Howto:Be a controller: Difference between revisions

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| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="left" |xxxx_DEP
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="left" |xxxx_DEP
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="left" |Departure Controller  
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="left" |Departure Controller  
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="left" |An position rarely used except at busy airports in the real world which relieves the work-load of the approach controller by handling all the departures, and getting them away from arrivals as quickly as possible, leaving the approach controller free to handle arrivals (the hard bit).
| bgcolor="#EFEFEF" align="left" |This position is rarely used except at busy airports in the real world which relieves the work-load of the approach controller by handling all the departures, and getting them away from arrivals as quickly as possible, leaving the approach controller free to handle arrivals (the hard bit).
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|xxxx_CTR
|xxxx_CTR

Revision as of 20:58, 30 October 2010

1rightarrow.png See Air traffic control for the main article about this subject.

ATC-aircraft

1rightarrow.png See ATC-aircraft for the main article about this subject.

Anyone can be a controller using the UFO or any other plane but to get the real ATC feeling you should use the ATC-aircraft. The advantage of the ATC-aircraft is that you have a radar, just like in real life. No more looking at the MPMap to check where the pilots are.

Multiplayer setup

The other pilots must know that you are a controller and which airport you're controlling. For this reason you should use a special call-sign. In the table below you can find the call-signs which are used by the different types of controllers. Since we don't have a lot of controllers at FlightGear, we almost always have to be the tower controller.

Example: For San Francisco you're callsign would be KSFO_TWR, or for London Heathrow it would be EGLL_TWR.

Position Suffix Name Description
xxxx_GND Ground Controller Controls the movement of aircraft on the ground at an airport, however only the taxiways and bays... not the active runways. Whenever a plane needs to cross an active runway, it must call the tower.
xxxx_TWR Tower Controller 'Owns' the runways and the airspace up to 10 NM (nautical miles) from the airport. Clears planes for takeoff and landing.
xxxx_APP Approach Controller Controls the airspace up to 30NM away from the airport, up to 18,000 ft (usually). Handles all aircraft leaving or arriving at an airport, until they are established on the ILS (then hands the flight off to TWR) or are leaving their airspace to continue flight (then hands off to CTR)
xxxx_DEP Departure Controller This position is rarely used except at busy airports in the real world which relieves the work-load of the approach controller by handling all the departures, and getting them away from arrivals as quickly as possible, leaving the approach controller free to handle arrivals (the hard bit).
xxxx_CTR (ARTCC) Center Controller Centers own all airspace not controlled by APP or TWR. They control the plane while en route, and get it from X to Y safely, until it can be descended and given to the approach controller.
xxxx_FSS Flight Service Station Flight Service Stations cover large areas (e.g.: France) and provide support to pilots and controllers. They can advise pilots of weather and frequencies for other controllers. They do not provide Air Traffic Control.
xxxx_DEL Clearance Delivery Clearance Delivery is rarely used in FlightSims. In the real world, a controller would give a clearance (which explains where the plane is allowed to fly) to all planes, but the ease of giving a clearance in the virtual world, means the Tower can normally give the clearance.

Airport diagram

After the multiplayer settings have been set, a diagram of the airport should be downloaded. The diagram shows the names of the taxiways, directions of the runways, and locations of the gates, etc. So the airport diagram is very important for a controller!

The best way to find an airport diagram is by searching Google for xxxx Diagram. For KSFO we search for KSFO Diagram, first hit is already what we need. Most of the countries have their own databases with diagrams. It's worth it to take a look at them, because they often provide better and more detailed diagrams.

You can print out the diagram and put it beside your computer. This way you don't have to switch screens to look at the diagram.

The panel (with radar) as found when using the ATC-aircraft.

Controlling

Now we're finally ready to control. Launch FlightGear with the multiplayer settings we set above. After FG has loaded you'll find yourself in the tower. You're screen should look like the picture shown on the right. The large black sqaure with green and white texts is your radarscreen. Each dot is a pilot. Beside the dot you find some information about the aircraft (like altitude, speed and heading).

  • Click on the triangles on either side of No # to select planes within the set range of the radar. The selected plane is highlighted in white on your radar screen. At the same time you see the information of the selected plane appear in the boxes below the radar.
  • To increase the range of the radar (to see more airspace) click on the triangles near Range. You can only select planes that are within the set range of the radar.
  • The large bar at the lower part of the screen is used to compose chat messages. You must click the send button to send your message.

See ATC Tutorial

Problems and solutions

  • Why do I see a lot of planes which aren't shown on the MPMap?
    • These planes are AI-traffic, which isn't showed on the MPMap. To turn AI-traffic off, use the following property: /sim/traffic-manager/enabled=false.
  • How could I change the COM frequencies?
    • Go to Equipment > Radio settings.