Please fix ATC instructions regarding flight level and avoid this:
this would be my wish for now.
I’m getting strange altitude assignment by ATC on IFR flights like climb to 7300 feet while heading East. It should be odd altitudes going east in odd 1000’s and even altitudes going west.
ATC altitude management in FS is terrible. I fly a lot of IFR in the cessna 172 and ATC frequently asks me to climb to 16k feet even though I selected a lower cruise altitude in the navlog.
I also had ATC fly me into terrain on a missed approach in mountain terrain. If I had just followed the missed approach procedure, I would have been fine. But at that time didn’t realize how bad in game ATC was.
Yes. This is an absolute nightmare for IFR flights. Descent instructions are probably the most egregious.
The most obnoxious part is that you are forced to abide by instructions, otherwise you’ll never receive your next altitude assignment and are at risk having your flight plan cancelled altogether.
At the very least, some sort of “unable” response should be possible so we can override when necessary.
And as a side note: why the hell is the automatic cancellation of flight plans by ATC even a thing to begin with in this game?
based on groundspeed and final approach course intercept distance (based again on groundspeed - 160kts 10nm, 90kts, 5nm), ATC should issue a descent to intercept altitude using 500’/min at 90kts GS (for GA) to 1500-2000’/m of 250kts GS (for fast jets). Maybe even add an entry to the aircraft.cfg per the ATC section for TOD Descent Rate to give ATC an idea what’s expected on a per aircraft basis.
at present, it keeps you at cruise altitude WAY to late for a standard descent in ANY aircraft, GA or Airliner, unless you’re in a GA and plan your altitude near a typical intercept altitude, like 6000’ when IAF altitudes are near 4500’, then it’s not so bad.
If you want to see a good example of where improvements could be made, fly IFR from LIPB to LOWI.
When you are over the mountains in the red section, ATC will direct you to bounce between FL100 to FL110 every 5-10 seconds or so.
Yes, I frequently miss approaches because ATC gave me late descent and didn’t assign an approach until after I was far past my last waypoint and too late to line up. Sometimes I just tune COM1 to a dead channel and ignore them.
This wasn’t really late instructions, all of that was fine. It was that ATC couldn’t decide an altitude to get me safely over the mountains. 12,000ft would have been adequate for the whole journey, but for some reason kept asking me to descend to 11,000ft, and occasionally 10,000ft.
The calls to descend to 6,000ft on approach to LOWI we’re fine, though.
Just had an annoying flight.
Flight plan called for low alt 4k
ATC 172 climb to 8500
Ask for lower altitude, eventually get ATC to agree to 4k
ATC 172 climb to 8500
Ask for 2k lower “172 requests 2k” (ATC denies)
ATC 172 climb to 8500 … please expedite
Me: CANCELL IFR #%)(#@%&^#_%(
We’re talking about Gatwick to Cambridge UK, no big scary mountains and clear skies.
Then when I got back on speaking terms with ATC they had me land with a 17knt tail wind blowing up right rear.
Edit: I enjoy shorter flights and just want to do a little low alt sight seeing, I have no want to spend an extra 20 minutes in a climb and decent while ruining the view.
MODERATOR EDIT:
This post merged into this topic.
The ATC give to late Altitude, Approach and landing instructions
How does it work in real life?.. much before approach especially with a flight plan, approach and runway are given.
Many times before take off, the approach and runway are already given in real life… and instructions from ATC comes just after TOD, I would guess…
I am no pilot, I just use logic…
Many use Simbrief and I do to. So in practice I program in FMC the approach and runway from the start and “fly my own way” before some ATC guy with the runway in sight have all sort of eccentric suggestions on how I should land. 
Well that’s how Julean the pilot react to such kind of instructions just 5 min before final approach. 
Because the approach via ATC in MSFS today, are chaotic and always the approach end up at too high altitudes, and often one have to dive with screaming passengers…
And when I have to go lower than instructed altitude, to follow the descent, the ATC get cross, pedantic and go fixed on its too high altitude… And I have to have the “Talk to each other again on ground” policy.
Its the same when instructions for new altitude during descent or climb they come to late, within 1000 ft. feet of the selected altitude on the autopilot. That means the plane has already begun leveling to the selected altitude. It has to run more smooth, what about 5000 ft. before? What do the do in the real world?
And by the way when I use TRAVEL TO, I like to have an option to chose BEFORE TOD instead of moving the plane to a chaotic descent situation which all aircraft payware, freeware and Asobo have all their individual reaction to…its a mess. Fenix A320 which is working outside the sim can’t even use this function… And sometimes Headwind and FBW cant communicate the final flight plan to “travel to”, and no plan is there.
The work on the plane starts 80 miles before descent after cruise coffee break with cake, snacks etc. How many simmer have that tradition too? A flight takes at least 3 hours. 
It’s difficult to find where to select, to find 80 miles before TOD…
I love this sim…
All the Best
Julean
The ATC guidance in the sim is extremely frustrating and I don’t understand how such a crucial part of flight has been so neglected in the sim. IRL ATC is crucial. On low level instrument flights in the Alps it fluctuates between altitudes every few seconds, higher/lower over an over. The ground hight is known to the sim. Often been instructed to fly into it, a macabre form of controlled flight into terrain! Then vectoring in to land is a total washup. It’s easier to switch ATC off and just fly the instrument flight plan but I prefer to let ATC assign the approach rather than pick one meself. Way back in the early 2000s Falcon 4 had great ATC. I can’t see how a product that is a serious flight sim has such weak ATC?
