some nice feedback...

[Keith Smith]

...I’m very pleased with the Pilot Edge experience so far. #1, voice quality is vastly superior to [other online networks]; those of us new to ATC find it daunting enough when trying to understand/comply with instructions heard clearly, let alone ones that are garbled and incomprehensible. #2, controllers seem very knowledgeable and well trained; I like the fact they are friendly yet firm in their insistence things be done ‘right’…it’s how we learn to do things correctly. #3, the over-all experience is much closer to ‘real world’; switching frequencies, the way range increases with altitude, the ‘drones’, and the emphasis on learning VFR and non-towered flight operations before moving to instruments.

At the moment, I can see subscribing for a few months, perhaps take the summer off, and then coming back in the fall with an annual subscription as I start to work toward my private pilot’s licence.

[rgrazian]

Compliments to the entire PE team!

I have been a member (and sim pilot) now for about a month. As I stated in a couple other posts, I am deep into my instrument training and hope for a check ride late March or early April. I completed a real world round trip flight on Saturday with my wife and son that included 4 VFR class bravo transitions (DFW & Houston) and completed a similar flight two weeks ago with a friend. Thanks to my work on PE over the past month, I was much more prepared for these complex transitions and could focus on flying. Furthermore, my radio work flying under the hood is strong. My CFII is amazed. I just smile and tell him “I’m a natural” with a twinkle in my eye. Don’t worry; I did ultimately confess my secret as it’s my desire to see PE wildly successful. On another subject, I did not expect to have this much fun flying x-plane. I really enjoy it and can see why there are so many die hard sim fans. Furthermore, a few of the PE members have helped me out on things such as scenery and a couple other technical items. So, thank you PE staff and members! I hope to join a couple of fly-ins soon. I think I have a new hobby thanks to you all.

Keep up the good work!

[Calvin Waterbury]

The well-earned accolades accorded to Pilotedge have been adequately documented and my/our experience has been nothing less, so I want to take a different heading in my praise of Keith Smith's brain-child and the people (seen or unseen) who *are* Pilotedge...

I am a father of eight children, ages 29 to 13. All of my family are working toward obtaining their own Sport Pilot Cert and or their Private Pilot's License. Even my wife who has never done anything like this for her whole life is joining the journey. I had researched in vain for a tool such as Pilotedge to provide my family a head-start when it was time for the real world lessons. After two years of intense search and efforts to try and emulate real-world flight I discovered Pilotedge. That was almost two years ago since Keith Smith and I discussed the "dream" of our family flight. The rest is what is called, "history" and it is a good history. Due to the confidence of some of my brood (which was engendered by Pilotedge), my children lost their fear of conversing with real pilots and that netted numerous invitations... "Wanna go up?" "Would you like to fly?" "Hey, I am going to fly. Would you like to ride a long?" One of these pilots was a CFI and had some aerobatic qualifications. One day last month he had taken one of my older sons up. They decided to come fly over our house and do a mini-airshow. I got to see my second son control the aircraft through barrel rolls, wing-overs and loose expression of a "Hammerhead." These and numerous other invites were offered to our children and recently, my dear wife took the right seat and was introduced to the realities of how the gear, engine, prop and control surfaces contribute to piloting! She was very happy when she returned. FYI - her PIC was a CFI, so she could log it as dual time which is sweet enough, but the CFI gave one of my daughters his old saxophone (in excellent condition) when he had overheard her telling someone she wanted to learn that instrument. So, was Pilotedge responsible for getting my wife into the flight compartment, my children's experiences (including acrobatics) or a gifting of a saxophone? I'll leave the reader to form his/her own opinion. I will say the contribution of Pilotedge's controllers to helping my family get over the "mic fright" was a concrete one.

One other "pat on the back" for Keith Smith and his crew is this. I have invested a great deal into my children to offer them the best chance at happiness in their lives. As a result, I have been quite protective of my investment, especially where my minor and adult daughters were concerned. My experience with Pilotedge gave me the confidence I could turn my daughters loose on the network. I was not disappointed! The controllers and Keith, himself were very helpful, gently correcting mistakes made in ignorance and showing great patience. I overheard several times where the controllers said something like, "That's OK. You can get the next time." I can say those encouragements were like a salve to a tender wound and contributed to additional attempts until success was achieved both in the ratings and general maneuvers. After several months of watching my children's faces move from reflecting fear to wide smiles of confidence I was provoked to meet in person this "Keith Smith." I finally had the chance at a "near by" airport when Keith was handling some business and came to the airport in his Lancair 360. After introductions all around and some discussions Keith said (in his "quasi-Aussie") "Now, who wants to go flying?" Even Keith was taken aback (and physically was "blown" back) by the chorus of "I DO!!" For the first time as a father of my precious daughters, I allowed another man, Keith, to take my girls out of my control and into the sky committing their safety into another man's hands. Yes, Keith Smith was the very first. I can think of no higher compliment than this.

Calvin Waterbury
Chief Pilot
"The Waterbury Family Flyers"

[arb65912]

Great story , Calvin, I have read your reply with pleasure. Cheers, AJ

[Cyrus]

The well-earned accolades...

Calvin, that's a truly awesome post. And from several different perpectives. I'm speaking as a father of "just" three myself, as well as a GA enthusiast on the PE network.

Thanks so much for sharing

[Keith Smith]

Got a nice one today:

I just wanted to say thank you and your staff for PilotEdge.. Because of PE, I blew away my flight instructors with radio traffic and other flight theories.

The first time my instructor had me call for taxi and takeoff clearance, I was like a pro and impressed him. I got a taxi clearance of “taxi runway 26 via echo, alpha charlie, cross 31.” My instructor keyed up to respond at the same time I did, but I was able to beat him and spit out the instructions before he did.

[FLIB]

Rather than sending a personal note to *just* Keith, I thought I might share some recent RW experience that I think is relevant feedback to the benefits of PilotEdge.

"Archer 873 is cleared to YIP via direct Toledo, after Toledo heading 360, expect radar vectors YIP, descend and maintain 4000"

After the readback (and having been previously radar identified with a discreet squawk), I was officially on my first pop-up IFR clearance with Toledo approach. Let's back up a bit. I had just departed VFR from a non-towered field, and was cruising at 4500 with an overcast layer at 8000 and rain showers along my route of flight. Instead of asking for flight following and staying VFR (which would have been perfectly legal), I decided to simplify things and ask Toledo for the pop up clearance.

In flight visibility never dropped below 10 miles (to the left and right), forward visibility was more like 8 miles. Being "in the scan" actually allowed me to relax, and enjoy the flight. Being instrument rated, current, and I will add "PilotEdge" current helped me tremendously that day. By maintaining my PilotEdge currency, I have discovered a new level of situational, procedural, and communication awareness that transfers directly to real world flying.

So thank you Keith, and your entire team for providing us with PilotEdge!

[canox]

Hi!

Today I tried my first flights on Pilotedge, what an awesome experience. I did the 'first flight' from Oceano to San Luis a few times. I was almost shaking my first flight and I could hardly fly the plane! After a few flights and getting used to what I was supposed to say everything became more relaxed. Ive never flown RW and I am fairly new to flight sims so PE seemed like a big step, but I want to get an idea of proper aviation procedures from the beginning. I made a lot of mistakes today (sry San Luis controller) but I realize to learn I will have to keep flying and talking to ATC. The training workshop videos provided have been incredibly useful and interesting so far. It feels like a real class that I should be paying to attend. Keith your voice and accent are very soothing.

The feeling of realism and immersion with all the traffic and comms chatter in Pilotedge is amazing. I spent about a month with Xplane before discovering PE, never really imagined Id be talking like a real pilot and interacting online with professional air traffic controllers!
Thanks Mr Keith Smith and staff for such a cool service.

[mdolislager]

I just had to add some nice feedback as well.

Keith and the entire Pilotedge Team, you all have a fantastic product and it is so worth the $20/mo. for quality ATC and procedures. I've used PE for at least 6 months (actually not sure how long) and it has benefited me immensely. I started my real world pilot training in July and am currently halfway through my private pilot license now in the minimum time so far! My instructor told me he has never had anyone go through the PPL license in such short time and know how to hammer out radio calls on the first day. I owe so much of my comfortablilty with ATC and procedures to PE and the wonderful people here who make it run smoothly day in and day out. Without this experience I would not be able to get through my PPL this quick. On many levels thank you; but most of all my wallet thanks you!

I know it is always nice to hear positive feedback and I wanted to extend that to you as well as a thank you. Keep up this great service and I look forward to using it more and more in the future as I progress past PPL and into the instrument rating and beyond.

Cheers,
Marcos

[Keith Smith]

Got a lovely email from a fellow who works the Pt Magu TRACON in the real world...

Many thanks again for the great, professional service you gave me today and I just want to reiterate that the service you provide training pilots is invaluable and very much appreciated by controllers. I work on weekends and tend to see a lot of training pilots, as well as those that only fly "every so often," forget to check-in, stray off course or forget to change to the Towers at the appropriate time. So it's great that they can come to your site to practice or keep proficient.

Emphasis added.