Classic interface
C# WinForms recreates the familiar forms and panels, including the radar displays, controller windows, flight strips and tower view.
TOWER » ABOUT THE PROJECT
BEHIND THE TOWER PROJECT
THE STORY BEHIND THE SIMULATOR
A classic control tower experience, rebuilt.
TOWER is an independent project by Sibra-Soft to bring the spirit of the 1990s air traffic control simulator to a modern Windows desktop. It is more than a visual remake: the work explores the original interface, aircraft data, radio communication and airport scenery while building a new simulation in C# and .NET.
1995Original help documentation era
C# / .NETModern Windows reconstruction
44Original aircraft models
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
The original BAO Tower placed you in the controller's chair. Rather than flying a single aircraft, your job was to coordinate an airport: issue clearances, handle arrivals and departures, watch the traffic pattern and keep aircraft separated.
Its Windows-era interface brought together a tower view, BRITE radar, ASDE ground radar, flight strips and keyboard-driven instructions. Those screens, original help files and preserved game data serve as historical references for this reconstruction.
Archive note: Historical screenshots shown here are from the original simulator, not necessarily from the current C# build.
PROJECT MILESTONES
1990s — The original simulator
The historical release established the interface and workflow that inspired this project. The supplied original help material identifies itself as copyright 1995.
The reconstruction — Windows Forms returns
The project began by translating the original Visual Basic 6 form layouts into C# WinForms. The designs, labels, menus and window sizes were used as guides, while gameplay code was rewritten rather than copied.
Research — Recovering the original data
Development expanded into original airport layouts, flight routes, aircraft performance tables, radar behavior, voice recordings and file formats. The goal is to understand the historic behavior wherever the surviving sources permit it.
2026 — Aircraft and scenery integration
All 44 catalogued DBT aircraft model types were connected to TowerView. Original Canyon scenery and Washington / Chicago panorama resources were also integrated, with documented rendering limitations.
Next — Make it even better
Tougher we can make the simulation even better. Tells us what you want to have changed after playing the game, and in the meantime well keep creating a new even beter version with new airports and features.
UNDER THE HOOD
New simulation engine
A shared simulation state coordinates aircraft movement, arrivals, departures and clearances across the different views.
Radio communications
The speech system can work with original VOC voice fragments or Windows speech, supported by a dedicated speech workbench.
Original assets
Recovered aircraft models, airport and scenery data, performance profiles and help documents inform the modern implementation.
FAITHFUL TO THE SPIRIT
The aim is to preserve what made the classic memorable while making it practical to run and develop today. That does not mean the new program is a byte-for-byte port or a complete emulation. Some behaviors are researched from original files; others are deliberate modern reconstruction choices.
A PROJECT BY SIBRA-SOFT
This independent, fan-made reconstruction is developed by Sibra-Soft. It is not an official BAO or Microsoft release and is not affiliated with the original rights holders.