I’m willing to put a decent amount of time into this because the program is brand new and the developers are still willing to work on it. I truly think with a few tweaks this could revolutionize flight training (I have a CFI, ATP, and I fly 121). If the ATC alone were correct it’d make the software required training material for every pilot, so I’d really like to see this program reach its full potential so future generations can have the stuff I wish I had.
Standard 121 (airline) flight from Class B to Class B:
Clearance Delivery (usually sent over ACARS at large airports with Digital ATIS, but can still call the frequency):
You: “Philly clearance delivery, Airline 4231 (said as “forty two, thirty one”, airline flight numbers ignore the single digit rule), with [ATIS], ready for clearance to [destination]”
ATC:"Airline 4231 cleared to [destination] via [SID and transition or initial takeoff vector and vectors to next waypoint] then [waypoints and airways to the first point that matches the plan you filed] then as filed. On take off climb and maintain [initial altitude, usually top of first approach controller’s airspace], expect [final altitude] within 10 minutes after departure. Contact departure on [freq], Squawk [code], [special airport specific instructions, like contact ground prior to push, contact ramp prior to push, call clearance back 10 minutes prior to push for flow times, etc]
You: Read back everything verbatim
–sidenote, clearances are one of the toughest things for new students, so getting this right would be a huge selling point for FS—
After running engine start checklists (but not starting the engine)
You: “Philly ramp, Airline 4231 ready for push, gate F 12”
Ramp: “Airline 4231, hold your push” or “cleared to push F 12”
You: “Airline 4231 cleared to push F12”
Ground Crew: “Set brakes”
You: “Parking brakes set”
Ground Crew: “All secure below, FOD check complete, steering disengaged, standing by for brake release. Ready for push”
You: “Parking brake released, cleared to push” or “stand by”
Ground crew when clear of obstacles: “cleared to start engines”
You: “cleared to start engines”
start engines
Ground crew pushes you back
Ground crew: “Set brakes”
You: “parking brake engaged, cleared to disconnect, good push”
Ground crew disconnects towbar, headset, the last ground crew member makes sure everyone is clear and salutes, you verify everyone is clear and the towbar is attached to the tug, they didn’t leave panels open, and salute back.
After start checklist
You: “Philadelphia Ramp, Airline 4231 ready to taxi”
Ramp (ramp is not ATC, so they don’t care if you have ATIS, but ground does): “Airline 4231 follow the B737 in the alley to spot 12, then ground 121.9”
You: “follow the B737 spot 12, ground 121.9”
Only the biggest airports have ‘ramp controls.’ In the US, ramp is usually run by whichever airline ‘owns’ the airport (AA own CLT, DAL owns ATL, etc). They usually direct traffic out of the ‘alleys’ to designated ‘spots’ where ground takes over. The ‘spots’ they send you to change based on which runways are being used. At some airports, the ‘ramp’ is often uncontrolled and doesn’t require clearance from ground until you get to the solid and hashed bars, and at other airports, ground controls everything up to the gate, including push clearance. The rules are very local.
You: “Philadelphia Ground, Airline 4231 spot 12 with [ATIS]”
ATC: “Airline 4231, runway 27L, taxi E B, hold short of runway 27R”
You: “27L, E B hold short 27R, Airline 4231”
ATC: “Airline 4231, cross 27R on B, S, S1, contact tower” They won’t always tell you to switch to tower, you’re often expected to do that on your own, especially at smaller airports
You: “Cross 27R on B, S, S1, tower on XXX.XX, good day”
Automatically switch to tower freq when you’re at the takeoff runway; it’s the only time ATC ever expects you to change frequencies without telling the freq you’re leaving. Otherwise you always tell ATC when you’re switching frequencies with “]Call sign] going to [new freq], good day”
Tower: “Airline 4231, line up and wait, runway 27L”
You: “line up and wait 27L, Airline 4231”
Tower: “Winds 120 at 6 gusting 12, caution wake turbulence A330 on departure, caution bird activity, wind shear advisory in effect, cleared for take off runway 27L, on departure fly heading 265”
You: “cleared for takeoff 27L, heading 265”
Tower: “Airline 4231, heading 265, contact departure, good day”
You: “heading 265 departure, good day”
You: "Philadelphia Departure, Airline 4231 [altitude] climbing [altitude assigned or “via” SID], [assigned heading if applicable]
Departure: "Airline 4231, radar contact, climb and maintain [altitude] turn left direct [fix]
You: “climb and maintain [altitude] left direct [fix]”
ATC: “Airline 4231 contact NY Center on xxx.xx”
You:“xxx.xx, good day, Airline 4231”
You: "NY Center, Airline 4231, good afternoon, [altitude] climbing [altitude]
ATC: “Airline 4231, good afternoon, climb and maintain [altitude], altimeter XX.XX”
You: “climb and maintain [altitude], XX.XX”
Once you’re cleared into the flight levels (above 18,000) they omit altimeter settings because the definition of “flight level” is that you’re using altimeter setting 29.92
Also, “good afternoon, good evening, etc” is optional, but very common. “Good day” is typically only used as a good bye.
When leveled off
ATC: “Airline 4231, contact Cleveland Center on XXX.XX”
You: “Going to XXX.XX, good day, Airline 4231”
You: “Cleveland Center, Airline 3241, good afternoon, FL [altitude]”
ATC: “Airline 3241, good afternoon”
If there’s traffic:
ATC: “Airline 3241, traffic 11 o’clock, FL210, B737”
You: “negative contact”
ATC will ensure traffic separation.
You: “traffic in sight”
You ensure traffic separation.
“Looking for traffic” is popular, even with airline pilots, but it’s technically not a proper response
When descending:
ATC: “Airline 3241, descend and maintain FL210”
You: “[current altitude] descending FL210”
ATC: Contact Cleveland Center XXX.XX
You: “XXX.XX, good day”
You: “Cleveland Center, Airline 3241, good afternoon, [current altitude] descending [assigned altitude]”
ATC: “Airline 3241, good afternoon”
Even airline pilots are bad about this, but technically you should always say altitude leaving and assigned altitude.
Descent pilot’s discretion:
ATC: “Airline 3241, pilot’s discretion to FL210”
You: “Pilot discretion FL210, Airline 3241”
wait a while because you fly faster with better fuel burn up high, so you want to hold off descending as long as possible
You: “Cleveland Center, Airline 3241, [current altitude] descending [assigned altitude]”
ATC: “Airline 3241, roger”
When arriving via a STAR:
ATC: “Airline 3241 descend via [STAR] land [direction, if applicable, because the same STAR can often be used for 36 (North) as 18 (south) and if the winds shift, they’ll change the direction”
You: “Descend via [STAR]”
In the US, unless they tell you to descend via the STAR, you go to whatever altitude they clear you to without regard to the STAR. With ICAO (Canada, EU, etc), you are expected to follow the STAR AND comply with their restrictions. So if they say “Descend 12,000” and there’s a restriction to be at 14,000 at a fix ahead of you, you must be at 14,000 at that fix before you can descend to 12,000. Then you must stay at 12,000 until they give you further instructions. So, with ICAO, ATC instructions with a STAR are more like a bottom altitude whereas with FAA (in US), STAR altitudes just save the controller time if they say “descend via” otherwise, you’re expected to follow ATC instructions without referencing the STAR for altitude. You ARE expected to adhere to speed restrictions and routing unless told otherwise in both FAA and ICAO though. On the STAR the chart might say “expect XXX” which means the restriction is not required, but ATC will probably give it to you.
ATC will always try to vector you for a 30 degree intercept with final. Any more than that and most autopilots can’t intercept final without overshooting final unless they’re going really slow, and even then, it’s iffy. If it’s mountainous terrain ATC will clear you an approach via an Initial Fix or they’ll ask you if you can see the airport. If you say “yes” (they can’t see where the clouds are, just the dopplar) they’ll clear you for “the visual” which means you’re still under IFR, but you can fly the pattern, you can manuever between mountains, you can do whatever it takes to land the aircraft as if you were flying a visual pattern. This is important because airlines are never allowed to fly VFR.
Approach: “Airline 3241, turn [heading], descend and maintain [3,000] until established, cleared [approach] [runway]”
You: “[heading], descend and maintain [altitude] until established, cleared [approach] [runway]”
This is important because it means you cannot descend below the altitude until your localizer or GPS is ‘alive’ (I won’t explain half-scale full-scale GPS etc) because the altitude is usually based on the highest obstacle in the area.
This means ATC must align you with a 30 degree intercept, usually at the FAF altitude, outside the FAF, but inside 18 miles (ILS isn’t effective beyond this limit). This is what all approaches with vectors to final look like.
If you’re going to a smaller airport when you’re 20-30 miles out they usually say:
“Airline 3241, airport is [XX] miles at your 11 o’clock, report field in sight.”
You: “Field not in sight, Airline 3241” in which case they continue vectoring you to an Initial Fix, which is often pretty far from the airport or “Field in sight, Airline 3241”
“Airline 3241, descend and maintain [min vectoring altitude], cleared the visual runway 36, contact tower XXX.XX”
You: “cleared visual runway 36, XXX.XX, good day”
You: “Podunk Tower, Airline 3241, [altitude], cleared visual 36”
If you’re cleared the visual, t
ATC: “Airline 3241, number 2 runway 36, following Cessna”
You: “Traffic in sight, Airline 3241”
As soon as traffic lands
ATC: “Airline 3241, winds 360 at 15 gusting 20, cleared to land runway 36”
You: “cleared to land runway 36, Airline 3241”
While still on runway:
Tower: “Exit right next taxiway, contact ground XXX.XX when clear”
You: “Exit right, ground XXX.XX when clear, Airline 3241”
You: “Ground, Airline 3241, [location], gate [XX]”
ATC: “Airline 3241, taxi to gate [XX] via A B, cross runway 27”
Every airport has their own procedures between ground, ramps (which are operated by American or Delta), and clearance delivery. At ICAO airports the ramp controllers are government, not private.
ICAO has some different vernacular. The phraseology is the same, but the vocabulary is different. Some rules are different, but I think that exceeds the scope here unless FS2020 wants to let people know when they’re ‘violated’
Off the top of my head:
taxiway = apron
Point=decimal
Altimeter=QNH
PIREP = Air Report
cruising altitude =cruising level
flight level = level
controlled movement area = maneuvering area (area controlled by ground, not ramp)
high speed taxiway = rapid exit taxiway
Class B = terminal control area
RVR is in feet, not meters
ICAO ground controllers don’t tell you your assigned take off runway first, they just give you the chronological instructions (IE “taxi A B hold short 9L, B to 9R”)
