That is really helpful information, thank you!
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Does this work with time compression?
I.e does communication still flow normally during compressed time or can you ignore it during cruise and then pick up with it again during descent?
BATC definitely works with time compression; I do it all the time. Traffic remains at 1x, for what itās worth.
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you can use Com2 but the Com buttons (on/off) doesnāt have any impact
Iāve found just swapping the frequency back and forth often times fixes the issue. For some reason I never hear arrival ATIS when first tuning the frequency on comm 2. But if I swap it to standby then back to active, I hear it.
Well, tried BATC again last night. Flew the Duke from Dothan, AL (DHN) to DeKalb Peachtree in Atlanta, GA (PDK).
Clearance was great.
Taxi was good, but it used the taxiway names from the sim, which are completely wrong. It also had me cross a runway without clearance. I stopped short and asked if I was cleared to cross, but it didnāt know what I was talking about.
I was handed off to tower, but needed some time to do a runup, which I requested, but it didnāt know what I was talking about.
Takeoff and climb was fine.
For descent, they had me vectored instead of my filed arrival. That was fine as it involved a runway change to 3L, likely due to winds. Hereās where the wheels came off.
They were vectoring me for a visual. PDK was obviously IFR, both the in-game ATIS and the real-world METAR were in alignment, but with a reported 500ā ceiling there was no way I was getting in visually. Unfortunately PDK does not have an approach to 3L/R other than a RNP AR, for which Iām not equipped or authorized. So the only approach options would have been the ILS 21L with a slight but acceptable tailwind, or the circle to land, or the GPS-A circle to land. The latter two would have been close to minimums, but marginally doable (either way, I could have at least tried the approach). I tried requesting a different approach, but was denied.
As I neared the airport, I was given a final vector at 3,000ā about 15 miles out and instructed to report when I had visual. I was still solid IMC to about 6-7 miles out, when BATC told me to descend to 1,000ā. The airport elevation is 998ā and there are a bunch of radio towers up to 2050ā between me and the airport, anyway. As thatās a death sentence, I told ATC unable and they didnāt know what I was talking about.
I requested to divert to Fulton County (FTY), but they denied that and demanded I descend to 1,000ā. Still IMC.
So I shut BATC down and self-vectored to the RNAV RWY 26 at FTY for a successful landing.
I love the immersion of BATC but unless everything is perfectly lined up for the original approach it decided, it doesnāt seem to know how to handle subsequent changes. What I told my stream is that it shouldnāt have to take any sort of real-world knowledge to realize that the instructions were progressively leading me to doom, especially in such a critical phase in hard IMC, but thatās what I had to use.
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COM2 works only for ATIS, and ATIS only works if youāre closer than the other airport, eg. for half the flight you can receive the departure airportās atis, and then at the half way point you can receive the destination airportās atis.
I really hope they change this logic, itās quite annoying for short flights where you often have no chance to receive the atis at all before it basically wants you to descend.
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IMO, the most important .next feature should be being able to request approaches.
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Latest flight with BATC with the Fenix A320, PVD to CLT. Still having an issue getting my IFR clearance. I tune Clearance Delivery, the drop down with IFR clearance shows for a spilt second and then it reverts back to Ground. Tried manually entering the frequency, swapping frequencies, trying VHF 1 and 2 and rebooting BATC. Nothing worked. Like the last flight, once I am pushed back and taxying, then Iām able to tune Delivery and get my clearance. Better than nothing but still annoying.
Also continue to get instructions to level off after takeoff at 4,000ā. That might work for GA applications but in an A320 itās unsat. Especially since after takeoff, ATC seems to have forgotten about me and I need to wait and finally check in with them. Then they wake up and clear me to a higher altitude, after Iāve spent a few minutes in level flight at 4,000 flying over Providence, RI. Is it me or is this a system issue? If they latter I guess Iāll just do what I did when using MSFS ATC and just clear myself as I see fit but honestly, Iām paying BATC to do this properly. Is there any way to request a higher initial altitude so Iāve got time to get the jet cleaned up and can communicate with BATC proactively instead of after leveling off?
Also noted that at PVD, every parked jet was at the wrong gate. FSLTL did a much better (but not perfect) job of making sure jets were parked at their airlineās gates. At BOS and CLT, the gate assignments seemed much better. Is there anything I can do at my end to address this?
Lastly, at busy airports, itās nearly impossible to get a chance to break on to the frequency with a request. Itās non-stop talking between AI ATC and AI traffic. Any work-around for this?
Regarding your takeoff clearance and altitudes - I noticed PVD doesnāt have a SID but there are lots of airports in the area with conflicting airspace and routes. Around Providence alone you have BOS just to the north, Islip on Long Island, Hartford, JFK, LGA, Teeterboro and Newark plus who knows how many others Iām forgetting just going off my head here. Just take a look at the FAA sectional for the area:
Correct on no SID for Providence (always wondered why some airports donāt have one) but this also happens at CLT (which coincidentally has nothing but vectors until you get 40 miles out and then go to your first fix.
Regardless, why would BATC still want to issue such a low initial altitude?
Iāll try my next flight out of KBOS, which uses multiple SIDās and see if things improve.
For future flights out of KPVD, which is my home airport in RL, if I just ignore BATC and set a higher initial altitude, will BATC just lock up or would I still be able to keep getting flight clearances?
Possible fruitless question, but have you checked assistances in FS options to make sure AI Radio Comms is disabled, and ATC enforce flighplan is also off?
Open up the BATC Traffic Map application and see how much other traffic around you is being simulated - could very well be traffic deconfliction as well as staying clear of the SIDS and STARS for KBOS.
It will fuss at you but still continue operating.
Pretty sure they are but Iāll verify on my next flight. Thanks for the tip.
Soā¦ BATC cleared me to take off RWY 25R in KLAX. Iām using the full runway length so I was further behind this Skywest E175. I thought āok, heāll wait for me to take offā but no, they asked him to line up and wait. So now heās sitting 200 meters ahead of me, waiting for me to take offā¦ something isnāt right.
In the end I said screw it, Iām going right through him. It wasnāt pretty XD
Did they tell you to enter 25R via B1?
Yes, they knew I was a heavy and I needed the full length.
Best reported in the BATC Discord with logs.
I had something like that happen to me yesterday in KORD. And for todayās departure from KMEM, the aircraft following me had his radome right up under the APU exhaust of my 77F.
I think the code handling AI traffic on the ground, relative to the playerās own aircraft, still needs some tweaks. No doubt it will continue to improve with time.
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You know how Discord is, I have absolutely no interest in ever going there. I reported it here to compare with any others who are finding these same bugsā¦