Getting into VATSIM

I'm joining the most realistic flight simluation network, and starting with the most difficult position: ATC.

This isn't a guide to getting your ratings in VATSIM, as there are entire academies devoted to that, but will include a rough layout of what I've done so far.

VATSIM titles itself "The International Online Aviation Network". The flight network spans several different flight simulator games,
including X-Plane 11 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

Players ("users", perhaps?) can join the network either has a pilot, in which case they'd be doing things like filing flight plans, firing up their flight simulator game of
choice, talking with ATC, and piloting their aircraft for the entire duration of the flight. Or, players can join as ATC and perform the duties of accepting and delivering
flight plans to pilots, controlling navigation and spacing, handling clearance, giving routings, and make sure that all the aircraft are able to move about the virtual
world. Either way, the VATSIM network seems to strive for realism; forum posts I've read state that the network's processes and procedures are approximately 95% accurate
to the real-world career of pilot and controller.

If you're interested, this is a great video to give an overview.

If you're sold, then head here to register.

If you're joining as a pilot, then the official VATSIM documentation for pilots should be your next stop. Note that while
pilots are expected to follow the guidelines and rules of the network and pass some basic training material, they can fly anywhere in the world. Learning the aircraft that
they want to fly is also the pilot's responsibility, as they're expected to handle that entirely by themselves.

Controllers, however, face a much longer and arduous journey before they can even get onto the radios and give directions. After completing the
New Member Orientation Course, join the division for your part of the world, i.e. the USA
or for Europe.

Either way, you'll have a lot of material to go through, including reading, charts, videos, audio, and tests. You can hop into the ATC seat to watch and listen before, though,
but joining a facility for the region that you want to be a controller in. For the USA, these can be found on the VATUSA homepage from the "Facilities" dropdown. Each facility will
additionally have its own training material and rules. Yeah, it's a lot. On the facility site, you should be able to find downloadable documents for getting into
VRC, which itself you'll learn about in your division training. Using VRC, your VATSIM login, and the downloads from your facility, you'll be able
to log into the VATSIM network to watch. Hopefully you're able to watch an airport with someone currently in the controller position, so you can see what you're actually training
for. The VATSIM network keeps track of your time watching ("observing") along with other statistics for later down the road.