In another topic, several folks mentioned using Say Intentions AI in large part because of its GA traffic injection. As a GA only pilot that peaked my interest but I reacted basically saying it was too pricey for me for GA traffic injection, given that I'd never use their ATC as (I thought) it's just not useful for the kind of flying I do. I really do try to keep an open mind about things, and after a couple of posts on the subject I got to thinking that it's been a while since I took a look. I quickly discovered that they now offer a monthly sub so I figured it was worth the US $19 to give it a shot for a month. My goal was to try it for the kind of flying I normally do - about 70/30 IFR/VFR in a variety of piston aircraft, mixed in with a couple of light turbo-props and one jet (the Phenom 300).

I started with a simple VFR flight from a smaller towered field with approach control to a non-towered field so I could see how it handles normal tower ops and VFR flight following. I included a planned transit through a Bravo to add to the mix. And... It went well. Ground and tower interactions were smooth and realistic, as was the handoff to approach, center and back through several approach controllers. I asked for and received a clearance through the Bravo, continued on and ultimately got the final - "Airport at 2 O'clock and 5 miles, radar service terminated, squawk VFR, change to advisory frequency". Very nice! And there was traffic at the field I landed at - Mena Arkansas at the edge of the Ozarks! Wow, real traffic at a small GA field. What a novel concept! 😄

Second flight was a typical (for me) IFR flight from another smaller towered field to another uncontrolled field with RNAV (GPS) approaches available. Again, a smooth experience with realistic interactions throughout. This time, however, there was a somewhat significant glitch. Flying over Oklahoma City at 4000', I expected a handoff from KC Center to OKC approach and then subsequently a handoff to Fort Worth Center. No handoff to approach and as I moved into FW Center's airspace the radio went silent. A quick call to FW got me back on track, and I submitted a bug report at the end of the flight. The rest of the flight went very well. I asked for and received one of the RNAV approaches and got descents and vectors to the final approach course which were both appropriate. I was concerned since I was flying to the final approach course at a significant angle in the opposite direction, but SI did a perfect job with the vectors. Again, the flight was a very smooth and most importantly realistic experience, minus the glitch over OKC.

So yeah - I was more favorably impressed than I expected to be. Sure, there was a glitch in my second flight, but I probably should've queried KC Center when it became obvious that something was amiss rather than wait until the radio went silent. But beyond that there were a lot of positives and the overall impression I got was one of immersion and realism. The voices are good, if not perfect, but it's still easy to forget you're talking to an AI rather than a real controller. Nothing feels particularly canned or scripted, I never had an issue with a controller not understanding my phraseology and while there are occasional small discrepancies, by and large the interactions and procedures are as they should be. Oh, and having real aircraft and traffic at small GA fields is very nice.

TLDR - Say Intentions AI is waay better for a GA pilot like me than I expected. It's not perfect, but it is pretty danged good and a lot of fun.

So, will I stay with it after my first month is up? Dunno yet. It's only been two flights and my opinion could change dramatically before the month is over, but I've enjoyed it so far. It is pricey, no doubt, but these two flights have really upped the immersion level, so... maybe it will be worth it for me.

Next up is a flight between two towered airports with SIDs and STARs, in the TBM 850. This should be right in SI's wheelhouse, so expectations are pretty high.

Scott

[Mode Humor=ON] I told you! [Mode Humor=OFF]

[Mode Humor=ON] Get ready to press the Report Button on every flight [Mode Humor=OFF]

Edited September 6Sep 6 by vbazillio

I'm really enjoying it for GA.

However I'm struggling a bit where the controller asks me mid-flight what my destination is. On startup I just ask for "VFR clearance southbound" or whatever. Then after about half an hour it wants my destination airfield (which sometimes I don't know, I'm just flying around). I give the airfield in phonetics, I give the airfield's name, multiple times. And it always says "Cleared to [insert wrong airport name]"

I also think my real world flying knowledge is lacking. In South Africa I leave the TMA, and as long as I stay below 1,500 feet I can fly wherever I like. I don't have to speak to anyone as long as I stay below 1,500 AGL and avoid controlled airspace.

If I am above 1,500 feet I have to file a flight plan, so they should know my destination airport anyway, even though I am under VFR rules. When I have my destination airfield in sight, if I am speaking to centre I advise them I have the airfield in sight, they tell me to speak to whatever the arrival airfield has in terms of radio, squawk VFR. When I land I call up centre and cancel search and rescue.

A bit confused, and also I guess there are many regional variations, in which case, cool.

Edited September 6Sep 6 by The Flight Sim Doctor

2 minutes ago, vbazillio said:

[Mode Humour=ON] I told you! [Mode Humour=OFF]

[Mode Humour=ON] Get ready to press the Report Button on every flight [Mode Humour=OFF]

🤣 Indeed, you're partly responsible for this!

And hey, at least they make reporting simple, automatically attaching flight data and all that. Makes submitting a report pretty easy!

As an aside, I decided to post this when I took a look at Say Intentions Flight Tracker https://tracker.sayintentions.ai/#list-page and saw very few GA flights. Thought there might be a few GA folks out there making the same assumptions I was.

Scott

7 minutes ago, The Flight Sim Doctor said:

A bit confused, and also I guess there are many regional variations, in which case, cool.

Indeed there are.

In the US, the concept of VFR flight following seemed to be pretty well implemented, at least based on the one VFR flight I've done, but I won't pretend I know how that would translate to other countries' rules, nor how much SI has implemented regional differences, especially as they relate to VFR flights.

Scott

18 minutes ago, The Flight Sim Doctor said:

Then after about half an hour it wants my destination airfield (which sometimes I don't know, I'm just flying around). I give the airfield in phonetics, I give the airfield's name, multiple times. And it always says "Cleared to [insert wrong airport name]

Agree. I suspect a recent update on properly identifying destination broke en whole stuff. Wasn't able to reproduce when able to open a ticket (I open a lot of tickets aiming to improve VFR GA experience). As updates happened - sometimes - several times per day, situation can improve.

20 minutes ago, The Flight Sim Doctor said:

A bit confused, and also I guess there are many regional variations, in which case, cool.

Agree also, for example I totally skip to fly in France (where I live) with Say Intentions. (French) Voices are horrible and everything looks like Flight Following which is not really the case.

17 minutes ago, tttocs said:

And hey, at least they make reporting simple, automatically attaching flight data and all that. Makes submitting a report pretty easy!

100% agree. And you don't suffer the early Alpha Beta where the only way to report was the Discord channel ;) My only challenge when creating tickets with the great UI interface is ticking or not the box "Request follow-up — open a support ticket so we can reply directly - Only check this if you need a personal response. It adds to our support team's queue." because I have known the situation where you post report and had zero feedback. But I also understand the burden to reply to customers ;)

4 minutes ago, vbazillio said:

Agree also, for example I totally skip to fly in France (where I live) with Say Intentions. (French) Voices are horrible and everything looks like Flight Following which is not really the case.

Vincent, in France with french VFR rules you may try AiTC, yet very impressive. https://aitc.aero/fr/

5 minutes ago, vbazillio said:

Agree also, for example I totally skip to fly in France (where I live) with Say Intentions. (French) Voices are horrible and everything looks like Flight Following which is not really the case.

You might want to revisit this Say Intentions recently upgraded French as well as English and German voices to V3 and the resounding feedback has been very good

1 minute ago, roland_lfor said:

Vincent, in France with french VFR rules you may try AiTC, yet very impressive. https://aitc.aero/fr/

Is SA GA traffic flying proper traffic patterns or just straight in?

15 minutes ago, kerosene31 said:

Is SA GA traffic flying proper traffic patterns or just straight in?

I have been flying VFR with SayI for a month and I have had both depending on the situation.

Both scenarios made sense. Even San Diego they have you coming in from a right pattern. That was a nice surprise

BATC has also recently implemented VFR on their experimental branch, I'd like to see how they compare once it's out on EA.

I'm not a VFR pilot, or I'd do it myself lmao.

1 hour ago, roland_lfor said:

Vincent, in France with french VFR rules you may try AiTC, yet very impressive. https://aitc.aero/fr/

I know. Did Beta test it. Just a matter of time. And also I prefer flying in US with MSFS+SI than in France that I can do in real ;)

1 hour ago, TheFalXon said:

You might want to revisit this Say Intentions recently upgraded French as well as English and German voices to V3 and the resounding feedback has been very good

Oh, believe me I did. I see barely no progress. And even the v3 of french voice - supposely talking with a French accent - is totally out of reality. They took sample from current SI french users and applied it to ATC voices. It looks like 1st grade english french student. Awfull ;)

Edited September 6Sep 6 by vbazillio

30 minutes ago, kerosene31 said:

Is SA GA traffic flying proper traffic patterns or just straight in?

There're still some glitches. Few days ago I open a ticket when pilot announce flying the published (right or left) pattern and did the opposite ;) SI has improved a lot compared to first version where it look random, right or left and the joining instructions were always non-sense (based on my real flight US experience). Nowadays, SI can't reammy get cought guilty and you can get cleared for a left base entry for example. Did I've already hear a Ai injected traffic joining the field by the downwind or base? Good question. Can't remember. What is great - as @tttocs/scott mentioned in his first message - is that AI injected traffic can do pattern work. It's a must-have feature to watch and fly with realistic GA activities.