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http://www.vatsim.net/ FS is really about the one thing this isn't a problem for.

Ah, well, if it's a slip-up on their part...

I knew the rest of this, though. Other people happening by the thread might not though, so appreciate the detail.

(read through good part of the FAA airplane handbook and IFR handbook, also played around a bit with VATSIM via X-Plane.)

Check out VATSIM sometime. It's already an "MMO" of virtual pilots flying together, along with virtual Air Traffic Controllers. VATSIM takes it seriously, too, trying to be as professional as can be (pilots and ATC).

These guys don't think that should be the case... But you still don't get altitude or g-force effects sitting in front of a PC.

I am currently doing flight training to a commercial pilot level. One of the things I do as a skills practice is fly on MS Flight Simulator using the VATSIM (Virtual Air Traffic Simulation) network - http://www.vatsim.net/ - and I routinely fly transoceanic flights. We fly with real airline callsigns, following real aircraft routes and timetables. The instrumentation and controls are (for the most part) the same as the real thing. The Flight Management Computers in the simulated planes are exactly the same as the real thing. If you have good equipment, the hands-on controls are almost the same. It's a fun way to pass the time and keep skills up to date...BUT:

It's so boring! Here is an example of what I look at for 9 hours without touching anything: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14584559@N03/4502059275/

When you've got 9+ hours of looking at nothing, and you only have to make radio contact once an hour (North Atlantic Track position reports) there is actually nothing to do. At most, you scan the instruments every couple minutes. Even on the flight sim, I usually resort to what we call "In-flight Movies" which is essentially pull up Hulu and watch something until we next have to change the aircraft controls, which is usually when leaving land or making landfall on the other side.

You have a cruising altitude which is held by a computer, and a heading which follows a little line on your on-board GPS, and a speed which is usually also controlled by a computer(or if not, it's setting a lever to a certain position and leaving it there). There is literally NOTHING for the pilot to do if they can't have some sort of distraction. Some real-world pilots I have flown with read a newspaper or magazine, some play with a Game Boy, DS, PSP, etc Some get up and walk through the passenger cabin just like a "How are you, how's it going?" sort of thing. Almost like a chef in a restaurant would come out to the dining area and ask how people's food is.

On top of the endless boredom, they don't get paid nearly enough. Pilots have one of the lowest returns on their education costs of any profession. Throw in the fact that their skills are there to protect hundreds of lives at a time, and you'd think they would be well-paid.

Making regulations that prohibit them from minor distractions in the course of this endless boredom will most likely lead to highly detrimental results. I would not be surprised to see that there were more incidents with pilots falling asleep than previously as these regulations begin to take effect.

Very disappointing, FAA. Maybe you could instead start regulating things that jack up travel prices, waste fuel, and cause extreme delays, like airlines selling more flights in and out of airports than the runways can physically accommodate in a given amount of time. Or like the stupid TSA requirements that we are subjected to as passengers on commercial airlines.

The airlines are failing, and it's their own damn fault. Unnecessary regulation like this is a waste of taxpayers' time and money, and pushes prospective customers and employees away from the industry.

VATSIM is a simulated air traffic control environment. It allows users of Microsoft Flight Simulator to connect to a set of Linux servers which simulate worldwide air traffic. There are volunteer ATC controllers, who run a simulator for an ATC position, with a simulated radar screen. The controllers issue clearances and control traffic as in the real world. To the greatest extent possible, real-world procedures are followed. Real-world weather information is used, and everything runs in real time.

So VATSIM would be a good environment in which to test an automated UAV controller which talked to ATC. VATSIM will accept text communications with ATC, so it's not necessary to do voice recognition. When a UAV can fly routinely in VATSIM, properly interacting with ATC, then the basic problems of operating in controlled airspace will have been solved.

So it's like VATSIM with race cars instead of planes?