TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach CONtrol) is a simulation from Wesson International. TRACON simulates the pressures and panics that the nation's air traffic controllers undergo as part of their every day work. The TRACON folks are responsible for guiding private and commercial aircraft departures and approaches. They also control low level (up to about 12,000 over-flights). This is a serious and busy business. TRACON II comes with six sectors for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Miami and Boston. As if that wasn't enough, I created a sector for the Pittsburgh area.
Installation and Getting Started
This sector is designed to be used with TRACON II (version 2.0.3). It may work with earlier versions and, then again, it may not. If you already own TRACON II, simply place the PIT.SEC and PIT.SND sectors in the Support Files folder. Start TRACON II and select New Scenario from the File Menu. Then select the pit sector and click on Begin. The Pittsburgh sector will come up on the radar screen.
If you don't own TRACON, these files won't help you much. Order TRACON II Mac from Wesson International {(512) 328-0100}. You won't regret it. While you're in the neighborhood, tell Wesson how much you want new Mac simulations. They are primarily a PC developer and need to better appreciate the importance of the Macintosh market.
Realism
Just how realistic is the Pittsburgh sector? Somewhat. It's based upon real and current (as of February 1993) Sectional Aeronautical Charts from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). But therein lies the rub. I live in Morgantown, West Virginia. Morgantown is a half hour plane ride from Pittsburgh (by U.S. Air Commuter). So, naturally I wanted to include Morgantown in the sector. Morgantown happens to be in the Cincinnati section while Pittsburgh is in the Detroit section. Don't ask me why. They had to draw the line somewhere. I suppose the Pennsylvania, West Virginia Boarder was a good as anywhere. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that TRACON facilities usually do not span two different sectors. So to add Morgantown, I took some artistic license.
To include Morgantown and still make the radar scope range smaller, I had to center the TRACON radar around the Allegheny fix. I suspect that this is not very accurate. Since I'm not a pilot, I can only assume that the Pittsburgh TRACON actually is located somewhere near the Pittsburgh International Airport, several miles from the Allegheny fix.
My last piece of artistic license was to assume certain fixes were used by the TRACON sector. All the fixes are real and their locations are reasonably accurate. I just don't know which are and aren't real TRACON fixes.
So What's the Buzz?
The file called PIT.SND is a sound file. It allows TRACON II to speak the names of the Pittsburgh area fixes and airports. The sound file is recorded in my voice. This creates an interesting effect since both the pilot and the controller speak in two different voices in one sentence! If you find this annoying, turn off the sound, or remove the PIT.SND file from the Support Files folder. It won't hurt the program and it certainly won't offend me.
Some Final Words
Unless you are a real pilot or an absolute perfectionist, the assumptions and licenses I took with the sector won't matter much. Just load up the sector with flights and have fun navigating those aircraft around the Monongahela River and valley.
If you find errors, or are fortunate enough to know the real Pittsburgh TRACON sector, I'd appreciate hearing from you. I'll try to update and fix errors and post a newer version. I can be reached at the following e-mail addresses. I would like to hear from you if you are a TRACON II fan:
America On Line: ISDN Man
AppleLink: WVUISDN
Internet: jfritz@wvnvm.wvnet.edu
This sector was created for my enjoyment. It took me many hard hours and much sweat to get right (well, nearly right). The good news is that the TRACON Pittsburgh sector is yours for free.
I hope you enjoy the Pittsburgh sector as much as I do. You can post this wherever you like. I only ask that you distribute the files with this read me file.
Of course, I do not assume any responsibility for accuracy (as if you couldn't tell) or anything else for that matter. Happy controlling!
