Air Traffic Controller
| MUNITIONS STAFF | |
  Air Traffic Controller |
Access: Hangar Bay, Flight Deck Additional Access: Maintenance Difficulty: Low Supervisors: Flight Leader, Master At Arms Rank: Not defined Duties: Launch the Fighters and coordinate them, also check the radar in case one of the Fighters forgets how to start the APU. Guides: Guide to Fighters Quote: "All fighters RTB no contacts detected... WAIT" |
You are an Air Traffic Controller, you coordinate the fighters all the way from launch to the return to base, make sure none get left behind and update both them and the rest of the ship of the status of the Area of Operations.
Bare minimum requirements: Find the ATC Control room and launch the fighters, launch a empty fighter and then get ridiculed.
Is that All?
Air Traffic Controller can be as useful as the player wants it to, you really are the only guy on the ship whose job is to check the DRADIS and isn't busy with something else, the pilots are trying not to get blown up and command staff is probably chasing after that RD that added a catgirl law to the AI.
MagCats and You
MagCats or Magnetic Catapults are the totally safe 90% of the time preferred way to deploy your expendable fighters to the AO, double check with the pilot the ship on that catapult is in fact occupied (yes, it happens more than you think) and that they are ready for launch, if all is green, launch them from the console next to the DRADIS. The same console can be used to directly message the fighter pilot, which is useful for pre-flight checks.
How to report information
Unless someone asks via common, you should only update via Air Control Channel, report how many contacts are there when you arrive to the AO as your DRADIS is the only one in ACC that is immediately scanning the AO Z level. Stay vigilant on contacts and inform if neccesary to the pilots of important targets such as carriers or cruisers. Do your best to keep the pilots out of trouble. If a pilot has burst their canopy, tell them to RTB immediately and try to inform the helms officer that they should slow down so that the pilot can dock safely. Once the pilot is back safe and sound, use your munitions headset and ask an MT to repair their ship. If the munitions staff are unavaliable, you have the access needed to do the job yourself. If worse comes to worse and a pilot ejects, it's time to deploy the...
Rescue craft
This is the Sabre, otherwise known as the Raptor, and is located in the hangar on every map. It is equipped with a search and rescue module and is capable of scooping up stray escape pods left behind from destroyed ships. You may be expected to retrieve pods after the pilots crash and burn, so climb in, engage docking mode, and crash into the pod you want to retrieve. If all went well, you'll have a particularly grateful pilot in your passenger seat.
