ATC: Tower & Ground

The frequency is yours.

08:40 in Palma. A thunderstorm is building over the final approach, the wind has just shifted, three arrivals are waiting for vectors and a departure reports an engine failure on the takeoff roll. Nobody is coming to help. You are the controller.

ATC: Tower & Ground is an air traffic control simulator built from real Spanish aeronautical data, where every instruction you give has a consequence you can see on the radar.

THE WEATHER IS NOT DECORATION

Live METAR. Winds in layers that push aircraft off the centreline. Thunderstorm cells crawling across the weather radar, windshear on short final, fog that drops visibility below minimums and sends traffic to the alternate. The wind decides which runway is in use, and it can turn the whole airport around in the middle of your shift.

AIRCRAFT THAT FLY LIKE AIRCRAFT

An A380 does not turn like an ATR. Every type has its own climb, descent, speed limits and wake category. Put a light aircraft too close behind a heavy and the pilot will go around. Ask for something the aircraft cannot do and the pilot will tell you: unable.

PILOTS THAT TALK BACK

Real ICAO phraseology. Readbacks, requests, and a reminder when you forget a handoff. Pilots fly their published procedures, and they expect you to know them too.

WHEN IT GOES WRONG

Engine failures on the takeoff roll. Fuel emergencies. Bird strikes on final. Medical cases, brake failures, unruly passengers. Fire trucks, ambulances and police roll across the airfield, runways close, and if an aircraft goes down, a SAR helicopter is waiting for your call. Every emergency has its own procedure, and the clock is running.

TWO POSITIONS

Approach · Tower: vector arrivals onto the ILS, build the sequence, run the holdings and the missed approaches, and hand every aircraft to Tower and Centre yourself.

Ground · Tower: IFR clearances with the right SID and squawk, pushbacks, taxi routes through the real taxiways, runway crossings and takeoff clearances.

REAL DATA. NO SHORTCUTS.

Runways, taxiways, stands, SIDs, STARs, ILS approaches, minimum radar altitudes and restricted areas, recreated from public aeronautical publications. Controllers who work these frequencies for real have tested the game since the first build. If you have flown into these airports, you will recognise them.

ALL OF SPAIN, ONE AIRPORT AT A TIME

The goal is to cover Spanish airspace. Palma, Ibiza, Menorca and Barcelona are already in, with a Multi-tower mode that runs the Balearic airports on a single radar. The next airports will be chosen with the community.