I find the pace of the readback is very slow though in RC4. Then they scold you for not answering back quick enough or switching frequencies after taking forever to instruct you in the first place.

I have started flying on Vatsim and it has really made it difficult to go back to the robotic atc programs. I do think RC4 gets it right in many aspects but could use improvement. Now that it’s freeware I’m guessing development is over.

4 hours ago, b1bmsgt said:

aviate, navigate, and THEN communicate!!

Great advice, same as IRL.  All of the offline programs will scold to some degree - not as aggressively as RC4 but even default will get on your case ("please expedite your descent!")  But they're more forgiving if you take your time getting back to them... so yes... aviate first.

@JasonPC - IIRC, there are options in RC4 to speed up the voices.  The Meltwater voices helped with realism, too.  But I may not be remembering accurately - it's been a long time since I've used it.  Might experiment with it the week after next, after some real-world travel.

I'd love to fly online but I have too many interruptions, so "canned" ATC is my only option.

I still run RC4. No ATC program is without its drawbacks but I've learned how to work around them. I generally hand comms over to Otto when I'm cleared to take off. Given there are two people in a real cockpit having to handle comms and fly is a high workload. Having GoFlight GF166s to quickly change frequencies does help rather than using a mouse.

And for those of you flying with an FMC/CDU. When instructed to start your descent it generally comes before the calculated ToD. Just engage a 200fpm descent which is the minimum to keep RC4 happy and then engage VNav at the ToD point.

And of course it remains the only ATC program with a "Speedbird Concorde" callsign for those 3h 20m pond hops! 👍

Here are my thoughts on RC4

1) I don't know how many streams and vids I saw where 3/4 of the time I couldn't even understand what vatsim was saying or even then having vatsim at smaller airports like KISP for example so it's out for me.

2) What I want in an ATC is simply immersion and honestly RC4 does it better than the default ATC and add Live ATC chatter and I'm more than happy with it.

3) With RC4 as long as I am withing the deviation which is adjustable of the SID's waypoints it won't say anything, if your using ATC you then just follow the STAR until being vectored, that's why you're using ATC in the first place.

4) In the documentation it says "Interact with AI - When this option is chosen, proper sequencing on the ground at the departure will occur,  you are more likely to see AI being diverted from possible conflict situations while enroute and/or AI speed adjustment as appropriate during final approach. AI Interaction means just that, that RC will interact with AI to the maximum extent possible.

If I understand this correctly, this is near to the holy grail of ATC where the ATC can control the Default ground/approach sequencing (to the maximum possible). So far it's been near perfect, I've never seen an aircraft take off in my direction while on approach. The only thing that would have made RC4 near perfect would have been ground vectoring of taxi routes and sequencing on ground radio for all aircraft like the default ATC does.

Now to my utter amazement is how in the world can LM not buy RC4 and integrate it into the default ATC and with a little work make it the perfect default ATC.

I don't use much offline ATC but when I do, I use the default ATC because unlike other addons I've tried, the voices sound realistic and natural. Plus they are fluid (and not robotic).

1 hour ago, Simicro said:

I don't use much offline ATC but when I do, I use the default ATC because unlike other addons I've tried, the voices sound realistic and natural. Plus they are fluid (and not robotic).

Only problem is that the instructions from the controller sounds like the controller was stoned on drugs.  ( turn this way, no that way, no this way..etc,,,,,,yada yada,,,

Edited August 15, 20196 yr by Bobsk8

3 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

Only problem is that the instructions from the controller sounds like the controller was stoned on drugs.  ( turn this way, no that way, no this way..etc,,,,,,yada yada,,,

😂

13 hours ago, Simicro said:

the voices sound realistic

I agree they sound good but if you listen to LiveATC it's not ATC realistic at all.

Thing is, any offline ATC program makes huge compromises.  We're all deciding what we can live with and choosing what, to us, is not so much the best option as the least bad one.  Default ATC doesn't sound realistic but at least it sounds human.  I for one don't mind the zigzag routings (I tell myself I'm being vectored for traffic separation) but I can see where others would.  I don't like having to write out detailed instructions for the PF3 controllers but others are happy to make that tradeoff to get the kind of handling they want.

We're miles away from a really effective ATC product that would be AI-driven, capable of improvising and maybe have a thick Brooklyn accent ("Southwest 2272 keep ya speed up, I need ya to give me 180 to the marker..." )  Sorry, showing my NYC roots there...

Until that arrives in the fullness of time, it's bad tradeoffs, or PilotEdge, or LiveATC and the wonderful world of your own imagination...

Edited August 16, 20196 yr by Alan_A

7 hours ago, Alan_A said:

Thing is, any offline ATC program makes huge compromises.  We're all deciding what we can live with and choosing what, to us, is not so much the best option as the least bad one.  Default ATC doesn't sound realistic but at least it sounds human.  I for one don't mind the zigzag routings (I tell myself I'm being vectored for traffic separation) but I can see where others would.  I don't like having to write out detailed instructions for the PF3 controllers but others are happy to make that tradeoff to get the kind of handling they want.

We're miles away from a really effective ATC product that would be AI-driven, capable of improvising and maybe have a thick Brooklyn accent ("Southwest 2272 keep ya speed up, I need ya to give me 180 to the marker..." )  Sorry, showing my NYC roots there...

Until that arrives in the fullness of time, it's bad tradeoffs, or PilotEdge, or LiveATC and the wonderful world of your own imagination...

Write out detailed instructions for PF3?????? I have no earthly idea what you are talking about. I fly about 10 VA flights a week using PF3, and I have yet to have to write down anything. I ;make a flight plan on Simbrief, load it into PF3, and go. It doesn't get any easier than that. 

29 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

I ;make a flight plan on Simbrief, load it into PF3, and go. It doesn't get any easier than that. 

Quote

I don't like having to write out detailed instructions for the PF3 controllers

 

He's probably talking about the Waypoint Altitude Adjustment page and the SID/STARS page...

 

Russ

Edited August 17, 20196 yr by b1bmsgt

1 hour ago, b1bmsgt said:

 

He's probably talking about the Waypoint Altitude Adjustment page and the SID/STARS page...

 

Russ

Wow, that takes about 10 seconds at the most..!!!!!

1 hour ago, b1bmsgt said:

He's probably talking about the Waypoint Altitude Adjustment page and the SID/STARS page...

Yes, I was.  Not suggesting it's an enormous amount of labor, only that it's a bit of a deviation from reality to have to tell ATC how the STAR works.  However, it wasn't my intent to get into yet another of those fights about which feature set is better or worse.  My bigger (actually only) point was that none of them is a close match for actual ATC.  We all have our preferences about what compromises we want to make.  You pays your money and you makes your choice... 😎

8 hours ago, Alan_A said:

none of them is a close match for actual ATC

Very true. They all have tradeoffs.  IMHO, RC4 is the best overall, but I really wish they had moved ahead on RC5...

 

Russ

Default ATC tip. When you are flying an IFR plan and need to step away stay at the controls until ATC asks to handoff to next frequency. Don't  answer till you get back. It will not cancel the IFR plan and you can pick it up when you get back. This works great for long flights.