Hey guys! I saw discussion about this topic some time ago, and it is totally impossible to control London Heathrow. I have tried sequencing up to number 10, changing runways, miscellaneous messages when not cleared to enter… what is the point of playing on a server with ATC, if no one is following instructions?
Among all the chaos, I have to thank two users: “Abhishek_Kumar2” under the callsign “Qantas 2610” and “puls3” under the callsign “American 26”. Both grade 2 players, and both complying all the time with ATC instructions. I have made them go around twice due to runway incursions, requested 360 a couple of times because of other traffic continuing inbound without clearance… It has been great to be able to actually manage and control some traffic, and I would like to thank both users. In the end, I instructed them to join the downwind for the opposite runway and both could land as realistic as possible.
But after today, in training server, pilot deviation does not exist and most of the people just choose the closest gate to the runway for take off and that’s it, and the ATC role is not worth it at all.
This is actually a very common challenge on the training server. Controllers are going to run into this often. Most of the time, it is not because pilots are intentionally ignoring ATC instructions—they simply do not know what is being asked of them yet.
When I first started on the training server, I remember wondering why ATC kept vectoring me. It was not until I reached the Expert Server and eventually joined IFATC that I fully understood the reasoning behind it.
That is really the purpose of the training server. It is designed to be a low-stress learning environment for both pilots and controllers, with level 1 violations acting as a teaching tool. You can almost think of it as a progression:
Casual Server — no restrictions
Training Server — system-issued violations
Expert Server — controller-issued violations
If you are serious about controlling and want a better long-term ATC experience, I highly recommend working toward IFATC.
If you are still building experience or working toward the requirements, I would also recommend avoiding major hubs like KLAX, KJFK, or EGLL. Those airports attract the highest traffic and often the widest range of pilot experience. Quieter airports usually provide a much better learning environment.
Yes, you are right. Some people might not know, but having one airplane after another, taxiing into the runway and taking out without clearance… I have instructed most of them the command “not cleared to enter the runway, please exit” and “wait for clearance before take off”, and no one has reacted. It is sad for people who are towards grade 3, to have to deal with some players.
In this session, there were also several players with military aircraft just doing 360s on the runway. A bit of a nightmare of a session…
Yeah, that kind of behavior can definitely make the experience more frustrating for others. Hopefully controlling smaller airports outside the most popular three will lead to a better overall experience.
I would also encourage looking at it from the pilot’s perspective too. Sometimes controllers are learning as well and may issue commands without fully understanding the purpose behind them. I know that was true for me early on. I remember clearing aircraft for takeoff without really understanding separation standards.
All that to say, the Training Server is ultimately a learning environment. There will be inexperienced or distracting pilots at times, but if you keep the Expert Server in mind, it does become worth it—or at the very least, more structured and accountable.
• call ATC only when prompted and they’re already committed to an approach.
• Repeatedly send the same message if ATC don’t give them what they want, especially whilst taxying.
It’s quite frustrating when we’re all here to learn and practice.
One other thing - if you start working Heathrow Departures and someone’s already on another frequency (Ground, Tower, London Centre), don’t bombard them with messages to join your freq, then depart offline minutes later.
For those who are and have been on LHR Tower in the last 24 hours - you’ve done an epic job getting such a high volume of traffic in and out. Bravo!
Wouldn’t call that an epic job… just flew a few patterns in TS in my A319 at LHR and it was pure chaos, no sequencing, no clearing, or actually yes: clearance for option when I’m at 10 seconds from touchdown zone and just before they cleared another aircraft for departure, technically I didn’t land safely once in 5 patterns (including 3 go arounds and 2 landings where people were either still departing but I judged it safe ENOUGH and the other time I landed a bit late on the runway to go above an aircraft lining up…
Pilots and ATC have a mutually beneficial relationship. ATC is often looking for airports with traffic, while pilots are often looking for airports with active ATC.
Because of that, major airports like KLAX, KJFK, and EGLL naturally attract both. If you open one of those airports, you can usually expect traffic. Likewise, if pilots want ATC, those airports are often their first choice.
i am experiencing the same thing ive been trying to learn what each instructions do since last 4 days now that i mainly learned it and use it when needed but people are not understanding some people even just takeoff only to do a 360 and land back the way they came without tower or approsch instructions ive seen people who listened to me when i was controlling approach and felt bad for them because the players would keep cut them or land on top of them because they do not care
Controller learning is also a very big reason like @Trey said. I was controlling ground on training at EGLL, and all of the pilots were unusually professional today, but for some reason, the tower controller wasn’t clearing aircraft for takeoff even when there were no inbound planes on the runway, I’m not sure why. This was causing massive buildup of pilots holding short, and runway 27R had 2 planes landing And 1 taking off at the same time. Unfortunately, this can be very frustrating for ATC and pilots, causing them to become unprofessional.
At the end of the day, I recommend always staying away from Heathrow, JFK, LAX, Sydney, and Dubai. They are always the busiest airports and attract trolls and professional pilots alike. Instead, start an ATC tracking thread here, open up lesser used airports, and post about it in your thread. You’re very likely to get pilots who actually want to work with you
Yeah I agree because when I was on training server there was something that always made me feel more professional flying in and out of JFK. And actually my first day on expert server there was ATC at JFK, so I really had to make sure I was on my best behavior.
In theory, the training server is more to help people to be more professional, but the training server is the same as leisure. Everyone goes his own way and doesn’t listen to the most basic runway command
