The walkie is on, and the tower answers when you call
Until today the walkie asked for your microphone the moment you switched it on. Most people never got past that window, and the few who did usually found an empty channel. Of 278 pilots with progress, one had ever turned the walkie on.
So the walkie works differently now.
On by default, listening only
If you have an account, the walkie switches itself on after your first click or key press in the game, tuned to the common 122.800. It only listens: the browser asks for the microphone the first time you hold Z (or the TALK button) to speak. Say no, and the walkie keeps listening.
Switch it off with the ⏻ button or N, and it stays off on your next visit. When a channel already has a lot of pilots on it, the walkie doesn't join it by itself; switch it on by hand and you're in.
Call the tower
The walkie now always has someone on the other end. Press Y in flight (or Call on the walkie bar) and pick a request with the number keys:
- Radio check. The tower tells you it hears you.
- Traffic near me. The best target in range you haven't caught today,
with its clock position and distance: an epic or rare ship first, then an uncommon ship or any aircraft. In a harbour full of tugs you hear about the one worth flying to.
- Weather and local time: the city you're flying above, or away from
cities the nearest weather station within 50 km and how far it is. Over open sea you still get the local time.
- Nearest bridge you haven't flown under yet.
- Who's mayor here, and how many visit days you need to take the seat.
Over a city its own tower answers; elsewhere it's Skydex Tower. With the walkie or the tower's voice on, the answer is spoken between two radio clicks. Guests can call the tower too, and signing in unlocks the seat answers.
A new daily mission, Call a city tower, and the On air chapter of your pilot path now ask for exactly that.
When the tower speaks up on its own after a few quiet minutes, it now only names uncommon, rare and epic ships, plus any aircraft in catching range. Until you have five cards it still points at the nearest anything, so new pilots learn the catch first.
A tidier walkie
The walkie panel starts with what matters now: the frequency and its name (Hamburg Tower, Germany Control or the common 122.800), who is on it, and two big buttons, Talk and Call tower. Your local channels sit in one row underneath, then the tower's last two lines. Manual tuning, open mic, volume and the scrambler fold away under More settings. The bar at the bottom fits in one line: power, channel, how many pilots are on it, Call and the tower's switch.
Everything on keys
In flight your mouse is steering, so the radio answers to keys:
- N: walkie on or off
- Z (hold): talk
- Y: call the tower, then 1–5
- [ and ]: switch between your city's tower, your country's control
and 122.800
You can change every one of them in Settings, Controls, and the full list is on the help card (press /). More about the tower itself is in Skydex Tower is on the frequency, and what the towers said today is in the tower log.