A recent study of the university's Flight Training Device (FTD) use revealed possibilities for improving the training environment for ab initio pilots. One improvement is the design, development, and application of a Virtual Air Traffic (VAT) functionality. VAT will use voice recognition technology linked to semiautonomous and autonomous virtual air traffic integrated into the FTD's virtual environment. Virtual aircraft and controllers will communicate via the radio functionality. The student pilot will communicate with the virtual controller through the radio functionality using voice over (VoIP) and voice recognition software. The virtual controller will respond with a synthetic voice. The desired outcome of using VAT during training is to be better prepare student pilots to function in flight while minimizing the need for actual airplane flight training.