RW Tower Closures

[Adam Wolken]

Just wondered why/if this isn't simulated:

Came across this scenario today. Was flying my Baron IFR from LAX-APC and upon arrival into Napa noticed that the tower should be closed and I was all set to be handed off to the CTAF frequency as in real life. To my surprise the field was treated as open (that is..towered) and I completed the flight like normal. I asked the controller why we don't simulate tower closures and he explained a little bit but I just wanted more of an in-depth explanation as to why that is? Otherwise was a very enjoyable flight and I loved every second of it!

[Peter Grey]

Hello,

I was the controller working you tonight. The simple answer is that based on our technical equipment and goals we are working towards here it's currently a bit beyond us. Los Angeles has 39 towers and Oakland has 23 towers, each of which have different operating hours (varying from 24/7, to 18/7 and so on). These towers close at 7 different times during the day (ranging from 1700-2245) while PE is operating.

While it would be possible to simulate these closures it would require modification on the server (we hear every tower frequency all the time, we have no way to isolate one) to filter out certain frequencies at certain times. Considering our goals regarding ATC interaction (a very large majority of our flights are between towered airports, we imagine to get the most live controller time possible in a flight) we don't consider simulating these closures as a high priority. Honestly your the first person to bring this up to us since we've started operating the network.

Hopefully this answers your question.

[Tim Krajcar]

Another advantage of this practice is that for users like myself that generally fly in evenings, my towered options are not limited just because I can't fly until after my daughter is in bed.

If you want to do an arrival at a CTAF field, it's straightforward enough to plan for that sort of a flight