I’m getting back into the sim (MSFS 2024), bought the ifly 737, a couple of WinWing devices, and now I’m thinking I need a decent ATC add-on. 

If I’m not mistaken, BATC is the current best option?… reasonably cost with no subscription, good voices, traffic injection and control, and copilot automation options. 

Questions I’m hoping someone can answer…

1. It sounds Iike it can assign a runway and approach on arrival… is that right? That’s important to me.

2. I saw Sim Brief integration, but I actually want to try and use the flight planner built into MSFS 2024… will it work with the built-in planner?

3. How is the traffic injection? What models and liveries does it use? How’s the performance impact?

4. It doesn’t support VFR is that right?  Does it still do its traffic control thing while you’re flying VFR or you just can’t use it at all in VFR?  Can you start out VFR and if the weather gets bad, request a switch to IFR?

5. How do you interact with it? Do you use PTT and voice, hot keys, run the window as a pop-up? On another display? On your mobile or tablet?

Thanks for any insights you can share. 🙂

Cheers
- Chris

Edited July 17, 2025Jul 17 by Virtual-Chris

1. It sounds Iike it can assign a runway and approach on arrival… is that right? That’s important to me
-> Yes it assign you  runways, with a little luck you can  try to get a different runway.
2. I saw Sim Brief integration, but I actually want to try and use the flight planner built into MSFS 2024… will it work with the built-in planner?
-> NO it works with simbrief only. No simbrief, no BATC
3. How is the traffic injection? What models and liveries does it use? How’s the performance impact?
-> It use "FSLTL, FSTraffic, AIG". maybe you will see jerky aircraft movements.
4. It doesn’t support VFR is that right?  Does it still do its traffic control thing while you’re flying VFR or you just can’t use it at all in VFR?  Can you start out VFR and if the weather gets bad, request a switch to IFR?
-> I can run Flights without IFR-clearance. But its not a really VFR-ATC what you get. So NO really VFR at this time.
5. How do you interact with it? Do you use PTT and voice, hot keys, run the window as a pop-up? On another display? On your mobile or tablet?
-> I Use it with my microphone. The App runs on second Monitor. You can use an "Insim" ToolbarApp.

You should look Videos on YTube. You will see what BATC can do for you.

 

Also join their Discord channel, This is the latest announcement:

 

**BeyondATC Dev Update – July 2025**

@everyone Hey everyone! It’s been a while since our last update/video. In addition to taking some much needed time off we have been hard at work on core ATC systems; continuing to refine, bug fix and improve. Right now we are in a mostly heads-down phase of pushing BATC into a more stable state hot off the heels of the new tech and features added at the beginning of the year.

This phase is a bit more quiet than usual, more because there’s fewer interesting things to talk about but certainly not due to a lack of progress.

That all said, I wanted to take a second to highlight what’s gone into the program that’s worthy of note in addition to some cool things coming down the line.

**✈️ GSX Integration**
The poll’s results were clear: GSX Integration! GSX support is nearly ready to enter Early Access! The next update will introduce separate handling options for arrival and departure, giving you more flexibility and control.

**Please note, for everyone that disagreed with the poll’s results it does not mean we do not ultimately plan to add *everything* that was on the list. It only showed us which one to work on first! The options were not mutually exclusive.**

**🗣️ Pronunciation Improvements**
Thanks to huge efforts from <@503629508071653376>, ATC pronunciation of waypoints and procedures has been massively improved. We're now more aligned with AIRAC data, providing a more authentic experience every cycle.

**📡 CPDLC Incoming**
CPDLC is nearly ready to hit experimental! We're rolling it out in phases, with an aim to get the first phase to experimental by the end of the month.

**1. PDC Clearance Handling** – Done ✅
**2. ATC-Initiated CPDLC Instructions** – In progress (altitude changes, directs, freq changes)
**3. Pilot Requests via CPDLC **– Coming soon

**🛬 Complex Airport Ops**
We've added support for advanced runway assignment logic, reflecting real-world operations at over 200 major airports. These setups consider wind, time, aircraft type, and more—thanks to our amazing air ops editors and mentors! 

I really want to stress how much work this was for the team. This is one of those features you don’t even notice is there because when everything is running smoothly it’s almost invisible, but that’s not to understate the amount of effort that went into making the systems that created that stability. Huge shoutout to <@710590352922509402> for spearheading this effort.

**🚦 Traffic Overhaul**
Massive traffic system rewrite = smoother performance and reduced stutters. Real-world routing is now more accurate with carefully researched **real-life flight plans.**

**🌤️ Historic 24hr Weather (MSFS 2024 Preview)**
Support for historical METARs is in development to align with MSFS2024’s 24-hour weather replay feature.

**🔁 Request Cancellation Improvements**
You’ll soon be able to cancel requests cleanly without getting stuck in loops—no more ATC dead ends.

**🐛 Bug Fixing (Yes, we are!)**
Every release includes bug fixes—even if they’re not always obvious. We focus on root causes, not just symptoms. For the best chance of getting your issue fixed, detailed reports with logs and flight tracking are essential!

As mentioned, this is a heads-down quiet period of getting the program stabilized and ready to start adding our next big feature: VFR. We’ll report back when we have more to share. In the mean time, as always, thank you so much for your continued support—keep the feedback coming, and stay tuned for more!

— The BeyondATC Team

32 minutes ago, speedyTC said:

As mentioned, this is a heads-down quiet period of getting the program stabilized and ready to start adding our next big feature: VFR.

I’ve been waiting so long for BATC to finally show what it’s capable of in VFR. Say Intention is too expensive, and there’s always something with AI that spoils the experience with SI — not to mention the endless stream of added features, like a stupid business rule for subscription services, which I have no use for.

I'm holding short. We're at least lucky to have a potential competition here, as the core engine of MSFS2024 has really something better to manage for now 😉

Edited July 17, 2025Jul 17 by vbazillio

1 hour ago, Virtual-Chris said:

5. How do you interact with it? Do you use PTT and voice, hot keys, run the window as a pop-up? On another display? On your mobile or tablet?

Alti answered all you other questions same as I would have, I would also add that you can choose from a selection of suitable phrases and click with a mouse rather than using voice.
I've been using it since launch and have used "Radar Contact" and "P2ATC" in the past both really good but don't have the saame level of integration that BATC does.
BATC injects the traffic knows where it is and will route ground traffic to and from gates and runways (mostly correctly 😂)

I do have the premium voices but I only tend to have them on at the airports or at TOD once I'm airborne I switch to basic. Basic voices are good but some pronuciations are a bit odd.

Is it perfect? no but they are working on it constantly to get it there.

My two cents.  I bought it and tried it but don't use it right now.  I figure I'll try it once a month or so to see where it improves.  I also tried SI for about a month before I figured to cancel and try BATC.  In some ways SI was better.  In some ways SI wasn't as good and the price is very high.  Here's what I thought of BATC:

• It can be brutal when it comes to readbacks.  If you get "Cleared to Atlanta, Margot3 departure then as filed...", if you leave of "as filed" it reads the whole thing back to you and makes you repeat it exactly.  If it mis-parses what you say back you have to try again.  "Turn right heading 240, descend and maintain 5,000". You read it back.  "Negative, descend and maintain 5,000".  You read it back again.  "Negative..."  Ad nausium.  I have a PPL and fly on VATSIM and find VATSIM and RW ATC vastly easier to deal with.  Very stressful.
• Sometimes it gives you instructions and you try to read it back but it's looping...doing something for 10 or 20 seconds and doesn't allow you to reply.  Happened to me on a visual approach.  I ended up cleared for the visual directly over the airport despite the fact that I reported the airport in sight at 11 miles out.  
• It's pattern entry and vectors weren't very good for GA.  Often the downwinds were too close to final and the turns often overshoot.  
• Trying to do basics like changing runways, requesting deviations around weather, aborting takeoff don't work.  Changing approaches can be difficult.  

That's the negative.  On the positive side it's communication is significantly better than SI, especially airborne.  The voices (even the free ones) are less robotic and the flow of communication and handoffs is better and more logical.  It at least tries to do visual approaches, does better than SI, but it doesn't quite work well...but it's getting there.  

I expect it to improve as time goes on.  It's moving in the right direction.  I'm hopeful.   

 

@Gregg_Seipp Why would you stick to trying it recognize what you are saying when it clearly has troubles? When this happens use the button control and have your copilot answer for you. Problem solved.

1 hour ago, Gregg_Seipp said:

My two cents.  I bought it and tried it but don't use it right now.  I figure I'll try it once a month or so to see where it improves.  I also tried SI for about a month before I figured to cancel and try BATC.  In some ways SI was better.  In some ways SI wasn't as good and the price is very high.  Here's what I thought of BATC:

• It can be brutal when it comes to readbacks.  If you get "Cleared to Atlanta, Margot3 departure then as filed...", if you leave of "as filed" it reads the whole thing back to you and makes you repeat it exactly.  If it mis-parses what you say back you have to try again.  "Turn right heading 240, descend and maintain 5,000". You read it back.  "Negative, descend and maintain 5,000".  You read it back again.  "Negative..."  Ad nausium.  I have a PPL and fly on VATSIM and find VATSIM and RW ATC vastly easier to deal with.  Very stressful.
• Sometimes it gives you instructions and you try to read it back but it's looping...doing something for 10 or 20 seconds and doesn't allow you to reply.  Happened to me on a visual approach.  I ended up cleared for the visual directly over the airport despite the fact that I reported the airport in sight at 11 miles out.  
• It's pattern entry and vectors weren't very good for GA.  Often the downwinds were too close to final and the turns often overshoot.  
• Trying to do basics like changing runways, requesting deviations around weather, aborting takeoff don't work.  Changing approaches can be difficult.  

 

I would agree with all of these especially #1 the readbacks can be frustrating sometimes.  

I mainly use it for at least traffic injection, sometimes I'll use the full ATC. The default voices seem to be fine for me.

I tried the 1 month SI trial. I was impressed with the chatter feature where it sends other user's random transmissions out for everyone else as chatter now and then. Nice idea. But I'm still using BATC for now until the whole 'AI' tech space evolves further and prices inevitably will drop over time.

Edited July 17, 2025Jul 17 by Max Kraus

Been using it for many months, constant improvements, wouldn't fly without it.

I can't speak aloud, so I just assign a joystick button to the primary action. The copilot responds and it works every time.

I use premium voices except for long cruises, I just flick the voices slider (and turn on auto-tune and auto-respond.)

It's not perfect, but it's improving all the time and I've not had any reason to swtich products. When S1 sort their new traffic feature out, I might be tempted.

Looking forward to the GSX integration and CPDLC.

It's essentially ambience and something to do while flying for me.  AI traffic animation with its injector is very jerky compared to straight FSLTL--you might notice this when near AI aircraft such as during taxi or watching other plane TO or land from a taxiway.   Plus, I find traffic spacing is so wide that often don't see a lot of AI aircraft compared to what I see when I leave its injector off and just use FSLTL, and that is what I do 90% of the time.  I really like the premium voices but they are expensive IF you use BATC's injector and that is because those voices end up getting used for chatter between AI aircraft and controllers, whereas when you turn the injector off and using only controllers for premium, it's just you and one controller, not all AI traffic, hence become far less expensive due to the much slower pace of use.  I use LiveATC to provide background chatter per region I'm flying in.  CPU resources in use go up by a good 40-50% when you use its injection over FSLTL straight.  The downside of using FSLTL for injection of course is that there is no actual controlling happening, but almost always I wouldn't notice this because most often BATC is going to send me to runways that are in use by FSLTL, but not always.

6 hours ago, Alti said:

1. It sounds Iike it can assign a runway and approach on arrival… is that right? That’s important to me
-> Yes it assign you  runways, with a little luck you can  try to get a different runway.
2. I saw Sim Brief integration, but I actually want to try and use the flight planner built into MSFS 2024… will it work with the built-in planner?
-> NO it works with simbrief only. No simbrief, no BATC
3. How is the traffic injection? What models and liveries does it use? How’s the performance impact?
-> It use "FSLTL, FSTraffic, AIG". maybe you will see jerky aircraft movements.
4. It doesn’t support VFR is that right?  Does it still do its traffic control thing while you’re flying VFR or you just can’t use it at all in VFR?  Can you start out VFR and if the weather gets bad, request a switch to IFR?
-> I can run Flights without IFR-clearance. But its not a really VFR-ATC what you get. So NO really VFR at this time.
5. How do you interact with it? Do you use PTT and voice, hot keys, run the window as a pop-up? On another display? On your mobile or tablet?
-> I Use it with my microphone. The App runs on second Monitor. You can use an "Insim" ToolbarApp.

You should look Videos on YTube. You will see what BATC can do for you.

 

I have been using BATC since its release and will not fly without it. Here is a video (streamed earlier today) using BATC and Flight Sim First Officer. Below that is my FB Group which incorporates both BATC and FSFO:-

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1571953959750565

Still no ability to run it as a remote client on a separate machine?  

FSHUD seems to have really dropped off from an updates perspective would like to give BATC a try but really like to have a client running on my laptop next to my FS system...

 

I gather the new flight planner in 2024 is one of the strengths of the new sim. It’s a shame it doesn’t support it. Not sure I want to use sim brief. As usual, there’s no perfect solution. 

7 minutes ago, psolk said:

Still no ability to run it as a remote client on a separate machine?  

FSHUD seems to have really dropped off from an updates perspective would like to give BATC a try but really like to have a client running on my laptop next to my FS system...

 

I saw an add-on on flightsim.to that allows you to interact with it remotely via a browser… on a mobile device or laptop