Red Griffin ATC

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Red Griffin ATC

Red Griffin ATC - Speaking Air Traffic Controller addon for Flightgear
Developed by	Antonello Biancalana (Red Griffin, IK0TOJ)
Initial release	January 5, 2020
Latest release	1.0.0 March 21, 2020
Written in	Nasal
Development status	Active (2019-)
Type	Addon
License	GNU General Public License v3
Website

Approaching an airport from runway heading

Approaching an airport from behind runway heading

Red Griffin ATC is a speaking Air Traffic Controller addon for FlightGear.

Download the latest version of the Red Griffin ATC addon here.

Features

• Support for ground, take off, visual approach, ILS and landing operations
• Speech synthesis of messages through native Flightgear speech synthesizer
• ATC can be operated both with mouse and keyboard
• Independent dialog window or popup window operation modes
• Determination of proper take-off and landing runways according to wind direction and airport settings
• Status monitor for both ground and flying modes (ground speed, current position, runway alignment, runway approaching)
• Determination of approaching routes and patterns according to position and route manager
• Automatic control and warning in case of incorrect procedure
• Radio station type check according to ATC request
• Automated ATC callback messages according to procedure
• Dedicated window with available radios
• Automatic selection of ATC requests according to aircraft status and position
• Information about the current airport
• Information about the tuned communication radio
• Support for CTR (Controlled Traffic Region)
• When flying in an approved CTR, ATC will check your correct altitude and warns in case the aircraft is flying too low or towards terrain, such as hills or mountains. ATC may also require the pilot to change altitude according to heading and area.
• When flying in an approved CTR, the pilot can request to the ATC to change its current flight level with dedicated buttons
• When flying in an approved CTR, in case the aircraft is about to leave the CTR range, ATC will inform the pilot about the neighboring CTR and gives information about the corresponging radio in order to request transition approval to the new zone.
• Displayed information according to flight/approach/lading modes
• Buttons for aborting approach, ILS and landing procedures
• And a lot more

How to install Red Griffin ATC

• Download Red Griffin ATC package from the sourceforge repository.
• You will automatically get either a .zip or .tar.gz file depending on your system
• Unpack the archive with a proper command (zip or tar) or utility in a convenient place of your disk
• It will be created a directory named RedGriffinATC containing the addon

Running Red Griffin ATC Addon from Command Line

• Start fgfs including --addon=<your_local_path>/RedGriffinATC option in the command line

Running Red Griffin ATC Addon from the Launcher

• Start Flightgear launcher
• Click "Add-ons" button
• Scroll down to "Add-on Module folders" section
• Click "Add +" button
• Select "RedGriffinATC" directory from the path where you unpacked the distribution file
• The add-on will be added to the list of installed addons. Make sure it is enabled and the corresponding "check-box" is checked.
• Start Flightgear by clicking the "Fly!" button

How to Use Red Griffin ATC

Red Griffin ATC can be operated both with the mouse and the keyboard. You will find a new item "Red Griffin ATC" in Flightgear's menu from which you can open and close the main dialog window as well as get help about keyboard commands and information about the addon. You can open or close the main dialog window by pressing the backslash key. You can also show the "popup dialog" by pressing "Ctrl + Backslash" key sequence.

Red Griffin ATC Keys and Commands

Key	Function
\	Open or close dialog
Ctrl+\	Show popup dialog
Ctrl+4	Send message 1 to ATC
Ctrl+5	Send message 2 to ATC
Ctrl+6	Send message 3 to ATC
Ctrl+7	Send message 4 to ATC
Ctrl+0	Request CTR transition
Ctrl+⇧ Shift+4	Request Flight Level 1
Ctrl+⇧ Shift+5	Request Flight Level 2
Ctrl+⇧ Shift+6	Request Flight Level 3
Ctrl+⇧ Shift+0	Abort Approach/ILS/Landing

Demonstration Flight and Tutorial

Examples and Tutorials About Specific Procedures

• Initial Operations and Setup
• Take-off
• Terrain Alert
• Flight Information
• Altitude Check (1)
• Altitude Check (2)
• Leaving and Entering CTR (1)
• Leaving and Entering CTR (2)
• Leaving and Entering CTR (3)
• CTR Assigning a New Altitude (1)
• CTR Assigning a New Altitude (2)
• Flight Level Change (1)
• Flight Level Change (2)
• Flight Level Change (3)
• Flying Over an Airport Area
• Request ILS Procedure (1)
• Request ILS Procedure (2)
• Abort ILS Procedure
• ILS Established
• Request Visual Approach
• Reaching Pattern Point
• Reaching Final Approach Point
• Landing
• Abort Landing

Special Thanks

Special thanks and my gratitude to the FlightGear community for the valuable help and for providing very useful information about ATC phraseology, procedures and communication, in particular to those participating to Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear topic on the forum .

Note

Red Griffin ATC has been developed and written by Antonello Biancalana (Red Griffin, IK0TOJ) in Nasal language and it has been tested in FlightGear 2019.1.1 and 2019.1.2, specifically in my Fedora Linux FC31. I understand there can be bugs or the ATC procedures may be formally incorrect. On this regard, any feedback, suggestion, criticism and hint on how to improve this addon are warmly welcome. You are kindly invited to contribute with your ideas and feedback by posting in the forum thread.

I am not a pilot and I do not have a pilot license, I have never been in a real aircraft's cabin and all the times I have been in a real airplane I did it as a passenger. All of my "plane pilot" experience is only as a "virtual and simulated pilot", a hobby I started in 1982 with Flight Simulator II running on a Commodore 64 computer. I therefore have no ATC procedures experience (what I know is from what I read in specialized books and documents only) and I understand the procedures used in this addon may result incorrect to real pilots. I am more than glad to get any feedback about ATC procedures from experienced pilots and anyone knowing this subject in order to improve this addon.

Red Griffin ATC © 2019-2020 Antonello Biancalana, Red Griffin, IK0TOJ (for those who wonder about this code, it is my HAM call sign)

Related content

Forum topic

• Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear topic on the forum

Source code

• red-griffin-atc/code/master

External links

• Red Griffin YouTube Channel