No doubt many folks would love to fly above the clouds from Pittsburgh International to Morgantown, West Virginia--home of the 11-0 Bowl bound West Virginia Mountaineers! (Go Ers!)
I worked very hard to make this controller as accurate as possible. I had numerous conversations with professional pilots and air traffic controllers. I hope you enjoy it.
The controller simulates a Crown (USAir) commuter flight from Pittsburgh International to Hart Field in Morgantown. The air route follows the actual route flown by the commuters (weather permitting) several times a day, seven days a week. The aircraft usually used is a Shorts 330, but with full out throttle the Cessna 182 can come close to emulating the Shorts.
Getting started
To use this controller you need three things:
1. Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0 (Mac version)
2. FS-ATC 2.1 Air Traffic Control software for Microsoft Flight Simulator Macintosh version 4.0 (Available on several on line services and Nautilus CDRom.)
3. Mallard Scenery files, SD-11 World Scenery and SD-9 World Scenery.
To start, open either the Pittsburgh @ Gate or Pittsburgh Soup situations from Microsoft Flight Simulator. Then open the SD-11 World Scenery sector. Tune Pittsburgh Clearance Delivery on the Com radio on126.75. They will be the first folks you contact. The controller will take it from there.
Usually, whenever the controller talks to you, you are expected to respond. If you don’t the controller will get out of sequence.
The controller will automatically change scenery sectors. It is neat feature of FS-ATC 2.1.
Some Caveats
The PIT-MGW controller is designed to use Apple’s Speech Manager. It will not work quite as well with sound resources or text.
In real life, Morgantown (MGW) is in one sector (Cincinnati) and Pittsburgh (PIT) is in another (Detroit). Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0 picked this up and requires two scenery files. You will need two Mallard Scenery files: SD-11 World Scenery and SD-9 World Scenery. Unfortunately, Mallard didn't do a very good job matching MGW (SD-9) and PIT (SD-11). If you are flying on course in VFR conditions you’ll see a shift in the road below (I-79) when the scenery files change. (“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain...”)
Flying the PIT-MGW controller is much better with cloud levels set. I created a situation called "Pittsburgh Soup" with cloud bases at 2,700 AGL to 5,000 feet AGL tops overcast and an upper level 1/3 scattered at 10,000 feet AGL. Now when the controller changes from SD-11 to SD-9 the shifting of I-79 isn't seen. Not only does this add to the realism, it also makes flying the controller much more challenging! See how you do flying through that soup!
As you approach Morgantown, the VOR indicator will take over. It will show if you are on the glide slope, too high, too low, etc. The VOR in FS-ATC 2.1 is a little buggy. Look for improved operation in future versions of FS-ATC.
This controller is freeware, but not in the public domain. It may be copied and passed along to others as long as the controller is unmodified and this read me file is included.
The author assumes no responsibility for much of anything!
Thanks and Kudos
Thanks to Miika Asunta, Robert Dorsett and Pat Camp for their valuable assistance. These gentlemen understanding flying and air traffic control very well. Special thanks to Miika Asunta, author of FS-ATC 2.1, for making Flight Simulator 4.0 fun again!
