I know that there is no video game or computer simulation that accurately simulates ATC realistically, but is there any simulators or programs that would be value added at least a bit even if it’s in terms of learning terminology, basic principles, or ATC rules which could help out at the academy? I was reading about a program by Xavius Software called Air Traffic Control Center which seems interesting, does anyone have any experience with it?
Simulations/ATC Games
- Thread starter moulds80
- Start date
Simoneaux
New Member
Check this out...
http://www.mochiads.com/games/air-traffic-controller_v6/#challenge
It's for TRACON controllers.
For more info and other games/sims check out the ATC forums at avsig http://www.aero-farm.com/
http://www.mochiads.com/games/air-traffic-controller_v6/#challenge
It's for TRACON controllers.
For more info and other games/sims check out the ATC forums at avsig http://www.aero-farm.com/
Simoneaux
New Member
Maybe. Maybe not.
It takes time to become a good controller, so don't expect the be a wiz at that sim. However, it is easier than the real thing. Notice the pause button? Plus you can slow everyone on inital contact to 160 then speed em up with out a problem, among other things. If you try and handle it like you would in real life it is a fairly hard sim for how simple it is.
Keep in mind every few clicks of your mouse takes the place of dialouge between you and the pilot. Like clearing the aircraft for the approach is actually...
Example for PDX: "Delta twenty-two twenty, you are six miles from TOLOC, turn right heading two five zero, maintain two thousand til established on the localizer, cleared for the ILS runaway two eight right apporoach, contact tower over TOLOC."
Which after a while flows out of you smoothly with out doing much thinking. Amost like clicking a mouse
But, throw in visual seperation between two aircraft landing on parallel runways and you can be sayin a lot more before they are cleared.
Rosstafari
Likes tacos
There's ATCSimulator2... that one seems good, but it runs kinda buggy on the WinXP partition on my Mac, so I haven't played around with it much. I have another one called Tower Sim or something, but I've yet to really try it out -- it didn't get great reviews. Then, there's always the ATC part of FSX, which I don't know much about since I don't really take the time to do multiplayer games... but the VATSIM guys seem to take it pretty seriously.
I wouldn't get too worked up if you're slamming planes together on an ATC game. It's just a game, and controllers get a lot of training. I'm sure it'd be a plus to be good at it, but I wouldn't base any decisions on my own future on a game any more than I trust my driving ability to how often I beat my wife in Mario Cart. Of course, if you've read through the manual, tried to play several times through and still don't have the slightest idea what's going on... well... maybe you're not inclined towards the career after all.
I wouldn't get too worked up if you're slamming planes together on an ATC game. It's just a game, and controllers get a lot of training. I'm sure it'd be a plus to be good at it, but I wouldn't base any decisions on my own future on a game any more than I trust my driving ability to how often I beat my wife in Mario Cart. Of course, if you've read through the manual, tried to play several times through and still don't have the slightest idea what's going on... well... maybe you're not inclined towards the career after all.
genot
Well-Known Member
Maybe. Maybe not.
It takes time to become a good controller, so don't expect the be a wiz at that sim. However, it is easier than the real thing. Notice the pause button? Plus you can slow everyone on inital contact to 160 then speed em up with out a problem, among other things. If you try and handle it like you would in real life it is a fairly hard sim for how simple it is. Not to mention slowing someone to 160 then rechecking and raising their speed restriction is going to set off the pilot's larm bells. Anything under 170 for a jet and you're basically raising the white flag 99% of the time.
Keep in mind every few clicks of your mouse takes the place of dialouge between you and the pilot. Like clearing the aircraft for the approach is actually...Oh lets not foget the 10 frequencies you're monititoring. I promise you the readback will come right as a student pilot is stepping on the jet you just cleared. They'll finally stop talking as the jet is on a 3 mile final.
Example for PDX: "Delta twenty-two twenty, you are six miles from TOLOC, turn right heading two five zero, maintain two thousand til established on the localizer, cleared for the ILS runaway two eight right apporoach, contact tower over TOLOC." Pretty good phraseology there, nice work.
Which after a while flows out of you smoothly with out doing much thinking. Amost like clicking a mouse
But, throw in visual seperation between two aircraft landing on parallel runways and you can be sayin a lot more before they are cleared.
Not a bad rundown. I would buy a deal per hour working my own facility as atc-sim.com would have it. It give you no chance though and this fixes aren't in the right place.