The free ATC tools the
browser games skip.
Free in-browser ATC sims teach you to juggle aircraft on a fake radar. That’s fun. What they don’t teach is what the .65 actually says. These tools fill that gap — instant, citation-backed answers from JO 7110.65, the AIM, and the Pilot/Controller Glossary. Free. No signup.
The toolkit
- JO 7110.65 + AIM
Phraseology Studio
Pick a scenario — takeoff, IFR clearance, vectors, holding — and see the canonical FAA wording with every variable highlighted. Hear it spoken.
12 scenarios, every clause citedOpen - AIM 5-3-7
Holding entry visualizer
Live diagram that classifies direct / parallel / teardrop for any inbound course + heading. The wedges redraw as you type.
Interactive — not a static PDF pageOpen - JO 7110.65 § 5-5-4
Wake separation matrix
Pick leading + trailing aircraft category and scenario; get the required NM or minutes. Full matrix below for pattern study.
Super → Small, in-trail + runwayOpen - FAR/AIM + PCG
Daily quiz (5 questions)
Five hand-curated FAA-knowledge questions every day, with full explanations and citations. Browser-local streak counter.
Free, no signup, daily rotationOpen
Tools as a study habit, not a clone of a free game.
There’s a popular free browser ATC sim that’s been around for years. It’s a fun toy. It also plays loose, non-standard phraseology, never cites a regulation, and doesn’t build retention. Building the same thing on top of an FSRS-backed study product would have been a waste of your time and ours.
Instead, the toolkit here is the reference layer most students cobble together from PDFs and forum threads. The Phraseology Studio shows you exactly what the .65 says, every clause highlighted. The holding entry visualizer is the AIM 5-3-7 diagram, except it redraws as you type. The wake matrix is the full table with the active cell called out and the source paragraph cited. The daily quiz is five hand-curated questions with full explanations.
Each tool stands alone — bookmark and use it anytime. If you want spaced repetition that adapts to yourretention curve and a personalized study queue, that’s what the full ModernATC app is for. The tools are the free front door.