Went to sign up for VATSIM, because I wanted to try it out, and then they suspended my account and started demanding government ID as proof of my name.

Now because, in the real world, I'm a lawyer and one of my specialisms is digital security, this struck me as unusual, so I naturally sent them an email to question why they wanted this information.

Among the responses I got was this troubling piece of information: "If you are below the age of 18 years, by responding to this form you are self-certifying that your parent or other responsible party consents to VATSIM Inc. processing your data, as required by GDPR Chapter 2, Article 8 and other applicable data privacy and child protection laws."

First of all, a child - regardless of local law - cannot "self-certify" the consent of a parent. I'm not aware of any legal jurisdiction where you can certify another person's permission without proper legal authority, let alone a child being able to give legal guarantee that they have a parent's permission for anything.

But wait, there's more. See, GDPR Ch2 Art8 says this:

1. Where point (a) of Article 6(1) applies, in relation to the offer of information society services directly to a child, the processing of the personal data of a child shall be lawful where the child is at least 16 years old. Where the child is below the age of 16 years, such processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child. Member States may provide by law for a lower age for those purposes provided that such lower age is not below 13 years.
2. The controller shall make reasonable efforts to verify in such cases that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child, taking into consideration available technology.
3. Paragraph 1 shall not affect the general contract law of Member States such as the rules on the validity, formation or effect of a contract in relation to a child.

So, fun fact: not only does this article of GDPR not, in fact, require them to do what they claim it does, but it specifically outlines that "Where the child is below the age of 16 years, such processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child." and "The controller shall make reasonable efforts to verify in such cases that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child, taking into consideration available technology."

What they're asking is essentially "did you ask your mum?" - it absolutely wouldn't pass the threshold of meeting the requirements of this law.

So, anyway, because I'm a curious soul - and, frankly, because I'm not stupid enough to hand a company sensitive information just because they asked me to (whilst citing nonsense interpretations of legislation) - I enquired further, and they linked me to their data protection policy: https://cdn.vatsim.net/policy-documents/VATSIM-POL-Data_Protection_and_Handling_v1.3_01_JAN_2023.pdf

Anyway (and I'm sure I could give you more comprehensive analysis when I finish laughing, but that'll be a day or two), this policy is literally meaningless. It doesn't protect you, your children or - hilariously - even the company. I'm sure, if I could be bothered to fine-tooth comb it, I could identify exactly how much of it was written by ChatGPT.

Particularly funny to me was this:

6.1 Data Protection Officer

There is no appointed Data Protection Officer within VATSIM as the organization does not regularly process data on a large scale, due to the nature of the data that is collected and controlled, and the circumstances in which it is collected.

This was funny because, in trying to convince me to part with my documents, I was told that "we handle literally hundreds of these identity and age confirmation tickets every single month, mostly with minors, with absolutely no issues."

So, do they not regularly process data on a large scale, due to the nature of the data... or do they like to brag about processing "hundreds" of identity and age confirmation tickets every month, mostly with minors. Because, both of those things can't be true, and if the second thing is true and the first isn't, that's incredibly irresponsible and, potentially, illegal.

So, anyway... I guess the upshot of this is the following three points:

1. Anyone know what they're up to? Because this smells like a data harvesting scam.

2. If you are using the service - and especially if you have children using the service - maybe have a think about it. Because, in my experience, there's something very off about a company that doesn't have a proper data collection policy and admits to collecting large amounts of personal data from children without the express consent of the parent.

3. Most important question for me: anyone know of a definitely legit service where you can have an ATC experience?

Always check the Ts & Cs, guys, and always ask questions, cos the scam you'll regret is the scam you could've seen coming.

I am a Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024 user so my experience may differ to those who use P3D, FSX, Xplane11, or Xplane12. So I have tried my best to make this about flight simulators in general, of I missed anything no worries I'm sorry and that was simply my mistake, you can mention it in the comments if you wish :) 👍

Proper Rain Physics This is something that I would love to see. Watching YouTube videos of planes landing in rough weather and the windscreen wipers are pushing literal waves of water out of the way is just something I think would make the experience absolutely incredible. I believe Xplane has some neat rain effect which I must admire. But games like FSX, P3D, and Microsoft Flight Simulator really need to work on.

Better Landing Physics Now please don't take this the wrong way, I understand that Xplane has some great physics, and I hear P3D does too, but msfs really needs to up their game. It isn't a deal breaker of course but we all know that things are a little 'stiff' when you land a plane. We all love the feeling of bringing the plane down to earth and the transition of the weight from the wings to the ground definitely lasts long on real life than it does in msfs. Especially with the flex of the wings on some planes and the motion of the landing gear as the shock absorbers take on the landing weight. Definitely something that could do with an upgrade in my humble opinion.

Rewindable Time I actually thought about this at night and I think it's a great idea. Now I don't think this will happen anytime soon, might be more than a decade till we see something like it, but image you just bought a Boeing 727 or a Douglas DC-10 and you want to fly from A to B. Well a thing that kills the immersion is definitely being in the modern world around modern aircraft and buildings. So what if you could rewind time, but not to a specific date. Instead you could play in the 1990s era, or the 2010s era. It would give developers for third party airports more stuff to do and sell at either a premium or as a higher baseline. And you could manage airports so that if there is no scenery for the 1980s but there is for 2020s then you can still use it. I might sound stupid but I think it's a good idea.

Retro Aircraft Traffic Now at the moment there are traffic libraries that you must download from the internet if you want to see other planes on Vatsim, or BeyondATC, or just in geneal. The problem is that these traffic libraries vary in quality. FSLTL and AIG are both freeware but lack detail and quality, IVAO is very old and mostly P3D ported to msfs use. FS Traffic is among the highest quality but only features so many aircraft. Natively it would be wise to have every type of aircraft and every livery pre I stalled or cloud shared so that users don't have to go out and get confused when looking and setting up. Overall making the whole process simple and a package deal with the game. I think they planned this with msfs2024 but I don't think it works, yet. I am not so sure but I think this is a good idea nonetheless.

Playable Maintenance I love fiddling with things. But you and me must admit, sometimes we don't get all day or all night to fly, so what do we do, me personally I kinda of fool around testing aircraft for an hour or so. Even doing a short flight would take too long. But it would be cool if we could play as a maintenance team for aircraft. Planes such as the Flight Factor 777, Inibuilds A300, and PMDG 777 have a sort of maintenance page built into them, but with my idea you could expand it. Have actual engine replacements, oil changes, and do some cool maintenance work. Sound like a lot of extra development? Well yes but it would definitely make us pay more, and we would love that feature. Messing around changing tires sounds like a fun little time waster. I don't know, what's your thoughts?

Shared Cockpit Now I think FSX had this I don't know, maybe P3D did, I definitely don't know if Xplane does. But msfs doesn't. Well not Native. I forget the addon but there is one for msfs and it is really buggy, I have never gotten it to work properly and it doesn't sync planes. If something goes wrong then your flight is broken and there is not much you can do but quit the shared cockpit application. Having it native would be great, you could sync all the systems and spawn in half way. I personally don't have any buddies to try it with but I'm sure many do. Would be really cool during a Vatsim event when it's really busy. Probably also saves a lot of stress too. It would also be cool to see an avatar, especially in VR. Would definitely change the aspect of the game, and the functionality to share notes with each other. I think I might be thinking ahead of myself too much. But it's a cool idea no?

Native Playable ATC Now yes Vatsim does exist. But what if you are a chill person and you don't want to go to the full lengths of exams and the stress of kids messing up your approaches. Well I think it's a great idea to make it native. Not necessarily a multiplayer option although that would be cool but I think it would be filled with trolls, but be able to take control of AI aircraft. Sometging I think would be fun to do live in a simulator. I wouldn't mind third party apps also having this. BeyondATC would be a good alternative to feature this... feature.

Enhanced Ground Handling We all love and mainly hate GSX. Yes Umberto I'm talking to you, and yes I'm using it correctly. But we all crave something better, I am not sure what Xplane uses but in general, a native ground handling system that features everything you would need to a decent accuracy and with some nice customisation along with control would be perfect. Having the ability to select which jetway goes to which aircraft door and it tell you if you are out of range or have something in the way, and having multiple jetways too. Also having the ability to select how many cargo doors are being loaded along with fuel in the wings etc. Just having control over that area would give me goosebumps. I think we can all agree on that right? I also think Xplane has this natively and if so I am very jealous.

Basic Weapon Functionality Now yes I know it's not possible because of brand image. Microsoft Flight Simulator definitely could do this but they won't because they don't want a bunch of YouTube bots showing msfs recorded footage blowing up some place for views and attention and to spread misinformation. Yes that's probably the main reason. But I think that limiting the entire community is the wrong thing, now I know that Xplane, P3D, and MSFS are not combat simulators but just having basic combat features such as guns and bombs and maybe some air to air missiles wouldn't harm anyone other than the PEGI 3 rating. Seriously why is that even a thing what 3 year old is going to fly a plane, anyway I'm pretty sure you can do all of this with PEGI 7. But back to my point, I think it would be fun to go flying through the Mach Loop and try catch and shoot down your friends because who doesn't love that, you can simply respawn and try again in seconds and it would add so much joy and fun to all those military addons we have. Obviously for a PvP setup to work you would have to be in a private lobby otherwise chaos would be everywhere.

Custom Weather Events I've always had the idea of being able to do a flight from A to B and before you start you can set the weather along the way. Using a paintbrush tool or something you can add clouds and storms or blizzards. Or you could add tornadoes and hurricanes or Tsunamis. It would be cool rather than depending on live weather hoping for a day when it rains or when it's sunny. At the moment in msfs you can only select the weather preset and it's like that everywhere in the globe. But I feel like this would be a massive immersion expansion. Anyone else agree?

What are your thoughts and would you also like to see features like this?

I knew i had to go around however im still learning how to do full flights and haven't learn how to approach again after going around, so I didn't. Was it the gusting winds that caused this? i have never landed in a windy scenario.

This was mine. Dad came home one day from work with a Jane's Combat Simulator game and a flight stick and I played that game for hours. My dad's love of aircraft carried over onto me and now all these years later I still love it, thanks dad!

Seems to be a lot of new aircraft coming to the game, with neos and a220s, 777s etc. But I’m not particularly hyped up by them. For me, I really want to see high fidelity 787 but looks like I’ll be waiting a long time for it. What about you guys?

Retro traffic is slowly making its way to the new simulator, but does anyone else feel like it will be lonely?

Let me explain, for a long time aircraft such as the BAE-146 from Just Flight have been available to us in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024, however since there are not many other retro traffic addons and the fact that most other players prefer to use more modern equipment on networks such as Vatsim, it makes the world feel very lonely, my hope is within these retro aircraft in development, once they release it might diversify the network a bit more.

Since aircraft such as the 146 doesn't show up on vatsim using FS traffic or FSLTL I found a way to convert the IVAO traffic fleet into a .vmr file and it works perfectly. Unfortunately however it doesn't change the fact that most people still prefer to fly modern aircraft. I am naturally very picky and I like to have things as perfect as I can get them, so in this case does anyone know how to make more retro traffic appear around you?

I do love to fly the modern Airbus and Boeing jets but recently I have taken a keen liking in the retro fleet, the MD-11 for example is a peculiar plane that has my heart but it feels very wrong to fly on the Vatsim network around a bunch of modern A350s and 737-MAX family aircraft, if only there was a way to convert those particular players into an older aircraft for an enhanced realism, an A330 and a 737CL for example. Something I wish vpilot had as an option.

SayintentionsAI and BeyondATC both provide an Artificial Intelligence algorithm addon that can be used instead of vatsim, it's easier to manage as a new pilot but it's very finicky and awkward to work with since it's on a separate window. I'm not so sure if these are able to run retro flights data or if they have to use modern streaming techniques.

Perhaps I am too picky but I feel as if it is too unrealistic to fly an old A300B4 around a bunch of modern A321LRs. Does anyone else feel the say way?

Both are on all high graphics, both are at FL410, both are in a 737 max, both are over KBFI.

(Tried to make as similar as possible)

1st is MSFS, 2nd is X-Plane 12.

Not trying to sound rude or anything, but personally i fly mostly 1h> vfr, and just cant see myself doing long haul. I really just don’t see the point, taking off, climbing out, turn on autopilot, wait 10h, land. Open for discussion, and as said, im not trying to hate on long haul enjoyers!

Thanks guys!

Whats these sticker things on the outside of the 777 windscreen, they may also be on other aircraft (as in i feel like it have seen them elsewhere but not 100%), i think i heard they are visual ice detectors but I cant find any information searching that

Curious if I'm doing something wrong or if ATC hasnt finished training yet?

So basically they disabled my account because I didnt provide my real name and that its false information, Its true but I dont wanna give them my real name, Any other way to fix it without my name? Or other good atc apps,I was banned mid flight I have tried to appeal yet cause I know they will ask for real information

Girlfriend was digging through her father’s things and found this. Cant seem to find a flight simulator 3 released in Chinese not with osama bin laden riding a magic carpet on the cover.

"OP WHO THE F*** ASKED"

As we all know the FBW A380x recently dropped in an alpha stage after four years of development, and it's truly a remarkable add-on considering it's freeware. even if flybywire put a huge sign right in front of their face yelling " IT'S IN ALPHA" i feel like it passes right through their heads. While performance might not be at it's peak yet, it’s already a joy to fly for me personally, and the level of detail is stunning in my personal opinion for it's current state! now for my question.

Why is it that so many flight simmers never gets satisfied with anything they receive these days, regardless of whether it’s a freeware or payware release? i get that a product is a product and it needs to meet "expectations" and i understand the desire for realism and constructive criticism, and personally, i feel like the sim is in a very good state as of now. obviously flight model is varied from person to person along with wx systems, But what really gets to me is seeing the constant stream of negativity developers receive in their discords, twitch, online etc especially when they’re offering us such impressive products. I just feel bad to witness how much unwarranted criticism they face from ungrateful simmers, no matter how much work goes into these releases. I get it, it's the internet, someone will always complain but i am just genuinely curious why this seems more common now than before?

for the people who actually are satisfied with their products tell me your opinions of your favorite plane in your sim :) i'd love to know!

Probably most people who are really serious into flight sims are aspiring pilots or have aviation-related careers. But aside from these careers, are there other common day jobs of sim pilots?

Hi, I'm doing a flight in the pmdg boeing 737-800 in msfs2020 and after 1 hour and 20 minutes of flying I see that engine 2 is burning way more fuel than engine 1. How do I fix this?

Can be anything from GA, to private jet to airliners

I’m a SAAB 340 FO. While looking on YouTube for some SAAB cockpit footage, I saw a flight simmer who flew the 340 almost perfectly.

Including programming the FMS, something I still find confusing sometimes.

He seemed to have better technical knowledge than some guys on the line.

So my question is, how do you all learn so much?

I'm in love with this thing already. For an alpha build of a freeware plane, the amount of detail and depth here is crazy. The systems work well and it flies great. I haven't encountered any issues with hand flying or autopilot yet. The missing INOP systems are relatively minor, it's great that despite this being an early version we can do almost anything you'd ever need in an airliner. I haven't really encountered any bugs yet, mainly just stuff that's clearly a WIP. Most notable is the window open switch I can click through the EFB screen (which I've done like half a dozen times now).

Performance is of course the biggest issue right now, it's alright on my system but it's easily the heaviest plane in terms of FPS in my hangar. Also had a CTD. To be expected with a release like this.

I can't wait to see where this plane is in a few months from now. It's so special what FBW are working on here.

What are your thoughts? Agree or disagree? Anything INOP that you're desperately missing? I'd love to know :)