The radar screen

All the traffic that you control is in one circular area of airspace around one airport.

How to control traffic Step 4 of 8

Your sector and the radar range

The sector that you control, with the two coverage rings. These rings let you see the traffic before it comes to your sector.

The sector is the circular area. You can give instructions to each aircraft in it. The edge of the sector is where arrivals start their published arrival routes.

Two coverage rings are around the sector. The SSR ring is 100 NM from the edge of the sector. The distance from the SSR ring to the PSR ring is 100 NM. Aircraft show in these rings a long time before they get to your sector. This gives you time to think before you must give instructions.

The game selects the sector for you. For some community airports, the airport data sets the sector.

How to read a label

Each radar target has a label, which is its datablock. The label is the most important item on the screen, and you must read it quickly.

The usual label. Three of its cells are buttons.

Three important items about the label:

• Actual values and cleared values. The left column shows the values of the aircraft at this time. The right column shows your last instruction to the aircraft. If the two columns are different, the aircraft continues to move to your clearance. New in 0.6.3.8 The right column shows what you wrote on the label. See Tagging the label.
• You can click three cells. CFL, WPT and IRT open the altitude, lateral and speed menus. With these menus, you can control all the traffic, and you do not have to speak. Not in 0.6.2.552 In the Assisted and Manual label tagging modes, these menus only write the label while voice recognition is on.
• Put the pointer on a cell to see its tooltip. The tooltip gives the name of the field, tells you about the data in the field, and gives the phrase to speak. To hide the tooltips, set Settings › Display › Show tooltips to off.

The level row uses the SACTA names. AFL (actual flight level) is the level of the aircraft at this time. CFL (cleared flight level) is the last level that you gave the aircraft. Click this cell to give a new level.

You can move a label with a right-drag. The game also moves labels without an instruction from you, to prevent an overlap. Right-click a label to turn it around its symbol. The label keeps the same distance from the symbol. Not in 0.6.2.552 In the Spain and Generic skins, the line from the symbol goes to the callsign line. When an alert, an assigned speed or a note shows, the callsign does not move. The alert line shows above the callsign, and the other new lines show at the bottom of the label.

The WPT cell shows the lateral clearance of the aircraft. If you release an aircraft, this cell is empty. When you assume the aircraft again, the cell shows its route, direct-to or approach again.

When an alert starts Not in 0.6.2.552

STCA         alert
IBE4270      callsign
110 110      AFL, trend, CFL
25M RBO3N    speed and wake, lateral clearance

• The alert has its own line above the callsign. STCA means that separation is lost. MRVA means that the aircraft is below the minimum vectoring altitude.
• The word blinks until you click it. Then it stays until the alert stops.
• The full label also changes to the alert color, red by default. If you cannot see the difference between red and green, read the word.

The label in the Spain skin New in 0.6.3.7

The Spain skin draws the label as the Spanish SACTA radar does:

VAC              alert
IBE3171 V        callsign, visual approach
142↓100          AFL, trend, CFL
28M BAN5D ASBIN  speed and wake, STAR, hold fix
i25 h270         the speed and heading that you assigned
i26 h268         the data of the aircraft (blue)

• The text is regular, not bold, as on the SACTA screen. Not in 0.6.2.552
• An alert has its own field. VAC means that separation is lost. MRVA means that the aircraft is below the minimum vectoring altitude. The field blinks until you click it. The rest of the label keeps its color.
• CFL is empty when the aircraft holds that level. Select the aircraft to see it again.
• The fourth row shows only your restrictions. A heading goes there, so the STAR stays on the third row. After a direct-to, the third row shows DCT and the fix.
• A selected aircraft has a white frame, and a blue row with its airspeed and heading.
• The callsign of an inbound blinks when the inbound is ready for you to assume it.
• Click the speed or the restriction to open the speed menu. Click the STAR or the heading to open the lateral menu.

The label in the Germany skin New in 0.6.3.7

At German airports the game uses the Germany skin. It looks like iCAS, the radar of the German air navigation service DFS: khaki windows, and a label in three lines.

STCA                 alert
DLH4MA I             callsign, approach type
090↓16 070 26R       AFL, trend and rate, CFL, runway
25 21 ROKIL          ground speed, your speed, lateral clearance
I230                 airspeed (selected aircraft only)

• The rate is the climb or descent rate in hundreds of feet per minute.
• The approach type shows after you clear the approach: I ILS, R RNP, V visual. The runway then turns green. New in 0.6.3.8
• The speeds are in tens of knots. 25 is 250 knots. The second number is the speed that you assigned.
• The lateral clearance is the STAR, the fix of a direct-to, or a heading such as 240°.
• An alert has its own field. STCA means that separation is lost. MRVA means that the aircraft is below the minimum vectoring altitude. The field blinks until you click it.
• CFL is empty when the aircraft holds that level. A selected aircraft has a light box behind its label, and shows the CFL again.

The label in the US skin New in 0.6.3.7

At US airports the game uses the US skin. It looks like STARS, the terminal radar of the FAA: a black scope, a bar of green square buttons at the top, and green lists on the scope.

CA            alert
JBU52         callsign
110 28 F      altitude, ground speed, wake category
CAM A320      every few seconds: scratchpad, aircraft type
      A080    the altitude that you assigned

• The third line changes every few seconds. It shows the altitude in hundreds of feet, the ground speed in tens of knots and the wake category (A super to I small). Then it shows the scratchpad and the aircraft type.
• The scratchpad is the STAR (CAM for CAMRN), the departure gate, or the approach after you clear it: I3L is the ILS to runway 13L, V2L a visual approach to runway 22L.
• Your aircraft are white. The other aircraft are green and show only the third line. Click one to see its full label. A selected aircraft is cyan.
• An inbound that is ready for you flashes, and your letter shows after its altitude.
• The letter on the blue symbol shows who controls the aircraft: your letter, C for the center, T for the tower.
• An alert has its own line. CA means that separation is lost. LA means that the aircraft is below the minimum vectoring altitude. The alert flashes until you click it.
• HL in place of the speed means that the aircraft holds.
• Click the altitude or scratchpad to open the lateral menu, the speed or type to open the speed menu, and the assigned altitude to open the level menu.

Tagging the label

New in 0.6.3.8

The cleared values on the label are your notes. You write them, or the pilot readback writes them. Select how in Settings › Voice › Label tagging.

IBE3171            updates by itself
142↓100            AFL and trend update by itself. CFL is yours.
28M BAN5D          speed and route are yours

What updates by itself: the actual level, the trend arrow, the ground speed, the callsign, the wake, the alerts and the approach capture marks. In the Spain and Germany skins, the game also hides a level that the aircraft holds. When an aircraft becomes yours, the label takes all the clearances that it already has. After a transfer, the label shows the values of the aircraft again.

What you write: the cleared level, the route or direct-to, the heading and the speed.

Mode	After a voice readback
Automatic	The readback writes the label.
Assisted	The new value shows faded and breathes. Click it, or select the aircraft and press Enter, to keep it.
Manual	The label keeps the old value. Not in 0.6.2.552 No underline shows. The level warning tells you about a level that you did not write. Select a value in its menu to write the label.

• New players start in Assisted. Players from an earlier version keep Automatic. Restore Voice defaults sets Assisted.
• Lessons set the mode. Most lesson steps use Automatic. Speak and listen uses Assisted to teach a wrong readback. During a lesson you cannot change the setting. It shows, for example, Your setting: Assisted. This lesson uses Automatic.
• In Assisted and Manual, a menu click sends nothing. Not in 0.6.2.552 While voice recognition is on, the CFL, WPT and IRT menus show TAG ONLY in the title. A selection writes the label. Give the clearance with your voice.
• A menu click sends the clearance in some conditions. Not in 0.6.2.552 It sends in Automatic, with voice recognition off, and during a lesson. It also writes the label.
• Write only the level that you gave. New in 0.6.3.8 If you write a different level, the level warning starts. See When the label and the aircraft do not agree.
• TAG ONLY shows what you select. If you select a different level, heading, direct-to or speed than the readback, the label shows your value.
• The TAB route follows the label. Not in 0.6.2.552 In Assisted and Manual, a direct-to that you say does not change the TAB route. The TAB route changes when you keep the readback or write the label. If you select a direct-to in the WPT menu and do not say it, the TAB route goes to that fix. The aircraft continues on its old route until you give the clearance.
• Some items are still sent from a TAG ONLY menu: contact, QNH, disregard, go around, report visual, holds, routes, departures, a different approach and conditional clearances.

A conditional clearance changes the route. After after BETRA, direct FI32R, the label shows the STAR until BETRA. Then it shows only FI32R. After the aircraft passes a direct-to fix on its STAR, the label shows the STAR again. Not in 0.6.2.552 The TAB route shows the STAR until the aircraft passes BETRA. Then it shows the direct-to FI32R, as for a direct-to that you give.

In the US skin, heading and speed tags go in scratchpad 2. The third line shows it in its third phase, for example H200 or 220K.

When the label and the aircraft do not agree

Your cleared level and the level of the aircraft can be different for 10 seconds of game time. Then the cleared level blinks in the alert color. The selected level of the aircraft shows after it. The COM panel shows a line at the start and at the end.

Skin	The label shows
Generic	S110
Spain	110 in the Mode S color
Germany	S110 in the warning color
US	The assigned altitude turns red and shows A100 and S110 in turn. Real STARS does not do this.

This check does not occur in Automatic, during an approach, or after descend via or climb via.

The aircraft that obey you

Assume an aircraft before you give it instructions. Give the handoff when your work with it is complete.

When an aircraft shows on your screen, you do not control it. Middle-click it to assume it. This click gives you control of the aircraft. Until you do this, the aircraft ignores you, and the COM panel tells you this clearly.

If your mouse has no middle button, put the pointer on the aircraft and press T. This key does the same thing. To change the key, use Settings › Controls. Not in 0.6.2.552 You can also right-click the callsign and select Assume.

In the outer PSR ring, an aircraft shows only as a symbol. In the SSR ring, the radar adds a label with some of the data. An inbound can contact you when it is near your sector but not in it. The inbound does not accept an instruction until you middle-click it. When you assume the inbound, the game cancels each other check-in that waits in the audio queue.

External ATC calculates the descent of an inbound from two items: the remaining published minimum altitudes and the altitude band of your sector. If the middle-click result tells you that the aircraft did not contact your sector, wait for the initial call. Also wait when the aircraft is in a hold at the last route fix. Before you can assume the aircraft, it must be sufficiently near and in your altitude band.

A published minimum altitude can be between two sector altitude bands that do not touch. Then external ATC can use the next applicable band if the cruise level of the aircraft lets it.

If no possible handoff level is available, an aircraft that gets to the contact volume tells you about the conflict. The game does not give it a handoff clearance that is too low.

If an inbound is below its handoff level, external ATC does not climb it to that level. When the inbound contacts you, it continues to the level that it has from external ATC. It does not go above the handoff level.

Before an arrival calls you, external ATC does not clear it below its handoff level or below the last published level of its STAR. The initial call of an arrival gives its cleared level: Madrid approach hello, Iberia three four two one, descending flight level one one zero. An arrival that did not call you two minutes before its clearance limit calls you there: approaching [fix], [level], request further clearance.

The game does not record a landing only because an aircraft is below the elevation of its destination airport. Arrivals that are far from the airport continue along their routes.

A departure shows on its runway. It does the takeoff roll for approximately 40 seconds before the lift-off. Until the lift-off, the radar shows only its symbol. Not in 0.6.2.552 Its trail dots start at the lift-off. If you give it an instruction, the pilot speaks unable, on the takeoff roll. The departure contacts you when it climbs through 1,000 ft above the airport.

When its label shows after the lift-off, AFL shows its altitude immediately.

A departure during its takeoff is incoming traffic, and you do not control it at that time. It shows in the color for incoming traffic, with trail dots but with no speed line. Its initial call gives its SID, the level that it climbs through and its cleared level: Madrid approach hello, Iberia three four two one, LOBAR two bravo departure, passing three thousand feet climbing flight level one five zero. At US airports, the call uses the FAA form: leaving two thousand, climbing via the Kennedy five departure. After the call, middle-click the departure to assume it. Not in 0.6.2.552 You can also answer its call by voice, as for an arrival: an instruction, or radar contact, makes it yours. Before the call, the middle-click result tells you that the departure did not contact your sector.

Until you assume a departure, it flies its SID with its initial clearance, and Center does not change its level. When you release a departure, it keeps the last level that you gave it. After that, Center only climbs it to its cruise level. Center descends it only when it starts its descent to a destination in your coverage.

The SID code can be shorter than the name. But the pilot speaks the full name of the published fix or of the local VOR. For example, NAND3N is NANDO three November. Near Madrid, the VOR code SIE4L is Somosierra four Lima.

When your work with an aircraft is complete, give the handoff with contact tower or contact center. Your work is complete before the landing, or when the aircraft goes out of your airspace.

Not in 0.6.2.552 Contact tower and contact center only tell the pilot to change frequency. The label stays yours. To give the handoff, press T, click the middle button or select Handoff in the callsign menu. The handoff goes to the tower for an arrival and to the center for other aircraft. If you did not speak the contact, the pilot reads it back now.

Not in 0.6.2.552 After the handoff, the aircraft stays yours for 3 to 8 seconds, until the next sector takes it. Until the next sector takes the aircraft, the Generic label shows TWR or CTR in the route cell and the US label shows T or C. The Spain label shows the released colours immediately, as the real SACTA does. The Germany label does not change until then.

Not in 0.6.2.552 The tower takes an arrival only after you clear it for an approach. Before that, T, the middle button or Handoff keeps the arrival yours, and COM shows SYS: Clear it for an approach before you hand it to tower. A handoff of a cleared arrival before 4 NM final is still correct. Not in 0.6.2.552 If the arrival loses its approach clearance before the tower takes it, the tower does not take it. This occurs if it cannot capture the localizer, or if you give it a heading or a climb. The arrival stays yours, and COM shows the same SYS line.

If a departure that you control flies far from your sector, the pilot speaks request frequency change. Give the handoff to the departure. If you do not give the handoff in five minutes, the departure changes frequency without your instruction. Not in 0.6.2.552 If you already said contact center to the departure, it does not ask. It also does not change frequency by itself. It stays yours until you hand it off or it leaves the radar.

The destination of a departure can be an airport in your radar range. Then the departure flies the approach of that airport. After the landing there, the radar does not show the aircraft. It starts its descent from a usual top of descent, at approximately 3 NM for each 1,000 ft.

Note

Aircraft that you did not assume fly their published routes correctly without your instructions. It is not necessary to control each target on the screen.

Other items on the screen

The radar can show waypoints, airways, runways, procedures and airspace boundaries. You select the items that it shows. The layer controls are in the bottom bar. Press Escape or click outside a layer menu to close it. The simulator screen gives information about them.

For a first session, these layers are not necessary.