CAPTAINS,
(if you have been in the flight simulation community long enough, you will understand the "Captains" reference)
The last technology blog post was published in May of 2020, and what a long journey it has been for our team since then! Thankfully that long arduous development journey has come to an end and users will be able to benefit from our hard work.
I want to start off by answering some common questions and clearing misconceptions.
Is POSCON dead?
Absolutely
I'm sure you've seen those four letters before - RVSM - and you may have a fundamental knowledge about the airspace, but do you know why it exists? Here are the answers to the most basic questions:
Where do we find RVSM airspace? Higher cruising altitudes.
What happens in RVSM airspace? Airplane separation is reduced vertically.
Why does RVSM airspace exist? To allow more aircraft in the sky.
There you have it... the simple definition of RVSM. Now, let's get technical:
Flying VFR can be one of the most freeing and rewarding experiences a pilot can have. There is no need to worry about making sure you are following your magenta line or tracking the correct radial inbound to a VOR. Can you see in front of you? Great! That's all that matters, for the most part.
Flying VFR is one of the first things you learn as a pilot; in fact, until you begin instrument training, the majority of your flights will be conducted under VFR or Visual Flight Rules. VFR does not
You're flying along from Miami to Chicago talking to various air traffic control centers while en route. About halfway to Chicago, you notice radio silence; you try calling air traffic control with no answer. You check your microphone settings, everything seems to be working normal. What do you do?
Another day, you're flying a Cessna 172 VFR in your local practice area without talking to air traffic control when all of the sudden you notice black smoke coming out of the engine. You see an
Have you ever approached an airport too high or too fast and as a result you had to dive bomb the runway in order to land? Have you ever landed halfway down the runway in an attempt to squeak out that perfect landing rate? If the answer is yes to either of these questions, then you are the victim of an unstablized approach and in the POSCON world, you lose points for that type of flying. One of the biggest operational challenges for a virtual pilot is how to successfully accomplish a stabilized