VFR stage one has arrived

After months of internal development and testing, stage one of Visual Flight Rules (VFR) is now available for all Supporters-tier users on the Experimental branch. This is the first time BeyondATC has offered a fully voice-driven VFR experience inside Microsoft Flight Simulator, and it marks a significant expansion of what the program can do.

From today, you can fly as a VFR aircraft — conducting circuit and pattern work at towered airports, interacting with ATC in real-time, and sharing the skies with IFR traffic — all with full phraseology support tailored to your region.

What's included in stage one

Stage one focuses on controlled airport operations. You can fly circuits and pattern work, perform touch-and-go, full stop, low approach, and stop-and-go landings, and enter or exit controlled airspace at your departure and arrival airport. IFR traffic is fully integrated around you, with ATC managing sequencing and separation between both traffic types.

Three dedicated phraseology regions are supported — the United States (including Canada), the United Kingdom, and Australia — each with authentic procedures, callsign handling, and regional logic. Flight plan import is available via the MSFS world map, Little NavMap files (.pln / .lnmpln), or SimBrief with your rules set to VFR.

What's not included yet

Stage one is the foundation, not the finished product. Uncontrolled airports, VFR flight following, control zone transits, and AI VFR traffic are all planned for later stages. A tower controller is currently required at the airport for VFR circuit management.

The road ahead

VFR is being developed in three stages. Stage one — live today — covers circuit operations at towered airports. Stage two will introduce uncontrolled airports and more realistic controlled-zone handling. Stage three will bring VFR flight following, radar advisory services, and enroute navigation assistance.

VFR will remain on the Experimental branch throughout this process — most likely for a few months — before being promoted to the main Early Access branch as a free update.

A note on access

VFR is available now for Supporters-tier users on the Experimental branch. If you are on the standard Early Access branch, the Experimental branch is less stable by nature, so consider whether the upgrade is right for you. As always, a known issues list will be maintained and updated in our Discord over the coming days and weeks.

As the team put it: "This is a big milestone for the program and we're very happy for you to get your hands on it. A huge thank you to our testers and IRL controllers that contributed so much to this effort."

For full details on how VFR works, head to the VFR knowledge base.