Speedbird 217

Just don't buy it then? I don't see how "Early Access" is misleading or a "spin phrase". It literally does what it says on the tin, gives you early access to a product that may not yet be finished. There's countless, big, fat, bold warnings on the product page and when you try to pay advising you of just that. It's mind-boggling how people still claim this is a "money grab" or false advertising. I guess that's why they have to put warnings on products these days like "don't drink the bleach" or "don't put your hamster in the microwave" as clearly people have lost all common sense and ability to think and comprehend before doing and saying things... I've been using it since it came out and out of 70 flights with it I maybe had 4 with issues. I've had more trouble with some "finished" products than with this one. Most were at the beginning when the TOD logic was bad (never had an issue with that in the last few weeks following all the patches that have already come out) and recently had some vectoring issues where it tried to vector me far too close to the runway threshold. Otherwise it's been very impressive indeed, especially considering that it's still "Early Access".

I didn't do anything differently. I've had a handful of 09R departures ex EGLL before with BATC and it always gave me taxi via Alpha, N11 (which is the end of the runway). Last night I got Alpha, N8 and no issue requesting clearance from N8. Scenery has not changed and I departed from T5A as usual, so nothing different.

Was just given my first intersection take off at EGLL (N8 for 09R) - nice to see this being implemented! Not sure if this is a new feature but haven't had this before in over a dozen or so flights.

It’s the aircraft. On their Discord people say autotune doesn’t work with the CRJ for some reason. Maybe Aerosoft need to update something (wouldn’t hold my breath) or BATC might find a workaround…

They do change. I actually prefer the basic co-pilot voice over the premium (UK Male). The Premium one just sounds annoyed and like he can't be bothered...

Maybe it doesn't have anything to offer to YOU. It's very clearly early access, so of course it's not finished. To measure it to that standard makes zero sense. I've tried many ATC products since FS9 days and have never seen anything close to it. The immersion is next level, and that is considering it's "half baked" as you call it. I've done about 20 flights with it so far and couldn't live without it anymore. Before that I tried pretty much all ATC addons that are out there and every single one had things it did well and others it didn't. On balance - I love it so far. That's my opinion, but to make a general statement to say "it has nothing to offer" is not adding any value.

Another update - quite impressive to keep seeing daily patches: **Minor Update 1.0.27.EA** - Fixed a couple bugs with the program getting stuck on "Submitting Response" or "Generating Speech." - QoL tweaks to the store page. - Frequencies ending in 0.005 now work correctly across all comms types. - Active runway setup has been tweaked to allow stronger crosswind components inline with real world ops. - When an airport does not have a custom ops file, only use Simbrief arrival runway as a guide in very low wind / variable wind scenarios. - Which active runway is selected has been optimized further to best first the aircraft type in use.

Sounds like it's already come some way since you exited the beta then?

Great to see another update - it's coming along nicely and my last few flights the descent clearances have worked perfectly each time.

Pleased to report that the latest update (1.0.21.EA) seems to have improved things significantly regarding descent clearances. Just flew into EGLL and was correctly cleared along the STAR to the correct altitudes before indirectly being cleared to the FAF altitude when getting ILS clearance. First time this has happened to me after 8 flights, previously it was always just the first STAR altitude and then nothing until much, much later. Hopefully not just a one off, but this was the first flight gate to gate without any issues.

I have the option to just call for startup without push in BATC.

Another flight from EGPF to EGLL, everything worked very well until halfway through the STAR. Again, issues with altitude clearances. There's a long thread on their Discord where people post issues with TOD and alt clearances - it's obvious this is a global issue, so hopefully it'll get fixed ASAP. In the meantime, I find descending along the published STAR altitudes even without BATC clearance doesn't do any harm and at least it doesn't trip up BATC - it just sort of rejoins you later in the process when you're actually on profile and it finally decides to clear you for a lower altitude. Not ideal but I'm sure it'll get fixed. Another tip some might find useful - I have assigned a shortcut to "Toggle Bring to Front". Pressing once opens the BATC window over MSFS, pressing again makes it disappear and refocuses on MSFS. Saves Alt-Tabbing or Windows keying and is a neat solution until they hopefully add an in-sim panel or web-version of BATC that can be run on an iPad.

Fire button selects option 1 from the interaction menu - so for example "Request Startup & Pushback" after getting clearance. It's a neat way to interact with the menu when not using voice but the FO control instead. The PTT seems to be broken for a lot of people following the latest update. It's already being worked on for a hotfix.

Great to see another patch already. If anyone gets a chance to test whether "TOD calculations" addresses the descent clearance issues that would be great. I have done 5 flights with BATC so far and I'd say it was about 50/50 whether descent planning was totally off or just a little off - i.e. too high. That's my biggest gripe so far. Had one approach into LOWW where it got the altitude restrictions spot on and cleared me in line with the transition (though no shortcuts sadly despite it being a long winded one). At EGLL it seems to be okay-ish in terms of alt clearance but still constantly too high, i.e. passing the stacks at 15+k ft vs the published 7k ft, which causes trouble down the line, and not updating clearances in line with published STAR altitudes. On my flight to EGPF last night it vectored me perfectly for the approach but again too high on profile and I started to ignore the alt clearances to have a fighting chance of actually catching the glideslope at the end. Great to see a toggle for the accents too. I think some voices are fantastic and others sound like straight out of a cartoon. EGLL to LOWW was incredibly immersive, listening to different Dutch, German, Czech and Austrian accents (all pretty good!) along the way. But then flying up to EGPF I had EGCC Centre manned by Austin Powers' Goldmember again, there's definitely something wrong with the accents for Manchester ATC. Glasgow approach sounded pretty good - although far too easy to understand considering it should have been a thick Glaswegian accent...

Done 2 flights with it so far, EGLL to EGPD and back, and I'm very impressed after previously using ProATC in P3D, giving up on default ATC a while ago and having returned FSHud for a refund last year as I found it awful. BATC is very clearly "Early Access" but I think it has tremendous potential as long as it keeps getting developed and the roadmap is going to be delivered. It already had 2 patches in 24 hours, so that's promising. Here are my observations after 2 flights. The Good All my departures and climbs have been perfect. Taxi instructions were good on both from gate to runway. Love the Simbrief integration. EGPD doesn't have a SID and I got vectored perfectly from RWY 34 to my first waypoint. I used auto-respond (FO control) on one flight and PTT on the other. Both modes worked very well, BATC had no trouble understanding me at all. The voices can be very impressive. I'm using the basic voice model and some of those are excellent. Everything installed without issue, setup was easy and I like the auto-update function for patches. The Bad Disclaimer - I know it's early access and I am not in any way complaining about there being bugs, just pointing out what I came across which impacted my experience negatively. Descent planning and approach need a lot more work. On the first flight I advised I was ready for descent, got cleared to FL300 and was kept there for 10 minutes before getting further clearance. I ended up way too high and had to work hard to manage my energy and altitude to get back on track. Vectors into EGPD (no STAR) - BATC somehow sent me in a "turn left" 360 loop that took me to the FAF when they could have just given me a minor heading change to the right to end up in the same place. EGLL arrival on the second flight was a little better with the altitude planning but still had to use speedbrakes to get back on track as was too high (much less so than the EGPD arrival). Would have been nice to get vectored by BATC instead of just following the BNN transition 1:1 but that's hopefully coming. After landing on 09L I was instructed to exit via A9W. When I requested taxi to gate I was told to "taxi via A9W to 515". No other taxiway instructions were given. I don't believe that's a scenery limitation as it was able to give me taxi instructions for departure from EGLL. I was also only able to select 2 stands from the menu...would be great if there was a way to get more or maybe one day it could link up with GSX to get the selected gate from there? Voices - as good as some of them are, there are some really indecipherable ones too. Keeping in mind that this was a domestic flight, all of Manchester Centre was manned by Dutch people on both flights and half of London...I honestly don't know what language that was, but it wasn't English. Sounded a bit like Borat speaking through a blanket...awful. This really needs work as some of the accents are way overdone and nigh impossible to understand. I also wouldn't expect to hear so many non-UK accents on a domestic flight in UK airspace. The interface is functional but having to go to a separate window outside the sim to interact is killing the immersion. Either integrate it into the Sim or offer a remote option for the interface that can be opened on an iPad - like the Fenix MCDU/EFB. No documentation at all - again it's early access, but some sort of manual would be nice rather than just pointing to a YouTube tutorial. Overall I'm happy with it and can't wait to see bugs fixed and features added. AI traffic will be great down the line. I'll keep using it and work my way around the bugs as they will hopefully get fixed.