Hi there, I was wondering what ATC Networks are out there and which 1 is the best to use in your opinions? Any help is greatly appreciated. TIA
PilotEdge - Paid Subscription, staffed hours, all frequencies, however is costly and only covers Western US. They are very strict and follow the book to a T, if you mess up, prepare to be scolded and learn from your mistake. As they do advertise “All Frequencies” many times it’s the same controller just on the different channels so it’s the same guy opearating Clearance, Ground, Tower, Etc… but at the busier spots you can get different controllers on each.
VATSIM - Volunteer based, hit or miss on when folks will be online but top down model so if Center is on you get everything below. Newbie friendly environment
IVAO - Somewhat like VATSIM, but anyone can be a controller after reading some docs, unlike VATSIM or IVAO which requires training. Not as popular as VATSIM.
As for “The Best” that’s up to what you want to get out of it. If you want as real as it gets, don’t mind paying, and only fly in the Western US. PilotEdge is your best bet.
If you want freedom to move around, free, realism with wiggle room, VATSIM is your choice.
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This one is coming, and from reports from some users it’s going to be excellent. I have NOT used any prior versions, or any of their products. You can check out the home page at link above. It’s more than likely the one I will use, as ATC is most likely the hardest segment in a sim to get working properly. FSX was ok, and did not cause too many issues, some displays were incorrect. The voices however were great. MSFS atc is not as good I don’t think, but it could be coming along. X-Plane version is hard for me, and they say it’s WIP, so going to get better. I have not input a FP into it since beta version, so it could be way better.
As far as I remember IVAO does require some training to be a controller, and it’s a little bit more relaxed than VATSIM. Just a little bit… in general. For example, I’ve taken off from airports with single engine airplanes where real life regulations do not allow for single engine airplane operations. Never got any serious issue really. VATSIM on the contrary is more rigid… again, as far as I remember, memories do get a little bit fuzzy with time. And age.
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BeyondATC looks good, will be interesting to see how it compares to Pilot2ATC but none of them stack up to real sim online ATC Networks that the OP was asking about.
Sky - yep, but something better than one built in. Vatsim is way to strict and not sure fast enough to handle that, plus fly the plane. Lots of time fly WO atc. I will watch and see what happens. Happy flying.
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