks Richard, hoping the refreshed tutorials will help many get started!

[@ksi9302]

Top notch tutorial, really appreciate you in helping me overcome my "vatsim anxiety"

[@christopherjackson8457]

I've been working my way through your videos, since your live fly into Rhodes, filling in the gaps in my knowledge. I have a tip for setting squawk when at an airport, for the time being without ATC. Most large airports have standard squawks series in real life, found in a list from Google. When flying out of Newcastle with a filed flight plan, I have set 3735, and so far have not been asked to change squawk when eventually encountering ATC en route. This is not to say that this will always be the case, but so far there have been few other departures concurrent to my departure. Another point, I often turn on vatglasses, to follow my flight, watching for active ATC. I was passed Gatwick and coasting out, flying Newcastle to Paris CDG, on unicomm, when London_South came on line, asking to make contact. The fbw Flypad hadn't updated ATC frequencies at that point so it was few moments before I was able to manually tune. Having done so, was given "descend now Fl260". Within a few minutes handed back to unicomm for the rest of the flight. However vatglasses gave me indication of BAW212 just ahead of me by 5 minutes for the same runway, and saw him on TCAS by about 7 miles, so it was really necessary to communicate intentions. It seemed that we had both selected the same Star to 27R at CDG. A very interesting flight.

[@BritishAvgeek]

thanks for the comment and the nice tips too!

[@Kacper_Kolodziejczyk]

Thank you so much, I've just been starting to get my confidence up for online ATC and really wasn't sure of the UNICOM etiquette! Very clearly explained!

[@BritishAvgeek]

Great to hear 🙂

[@johnmcgloughlin9403]

Really impressive and helpful series on using VATSIM. Well done. I think I'm ready to give if my first go now!

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thanks - great to hear you found it useful. When I got on Vatsim I found it quite daunting so wanted to help others in the same position have that confidence to connect and enjoy the network!

[@DinkyDoos]

Thanks for this series. Attempted my first VATSIM flight today and was directed to Unicom , I had no idea what to do and ended up disconnecting. This should be a help

[@BritishAvgeek]

Awesome thanks I hope it's helpful for sure!

[@yvrsim82]

Cool videos. Thank you for your work. I'm new again to vatsim after a decade away so these are really helpful!

[@BritishAvgeek]

Great to hear!

[@Skell3to]

Just had my first VATSIM Flight, without your tutorials I'd probably never get to it. Everything went.. pretty well I'd say. The ATC just had to repeat a waypoint I had to direct to like 5 times cause I didn't understand it well, got it eventually and flight went smooth!

[@BritishAvgeek]

Sounds like a successful first flight, nice one!!

[@707liner8]

Great video on a topic that doesn't often come up, excellent stuff!

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thanks! Felt like it was a much needed tutorial in itself, though it ended up longer than I'd have hoped for 😂

[@augustedelstoff1]

Your tutorials are so perfect and really helpful. The way you explain things in calm way so great. You deserve way more views ☺️ Sometimes it even tells you the speed restrictions on the approach chart for the airport

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thank you - very kind! 🙂 And yes great point even the speed restrictions and altitude restrictions are on the charts and should be adhered to when using unicom

[@WilliamWalkerIII]

People being silent on UNICOM is my biggest pet peeve as a GA pilot so thank you for this video.

[@BritishAvgeek]

It makes it quite tricky doesn't it!

[@Paul-td8qs]

Well thought out tutorial, thanks. Your point about silent aircraft is well made - it is annoying. One option to help see if there are other aircraft about albeit not transmitting on Unicom, is to have something like Volanta or SimAware activated. Vatsim traffic is shown on those add-ons. In Volanta Vatsim traffic will be indicated in a different colour to non-Vatsim traffic.

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thanks for the comment :) appreciate the tips too and glad you enjoyed the tutorial!

[@slicker55]

Great video... only recently joined VATSIM and they should make watching this tutorial mandatory - great job, as always :)

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thanks!

[@Eastbirds_Lee]

A much needed video. Well done mate!!🎉

[@BKGBlueface]

Would love to see a tutorial on VFR flying in vatsim. I always flown IFR but I don’t have the slightest idea of flying VFR. Love the videos !

[@BritishAvgeek]

VFR is complex - all depends on the country you're flying in, and the airspace you are operating in and around too 😂

[@rabh6746]

Fantastic work once again Luke, very well explained👍

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thanks! Unicom is a hot topic that hasn't really been addressed properly, until now!

[@transair27]

another great video and VERY useful for many simmers.

[@BritishAvgeek]

Great to hear thanks :)

[@equinx]

Thanks for this amazing video series. They helped tremendously give me the confidence to start on VATSIM! If you ever have the time to put together a PDF for UNICOM I think that would be super useful as I found myself playing over and over again bits of this video. Also you say at some point “will report over the field”. What should we say if flight plan doesn’t go over the field? I use “will report once established” but that might be a bit late.

[@BritishAvgeek]

Great to hear! I've done a few pdf tutorials which are on my website but as unicom is so wide, it's not one I've done... As for your other question about reports, pick a waypoint you think might be relevant for a position report :)

[@1royaltyfree]

What does over "Over the fields" mean? Thank you.

[@BritishAvgeek]

@@1royaltyfree "over the field" as in we are flying overhead the airfield/airport

[@motoriousss4047]

Hey, great tutorial playlist! I just did my very first vatsim flight which went quite well except, I went into Unicom as requested, but then I didn't know when to switch to the next ATC. I used the Vatsim radar and when I was within the airspace I then switched and when I did, the controller told me off for not joining sooner. He said he sent me something apparently but I didn't know what it was or what to look out for. Thanks for the help!

[@nagow_360]

Did my first vatsim flight yesterday and it went really well thanks to your videos! Is it possible you could make a video looking at flying in the Usa compared to europe?

[@Roy-ze6oj]

Awesome as always!

[@BritishAvgeek]

Thanks! 🙂

[@AllenPortman]

Great video! One more question. When you're reporting positions in flight wouldn't the other aircraft have to be on Unicom to be hearing your position and intentions?

[@BritishAvgeek]

yep - though in flight you don't need to report positions, only in the SID, STARs ideally, on approach, or on the ground (pushback, taxi, takeoff)

[@headych6317]

Thanks a lot for that video! Is there a maximal distance at which other aircraft will hear you on Unicom? I'm asking this as we usually don't hear much things on it, even if it's crowded

[@French28Pilot]

So if Im on unicom and for example I need to contact for example Gatwick approach, then If I have squawk 2000, Gatwick approach will call me?

[@cptarnotnice6080]

Awesome tutorials. Thanks

[@BritishAvgeek]

You're welcome! I'm hoping to film a few more to address a few other topics too

[@AllenPortman]

I am in the states but why is it that when I am connected flying on Vatsim with comms on unicom 122.800, I never hear any other aircraft communicating on the unicom channel? As much as I fly using unicom channel I find it hard to believe I am the only one always flying unicom?

[@fernandonunogoncalves]

Thank you. Very useful

[@BritishAvgeek]

Most welcome! Enjoy the network 🙂

[@c0r5e]

Just today flew full flight from Edinburgh to Heathrow on unicom. Had a traffic 10 minutes ahead of me. I seperated though i had a guy lining up on the runway i established ILS short of. How to command a pilot to go around if perhaps I also lineup on a runway where someone is landing?

[@BritishAvgeek]

It depends. If you are established and at 4 miles, the aircraft ahead should not line up. But if you are at 6-8 miles then he can, as long as he takes off immediately

[@Maikel-xf7fy]

what is the departure thing you need to say when taking off?

[@BritishAvgeek]

it's whatever SID you're flying

[@someone3.2007]

How would I know the next frequency to contact after getting handed off to unicom? Should I stay on unicom until contacting approach? Will the atc message me via CPDLC?

[@daytonvo2000]

I normally switch to my approach frequency about 10 miles out from my airport and report I’m In there frequency

[@daytonvo2000]

It will also say in Vpilot and many different apps what your approach frequency is

[@1royaltyfree]

What should I do if there's nobody on my airport but many atc controllers at an airport near me?

[@BritishAvgeek]

If you're at an airport with no ATC then you would use unicom, unless there is a Centre controller online controlling the area including the airport you are flying out of.

[@1royaltyfree]

Thanks:)

[@markdevenney5584]

With Belfast having 2 airports which 1 uses Belfast traffic?

[@BritishAvgeek]

At Aldergrove you can say "Aldergrove Traffic" and Belfast City can be "Belfast city traffic" :)

[@TRXEvo]

If the pilot says he's on final 10 miles, is it not safe to takeoff? What is the safe miles for me to takeoff?

[@BritishAvgeek]

@@TRXEvo 10 miles is fine, plenty of space. Anything shorter than 4 miles I would not because it'll be too close if you're slow lining up

[@TRXEvo]

@@BritishAvgeek ok sir, thank you

[@simofran6456]

Could you please make a video on how to fly an oceanic route with vatsim?

[@augustedelstoff1]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppW4nYCQp7qkrJo

[@BritishAvgeek]

It's a little old but have you seen this one I made last year? kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppW4nYCQp7qkrJo

[@simofran6456]

@@BritishAvgeek thank you very much!

[@hiortintexasracing]

Is the “160 until 4 DME” some sort of standard procedure?

[@BritishAvgeek]

Great question! Most places certainly in the UK (but it's something that'll be helpful elsewhere) is a great rule of thumb to help space aircraft in sequence and also keep up a flow (it stops people slowing down too much too far away from the runway for example). Then at 4 miles from touchdown, you slow the aircraft down to final approach speed 🙂 That said, it doesn't apply to Concorde! 😂

[@homasas4837]

This week I had a controller who ask me 220 knt until 6 dme (ebbr app). I had to ask him 3 times to be sure. I dont know if it's a real procedure but it's certainly dodgy.

[@hiortintexasracing]

So you always call Traffic ?

[@BritishAvgeek]

Yep on unicom 🙂 some examples: Manchester Traffic Detroit Traffic Austin Traffic National Traffic (for KDCA) Kennedy Traffic (KJFK) Narita Traffic (Tokyo Narita) Haneda Traffic (Tokyo Haneda) and so on 🙂

[@alanstringer9819]

Is there anyway I could chat with you british avgeek

[@BritishAvgeek]

You can head to our discord server discord.gg/britishavgeek-777834549236858881

[@HBCertified]

Why do people do this when they can train to be real pilots?

[@BritishAvgeek]

@@HBCertified because they don't have £120k, or they have health issues meaning they can't get a medical. It's a rich persons world being a pilot, most of us dream of it but can't afford it (I've tried three times for example, ran out of money three times)

[@cruisertechgt]

@BritishAvgeek thank you I did not realize this. My friends at work did flying part time and used all the money they made towards learning to fly. One is now flying in an airline and the other is an instructor almost there. I am on the way too.

[@BritishAvgeek]

@@cruisertechgt it depends where in the world you are too... In the UK it's wildly expensive. I got to the final 1000 for the British Airways Speedbird Academy a couple of years back, but withdrew (with great sadness) due to calculating I'd have to sell my house I've worked hard to buy, in order to fund going away to do the training... And with a partner and a dog at home I can't ever justify that

[@cruisertechgt]

@@BritishAvgeek that makes 100% sense to me. Thank you for sharing! I remember in my past I was in a situation where I could not become a pilot. Family is always first

[@salokin1]

That fills in a few gaps in the brain cells, thanks Luke. (🛬Fast approach still at 160?)

[@BritishAvgeek]

Ignore the speed, got carried away busy talking about various things so my capacity bucket was a little full! Helped counter the gusty winds though so it actually worked out nicely 😂