ATCsimulator2

By Chip Barber (28 April 2005)

Make no mistake about it. This is no game. There are no “Arcade” levels, no-one shooting, no sneaking about snipping booby trap wires. This is a simulation of Air Traffic Control, pure and simple. It will leave you frustrated, sweaty, and lamenting having to get up in the morning to go to work ‘cause you’re almost up to 20 arrivals and 20 departures at KMIA. Granted, that sector is nice and flat, with no obstructions. Wait till you try another easy one like KALB with those nasty hills. Those hills on my machine are still littered with the results of my less-than-perfect controlling skills.

Sound like fun? Short of going out to the Radar Training Facility in Oklahoma, this is as real as it gets. So, let’s take a look at the guts of the monster…

This is the ARTS III screen. These have been around for ever. Cathode Ray tubes, radar sweep, data tags, and you in front of it all trying to keep everyone out of each other’s way.

The buttons and switches are all functional as with their real world counterparts.

This is the new STARS screen. The future of ATC. Same information in a different format, so to speak.

Arrival Strips in time order showing all contacted aircraft. They will auto-update as you assign different altitudes.

The one thing that caught my eye was the possibility of voice control. Those of us who have been messing around with flight simulators for a while know well how this technology is beginning to show up in our hobby. In ATCS2, it is possible, and even likely, that you will get upwards of 90% (sometimes closer to 100%) voice recognition. Yes, it does take some time to set up, and to teach the program how you pronounce certain words (“United” is my nemesis). But, it is well worth the effort.

The Lexicon Editor is invaluable in getting the word recognition up to speed.

Several options are presented at the beginning, along with Map-Mate, ATCSView and CommView. You may want to glance at the map of your sector to identify any speed bumps…

The opening screen displays your choice of simulated pilot voices or real voices. The simulated voices sound, well, simulated. But, after a while, you get so busy you won’t notice. The real voices are actual voice files recorded by the developer and several other individuals who spent quite a bit of time recording all that was necessary for the sim. While no-one will mistake the pilot responses for the real deal, they are human voices and sound a whole lot better than the generated ones. There is also background noise of either jet engines or props, depending on the type of aircraft that is communicating with you. It is an immersive experience. Want to handle the Strips like the “real guys” do? Not a problem. One click.

Ok, so here’s the deal. You get the program installed, spend the time to get the voice recognition to where it recognizes your commands (there is a forum with a TON of people willing to help you, should you need it), and open your first sector. You have to choose which one (best to start small and flat), what time (later in the evening when things quiet down is good), which airports in the sector will be under your control (you may choose several, or only one), which runways will be open for business, whether to control Approach, Departure or both, wind conditions, screen type… the list goes on and on. As you can see from the opening screen (above right), it is very customizable.

Make your choices, and the fun (or angst, depending on how seriously you choose to take the experience) begins. If you are one of the rare individuals who simply cannot get the level of voice recognition you would like, there are keyboard inputs that will issue your commands. Many of these are customizable in the form of macros, making it that much quicker to communicate with the pilots, and believe me, speed will ultimately become an issue as you find yourself getting better at the sim.

In addition to the simulator (don’t you dare call it a game, have I mentioned that?), there are freebie downloads on the website to further customize your experience. With ATCS2 Traffic Manager (freeware by Tom Murdock) you may modify the number of Arrivals/Departures in a time/sector, you may delete any Carrier that either no longer exists, or one that the voice recognition simply refuses to recognize (I dropped TWA and United), shuffle arrival/departure times. This is a nifty addition, especially for the new controller who finds him/herself overwhelmed with the default settings.

The Freeware Traffic Manager allows almost unlimited customization. Traffic Manager is written by Tom Murdock;
more information from his web site: www.springlakesoftware.com.

So what have we got? Simple. A simulation of a given airspace surrounding an airport(s) (there are 120 sectors from which to choose). Your task is to keep separation in compliance with FAA regulations, and bring into your airspace all arriving flights in a controlled manner to where they may be handed off to the Tower controller for landing. Also, you are tasked with directing departing flights up to proper altitude and heading for handoff to the Center controller. Easy, until you’ve got aircraft heading along the last vector you issued, while there are three blinking contacts waiting to be accepted by you and you have to recall the appropriate altitude for the ILS intercept, while that departing Heavy is getting mighty close to that little bug-masher on final.

Oh yes, there is also an ATC Sector Design Kit that will permit you to modify any sector to your liking, or put together one from scratch (I’m doing KISP). And if that isn’t enough to keep you busy, there is another nifty feature I should mention. You can control “live” traffic online with FlightSim pilots through any version of MS Flight Simulator. You will control not only simulator-generated aircraft, but any pilot who has logged to your session.

The SDK allows unlimited variation in all sectors provided, and also the creation of new ones.

So, are there problems with the program? A review of the forum does find a fair share of them. However, the tech support is super fast and I have not yet found anyone with a problem that could not be solved. The developer is easily reachable through the forum, and will answer questions and troubleshoot, as will many of the old-timers. It is a friendly group of ATC enthusiasts, which include many “real world” pilots and controllers. Is the voice recognition a pain to get going? Some have had very good success right out of the box, and others have had to really work at it. But, the time investment has great returns, such as when you speak “American eight zero one, turn right heading one two zero, descend and maintain eight thousand, reduce speed to two one zero”, and the pilot replies “Roger, turn right heading one two zero, will descend and maintain eight thousand, will reduce speed to two one zero”, and then you watch it happen, without ever touching the keyboard. A pain in the neck to set up? Sure, it can be. Worth every moment? You’d better believe it!

ATCSimulator has been in development since February, 2001. The developer, Brad Davis, continues to add, polish, and refine his product. There are currently 5 Academic/Research Facilities that use this program, just as it is delivered to you, for their students. Short of RTF in Oklahoma, it gets no better. And, speaking of RTF, the Academy airspace used in training at the RTF is now included in the collection of sectors.

If you are looking for a TRACON rehash to play with, or pine for the Commodore 64 days of Air Traffic Control to help you kill some time before the pizza guy gets to the door, then this simulator is not for you. But if you wish to get a taste of what real controllers experience, you will not find a more intense, accurate and realistic product.

Three Green, All!

Chip Barber
rfbarber@optonline.net

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