Live ATC that works the flight with you and grades you like a checkride — running right alongside MSFS or X-Plane. Real clearances, real decisions, real consequences, built by a CFI with 30+ years in GA and the airlines.
The hardest part of instrument flying isn’t flying the airplane — it’s working the radios under pressure. Cleared As Filed is where you practice that. A growing library of IFR scenarios you fly in your own sim, where realistic recorded ATC works the flight with you from clearance to touchdown — every readback, vector, and curveball the real system throws — with no live controller to schedule around or freeze up in front of.
Real-world training
Very costly and weather dependent.
Live ATC networks
Live pressure, fixed schedules, and spotty coverage.
Cleared As Filed
Realistic ATC, structured scenarios, and honest feedback — always on, and no one on the other end to judge you.
Why It’s Different
Practice the conversation, not the performance
On a live network there’s a real person listening and a real fear of getting it wrong out loud. Not here. Key up, stumble, rewind, and run it again until the phraseology is automatic. It’s the difference between studying comms and actually rehearsing them.
Always On
The frequency is never dead
No logging into a network and hoping someone’s working your airport. No published controller hours. Your ATC is always staffed and always realistic — the only thing between you and a session is opening your sim.
Real Instruction
Every flight is a lesson, not just a session
Each scenario is built like a real training flight: a CFI briefing on the way in, decisions that matter in the air, and honest feedback waiting on the debrief. You leave having learned something — not just having logged time.
Real-World Curveballs
Because the real world doesn’t fly the plan
Reroutes. Weather that turns. Traffic. The call you didn’t want at the moment you didn’t want it. Every scenario is designed to throw what a real flight would — so the first time it happens for real, it isn’t the first time.
Free Demo
Your first flight — no signup, no account.
A full guided flight at Buffalo with real ATC, clearance to touchdown. The rest of the scenario library is members only.
The hardest part of instrument flying isn’t flying the airplane — it’s working the radios under pressure. Cleared As Filed is where you practice that. A growing library of IFR scenarios you fly in your own sim, where realistic recorded ATC works the flight with you from clearance to touchdown — every readback, vector, and curveball the real system throws — with no live controller to schedule around or freeze up in front of.
Real-world training
Very costly and weather dependent.
Live ATC networks
Live pressure, fixed schedules, and spotty coverage.
Cleared As Filed
Realistic ATC, structured scenarios, and honest feedback — always on, and no one on the other end to judge you.
Why It’s Different
Practice the conversation, not the performance
On a live network there’s a real person listening and a real fear of getting it wrong out loud. Not here. Key up, stumble, rewind, and run it again until the phraseology is automatic. It’s the difference between studying comms and actually rehearsing them.
Always On
The frequency is never dead
No logging into a network and hoping someone’s working your airport. No published controller hours. Your ATC is always staffed and always realistic — the only thing between you and a session is opening your sim.
Real Instruction
Every flight is a lesson, not just a session
Each scenario is built like a real training flight: a CFI briefing on the way in, decisions that matter in the air, and honest feedback waiting on the debrief. You leave having learned something — not just having logged time.
Real-World Curveballs
Because the real world doesn’t fly the plan
Reroutes. Weather that turns. Traffic. The call you didn’t want at the moment you didn’t want it. Every scenario is designed to throw what a real flight would — so the first time it happens for real, it isn’t the first time.
■ Two Ways to Fly
The Ladder measures your skills. The Flights test your judgment.
Same live ATC, same grading engine — two different jobs. The Evaluation Ladder checks specific fundamental skills against clear objectives. The Real-World Flights drop you into complete missions where the unexpected is the point.
1
Instrument Evaluation Ladder
For: In Training → Experienced
A set of IFR stage checks — clear, objective-based grading on the fundamentals, so you see exactly where you’re sharp and where the rust is. Climb at your own pace and earn your medallions.
IESeries
Instrument EvaluationsGraded checkride ladder · pass one to unlock the next
13-flight ladder
◆ Complete each block to earn its rank medallion — hidden in your logbook until you unlock it.
◆ Earn Logbook Medallions As You Progress
A hand-crafted medallion for every rating tier — revealed when you earn it.
Complete IFR trips with live ATC and no CFI in the right seat — hand-built missions where things don’t always go to plan. Fly the whole thing, make the calls, and handle what the day brings.
SCN-DEMO
Single-engine
First Solo IFR
KPIT → KCAK
A routine morning IFR hop from Pittsburgh to Akron-Canton. The weather is straightforward, the route is simple, and nothing about the preflight brief suggests anything other than an easy flight. Pay attention to that brief anyway.
IFR RatedDemoC172~35 minNo Narrator
Coming Soon
SCN-000
Single-engine
Rust Shake
KCAK → KBKL
A night IFR currency flight to shake off the rust. Straightforward routing, real ATC, and the kind of flight every instrument pilot should do regularly to stay sharp.
IFR RatedBeginnerC172~45 min
Coming Soon
SCN-001
Single-engine
East Coast Bummer
KTTA → KMQI
You filed it, you're flying it, and the weather at your destination is deteriorating fast. At what point do you call it? A real lesson in go/no-go decision making enroute.
IFR RatedIntermediateC172~60 min
Coming Soon
SCN-002
Single-engine
Approach Confidence — Hot Texas Morning
Austin → Austin
Back to the same airport you departed from, but in IMC. Multiple practice approaches to build the kind of confidence that only comes from repetition in realistic conditions.
IFR RatedIntermediateC172~60 min
Coming Soon
SCN-003
Single-engine
No Easy Way Through
KLYH → KBKW
Mountain IFR through the Appalachians in a non-FIKI single. The terrain doesn't announce itself. Neither does the weather. Read your brief carefully.
IFR RatedAdvancedC172~60 minDecision Points
Coming Soon
SCN-004
Single-engine
Night Freight
KLEX → KSDF
A night IFR leg with a company Chief Pilot in the right seat. Rain, turbulence, real ATC, and the kind of scenarios you'd expect on a checkride. Fly it professionally from engine start to shutdown.
IFR RatedAdvancedC172~60 minExaminer
Coming Soon
SCN-005
Single-engine
Good Enough to Go
KTYS → KGSP
A "good enough" VFR morning over the Appalachian ridgeline — scattered clouds at each end, a marginal forecast, and rising terrain in the obscured middle. The further you get, the more you wonder when "good enough" stopped being true. The real test is whether you use your out — and when.
VFR RatedIntermediateAny GA Piston~70 minDataLink Required
Coming Soon
SCN-006
Any aircraft
Approach Confidence — Decision Point
KBKL → KBKL
Three practice approaches at Burke Lakefront in low IFR. The glideslope goes out of service on the second approach. You will need to decide whether to hold, divert to Cuyahoga County, or head to Cleveland Hopkins. X-Plane 12 and DataLink required.
Step into the left seat for an IFR run from Cleveland to Newark. PDC or voice clearance — your call — then a congested arrival into one of the toughest terminal environments in the country. X-Plane 12 and DataLink required.
IFR RatedAdvancedTransportDataLink Required
Coming Soon
SCN-008
Single-engine
Around the Patch
KDKK → KBUF → KDKK
A short, strictly-VFR flight to stay sharp on pattern work and towered-field radio at a busy Class C. Depart uncontrolled Dunkirk, pick up flight following, and fly the runway 23 pattern at Buffalo to precise standards — touch-and-goes and the option. Fly what the tower gives you and stay ahead of the radios; good weather throughout, so the challenge is precision, not the sky. X-Plane 12 and DataLink required.
VFR RatedIntermediateAny GA Piston~35 minDataLink RequiredMicrophone Required
Coming Soon
SCN-009
Airline
Newark to Portland
United 1475 · KEWR → KPWM
Leg two of a four-day trip — a late-evening quick-turn out of Newark up to Portland, Maine in a narrowbody jet. Light load, plenty of gas, an easy night on paper — but Newark is busy tonight. Fly it to airline standards and let the post-flight report card grade how you flew it. X-Plane 12 and DataLink required.
An early-morning narrowbody run down the East Coast — United 428 from Portland, Maine to Washington Dulles. A full airline IFR leg, gate to gate: clearance, a west-flow departure, a long enroute string through Boston, New York, and Washington Center, and a busy, real-world arrival into a south-flow Dulles on a vectored ILS. Sharp radio work and real speed-and-altitude discipline throughout — a routine morning that still asks for your best flying. X-Plane 12 and DataLink required.
Additional scenarios covering currency flights, east coast weather diversions, approach confidence building, and more are in development.
Coming Soon
In Development
■ Founding Members — First 100 Seats
Lock in $9/mo, for life.
Full access to every scenario as it ships — hand-built by a CFI with 30+ years
in GA and the airline world. Start with a 14-day free trial. Standard price will be $14.
The cover plate opens into a channel-tuned briefing terminal — plan, weather, crew.
The player, mid-scenario
Working ATC on the panel — request tags lit, the clearance glowing on the CRT.
Right in your rig
Mounted in the cockpit, running right alongside the sim — instruments on one side, ATC on the other.
Use Your Own Voice
Push-to-talk — key the mic and talk to ATC
Working a clearance
Talk to ATC with your own voice over push-to-talk — just like a real radio. Prefer not to talk? Work the clearance on-screen by mouse or touch.
■ Watch a Flight — A Decision in the Air
A real flight recorded in the sim — the aircraft on one screen, the Cleared As Filed player on the other — working an ATC decision in real time.
🔌
DataLink — MSFS & X-Plane Position Bridge
Required for position-aware scenarios (SCN-006 and later). DataLink runs in the background and sends your aircraft position — from Microsoft Flight Simulator or X-Plane 12 — to the scenario player in real time, so ATC responds to where you actually are, not a timer.
Step 1 — Download and save DataLink
Click the download button above. Save CAF-DataLink.exe somewhere permanent — your Desktop works fine. No installation needed.
Your browser may warn that this file is not commonly downloaded: Chrome: Click the warning and select Keep anyway. Edge: Click the three dots (...) to the right of the filename → select Keep → in the box that appears click the dropdown arrow next to Delete → choose Keep anyway.
Step 2 — Configure X-Plane Data Output (one time only) Flying MSFS? Skip this step — MSFS needs no setup; the DataLink connects automatically.
In X-Plane 12 go to Settings → Data Output. Check the Network via UDP checkbox for rows 3, 4, 17, 20, 25, 66, and 96. At the bottom set IP to 127.0.0.1 and Port to 49002. Click Done. X-Plane remembers this permanently.
Step 3 — Bind your push-to-talk button (first launch)
The first time you run DataLink it asks you to set a push-to-talk button so you can key the mic from your yoke like a real radio. In the DataLink window, hold the yoke / joystick button (or an Xbox trigger) you want to use — it locks it in and remembers it. Prefer the on-screen button instead? Type s and press Enter to skip. To change it later, delete caf_ptt.json next to the exe and relaunch.
Step 4 — Windows prompts on first launch
When you run DataLink for the first time, Windows may show one or more of the following prompts. This is normal for any newly downloaded software.
"Windows protected your PC"
Click More info then Run anyway. This appears because DataLink is from an independent developer and not yet widely distributed. It is safe to proceed.
"Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?"
Click Yes. DataLink needs this permission to open a network connection between X-Plane and your browser.
"Do you want to allow CAF-DataLink to communicate on public and private networks?"
Click Allow access. This is the Windows Firewall prompt — it allows the scenario player in your browser to communicate with DataLink on your local network.
You will only see these prompts once. Windows remembers your choices and will not ask again on future launches.
Every session
1. Double click CAF-DataLink.exe and leave it running in the background
2. Start X-Plane 12 and load into a flight at the scenario airport
3. Open your scenario in the browser
4. Look for the green Bridge connected indicator — you are ready to fly
Troubleshooting DataLink says "Could not find X-Plane" — Make sure you are loaded into an active flight, not the main menu. Check Data Output settings in Step 2. Bridge connected indicator not showing — Make sure DataLink is running before opening the scenario. Try refreshing the browser. Windows Defender blocks the download — Right click the file, select Properties, check Unblock at the bottom, click OK.
■ How It Works
How a Flight Works
01
Brief the Flight
Review your weather package, flight plan, and listen to the pre-flight CFI briefing. The material matters.
02
Set Up Your Sim
Follow the setup card for MSFS or X-Plane. Spawn location, weather, aircraft — all specified.
03
Fly With ATC
Press play and the ATC engine takes over. Communicate as you normally would. Make your readbacks. Stay ahead of the airplane.
04
Debrief
A recorded CFI debrief plays at the end. Hear what the scenario was designed to test and how you did.
■ Before You Fly
Read the User Guide
How the player works, tips for staying in sync, and what each button does.
Hit a snag, have a question about a scenario, or want to tell us what to build next? Send a message and it comes straight to us — no bots, no ticket maze.
