New program for air traffic control simulation: ATC-pie

Hi Michael,

That’s a pretty interesting find, thanks for posting it. The *solo training mode* is what makes it appealing for folks who aren’t necessarily on the FlightGear network but still want to practice working a tower/approach position and sequencing traffic.

A couple practical questions (and this will help anyone here decide if it’ll fit their setup):

1. In solo mode, is ATC-pie generating its own “AI” traffic internally, or does it *connect to a running sim* and control/monitor whatever AI traffic the sim is running?
2. If it does connect to a sim, what’s the expected interface on the sim side (plugin, network feed, etc.)? (No worries if you don’t want to get deep—just the high-level method.)
3. How complete is the airport data out of the box—does it pull runway/taxiway/ILS data automatically from installed scenery, or do you typically have to import/build the airport layout yourself?
4. Any limitations you’ve found so far with approach types (e.g. vectors-to-final only vs. full procedure handling)?

If you’ve already tried it, I’d also be curious what airport you tested with and whether it “feels” more like a radar trainer (APP/DEP) or if the TWR piece (pattern work, departures, spacing, runway crossings) is equally strong.