Takeoff Clearance in Microsoft Flight Simulator

Video Transcript

"DIXON GILLETTE: Welcome back to Expert Village, my name is Dixon Gillette and let's continue our tutorial on Microsoft Flight Simulator X. After we've received the proper instructions from our ground controller, we're now going to contact the tower controller to request take off clearance. Now, we simply do this and the tower either tells us to taxi into position and hold or the tower will tell us that we're clear for take off and that our departure's approved. In that case, we can get right on to the runway, throw the throttles down and take right off. Now, under certain conditions of flying in an aircraft, you might be using something called centers. And centers are essentially regional radar service areas that the FAA has set up. And what these do is these keep the airplanes spaced apart and they provide you with general vector guidance if you're flying with instruments or under instrument conditions. Essentially, centers will give you a frequency that you'll go to. They'll give you a squawk code or a transponder code that you'll enter in your transponder. And this, essentially, identifies your aircraft on that controller's radar screen so he can give you different vectors. Now, from centers, you'll essentially go from center to center to center such as from Los Angeles Center to Salt Lake Center to Denver Center and then down to Albuquerque Center. Here in Arizona, we typically are in control with Albuquerque Center. And from the centers, then we finally go to approach control when we're approaching a different service area in a major metropolitan area."