Cruising altitudes aren’t chosen arbitrarily; they depend on wind, speed, and weight, among other factors. They are also determined by direction. If you didn’t know this already, there’s a set of rules for IFR cruising altitudes:
Use them! PLEASE use them!
It’s pretty simple to understand, really. If you’re going east, fly at odd altitudes (like FL310, FL350, FL390), and if you’re going west, fly at even altitudes (like FL280, FL320, FL360).
There’s been numerous topics about this, but people still seem to not understand, even on the expert server! I’ve had multiple near-collisions in the past month. And it’s not because I’m flying super high traffic routes either.
I understand sometimes you’re feeling lazy or are thinking, “what are the odds I run into someone while I’m cruising?” (I’ve been there), but it doesn’t take that much effort to increase or decrease your cruising altitude by 1000 feet. Please clean up yall act, especially on the expert server…
There are exceptions to the rules, but they’re rare…
There’s already more in-depth tutorials in #ground-school:community-tutorials. Next time, I’d recommend not making such a bold statement unless you are 100% sure, thanks.
@A_Plane_Guy, thanks for the reminder. It’s certainly something that should be followed, but unfortunately, not everyone knows. There are tutorials available in the flying guide and #ground-school:community-tutorials, but not everyone sees them. At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the pilot.
People are allowed to whichever altitude they choose, although you may not like it, that is the reality we must face. As you said, it’s easy to go up or down, if you are about to possibly collide with someone going the wrong way, just go up or down to avoid it.
Yes, people will be people, but considering that we as a collective are trying to simulate realistic flight, I think we should also respect realistic flight rules, at least on the expert server. If you don’t want to follow this, in all honesty, stupidly simple rule, then keep your business on the casual server.
I want to know how you plan to educate the thousands of users that use Infinite Flight and how the altitude rules will be enforced. After all, you wouldn’t be complaining without a valid argument and solution, no?
It may seem simple, but what if someone doesn’t know? Not everyone has the privilege of knowing little rules. After all, it’s a mobile flight simulator. Not the end of the world if your “realism” is punctured.
No you right. I’m no game developer/designer lol. But I have a right to express my disappointment, even if I don’t have a solution off the top of my head. But if my disappointment bothers you so much, then I guess I’ll just ignore it…?
By making and putting effort into a whole topic, he is increasing exposure and therefore informing people as much as he can. How else is he going to “educate the masses,” putting FLY IFR ALT as his callsign? No, this is the best way to inform as many people as possible, so instead of just a few people knowing what he knows he gets to promote the knowledge to a wider audience. It’s not going to be seen by everybody, but if you look at the post info it has already been seen 117 times. 117 people have seen this in the hour since it has been posted.
Please don’t just come into a topic to rip it apart
I’m not saying that we have to eliminate this entirely, I just meant this as a little reminder to raise awareness. It wouldn’t bother me if a near collision happened like a couple times a month, but it happened to me multiple times over the span of 2 weeks.
Never said I was bothered or disappointed, just wanted to know possible solutions. I know you’re unhappy about it (by reading this topic), but I want to help you find solutions and spread the word. I understand the frustration, I’ve been there before.
@anon57683537, isn’t ripping other users also ripping the topic apart? I’m sorry…but it’s not helping.
After all, it’s a mobile flight simulator. Not the end of the world if your “realism” is punctured.
All flight sims alike, those on PC and mobile, have one thing in mind. Realism. It comes down to the scenery, the planes, and the procedures. IFR cruising altitudes are one of those procedures.
While altitude rules can’t be enforced, we can take steps to getting IFR cruising altitudes as real as possible. You can open center and request altitude changes, change your callsign, and @A_Plane_Guy decided to make a topic explaining this to users who don’t know about this.
You care about realism too, don’t you?
If you do, you shouldn’t be criticizing and demoting his topic, not to mention saying he’s “complaining”. You should spread the word, include specific altitudes in events, have IFR cruising altitudes in mind when you fly somewhere. In the end it won’t discourage users to follow this procedure, it’ll get more people to follow it.
If you have a problem with what I said, take it to a DM. Attention should be given to the topic, not this.
Thanks a lot for putting this message out there! It always irritates me a lot to see pilots not following proper altitude regulations. Just another step to achieving as much realism as possible.
Really good topic here a lot of effort in the post however although these are the normal rules its not unusual to see a plane going FL380 heading east or FL410 heading west although they are outliers its definitely a be all and end all on IFR cruise
I see this happening a lot, and it’s a big issue, but I do want to say one thing: if you’re close to another aircraft and they’re “away” or they’re not ascending/descending (and you’re at the same altitude as them), please be the bigger person and ascend or descend. I’ve seen it happen many times, where I’ll be away from my device and check LiveFlight to see where I am, and there will be another aircraft 1-2 nautical miles away from me at the same altitude. There are exceptions, and these usually just include being close to another aircraft or trans-oceanic crossings.
