wlbragg wrote in Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:59 pm:Is there a safe distance and altitude that won't interfere with these events when they take place?
I think this may vary depending on the controller - personally, I try to maintain a minimum horizontal separation of 5 NM and a minimum vertical separation of 2000 ft (if both planes are in flight); if the spectator is on the ground, staying on or above the apron (let's say not higher than 3000/4000 ft in case another plane needs to overfly the airport) causes no problems.
wlbragg wrote in Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:59 pm:If someone wanted to watch planes landing during one of these events from in sim, how would you recommend they gain access to the immediate airport area to park and watch?
- Start FlightGear with the UFO. Make sure you are disconnected from the multiplayer server.
- "Taxi" to the apron and rise (with the Home key). The key point is not to fly over runways/approach paths in any way (unless cleared) and not to obstruct taxiways. A good strategy might be to start at a stand and ask the ATC for a taxi clearance (so that he'll be aware of you).
- Only then connect to the multiplayer server.
There isn't. (EDIT: as Johan G correctly pointed out, every callsign starting with "obs" hides it from the player list.)
It does not.
Another key point I'd like to throw in as a regular ATC (disclaimer: I haven't watched the video mentioned above yet) - we're aware of the fact that some pilots prefer to fly uncontrolled (a similar question popped in during the preparations for the last Festival of FlightGear). In that case, if the controller asks the pilot to "say his/her intentions", just saying "I'd like to fly uncontrolled" on the chat suffices; the pilot will not be contacted again (unless it seems [s]he's going to land to/depart from the controlled airport or a collision is about to occur).
Simple, yet effective communication is the key.