File | Date | Author | Commit |
---|---|---|---|
gui | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
images | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
Changelog.txt | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
LICENSE.md | 2020-02-16 |
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[4e53b1] 1.0.0 Beta 3 |
README.md | 2021-05-07 |
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[179919] Version 2.3.0 |
addon-config.xml | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
addon-main.nas | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
addon-menubar-items.xml | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
addon-metadata.xml | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
festival.xml | 2021-03-06 |
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[44bf66] Version 2.2.0 |
globals.nas | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
rgatc.nas | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
settings.nas | 2021-05-07 |
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[212d6e] Version 2.3.0 |
You can download the latest "ready to install" package from the sourceforge repository.
.zip
or .tar.gz
dependingzip
or tar
) or utility in a convenient placeRedGriffinATC
containing the addonfgfs
including --addon=<your_local_path>/RedGriffinATC
option in the command lineRed Griffin ATC can be operated both with the mouse and the keyboard. You will
find a new item "Red Griffin ATC" in FlightGear's menu from which you can open
and close the main dialog window as well as get help about keyboard commands and
information about the addon. You can open or close the main dialog window by
pressing the <\> key (backslash). You can also show the "pop-up dialog" by
pressing <ctrl+\> key sequence (control + backslash).
Red Griffin ATC can be operated with the mouse through its main dialog window in
which are shown information about the current flight, radios, approaching and
landing instructions.
The dialog is divided in three main areas:
Top area: information about the current airport, altitude, speed,
approaching and landing instruction, current CTR, radio station in use
Middle area: Requests to the ATC, Radio list
Bottom area: CTR requests, Flight level requests, Abort requests, Radio
list, Dialog close
The top area of the dialog is divided in three sub areas: white (top), blue
(middle), yellow (bottom).
The white area changes according the flight status. During ground operations
and when the aircraft is flying over an airport area, in this part are shown
airport information, aircraft speed and altitude according to the status of the
flight.
During the flight and in case the aircraft is not flying over an airport, in
this part are shown flight information such as altitude, AGL, heading and speed.
When the aircraft is approaching an airport for landing (both visual and ILS) in
this area are shown the course and distance to both the pattern point and final
point (see picture above) as well as the landing runway.
When the aircraft is on the final course to landing, here are shown the
approaching runway, distance to the runway, AGL and a "correction bar". This bar
shows the correction in relation to the center of the runway: the shorter the
more the aircraft is near the runway horizontal path. For example, a bar like
this one [===>] means the aircraft should heavily correct the course to the
right, while a bar like [=>] means the aircraft need to slightly turn to right
in order to be in the correct path, [ok] means the aircraft is aligned to the
center of the runway. In case the correction needs a left turn, the bar is shown
as [<===] or [<=].
The blue area is reserved to CTR information (Controlled Traffic Region)
such as name of the airport controlling the CTR, controlled area range in
nautical miles, distance and course to the center of CTR, frequency of the
corresponding radio. In this area is also reported the aircraft status in
relation to the CTR: "inside", "approved" or "flying to". "Inside" means the
aircraft is flying inside the CTR but has not been approved by the ATC;
"approved" means the aircraft is flying inside the CTR and has been granted
transition permission by the ATC; "flying to" means the aircraft is outside the
CTR but it is flying towards the controlled area.
The yellow area is reserved to the radio information and status, such as COM
radio in use, radio station name and type, frequency, distance and course to the
station, readability quality from 1 to 5.
The middle area is divided in two parts. In the left side are found the
operational buttons with the requests to be transmitted to the ATC, in the right
side is found the list of the available radios provided and operated by the
currently tuned airport.
The left side provides a maximum of four buttons, each corresponding to a
specific request and depending on the aircraft position and status. In the top
part can also be found a "R" button (Repeat) to be used for requesting the ATC
to repeat the last message.
The right side is used to tune and select a specific radio from the ones
currently available and operated by the tuned airport. Each entry is actually a
button to be used for tuning the COM in use to the corresponding radio station.
The bottom area of the dialog is reserved to CTR, flight level requests, abort
operation, radio list and dialog closing. The Leftmost button is used to request
the CTR transition to the ATC, while the three buttons in the center are used
for requesting a new flight level to the ATC. During the approach, ILS and
landing operations, these three buttons are replaced by the "abort" button used
to cancel the current operation. The "radio" button shows a list of the radio
stations available in the current airport, while the "close" button dismiss the
dialog. The dialog can be reopened by pressing the backslash key or by using the
menu.
Red Griffin ATC can be configured by using the settings dialog in which it is
possible to set how the ATC will provide information to the pilot as well as how
the pilot will interact with the ATC.
To open the settings dialog select the corresponding function in "Red Griffin ATC"
menu.
The changes done in the settings dialog are immediate and are effective as soon
as the dialog is closed. The settings dialog allows to change the following
options and therefore affecting the operational mode of the Red Griffin ATC
addon:
Dialog Position (possible values: Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left,
Bottom Right) - Sets the initial position of the main dialog relative to the
screen or window.
ATC text position (possible values: Top Left, Top Center, Top Right,
Middle Left, Middle Center, Middle Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Center, Bottom Right)
Sets the position of the ATC messages relative to the screen.
ATC text transparency (possible values: Off, Very low, Low, Medium, High,
Very high) - Sets the transparency of ATC messages in the screen.
Call sign - Pilot call sign or aircraft registration code. It defaults to
/sim/multiplay/callsign
property. This value is copied both to
/sim/multiplay/callsign
and /sim/user/callsign
properties.
Call sign usage (possible values: Complete, Last three letters, First and
last two letters) - Defines how the ATC will use the pilot's call sign in all
communications. Please note whenever a radio is tuned for the first time, the
pilot will always provide the call sign in complete form in the very first
contact to the radio station.
Include manufacturer (possible values: Yes, No) - Defines whether the
name of the aircraft manufacturer is to be used during the communication with
the ATC.
QNH reported in (possible values: hPa, inHg, hPa and inHg) - Sets the
unit of measure used by the ATC to report the QNH value (atmospheric pressure)
to the pilot for the proper altimeter setting: hectopascal (hPa), inches of
mercury (inHg) or both.
Aircraft type (possible values: Auto, Small single engine, Small multi
engine, Executive turboprop/jet, Business jet, Airline jet, Large/military jet,
Special military) - Defines the rules and settings used by the ATC and
according to the aircraft type. In particular, it changes the parameters used in
the assisted approach procedure - such as altitude, distance and speed - initial
altitude after take off and cruising altitude. When set to "Auto" Red Griffin
ATC will try to automatically detect the aircraft type according to the values
set in /sim/tags
. In case it was not possible to detect the
aircraft types, including the case the aircraft in use has no tags defined, Red
Griffin ATC will warn the user to properly choose the aircraft type. In case the
user does not set an aircraft type, Red Griffin ATC will consider the aircraft
as a "Small single engine" and set operational parameters accordingly. The
currently selected aircraft type is always shown in the main dialog's title bar.
Squawking (possible values: On, Off) - Enable or disable ATC squawking.
When on, the ATC will require the pilot to properly set the aircraft's
transponder as well as operating it according to the ATC requests.
Open dialog at startup (possible values: On, Off) - Enable or disable the
opening of Red Griffin ATC dialog at FlightGear startup.
Pilot request (possible values: Disabled, Voice only, Text only, Voice
and text) - Defines how the pilot requests to the ATC are to be shown, spoken
or disabled. Text modes will show a pop-up message with the pilot request to be
transmitted to the ATC, Voice modes will activate the speech synthesis for the
requests by using /sim/sound/voices/pilot
property and will
therefore use the voice assigned by FlightGear for that specific purpose.
Pilot response (possible values: Disabled, Voice only, Text only, Voice
and text) - Same as "Pilot request" but referring to the confirmation responses
and message used by the pilot to acknowledge the ATC operations and
instructions.
ATC message (possible values: Voice only, Text only, Voice and text) -
Defines how the ATC messages to the pilot are to be shown or spoken. Text modes
will show a pop-up message with the ATC message, Voice modes will activate the
speech synthesis for the messages by using /sim/sound/voices/atc
,
/sim/sound/voices/approach
and
/sim/sound/voices/ground
properties according to the radio station
type and will therefore use the voice assigned by FlightGear for that specific
purpose.
ATC radio (possible values: Auto, COM1, COM2, COM3) - Select the COM
radio to be used for ATC communications. In case it is set to "Auto", the first
radio tuned to a valid ATC frequency will be used.
Too low warning (possible values: On, Off) - Enable or disable ATC
warning in case the aircraft is flying too low.
Terrain warning (possible values: On, Off) - Enable or disable ATC
warning in case the aircraft is flying towards terrain, such as a mountain or
hill.
Multiplayer chat (possible values: Off, Important messages only, All
messages) - Define how ATC messages should be broadcast to the multiplayer chat
in order to let other know about the traffic in your current airport. When set
to "Important messages only", only relevant traffic information will be sent to
the multiplayer chat, such as taxing, take off and landing.
Approach slope angle (possible values: from 2 to 8) - Approach slope
angle in degrees for the final leg to the destination runway. Default: 3
degrees.
Reset button - Resets all the setting options to their default value.
Close button - Close the settings dialog and permanently save the options
to the file $FG_HOME/Export/RedGriffinATC-config.xml
Red Griffin ATC logs every message sent and received to or from any radio tuned
during the flight session. The ATC Log can be opened by selecting "ATC Log" from
the menu. The messages can be scrolled with the mouse wheel or by grabbing the
"scroll bar" to the right of the window.
The log window has two buttons and corresponding to the following actions:
Clear - Clears all the messages contained in the log
Close - Close the log window
Red Griffin ATC provides support for the below aircraft types. Each of them uses
specific operational values and used by Red Griffin ATC in determining the
procedures of approach and landing, such as minimum cruise altitude, speed,
approach and pattern distance. For each aircraft type are used the below values:
Red Griffin ATC radio support and use rely on FlightGear properties and, for this
reason, it is essential for the aircraft to provide a functional implementation of
both the radio stack and transponder. Red Griffin ATC has been extensively tested
with tens of aircraft and, according to these tests, not all aircraft seem to
provide a complete implementation of COM radios and transponder. In this particular
case, those aircraft will not work because of lack of fundamental properties needed
by Red Griffin ATC. As of version 2.3.0, Red Griffin ATC uses and relies on the
following radio properties for each COM radio:
/instrumentation/comm[x]/serviceable
/instrumentation/comm[x]/signal-quality-norm
/instrumentation/comm[x]/volume
/instrumentation/comm[x]/volume-selected
/instrumentation/comm[x]/power-btn
/instrumentation/comm[x]/airport-id
/instrumentation/comm[x]/station-name
/instrumentation/comm[x]/frequencies/selected-mhz
/instrumentation/comm[x]/track-distance-m
/instrumentation/comm[x]/true-bearing-to-deg
Moreover, in order to be fully compatible with Red Griffin ATC, the aircraft must also
provide operative support for its transponders, in particular, the below properties need
to be properly defined and usable:
/instrumentation/transponder[x]/serviceable
/instrumentation/transponder[x]/operable
/instrumentation/transponder[x]/inputs/knob-mode
/instrumentation/transponder[x]/id-code
/instrumentation/transponder[x]/ident
In case the aircraft does not provide some of the above properties, Red Griffin
ATC will show a warning message in the main dialog and any radio operation will
not be possible. In this specific case, you can contact the aircraft developer
and ask for a revision of the radio implementation in order to comply to the
above properties.
Please note Red Griffin ATC reads and uses the above properties "as they are"
and relies on their data. If you notice some incongruence in data shown both in
the radio stack or Red Griffin ATC dialog window or popup, it is probably
because of improper data written by the aircraft in FlightGear properties.
A list of the aircraft tested with Red Griffin ATC can be found
here. The
list is continuously updated and tries to provide both a reliable and up-to-date
source of compatible and incompatible aircraft. You are invited to browse this
list and check aircraft compatibility in case you see or experience a wrong or
unexpected behavior in Red Griffin ATC.
Red Griffin ATC provides a simple Controlled Traffic Region (CTR) management
however effective and enough for normal flight simulation. CTR range is
determined according to the the supposed size of the airport controlling it.
Airport size is arbitrarily determined by the number of radio stations operating
in the airport. The greater the number of radio stations, the bigger the
supposed airport size and according to this schema:
CTR range is therefore determined according to this schema:
Red Griffin ATC can guide the pilot to the proper route up to the final leg to
the runway. In order to work properly, the assisted approach and landing
procedure requires the pilot to provide the right operational settings, in
particular aircraft type and approach slope angle. It is also very important to
set the altimeter according to the QNH provided by the ATC in order to follow a
reliable and consistent altitude.
As for approach slope angle, Red Griffin ATC uses 3 degree as a default value,
however this can be changed in the settings dialog. The pilot is therefore
required to properly set the approach slope angle before initiating the assisted
approaching procedure and according to the destination airport and runway. The
correct approach slope angle is usually reported in airport charts and each
airport usually has its own angle setting.
Before initiating the assisted approach procedure (or before taking off) it is
advised to follow this very minimal checklist:
When the aircraft is about to land, while it is flying the final leg to runway
and within 5 nautical miles from the runway landing area, Red Griffin ATC gives
the pilot both the distance to the touch down point as well as an "approach and
slope monitor" in order to assist the pilot in following the right course and
glide path to landing.
Course correction is represented by a "bar" showing the direction in which the
aircraft should turn in order to align to the center of runway. Specifically,
when the monitor shows "<===" means the pilot should turn to the left, whereas
in case it shows "===>" it is needed a turn to the right. The longer the bar,
the farther the distance from the center of glide path.
The monitor also provides information about the correction in altitude in order
to follow the proper glide path to the landing area of runway. In case the
monitor shows a "v" it means the aircraft is flying too high and the pilot must
descend, whereas in case it shows a "^", the aircraft is flying too low and the
pilot must climb.
In case the aircraft is perfectly aligned and following the proper glide path,
the monitor will show "ok".
Red Griffin ATC can take advantage of the superior voice quality offered by the
Festival Speech Synthesis System
through FlightGear direct support for Festival running in server mode. In order
to use the Festival Speech Synthesis System, you need to have a properly
installed and working Festival system in your machine as well as having at least
FlightGear version 2020.3.6. Prior to this version, FlightGear cannot properly
support and initialize the Festival Speech Synthesis System and will therefore
fall back to the internal default speech synthesizer.
The Festival Speech Synthesis System running in server mode allows up to ten
simultaneous connections, therefore it can provide up to ten different voices.
Red Griffin ATC takes advantage of this feature and can provide a fuller and
deeper experience by using those ten different voices and by assigning them to
each specific radio. The available voices are assigned at random from the whole
pool of voices available and properly configured through FlightGear COMM
properties. This will give the sensation of speaking to different operators
during the whole flight session. Red Griffin ATC associates a specific voice to
any specific radio frequency and the association is kept for the whole duration
of the flight. This means you are going to hear the very same voice in case you
are tuning back to a radio frequency already used in the current flight session.
Please note pilot voice is associated to a specific voice and exclusively used
for that purpose. This means the pilot voice will never be used for radio
operators.
Festival Speech Synthesis System support in Red Griffin ATC is implemented
through FlightGear internal properties, in particular those related to sound and
voice support, found in the /sim/sound/voices
tree.
Voices can be defined and set up by using a configuration XML
file
describing each FlightGear voice according to the internal structure of the
property tree. Here it is how a voice should be configured in order to support
the Festival Speech Synthesis System:
<voice>
<desc>Pilot</desc>
<text type="string"/>
<volume type="double">1.0</volume>
<pitch type="double">100.0</pitch>
<speed type="double">0.8</speed>
<preamble type="string">(voice_cmu_us_rms_cg) (audio_mode 'async)</preamble>
<festival type="bool">true</festival>
<htsvoice type="string">cstr_uk_female-1.0.htsvoice</htsvoice>
</voice>
In order to be used in Festival, a voice needs the <festival>
and <preamble>
properties to be properly initialized.
Specifically, <festival>
property must be true
(that is, enabled) while <preamble>
property must contain
valid Festival scheme
commands to be sent to the server at
initialization time. The <preamble>
property must at least
contain the scheme
command selector for the specific Festival voice
to be associated to a FlightGear voice.
In this regard, it is strongly advised to set Festival in asynchronous audio
mode by adding the scheme
command (audio_mode 'async)
to the <preamble>
property. In this case, Red Griffin ATC
will interact with Festival in a way that will provide a quicker response and by
actually creating utterances while speaking, therefore getting a better
synchronization with ATC texts shown in the screen.
In case (audio_mode 'async)
is not used, Red Griffin ATC
interaction with Festival server will result with an "out of sync" speaking in
relation to the text shown in the screen.
Voices can also be "fine tuned" by properly setting <volume>
,
<pitch>
and <<speed> properties.
The property <desc>
can optionally describe the defined voice
and, in particular, the voice to be used for the pilot. In this specific case,
<desc>
property must be assigned to "Pilot", like the sample
shown above. In case no voice is assigned to the pilot, Red Griffin ATC will use
the value found in /sim/sound/voices/pilot
.
Red Griffin ATC is distributed with a sample configuration file defining ten
different Festival voices and can be used "out of the box" or used as a template
in case it is wished a different voice scheme or configuration. The sample
configuration file is found at
<your_local_path>/RedGriffinATC/festival.xml
. The
festival.xml
is configured in order to use some Festival default
voices as well as some of those available at
[http://festvox.org/packed/festival/2.4/voices Festvox website]. In order to use
the configuration file provided with Red Griffin ATC, you need to properly
install the Festival voices defined in festival.xml
and available
at the Festvox website.
In order to run Festival, you need it to be properly installed and working in
your system. Festival can be compiled and installed from the source distribution
or by using the binary package available for your system.
To start Festival in server mode, you need to open a shell or console window and
type:
festival --server
The Festival Speech Synthesis System will then listen to port 1314 waiting for
incoming requests and will accept up to ten simultaneous clients.
In order to have FlightGear using the configuration file as described above, you
need to use the --config
option.
In case you are going to start FlightGear from the command line, you need to
append the --config
option and the path of festival configuration
file:
fgfs [your_options] --config=<your_local_path>/RedGriffinATC/festival.xml
In case you are using FlightGear launcher, you need to add
--config=<your_local_path>/RedGriffinATC/festival.xml
in the
"Additional Settings" box found in the "Settings" tab.
For a quick preview and sample sessions of Red Griffin ATC, you can watch these videos:
Initial operations and setup
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=110]]
Take-off
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=313]]
Terrain alert
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=513]]
Flight information
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=660]]
Altitude check
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=708]]
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1470]]
Leaving and entering CTR
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=848]]
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1905]]
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2105]]
CTR assigning a new altitude
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=957]]
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1945]]
Flight level change
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1023]]
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1190]]
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1505]]
Flying over an airport area
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=1278]]
Request ILS procedure
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2380]]
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2460]]
Abort ILS procedure
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2450]]
ILS established
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2865]]
Request visual approach
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2950]]
Reaching pattern point
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=3210]]
Reaching final approach point
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=3305]]
Landing
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=3413]]
Abort landing
[[embed url=https://youtu.be/ZOxDTGj9UnQ?t=2910]]
Assisted Visual Approach and Landing
ILS Landing
Operating the ATC with Keyboard Only
Procedure Control, Warning and Approach Routes
Altitude, Terrain Control, Flight Level Change
Red Griffin ATC Using Festival Speech Synthesis System
Special thanks to the FlightGear community for the valuable help and for providing
very useful information about ATC phraseology, procedures and communication, in
particular to those participating to Red Griffin ATC
thread in FlightGear forum
Red Griffin ATC has been developed and written by Antonello Biancalana (Red
Griffin, IK0TOJ) in Nasal language and it has been tested in FlightGear
2019.1.1, 2019.1.2, 2020.3.x and 2020.4.0 git, specifically in my Fedora Linux
FC34. I understand there can be bugs or the ATC procedures may be formally
incorrect. On this regard, any feedback, suggestion, criticism and hint on how
to improve this addon are warmly welcome. You are kindly invited to contribute
with your ideas and feedback by posting in the forum thread.
I am not a pilot and I do not have a plane pilot license, I have never been in a
real aircraft's cabin and all the times I have been in a real airplane I did it
as a passenger. All of my "plane pilot" experience is only as a "virtual and
simulated pilot", a hobby I started in 1982 and the very first flight simulator
I used was subLOGIC's FS1 Flight Simulator by Bruce Artwick running on an Apple
II.
It was not my computer though as at that time I owned a Commodore VIC20 and,
alas, the only "flight simulators" available for it were Ron Wanttaja's IFR
Flight Simulator and Anirog's Flight Path 737. The big step forward was Flight
Simulator II for Commodore 64 in 1984 and featuring a Piper PA-28-181 Archer II.
The giant step forward was in 1987 when it was released the Commodore Amiga
version (one of the most amazing and very best, revolutionary, exceptional
computer of all times) which featured three aircraft: Cessna 182RG, Gates
Learjet 25G and Sopwith Camel.
I therefore have no real ATC procedures experience and what I know about this
subject is from what I read in specialized books about ATC procedures and
phraseology found in various website of flight schools, airports and aero clubs.
Most of the phraseology used in Red Griffin ATC is created according to the
procedures found in these books and manuals, as well as from the many valuable
contributions from Red Griffin ATC users, both in FlightGear forum and direct
exchange of messages from amateur and professional licensed pilots. I understand
the procedures used in this addon may however result incorrect to real pilots,
either because of my lack of experience in this subject or because of improper
implementation. I am more than glad to get any feedback about ATC procedures
from experienced pilots and anyone knowing this subject in order to improve this
addon.
Red Griffin ATC is hosted in https://sourceforge.net/projects/red-griffin-atc/
Red Griffin ATC (C) 2019-2021 Antonello Biancalana, Red Griffin, IK0TOJ