If you are arriving into any Dutch airport, the first waypoint of your STAR (e.g. NORKU, HELEN, REDFA, etc.) will also be the sector entry point.
A few reasons of why I'm the only FG controller who provides top-down service for a whole FIR:
- 100NM covers a good portion of the FIR. The only big portion that's not covered is the very north portion over the North Sea where there is a lot of restricted airspace. No one really flies up there except for aircraft overflying the FIR while enroute.
- Unlike other airports, none of the STARs into any Dutch airport are runway-dependent. This alleviates the need of having ATC assign a STAR for every aircraft based on the active runway. Therefore if a pilot is utilizing a STAR, they can start flying/planning for it even without being within range.
- Top-down service is fun! You can fly to other Dutch airports and still receive service or even fly VFR under controlled airspace and still receive basic information service (A simulation of Amsterdam FIS basically).
I'm also a VATSIM C1 controller (with previous experience as an I3) and I have deep understanding of both FAA and general ICAO regulations as well as some knowledge on other regional regulations such as UK's CAP 413.
@KL-666, Be aware that VATSIM does not natively support FG and even if you were flying on VATSIM with FG, the experience would be horrible when compared to other sims. Most people here either can't afford a commercial sim product plus the add-ons that come with it or they use an OS other than windows.
As far as if you want to fly realistically or not, it's whatever floats your boat. The majority of people in this thread want to learn more about aviation and simulate it properly, this is what a simulator is for.
The FG multiplayer is open to everyone and for people with different interests. I strongly condemn criticizing a group of people because they are interested in something else.