This is thanks in large part to the release of Flight Simulator, a reboot of the classic Microsoft title that dropped last year. That worked until one founding member of fsATC, like a pilot flouting the directions of air traffic control, decided to go rogue and veered directly into turbulence that shook the whole community.Įvan Reiter, a real-life airline pilot and cofounder of the Flight Simulation Association-an organization dedicated to the growth of the flight sim community-says that the flight simulators, a relatively forgotten genre of games that seemed to be relegated to memories from the early 2000s, have been given new life in recent years. The community as a whole operated on a similar premise: As long as everyone kept the cooperative spirit, it continued to grow. When everything goes right-when air traffic controllers and pilots cooperate-planes take off and land without the slightest hint of a problem. If this sounds a little mundane, well, consider that a virtue. Success is declared when a plane safely lands at its designated destination. Air traffic controllers keep tabs on flying conditions and are tasked with clearing flight plans proposed by pilots looking to complete a journey. Instead, they fly by staying grounded in reality. Members of fsATC and others in the flight sim community would rather not have the skies littered with daredevils. Perhaps you remember entering the cockpit of a classic version of Microsoft Flight Simulator and buzzing the Eiffel Tower or landing on the Golden Gate Bridge-the type of reckless feats that become possible only within a video game. They are located thousands of miles apart, brought together by a Discord channel and a multiplayer server for Microsoft Flight Simulator, both operated by a bustling community known as fsATC, or flight simulator air traffic control.įormed in the summer of 2019, fsATC is one of a number of communities that have cropped up around flight simulators with the goal of keeping the game as realistic as possible. But the controller isn't seated at O'Hare, and neither is the pilot. In fact, air traffic control just gave a pilot word that they are clear for takeoff. The air is still, barely a hint of clouds overhead. It's a peaceful evening in the sky above O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.
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