What is Public ATC?

What is Public ATC?

Have you joined Project Flight and wondered what public ATC is? Have you seen in chat for etc "[Airport] online on ATC-4"?   Public ATC is as close to VATSIM as you can get in Roblox and the game. Instead of typing in chat to request for etc, landing or take off, you join a Public ATC server where you request like in real life. Public ATC uses Discord channel (Project Flight's own channel). You have to fix the Ro-Pro link add-on for your browser to join the correct server. Later in the text, I will explain what the Ro-Pro link does and why you need it. But you might have joined a server and wondered what are they talking about, how do I use this?

How do I use Public ATC?

To use Public ATC you need to have Discord and join their Discord server. You verify your account and follow the steps in the channel to get you started. Then you go into settings to set up your microphone from Voice activity to Push To Talk (PTT) and as well assign a button for the PTT. This will do so the microphone is not always on and everyone in the channel can hear your background sound. To get deeper into the explanation of how to use the Public ATC is simply request all the movements or steps you going to do etc, Flight plan, Push back and start-up, taxi, approach, and landing. All the airports have a frequency (Discord voice chat) that they use for the airport. Why they have that is because the airplanes contact the tower through radio frequency. For every frequency you join (Discord Voice chat) will be a different airport or Unicom. Unicome is the airspace between the airport that's not controlled by any tower. Now you wonder how to request stuff...

How to request?

Now you wonder how to request stuff, so what you say to the ATC that's online to request stuff is simply like this:

• [Callsign] request IFR clearance to [your destination].

• [Callsign] Request Pushback and start-up.

• [Callsign] Request frequency change.

• [Callsign] Request approach to runway [Runway number at the arrival airport and airport]. (You can always greet the tower if you want and if it's not too busy).

• [Callsign] is on Short/Long final on [Runway number at the arrival airport].

• [Callsign] request taxi to gate/stand.

What is the Ro-Pro link?

Now, what is the Ro-Pro link? Do you really need it? The quick answer is, Yes! You need it to join the correct server where the ATC is working. Ro-Pro link will link you to the game and a link that the ATC public in their ATIS. When you press the link it will open a tab that will make Roblox join the server you wanna join into where the ATC and other pilots are.  

What is an ATIS?

Now we have a word you don't really know. What is an ATIS? ATIS is the airport information. All information pilots need to know about the airport. For etc, Weather, active runway, air space limits, and regulations, and what information the airport is giving. You might see etc "Information Alpha". That is typical for the airport and other information is the correct information for that airport. But could also be other names as well. 

Aviation alphabet and names:

A – Alpha, B – Bravo, C – Charlie, D – Delta, E – Echo, F – Foxtrot, G – Golf, H – Hotel, I – India, J – Juliet, K – Kilo,       L – Lima, M - Mike, N – November, O – Oscar, P - Papa, Q – Quebec, R – Romeo, S – Sierra, T – Tango, U – Uniform, V – Victor,     W - Whiskey, X – X-ray, Y – Yankee, Z – Zulu. 

What are IFR and VFR:

Instrument flight rules (IFR) are one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations, the other is visual flight rules (VFR). Instrument flight rules are rules and regulations to govern flight under conditions in which flight by outside visual reference is not safe. IFR flight depends upon flying by reference to instruments in the flight deck, and navigation is accomplished by reference to electronic signals.

What is a Flight Plan?

We have now finally come to the flight plan, what is a flight plan? How do I set up a flight plan?

For new players you can do it pretty simple for the ATC, most of them like the flight plan to be simple. ATC usually posts in the ATIS what the flight plan could look like. The most simple one looks like this:

Flight plan format:

• Callsign: 

• Aircraft: 

• IFR/VFR: 

• Departure: 

• Arrival: 

• IFL: 

• FL: 

• GATE: 

• Squawk: 

So, how do you fill this format in? It's kinda simple but I will explain it to you!

• Callsign: [This is the call sign that the airplane has. Could be etc, Tomjet 4245].

• Aircraft: [What type of aircraft you use etc, A320, B737, and others].

• IFR/VFR: [Here you can choose if you wanna do an IFR or VFR flight. The most common is IFR].

• Departure: [What airport your departing from].

• Arrival: [What airport you're arriving into].

• IFL: [The initial flight level is a flight level ATC wants you to climb to before you cruising altitude].

• FL: [Flight Level is the cruising altitude].

• Gate/Stand: [Here you type where you are standing in the airport. Etc, Gate: 4].

• Squawk: [The squawk is something you get from ATC and you cannot choose this yourself].

Some of the ATCs use something called SIDs and STARs. You now wonder what is this... 

What are SID and Stars?

Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and Standard Instrument Arrivals (STARs) provide a safe and efficient way of prescribing a large amount of information through procedure design. Both depict the lateral profile of an instrument departure or arrival route and the level and speed restrictions along it. 

ATC says "BREAK BREAK"

Sometimes the ATC says "BREAK BREAK" That means that you have to be quiet because the ATC has to say something to someone else or someone else is talking when you're talking. Most of the time the ATC will contact the person who started to re-request.