Offline tower observation with AI aircraft

I just discovered how to use the tower function in FSX to monitor ATC procedures with AI planes. You can't give any instructions, but you can monitor the activity around the airport in amazing detail. Watch arrivals and departures on the radar scope and listen to radio transmissions that are very realistic. You can change the frequency and follow aircraft as they are handed off from one controller to the next. I was suprised how accurate the procedures are compared to the real thing. I also use my Traffic 2005 program's "flight explorer" function to view individual aircraft as they move through the pattern. To do this, you have to go into the multiplayer module and set up the tower you want to monitor, using the LAN connection. Save the flight using the semicolon(;) command. Then end the flight and run it in "freeflight" mode. Now you are in the tower and can watch all the AI planes on radar and listen on the radio. For me, this capability makes FSX a big improvement over FX9 in spite of its other shortcomings. For flying, I still prefer FS9 with scenery addons.