Hi everyone,As one of those sad people that takes great attention to detail, I'm heavily into the realistic AI world, sometimes too much at the expense of flying, but i'm sure some of you have been there.My question is this, why is it that sometimes, when an aircraft is talking to the tower, it says flight number, airline, IFR, but does not say a destination?I used to think that this was purely down to perhaps some airports did not have voice attachments, but now I'm confused, because one aircraft announced IFR to De Gaulle, and ten minutes later, a second aircraft just stated IFR, no destination, checking using traffic explorer, this second aircraft was also going to De Gaulle, so why didnt it say so to ATC?Is it random???If anyone knows, it would solve an irritating puzzle for me.CheersSteve...

I can't answer you question, but I can say this: In real life, when a pilot is ready and holding short of the runway, they turn the transponder on which tells the tower - "Hey, I'm ready to get out of here!". So, there is no "American 123 is holding short 25R ready for departure, IFR to SFO." Another reason not to say whether you are IFR or VFR is that all aircraft that carry over 10 pax (I think) MUST file an IFR flight plan. Also, the tower knows whether they are IFR/VFR by what it says on the flight strip, when the companyn filed the flight plan.Clear as mud? Excellent.:-)

Pilots can say what their destination is (they can also say the name of their dog !) but they don't have to. ATC has their flight plan in front of them.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

>In real>life, when a pilot is ready and holding short of the runway,>they turn the transponder on which tells the tower - "Hey, I'm>ready to get out of here!". Uh, no, not in real life. You tell the local controller (tower) verbally that you're ready for departure. The transponder is never turned on until you've been cleared for takeoff and are on the active runway. At least, that's what I've been taught in the GA world. I suppose it could be different at at big airline hub.

Thats true Michael, but I was taught to mention to the ground controller on initial call-up that I'm IFR and to mention the destination. That way he can more quickly find the flight strip if it's been printed. If it hasn't, which is often the case, it helps him coordinate with the local airspace owner and locate your clearance more quickly.

Steve,I believe that in the voicepack file there can be more than one variation of the phrase referring to the same event, in which case FS picks one at random.RegardsAdrian

Thanks for all your help guys, and yes, i appreciate what a couple of you said about the "real world", of course I realise the pilot can say the name of his dog, or which of the stewardesses he's lining up for that night :() However, this is not the real world, and it's irritating for me not to know where a flight is going, but thanks for replying guys, I just wondered if there was a way for me to force them to say the destination every time.Cheers

Have you had your first heart attach yet .. lol ... i understand your attention to detail ... however, when i listen to United ATC communications ... there is a variation in communication from one flight to other ... my view is that this variation that you speak of actually adds to the realism

IF you really want to know where a flight is going .. buy ultimate traffice and under options choose to see flight destination on each aircraft ... excellent tool for this .. i too like to see the aircraft distination and departure ... kool feature ...

Thanks vwc, but I actually already have UT and can see on the label where the aircraft is going, I just wanted them to say it thats all....LOL, yes i know, it's getting funny now.Michael, I agree that some variation adds to the realism, unfortunately, we'll have to agree to disagree that one pilot saying "ready for departure, IFR" and another saying "ready for departure, IFR to De Gaulle" is any kind of positive variation.Positive variation would be randomising the available pilot voices, having voices in American, English, and a few varying accents would be better...Yes, I know, I'm leaving in a dreamword, but they went to the trouble to make 4 different pilot voices, unfotunately, they are all American.. I appreciate that Microsoft is a US company, and the US accounts for a high percentage of game sales, but they would have been better served having 4 different accents.I would suggest.1) American2) English 3) Generic African4) Generic EuropeanThis would cover a much wider range, as lets face it, most pilots are well educated and probably speak English or American English anyway...Damn... how did I get on to this.... i'm waffling, sorry guys.

Putting whatever FS does aside, and speaking just of my experience in the USA: I listen to a lot of ATC these days, and unless you are listening to the clearance delivery frequency (this is not always used either these days for the airlines) you will not hear aircraft state their destination to ground control or tower. Only to clearance delivery (if they even need to speak to them). In many cases the clearance comes right off the printer in the cockpit.At the busiest airports, everyone (at least the airline traffic) is IFR, so ground doesn't need to know this, or where you are going.I was just listening to KLGA ground and tower, and not a mention of destination, as I would expect. Most got their clearance over the printer.At smaller airports sometimes clearances are handled by ground control, then you will here it, but even at CDW, where I fly from, they still use a separate frequency for clearance, even though you will probably speak with the ground controller when calling in on it!Example: At CDW it would go like this:"Caldwell clearance delivery, Dakota 8086N, delta ramp with golf, IFR Nantucket, clearance on request please" After that, I'll call ground, (probably the same controller) and say almost the same:"Caldwell ground, Dakota 8086N, delta ramp with golf, IFR".At an uncontrolled field, clearance comes from either FSS or the specified TRACON via radio. You could also use the phone. After that, no mention of destination on the radio.At many airports when VFR, you would tell ground control, and later tower the direction of flight, and nothing else, they don't want it."Caldwell ground, Dakota 8086N, delta ramp with hotel, VFR west."Now, if instead of "west", I said, "Allentown, PA.", I can guarantee you they would insist on direction of flight, not destination. I've heard them do this more than once to the uninitiated.Frankly, I just assume not announcing to the whole world where I am going. That's between me and ATC, and few would be listening on the CD frequency. ;-)Edit: As to the transponder, as stated above it has nothing to do with this. I used to turn mine on either just before takeoff, or shortly after. Now my Garmin GTX330 turns itself "on" the moment I leave the ground. However, I still push the button just to be sure!Regards,http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...RUM_LOUF_A2.jpg

Lou, you're still missing the point amigo.... I don't really care what happens in the real world, this is a game. I've flown myself, am currently taking my PPL, and yes, it's very different... all I'm asking is if there is a way to force the pilot to state his destination every time.We could bang on about realism all day, I mean, c'mon, is it realistic to take an outside view of the plane while flying??? Is it realistic to sit in a Cessna near the end of 9R at Heathrow so I can watch my hard work with AI flightplans come to fruition??I'm sure your right about real ATC... and thanks for the input..... but it doesnt help us nosey parkers in the flightsim world. :()