I am an FSHud & Active Sky user. FSHud makes Runway use decisions based on Active Sky weather. At Pre-Flight Prep I get accurate Runway assignment based on the wind Information from Active Sky for both my Departure and Arrival Airports. If the winds (weather info) change en-route FSHud can and will change the Runway assignment at Destination as well. At times on Descent \ Approach if I do not double check my Arrival Runway I have had to scramble to setup for an active Runway change, which I don't mind. I also found this handy little tool https://runway.airportdb.io/ "Which Runway to Choose", You can use 2 providers  either  "Vatsim" or "Aviation Weather". 

On 2/1/2026 at 7:29 PM, G-YMML1 said:

If you fly in and out of KORD from East Cost, you must know famous WYNDE 3 STAR that serves both 27/28 and 10/09. If you intend to land on 9/10, real life ATC start to vector after ERNNY. BATC, in contrast, will let you fly full STAR to the west then start vectoring you back to the east and only after that start issuing vectors to final. 

 

That's a shame, hopefully they can sort that out in the future. Do you just choose to ignore ATC if you're landing on 27/28, or does it allow you to request a direct to fix? 

17 hours ago, Stearmandriver said:

No, it cannot be "denied".  Yes, as I said, you might need to wait a long time, but ATC does not decide where the aircraft goes or what it does - the PIC is always the final authority as to the operation of the aircraft.

Hmm... I'm a retired controller.  My last facility was Atlanta.  I agree that ATC can't "force" a pilot to do anything; but if you want to land/depart opposite direction during an arrival/departure rush, you're going to be waiting a looooong time.

Not saying it can't happen (the reason I said only partially true in my original response); but that kind of request is normally going to result in a big fat "unable" unless it's an emergency or it's been coordinated well ahead of time.

On 1/26/2026 at 3:40 PM, JonathanC said:

You can download the model pack from Github instead of using the AIG Manager

That model pack was uploaded there without permission of any of the model or texture artists, please don't recommend it.

Edited February 3Feb 3 by Tuskin38

4 hours ago, Waffles_ said:

That's a shame, hopefully they can sort that out in the future. Do you just choose to ignore ATC if you're landing on 27/28, or does it allow you to request a direct to fix? 

Ignored ATC. Direct-To almost always isn't working while under Approach Control in BATC.

On 1/27/2026 at 5:51 AM, verbal said:

Not about to read thru 10 pages to check (sorry it's almost midnight here), just wondering if anyone has heard of or even tried this:

https://www.flywithskylink.com/

Was almost tempted to make a purchase until I saw that the cost is in USD, which I find odd considering the guy is obviously Australian.

There are youtube links on the above site. 

This sounds too good to be true, given that this seems to be the first anyone has brought it up. Has anyone seen any videos, etc. about this product?

3 hours ago, Rob G said:

This sounds too good to be true, given that this seems to be the first anyone has brought it up. Has anyone seen any videos, etc. about this product?

You might want to take a look at this Skylink simulations for xbox - Discussion Hub / Tools & Utilities - Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums.

Videos I have seen the voices sound a bit robotic. Also from the linked thread seems it's not aware of other traffic. Take it for what you will.

Edited April 22Apr 22 by Dusk

It’s hard to explain why, but I prefer SI over BATC. If it wasn’t for the subscription cost, I’d probably replace BATC completely. Voices are better, lateral guidance is better, a lot of customization, I like the phone app so I can track my flight and still talk to ATC if I have to step away. You can force SI to use the runways in your simbrief flight plan, which I use if I’m doing a historical flight that has occurred in the last 24 hours. It will also sometimes offer you waypoint shortcuts.

The only thing I find BATC does better most of the time is vectoring.

If your approach into the airport brings you parallel to the runway SI likes to turn you away from the airport first before then guiding you towards it, BATC just vectors you into a proper turn towards the airport. 

Edited April 22Apr 22 by Tuskin38

1 hour ago, Tuskin38 said:

The only thing I find BATC does better most of the time is vectoring.

So only the core of ATC. 😉

 

BTW I found the result of the Navigraph survey interesting. BATC outweighs market share of SI by a long shot.

1 hour ago, Farlis said:

BATC outweighs market share of SI by a long shot.

Isn't particularly surprising. Who wants to pay $15 a month for an ATC addon? Same way Vatsim is significantly larger than PE

2 hours ago, Lucky38i said:

Who wants to pay $15 a month for an ATC addon?

SI must had come down a lot if it's $15 a month.   The most I paid was $29.95 a month (on launch) and least I paid was $19.95 a month, at the point when I left it and moved to BATC.

Edited April 22Apr 22 by JYW

3 minutes ago, JYW said:

SI must had come down a lot if it's $15 a month.   The most I paid was $29.95 a month (on launch) and least I paid was $19.95 a month, at the point when I left it and moved to BATC.

That price only applies if you subscribe for a year. If you just pick a single month it's $19.

I hate this kind of pricing.

7 hours ago, Dusk said:

You might want to take a look at this Skylink simulations for xbox - Discussion Hub / Tools & Utilities - Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums.

Videos I have seen the voices sound a bit robotic. Also from the linked thread seems it's not aware of other traffic. Take it for what you will.

Skylink:-

• Not aware of other traffic.
• No injected AI traffic at all.
• Voices have no 'radio' effect and sound like they're standing right next to you.
• One off cost of 99 USD, for the ATC only.
• AI Copilot is another 49 USD
• AI Cabin Crew is another 59 USD.

No thanks!

48 minutes ago, JYW said:

Skylink:-

• Not aware of other traffic.
• No injected AI traffic at all.
• Voices have no 'radio' effect and sound like they're standing right next to you.
• One off cost of 99 USD, for the ATC only.
• AI Copilot is another 49 USD
• AI Cabin Crew is another 59 USD.

No thanks!

I thought I read on their website that it is aware of other traffic. Are you sure it isn't?

27 minutes ago, Rob G said:

I thought I read on their website that it is aware of other traffic. Are you sure it isn't?

Be cautious. From everything I have seen it is only using your Simbrief plan to give you instructions, so is not aware of anything else. Even in a video they have posted where they are parked at KDEN around Concourse A, the taxi instructions are taxi to 17R via taxiway Alpha!

Also read this: