Tower¶
Tower owns the runway: it clears you onto it, off it, and onto it again at the other end of the flight.
Departure¶
Line up and wait when Tower can use the time: never with an arrival close in on your runway.
Takeoff clearance, with the wind (gusts and wind shear when there are any) and where to go after takeoff:
"November five four seven Golf Alpha, wind one six zero at eight, fly heading one six zero, runway one six left, cleared for takeoff."
On radar vectors it is "fly heading" a heading. On an RNAV departure with no other aircraft within 10 nm of the airport it is "RNAV to" the first fix. On a conventional departure, or with traffic about, the clearance carries no departure instruction. A turn-out or a heading you ask for on a SID cancels it: "cancel departure procedure, fly heading one nine zero, climb and maintain five thousand", and you read both back.
When you have to wait, Tower says why, and clears you without being asked once the reason is gone:
| Reason | What you hear |
|---|---|
| Traffic on final | "hold short of runway one six left, traffic on a two mile final" |
| Wake turbulence behind a heavy | "expect departure in two minutes" |
| The runway is occupied | Tower holds you, then clears you once it is clear |
With an arrival a few miles out, the clearance may be "cleared for takeoff, no delay, traffic on a three mile final". Behind a heavy aircraft it adds "caution wake turbulence". Waiting at the line with an arrival further out, Tower may ask, once per flight, "are you ready for an immediate departure?"
Naming the runway. When you call ready, name your departure runway. If you name another one ("holding short of runway three zero" at runway two five left), Tower says "verify holding short of runway two five left", stressing the runway, and clears nothing until you name the right one. A bare "roger" or "affirm" does not answer it. A second wrong answer gets a second verify, a third "negative, runway two five left".
Your requests: an intersection departure, a turn-out or a heading after takeoff, "need a few minutes". Another runway or full length sends you back to Ground. If Tower cannot, it says "unable" with the reason. If you say "unable" to a line up and wait or an immediate departure, Tower offers an alternative.
After takeoff, about 1,000 ft above the ground: "contact Seattle Departure".
Arrival¶
Landing clearance, with the wind, your number in the sequence and traffic to follow:
"November five four seven Golf Alpha, wind one seven zero at one zero, runway one six center, cleared to land."
Read back "cleared to land" with the runway. If the runway is not free yet, Tower says "continue" and clears you once it is.
Go-arounds. Tower sends you around when the runway is not clear, and expects one when you call it yourself. You get the missed approach instructions and "contact Approach".
Lined up for the wrong runway on final? "Confirm you are lined up for runway one six center." Close in, it is a go-around: "go around, not lined up for the assigned runway".
The runway exit and Ground. Where your exit leads to another runway, or your parking is across the runway, Tower calls the exit on the rollout in one transmission with the handoff: "turn left at Mike, hold short of runway one six left, contact Seattle Ground one two one point seven". Read back the hold short and the frequency. At other exits there is no rollout call: once you are past the hold line, Tower says "contact Seattle Ground" and the frequency.
Tower calls you¶
- A takeoff or landing readback you owe: "confirm cleared for takeoff runway one six left".
- Rolling without a clearance: "stop immediately, I say again, stop immediately, you are not cleared for takeoff".
- A cancelled takeoff: at low speed "cancel takeoff clearance" with the reason; faster, "stop immediately".
- A possible pilot deviation, when you landed or took off without a clearance, took off without reading back the takeoff clearance, or entered the departure runway without a clearance: "possible pilot deviation, advise you contact Seattle Tower after landing". The window shows a red alert. It is not given at a field with no control tower.
What Tower knows about traffic¶
Tower clears takeoffs and landings against the other aircraft in your X-Plane: its AI traffic and aircraft a multiplayer plugin adds. A runway with a departure still on it, or an arrival on short final, is not yours yet. If X-Plane's traffic goes missing or stale, Tower holds every takeoff and landing clearance ("holding due to temporary traffic feed failure") until it is back. Closely spaced parallel runways are treated as one runway for wake turbulence.