Sorry, I don't like it. For full disclosure, I am a casual user.  I don't fly all the time, nor do I know anything about piloting.

There are two problems that I see with the application.

One, is that it is rather unpredictable in terms of where your ILS is going to be.  You really can't set up for an approach until you are pretty close to your descent.  Maybe the real world works in this way, but some idea as to where we are landing would be nice to have 100 km from where we are coming in.  Yes, that could change based on weather, but please give us something to work with in the early stages.

The other is more technical.  Seems like there are often problems with connecting to the sim.  Not always.  But it happens enough to be a hassle.  If MSFS booted up faster, maybe this would be tolerable.  But if you only have 90 minutes to play and you spend twenty of those minutes messing around between BATC and MSFS, the experience is not very pleasant.

So, from a layman perspective it is not a good look.

22 minutes ago, goofeyfoot said:

One, is that it is rather unpredictable in terms of where your ILS is going to be.  You really can't set up for an approach until you are pretty close to your descent. 

That's part of the technique of flying IFR. It's not just about manipulating controls, but also looking at conditions and anticipating what's coming up. It's a good idea to do a pre-brief before coming to TOD - looking at expected arrival, likely approach, runway configurations, parking, etc. Create a plan of action in your mind based on all these options. In other words - like okay we might be landing either runway 18 or 36. The former means I'll need to slow down early and be on the ball, the other might mean terrain could be a factor. How do I anticipate either one and make my life easier? From there, you look at wind direction or listen to ATIS if you can to get active runways. If those aren't available you can usually look at broad ground wind data on Navigraph or Meteoblue - not accurate but enough to atleast give a general idea.

TL;DR: Beyond the fact Simbrief sometimes assigns likely approach / arrival, you can always tell what arrival you'll be on based on the last waypoint. From there, look at the wind direction or listen to ATIS. Basically, try and plan for all options - that's part of the fun of it.

1 hour ago, goofeyfoot said:

The other is more technical.  Seems like there are often problems with connecting to the sim.  Not always.  But it happens enough to be a hassle.  If MSFS booted up faster, maybe this would be tolerable.

You should only start BATC once you're in the aircraft/cockpit 😉

4 hours ago, goofeyfoot said:

Maybe the real world works in this way, but some idea as to where we are landing would be nice to have 100 km from where we are coming in

Yes, that's the real world and your job as a pilot. Imagine you would be a real VFR pilot: no one would tell you anything, you are completely responsible for yourself. 

 

4 hours ago, goofeyfoot said:

Seems like there are often problems with connecting to the sim.

Not here. You should check your firewall etc and contact BATC support. That's absolutely not a common problem. 

 

Enroll in the Experimental branch,  which you can opt for in the Account menu, right pane.

Experimental version is already 1.8.,,, and you will notice some improvements, including being told what rw is expected at destination once you get into the last ACC of your flight.

Also I would advise you to start BATC *only* when you heve fully loaded your flight situation in MSFS 2024, and hit the "Go Fly" button. Then start BATC.

Make sure you correctly disabled all other simulator traffic injection, either flying or parked, if you are using BATC to inject traffic.

7 hours ago, goofeyfoot said:

Maybe the real world works in this way, but some idea as to where we are landing would be nice to have 100 km from where we are coming in. 

One thing others haven't mentioned: Check the ATIS. You should be able to receive this at least 100 miles out, and it will tell you which runway is in operation.

For airports with multiple active landing runways, the approach controller will tell you which runway to expect. It's a good idea at such airports to set up one runway in the primary flight plan ahead of time, and another in the secondary. That way, you'll be able to switch quickly to the secondary if need be.

For me, needing to be flexible this way adds to the immersion. There's potentially more to do than when I'm flying without ATC and can even decide to program my approach while I'm still on the ground at the departure airport. It does take a bit of practice, but I think you'll come to enjoy this aspect of flying with BeyondATC. 

Oh look another one of these...

As if we hadn't had enough dedicated BeyondATC threads already.

 

 

To your point of not being able to predict which runway will be open: That's what D-ATIS is for which you can have send to your aircraft via ACARS if it has it or by clicking on the Headphone Icon in the UI of the app to show you the frequencies.

12 minutes ago, Farlis said:

Oh look another one of these...

As if we hadn't had enough dedicated BeyondATC threads already.

 

 

To your point of not being able to predict which runway will be open: That's what D-ATIS is for which you can have send to your aircraft via ACARS if it has it or by clicking on the Headphone Icon in the UI of the app to show you the frequencies.

Or by using the windy app, which now shows a visulisation of the runway wind direction.

8 hours ago, goofeyfoot said:

Sorry, I don't like it. For full disclosure, I am a casual user.  I don't fly all the time, nor do I know anything about piloting.

There are two problems that I see with the application.

One, is that it is rather unpredictable in terms of where your ILS is going to be.  You really can't set up for an approach until you are pretty close to your descent.  Maybe the real world works in this way, but some idea as to where we are landing would be nice to have 100 km from where we are coming in.  Yes, that could change based on weather, but please give us something to work with in the early stages.

The other is more technical.  Seems like there are often problems with connecting to the sim.  Not always.  But it happens enough to be a hassle.  If MSFS booted up faster, maybe this would be tolerable.  But if you only have 90 minutes to play and you spend twenty of those minutes messing around between BATC and MSFS, the experience is not very pleasant.

So, from a layman perspective it is not a good look.

"Sorry, I don't like it. For full disclosure, I am a casual user.  I don't fly all the time, nor do I know anything about piloting."

I'm pretty sure your opening statement also answered your question?!

10 hours ago, goofeyfoot said:

Sorry, I don't like it. For full disclosure, I am a casual user.  I don't fly all the time, nor do I know anything about piloting.

There are two problems that I see with the application.

One, is that it is rather unpredictable in terms of where your ILS is going to be.  You really can't set up for an approach until you are pretty close to your descent.  Maybe the real world works in this way, but some idea as to where we are landing would be nice to have 100 km from where we are coming in.  Yes, that could change based on weather, but please give us something to work with in the early stages.

The other is more technical.  Seems like there are often problems with connecting to the sim.  Not always.  But it happens enough to be a hassle.  If MSFS booted up faster, maybe this would be tolerable.  But if you only have 90 minutes to play and you spend twenty of those minutes messing around between BATC and MSFS, the experience is not very pleasant.

So, from a layman perspective it is not a good look.

What do you mean "where your ILS is going to be"? It's where it always is in the scenery? Or do you mean the runway? Just look at the D-ATIS in the frequency tab (or aircraft MCDU)

https://discord.gg/h68GPnmM

Feel free to hop on the BeyondATC discord and ask for support. There's 50000 people on there, it's a much better place than Avsim when looking for support / feedback etc.

2 hours ago, SierraHotel BSc said:

"Sorry, I don't like it. For full disclosure, I am a casual user.  I don't fly all the time, nor do I know anything about piloting."

I'm pretty sure your opening statement also answered your question?!

This comment sums it up. You don't like a program because it functions to simulate how ATC works in real life. 

10 hours ago, goofeyfoot said:

Sorry, I don't like it. For full disclosure, I am a casual user.  I don't fly all the time, nor do I know anything about piloting.

Personally, I blame BATC for the extinction of the dinosaurs, the fall of Rome, and the invention of the term "influencer." 

 

5 hours ago, Mike T said:

Personally, I blame BATC for the extinction of the dinosaurs, the fall of Rome, and the invention of the term "influencer." 

 

And the Oil prices...

18 hours ago, Georgleboui said:

...., look at the wind direction or listen to ATIS. Basically, try and plan for all options - that's part of the fun of it.

You can verbally ask BeY-ATC what the weather is at destination, and/or what is the active landing runway at destination

(I have the supporter's edition)

Edited March 28Mar 28 by John-Allen

12 hours ago, John-Allen said:

You can verbally ask BeY-ATC what the weather is at destination, and/or what is the active landing runway at destination

(I have the supporter's edition)

Hi John, BATC will not give you the arrival airport for the obvious reason i.e. whether/wind change at the arrival airport unless you are almost at TOD, however if you open the "windy" website, the latest version shows you "which way the wind blows" (see what I did there 🙃)>>> https://www.windy.com/airport/EGSS?51.881,0.223,8

Edited March 29Mar 29 by SierraHotel BSc