FlightSim Magazine i14 - Fall 2016 | Page 16

FEATURE The requirements of your device aren’t too heavy either. Several staggered quality settings specific to Live and the general graphics of the app make it easy to fine tune your experience on both Live and Solo dependent on how much lag you are willing to have, or how powerful your device is. The team at Infinite Flight seem to be continously making performance improvements- And it has to be said, that you can really squeeze a lot out of the app. Using an old iPad Air, that uses a worn out A7 chipset, I was able to use Live in relatively busy airspace, and effectively communicate with ATC in High Definition, at a noticeably smooth frame rate, with aircraft quality on Very High and terrain quality on High. To add to this, IF isn’t that much of a battery hog provided you don’t go all out with the settings, and all things considered is definitely not a data hog either- so you don’t have to worry about it eating away at your data plan as much as you would expect it to. This left me very pleaseantly surprised, and impressed, with these aspects of the simulator. Not only can Infinite Flight Live be fun, but you can pursue a new passion. That may be improving your piloting skills, but also becoming an www.FLIGHTSI Advanced Server Controller. For this reason exactly we spoke to Infinite Flight’s ATC Community Manager, Tyler Shelton, to find out what new opportunities and general services can be offered to users; Tyler, first of all, what is the Advanced ATC Program and how long has it been active? (Jack) The Advanced ATC Program is Infinite Flight’s elite group of controllers, who have all passed a multi-step testing process to man the air traffic control facilities on the advanced server of Infinite Flight. After a year and a half of the Advanced ATC Program our controller team has grown to over 300 active controllers! (Tyler) How is the management of IFATC structured, and how do the ranks work within the group? (Jack) The Advanced ATC Program is currently managed by me, the ATC Community Manager for Flying Development Studio, Pilot Community Manager Mark Denton, ATC Moderators Joe Reilly and Jason Rosewell, and many veteran controllers. To maintain a structured program with a sense of progression, each new advanced controller begins as an ATC Trainee, only able to control class delta airports. The smaller airports allow new controllers to fix mistakes from their testing process, refine the air traffic basics, and better understand their role in a realistic air traffic control environment. From the bottom, controllers will work their way up to the rank of ATC Supervisor, even taking a specialized test to qualify for radar facilities. Once fully qualified, an advanced controller will be able to operate all ground, tower, departure, approach and center frequencies. (Tyler) Can you describe to us the testing process that is used to ensure a high quality of controllers when on the advanced server, and the help offered to those who wish to take up controlling without any prior experience? (Jack) DESCRIPTION DEVELOPER: Flying Development Studio LLC PRICE: $6.99 WEBSITE: http://infinite-flight.com/ DESCRIPTION: iOS, Android, and Windows Phone application, that brings users what claims to be the mos