London Control is an authentic and highly realistic simulation of real-world air traffic control.
Designed for the personal computer or laptop, it covers the airspace of EGTT, EGTC and EGPX, using advanced radar and flight data processing functions that are found in real-world ATC simulators.
An updated version concurrent with the latest real-world AIRAC is now available, either as a first-time purchase (with updates until the end of 2024), an update to your existing installation (with updates until the end of 2024), or as a standalone ('one time only') update.
The simulator uses current AIRAC data and real-world airspace, mirroring the sectors and procedures used in real-world ATC.
We have spent the past six months bringing the simulator up-to-date and here are details of some of the work we have done:
The biggest piece of work came with the implementation of West Airspace Deployment (WAD), which created Systemised Airspace and Free Route Airspace in the south-west of England. Airways and waypoints had to be removed, new ones were introduced, and levels had to be updated to ensure correct coordination with adjacent sectors. The expansion of DIRECT routings required an extensive testing program, and this single aspect of the update took several months to complete.
We also had to check sector boundary dimensions and coordinates as some had changed slightly, and there were waypoint changes and level band amendments for certain sector blocks.
Numerous SIDs and STARs had either changed or been removed or replaced altogether, and these had to be incorporated into the various program files and checked against sector coordination.
The call radii and menu layouts also had to be amended to ensure there was no interference with the revised sector layouts. (There are probably some that are still a little offset as we are in a phase of continuous testing and amendment.)
All of this had to be cross-checked and, where necessary, modified in the various London Control background files.
We added many new flight plans, bringing the total traffic availability to nearly twelve thousand – which includes crossing and military traffic. All of these had to be checked against the Standard Route Document and the Route Availability Document to ensure compliance, and where errors were found (there were over 4,000 when testing began!) they had to be manually corrected. This was another time-consuming process as flight plans had to be plotted along routes that sometimes terminated outside London Control geography, so waypoints had to be added and correlated with adjacent sectors to ensure correct interaction.
With the addition of new flight plans, some callsigns were not being announced and these had to be introduced manually. (We know there are still some that do this, but we are continuing to work on these to ensure that where a trigraph is associated with a callsign, the correlation is made and the sound system announces it, instead of using the phonetic alphabet.)
The sound system is the next major piece of work that we have already embarked on, and amendments (when they are ready) will be published as patch files. The sound system is proving to be as big a part of the project as West Airspace Development was, but we’ll get there.
We have kept prices for London Control in-line with what they were originally - over twenty years ago!
• The base installer and 2023 update (including AIRAC updates until the end of 2024) can be obtained for £39.95
• The 2023 update (including AIRAC updates until 31st December 2024) is £34.95, (£36.95 after 31st January).
• The 2023 update as a standalone, 'one-time-only' update, can be bought for £24.95
These are the prices after conversion from your local currency; if you are not in the UK please ADD any charges before your payment.
We accept payment by PayPal to email hq@londoncontrol.com
The new website (https://londoncontrol.com) and user forum (https://forum.londoncontrol.com) are now live, where you can register a username and password that will give you access to create and respond to posts.
Unlike the previous forum, posts will stay in the main page initially and as threads develop, we will fashion them into appropriate headings. Please feel free to post your observations, share useful tips, suggest answers to questions from other users, invite your friends, and give feedback on the latest version, from which we can continue to develop London Control. The user forum was well subscribed to previously and we hope you will continue to use it to share your experiences and keep updated with progress as we enhance the simulator.
We expect data updates will be released in conjunction with AIRAC cycles. From the feedback we have received since the update was launched on 1st January, all identified issues have been addressed and we are continuing to work on several other aspects, including enhancing the sound system.
We believe London Control is the foremost air traffic control simulator of its kind and are pleased to be able to maintain it and continue the excellent work started by Dale McLoughlin.
For further information or to obtain a copy, email hq@londoncontrol.com or visit the website.
Thank you for your continued support of London Control.
