How to Use PFControl

What is PFControl?

PFControl is a browser-based air traffic control platform built specifically for Project Flight. Instead of coordinating departures and arrivals over voice chat with no record of what was cleared, controllers get a live, shared flight strip board that every controller in the session can see update in real time — clearances, runway assignments, squawk codes, route changes, and status all sync across everyone connected.

The platform is built around two roles that often overlap: controllers, who create sessions and manage the flight strip board for an airport, and pilots, who submit flight plans into a session and receive clearances back through the ACARS terminal. Everything is free and does not require an account to submit a flight plan as a pilot, though signing in unlocks saved flight history, a profile, and access to ACARS.

Getting Started

Open pfcontrol.com and click Sign In with Discord in the top navigation bar. PFControl uses Discord OAuth for authentication that way there's no separate password to create or remember. Once you authorize the app, you're taken back to PFControl already signed in, with your Discord username attached to your account.

You don't need an account to submit a flight plan as a pilot; a guest can submit to any session without signing in first. Signing in unlocks a few things that guests don't get: your submitted flights are saved to My Flights so you can look back at past legs, you get a profile page other pilots and controllers can view, and you're able to open the ACARS terminal to receive pre-departure clearances and messages from controllers directly. If you submit a flight plan as a guest and later decide you want it saved, PFControl will offer to attach that flight to your account the moment you sign in.

Creating a Session

Controllers start from Create Session in the navigation bar. The form asks for an airport by ICAO code, a departure runway, and arrival runway. If you leave the arrival runway blank, it defaults to match the departure runway.

Below the runway selection is a PFATC Network checkbox. Leaving it unchecked creates a Standard session (a private flight strip board just for you and anyone you share the session link with.) Checking it creates a PFATC session instead: every flight submitted becomes publicly visible on the Network Overview page, departures from your session will be shared with other PFATC sessions, creating arrivals. PFATC sessions are the right choice for controllers who are controlling on the PFATC network.

After creating a PFATC session, PFControl can prompt you with an auto-generated ATIS based on the airport and runway you selected, the atis is formatted for the PFATC ATIS channel and can be directly copied and pasted. Once the session is created, you land directly on the flight strip board for that airport, ready to receive flight plans.

Every session you create shows up under My Sessions, listed as a card with the airport, creation date, departure runway, current flight count, and a color-coded badge — green for Standard, blue for PFATC. From there you can rename a session, jump back into it, or delete it once you're done.

Managing Flight Strips

Once you're in a session, the main view is the flight strip board — a live, editable table for departures and a separate one for arrivals, both updating for everyone. If another controller is editing the same field you're looking at, you'll see a small indicator showing who's currently working on it, so two controllers don't overwrite each other's changes.

Both tables share a core set of columns:

• Time — when the strip was created or last updated.
• Callsign — the flight's callsign, shown with its parsed airline where recognized.
• Aircraft type and wake turbulence category.
• Flight type — IFR or VFR.
• Runway in use.
• RFL / CFL — requested and cleared flight level.
• Squawk — with a one-click button to generate a new random code.
• Status, shown as a color-coded dropdown.
• Remarks, plus per-row hide and delete actions.

The departures table additionally tracks the stand, destination airport (ADES), SID, route, a clearance checkbox, and a PDC column for pre-departure clearance status. A departure's status flow runs PENDING → STUP → PUSH → TAXI → RWY → DEPA. The arrivals table instead tracks the origin airport (ADEP), gate, and STAR, with a status flow of APP → RWY → TAXI → GATE.

Submitting a Flight Plan

Pilots submit into a specific session using that session's submit link. The form asks for a callsign (must include a number), aircraft type from a searchable list, flight type (IFR or VFR), an optional stand, the arrival airport, a cruising flight level, and an optional route and remarks field. The departure airport is locked to whatever airport the session is for.

If you leave the route blank, a Generate button will build one for you automatically — picking a SID, STAR, and cruising altitude that respects altitude rules.

Submitting doesn't require an account. Once you submit, the flight appears on the controller's strip board with a PENDING status. If you're not signed in, PFControl will offer to create an account and attach the flight to it (if you want it to show up later in My Flights.) For PFATC sessions, after submitting you'll see a prompt to open ACARS, where you can request your clearance directly. Opening ACARS does require being signed in, since clearances and messages are tied to your account.

ACARS & Requesting PDC

ACARS is PFControl's messaging terminal. Once you've submitted a flight plan and signed in, you can open your flight's ACARS terminal to see a log of everything relevant to your flight: your submitted flight plan details, clearances, and any messages a controller sends you.

The most common thing pilots use ACARS for is requesting a pre-departure clearance (PDC). Press Request PDC and the request is sent to the controller working that airport, with a system message logged confirming it was sent. Once a controller issues your clearance, it appears in your ACARS log.

Controllers can also send a pilot a direct contact me message through ACARS — for example asking them to switch to a specific frequency — which shows up in the pilot's terminal the same way. The ACARS panel sits alongside notes and airport charts, so a pilot can reference their clearance, take notes, and pull up the relevant SID chart all from the same screen while taxiing out.

Charts & Airport Diagrams

The Chart Drawer is a library of airport charts available from the toolbar on any session's flight strip board or in the acars page. Opening it automatically groups charts by whichever airports are relevant to what you're working: the current session's departure and arrival airports first, followed by any airports tied to your assigned sector, with a full "all airports" list underneath for anything else.

Charts can be searched by name, type, author, or procedure. If you prefer a simpler layout, there's a card-grid view available as an alternative to the default split sidebar-and-viewer layout, switchable from Settings.

The Network Overview

Network Overview is a live, network-wide dashboard of every open PFATC session at once, showing every active departure and arrival across the whole network.

Controllers with the right sector permissions can edit flights directly from this view.

Profiles

Every signed-in user gets a public profile page at pfcontrol.com/user/<username>, showing role badges, a bio, controlling and flying statistics, and up to a few featured flights they've chosen to highlight. Profile owners can customize their own page directly from the profile page.

Ratings & Feedback

After a session, pilots can leave a controller rating with a short comment, which contributes to that controller's average rating shown on their public profile. Ratings are meant as constructive feedback for controllers rather than a public callout tool — reports on inappropriate comments are reviewed by moderators, and automated checks flag reported or clearly inappropriate comments for review as well.

Settings & Personalization

The Settings page covers account linking (Roblox and VATSIM), sound preferences for new strips, chat notifications, and ACARS alerts, layout options including combined departures/arrivals view and flight row opacity, background image selection for your session view, and which columns show up in your departure and arrival tables.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an account to use PFControl?

Not to submit a flight plan as a pilot — guests can submit flight plans to any open session. You do need an account to create sessions as a controller, open ACARS, or get a profile.

What's the difference between a Standard and a PFATC session?

A Standard session is private to you and anyone you share the link with and doesn't feature arrivals. A PFATC session publishes its traffic to the Network Overview so it's meant for organized, network-wide controlling rather than solo practice.

How do I get a pre-departure clearance?

Submit your flight plan, sign in if you haven't already, open ACARS from the prompt shown after submitting, and press Request PDC. The controller working that airport will see your request and can issue your clearance directly back into your ACARS terminal.

Is PFControl affiliated with Project Flight?

PFControl is an independent platform created by Cephie Studios and is not affiliated with Project Flight. It's built to work alongside Project Flight.

Is PFControl free?

Yes — creating sessions, submitting flight plans, and using ACARS are all free.