One of my major ambitions in FS is to get things as real as possible, an ambition which I'm sure most of us on here share.The major area for improvement for me is obviously the default ATC, it's limitations are well known and I'm hearing lots of positive things about Radar Contact.So I'm looking for opinions from people that actually use it about it's value for money. I've read the AVSIM review which says very positive things indeed, and whilst I have no reason to distrust it, I like to thoroughly research things before comitting to any new purchase.So, what do you RC users make of it? And also, as far as I'm aware RC5 is in development. If I purchase RC4 now, will I be able to upgrade to v5 for free as a previous purchaser or would I need to purchase again if I wanted to use RC5?Apologies for the questions, but all help appreciated.Martin

Hi Martin, If you want to fly offline then RC is certainly the best ATC addon you can get. I used to fly exclusively online but I got a little frustrated with the lack of online ATC when I do most of my fliying (by necessity during the day and at weekends). RC is in the process of being updated to V5, although no date has yet been set. AFAIK you won't get the new one free, although I believe there will be a discount for version 4 users. there is a forum for Radar Contact here on AVSIM which will give you more information.

Thanks Dave, that's grand - think I will bite the bullet and go for RC4. Only £28 so seems like a steal when you consider how much it changes the flight experience!

Hi, in my opinion, the best ATC addon for offline flights is RC, but at the same time I can tell you that I don't like it. It is the best, because there is not any other better addon.I prefer flying online, the voice there is human while in RC is robotic and I had some issues with the flight management. For example sometime I received instructions to turn right/left of 180 degrees, while I was perfectly on my own route.I abandoned it soon.Bye.RR

I switched from Radar Contact to Pro Flight Emulator 2 years ago and have never looked back. For me PFE is hands down much more realistic and allows me total control over my flight planning, including SIDS, STARS, altitudes, and realism. http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/iboshop.cgi?showd,5638175360,10544_1However, no onboard program can be more realistic than on-line flying. Be aware that it's not perfect either; it too has shortcomings.

I have tried them all (including PFE and RC4) and have to say that RC is the most realistic to date.I am a real world Air Traffic Controller, so am quite critical, and whilst there aren't any programs out there which realistically reproduce the randomness of real world (ie. no 2 flights are ever the same), RC is by far the closest to doing so.I can't wait for RC5 to come, as I am sure it will be a great leap forward (go JD!!!)Let me know if I can help with any queries about RC4 (as I know it fairly inside and out)Neil

As stated above it is quite realistic when it comes to ATC, HOWEVER, I do not use it as I cant get past the extremely robotic sounding voice, dont like that at all.Hopefully V5 will have more "human" sounding voices.

flyingpilot212121 have you tried RC4 since Meatloaf introduced his recompiled voice packs?Much more realistic.

Does anyone know for sure that RC5 will work with FS9?

Does anyone know for sure that RC5 will work with FS9?

HelloIt was discussed in the RC forum and JD said yes it would be for FS9 and FSX

flyingpilot212121 have you tried RC4 since Meatloaf introduced his recompiled voice packs?Much more realistic.

I actually had no idea such a pack existed, where might one get this?thanks for pointing this out. I may have to eat my words(maybe)

flyingpilot212121 have you tried RC4 since Meatloaf introduced his recompiled voice packs?Much more realistic.

I think the name is "MeatWater," but hey, meatloaf, meat and potatoes, meat beat manifesto....whatever :( The voice packs are spread out across 10 files, just search on the author "meatwater". Here's the first file: mwrc4vpv2_part1.zip

HelloIt was discussed in the RC forum and JD said yes it would be for FS9 and FSX

Thank you. I've been thinking for some time now about getting an ATC program. I will wait a while to see how this version works out

If you're going to wait for RC5, you may yet have quite a long wait . . .

Oooooopps! Red face. :( Thanks Clipper Ocean Spray for your corrective advice. :( MEATWATER yes! Meatloaf no. :( My excuse ... had been listening to "Bat Out of Hell" last night. Both are in the recording industry anyway.