What are you ? The perfect pilot?
?? ESzczesniak. With UT2 theres always unexpected traffic.With real world weather it can change.If you're out in the boonies with very few airports and weather changes to IFR and you dont have GPS but you're close to your destination and just out of FSX radio distance you cant tell me that it would'nt be nice to contact destination airport and request direction. And since you want to use the term (real life) then in real lfe I can contact farther out. Espeacialy when you here another pilot contact an airport thats not on the nearest airport list.
Well, I know you don't like hearing what I'm saying, but if you are going to treat the simulation like real life the only real excuses for diverting are for weather and mechanical failure which I have already said that MSFS does not appropriately model.
There is no true reason traffic should cause you to divert. Sure, you may have some delays and may even have to hold at the destination, but you should have some idea of traffic patterns along your route and plan your reserve fuel accordingly to handle such delays. This is even true if you are GA VFR, although I know of few GA only airports that are so busy you will experience significant delays. Even if you are VFR through a class bravo, your traffic avoidance should be through radar following and ATC instructions/clearance through the airspace. Ultimately, diverting to another less busy airport only gets you on the ground sooner, but actually delays arriving at your final destination since you have to takeoff again. The appropriate thing is to plan adequete reserve fuel to deal with any likely or even unlikely ATC delays.
Weather changing to IFR while enroute and being lost because you don't have GPS to navigate to the nearest airport is absolutely not an excuse. If your weather is not forecast above VFR minimums well before and after your expected arrival, you need to plan for enroute and destination alternates
and know how to navigate to them. In fact, the infamous 3-2-1 rule of aviation basically dictates fuel planning along these lines (even if it is officially IFR rules for this rule). You should have enroute and alternate reserve fuel appropriate to deal with any of these changing weather conditions.
This point on changing weather and planned alternates is a particular pet peeve of mine in the simulator world (not the "game" world, the one were we pretend we fly like real pilots) becase this inadequate alternate planning combined with weather dropping below VFR minima is the reason for a great number of GA pilot deaths in the real world. Simulator pilots tend to be even more laxed on this point. The weather may cause you to divert, but being lost as a result of the weather is unacceptable. Sure in real life you might be able to contact the tower a bit further out, but you never know when you might have a radio failure. In the real life as well as the sim you need to be able to navigate without outside assistance.
