Gunnar Lindahl

Norman Blackburn retires from the Board of Governors After 13 years as the Vice President of Conflict Resolution, Norman Blackburn has announced his retirement from the Board of Governors. Norman joined in the BoG in June 2007 and has been a stalwart in promoting excellence in online behaviour and ensuring that when members have been referred to the Conflict Resolution process, that they have been dealt with in a fair and timely fashion. Norman has developed many Division Conflict Resolutions Managers (DCRM) during his tenure and has been an active participant in BoG discussions and decisions since his appointment. Norman plans to continue to play an active role on the VATSIM network as time commitments allow so we expect to see his name around our virtual skies for many years to come. As an interim measure, VP Operations Mark Richards, will look after the Conflict Resolution portfolio as well to ensure a smooth transition to the new VP Conflict Resolution in due course. We are now working through the finer points for the appointment of a successor for Norman. On behalf of the Board of Governors, Founders, Executive Committee, Conflict Resolution team and all members, I would like to thank Norman for his 13 years of dedicated service to VATSIM and wish him all the best in his retirement.

Looking forward to it!

Welcome!

I fondly remember the airshows at Sywell, Bill, and they were excellent. I've probably got some screenshots somewhere! With some formal organisation and a heads up with the relevant people there's no reason why these couldn't be a success.

Dear all, For reference the global release on what changes are coming to FSD servers is here: https://www.vatsim.net/news/current-and-future-changes-vatsim-fsd-servers First of all, I can say confidently that there was no disrespect to anyone intended. Matt and his team have been slowly consolidating our FSD infrastructure over the past 12-18 months including the closure of other servers. Had we known what an emotive subject this would be we would of course had done more to re-assure our friends Down Under and in NZ prior to the change taking place. Most people will know this, but to be absolutely clear, all servers are inter-connected so the configuration has no bearing on what traffic you can see - I generally connect to SINGAPORE which is a throwback to the advent of AFV when we had connection restrictions during the launch period. The change was completed under the logic that it would not adversely affect user experience for the reasons outlined in the above announcement. If you are experiencing problems please send them to Matt using the method referenced in the link with as much detail as possible so that he and his team can investigate it. As of last night Matt hadn’t received anything - he needs data to investigate! As mentioned above the plan very shortly is for all FSD servers to be removed user-side - all members will connect to one address and a load balancer will then automatically assign them the most suitable server.

A number of facilities offer this feature - VATSIM UK being one. Head to https://www.vatsim.uk/airports, select any airport and scroll down for a list of free stands. I use it for Heathrow all the time

A few points on this thread but particularly Simon on some of your thoughts. First of all it’s important to note that the discussion around this proposed change started as we prepared as an organisation to become compliant with GDPR. The most important component here by far for this particular topic is that VATSIM’s data servers spew out the details you enter in the “name” field and this is visible to literally anyone, and is transmitted across all manner of external online viewing tools. Whether they should do that or not is immaterial, that’s what they did at the time and that’s what they still do because of the element of choice being introduced for the user. I can say with absolute confidence that, as President, had we not introduced the element of choice re login name, I would have had to mandate that the names are entirely removed from the data server feeds to assure myself that VATSIM is compliant with GDPR. Wouldn’t that be great for the community (not!)? I’m surprised that so many people think that it’s our right to form a judgement on what level of privacy others would like to have online, and there are all sorts of different reasons why they might have a higher comfort threshold than you or I. Many employers don’t allow it; some people may have been in abusive relationships in the past or moved to get away from someone; some might be in school or have parents who don’t want them to be parading their full identity across VATSIM every day. Some people are very well known streamers who are literally hounded on VATSIM if they log in with their full name because it makes them that much more identifiable. Some people just don’t want their full name spewed out for thousands of non-VATSIM members to see. Last October I went to Cosford to represent VATSIM and no less than 5 people approached me to say that now that this element of choice had been introduced, they felt comfortable returning to the network. 3 of those people had either signed up to VATSIM but not used it, or never signed up, because of the real name restrictions, and all were because of the profession they worked in - all had restrictions on how their real identity could be used online. They were all hesitant to sign up with a fake name because they were well known “simmers” in the community and didn’t want to cause confusion, and because we require people use their real names. By allowing them to log on with either their first name only or their CID, those people now feel comfortable that, whilst VATSIM do hold details of their real name, this isn’t transmitted across the FSD server for anyone else on VATSIM to see in real time when they are online, or indeed through the data servers to the various feeds that use them. The suggestion that the rationale behind this change is invalid because “lots of people have access to CERT and other systems” is frankly ludicrous. There is a huge difference between a small subset of volunteers having access to your personal information in a tightly controlled system and literally the entire internet being able to go on map.vatsim.net, SimAware, VATSPy, vataware or any of the other dozens of tools and link your full real name to your entire flying activity. Sorry, but that’s a massive difference in terms of levels of privacy. So I’m sorry, but I passionately believe that the benefit to each VATSIM user of being empowered to make a choice of full name vs first name only vs CID far outweighs the very minor inconvenience to others who may think they’re not getting the level of “community” they expect from the 2% or so of people who make a decision on wanting a different level of privacy to you or I. Simon - perhaps next time you see someone signed in with their CID only you could PM them and seek their views (assuming they’re willing to share with you) on why they’ve chosen to do it. Perhaps it would help you to see the other side of the coin on this.

Just to say that the new forum feels much more modern and is so much easier to read - thanks to all for your efforts in the migration.

Great work team - thank you!

Looks nice!

PLEASE READ THIS IN FULL IF PARTICIPATING WITH OR WITHOUT A SLOT Ensure you read the information below. If this is your first Cross The Pond event or you are a returning looking for some helpful tips, FSElite have written an excellent article which covers all elements of your planning and what to expect during the event. Airfield Briefing Docomeents All departure and arrival pilot briefings are now available to view on the CTP website. Simply head to the Pilot Dashboard, select "Airfield Docomeents" and choose the field(s) you need. We recommend printing these off or keeping them to hand. They are essential reading. Oceanic Clearance & Position Reporting Due to the current global situation and the resultant reduced number of NATs being published, we have developed a number of additional NATs to facilitate the levels of traffic expected. We have given these unique identifiers to aid orientation. PLEASE OBSERVE BELOW CHANGES THIS YEAR TO OCEANIC CLEARANCE AND POSITION REPORTING When you are flying in Santa Maria Radio’s Oceanic sector (LPPO), you should request oceanic clearance and provide position reports via voice in the “traditional” way - please read Santa Maria’s excellent Oceanic Guide which they have prepared specifically for Cross The Pond. When you are flying in Iceland Radio’s Oceanic sector, position reports are not required unless you are on Track K in which you will need to provide a position report from 67N20W. When you are flying in New York Radio’s Oceanic sector, you are not required to make position reports. When you are flying in Shanwick and Gander Radio’s Oceanic sectors (EGGX and CZQX), pilots will be required to request oceanic clearance and make position reports via natTRAK - an online oceanic reporting tool. This will reduce frequency saturation. If you report your position via natTRAK, there is no requirement to p[Mod - Happy Thoughts] your position report by voice.. You will only be able to request oceanic clearance or submit a position report when connected as a pilot, so don't panic if you visit the tool before the event and cannot see this option! If any technical issues are encountered, you may revert to voice reporting, although this will be discouraged to ensure controller workload can be managed. General Tips for All Remember that HF simulation is now featured on Oceanic frequencies. You can disable all distortion in your pilot client by ticking 'disable VHF distortion' if you are having issues hearing the controller. Tomorrow will be a busy day - significantly busier than any other day of the year on VATSIM. Please be patient with controllers and pilots alike - if you have any issues we will have a number of Supervisors ready to [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ist - use the .wallop function if you need to summon help. Social Media during the event We’ll be live tweeting from the VATSIM Cross the Pond Twitter account all day - send us your screenshots and streaming links so we can share! You can also post in our Facebook group. IF YOU HAVE A SLOT... Your flight information will shortly be available on the Cross The Pond website and will also be emailed to you overnight. Simply log in and click 'Pilot Dashboard'. On the page containing your callsign, flight level, [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned route and [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned SELCAL, you can select 'Prefile' at the bottom which will redirect you to a pre-populated flight plan (you still need to enter aircraft type etc). If you do not receive a flightplan by 08z in the morning, please post below to let us know. The event NATs in use tomorrow (all TMI 095) are as follows - most are created by the planning team due to the smaller number of NATs currently in use in the real world: TRACK B: LIMRI 5220N 5230N 5140N 4950N JOOPY TRACK C: MALOT 5320N 5330N 5240N 5050N ELSIR TRACK D: DOGAL 5420N 5430N 5340N 5250N TUDEP TRACK E: PIKIL 5620N 5630N 5540N 5450N NEEKO TRACK G: ERAKA 6120N 6230N 6440N 6450N AVPUT TRACK H: RATSU 6320N 6430N 6540N 6650N EPMAN TRACK K: VALDI 6510N 6720N 6830N 6940N 6950N 6860N CANEL TRACK L: BEDRA 4820N 4630N 4440N 4350N 4060N MUNEY M202 UKOKA TRACK M: ETIKI 4720N 4530N 4340N 4250N 4160N JOBOC TRACK N: SEPAL 4620N 4430N 4240N 4150N 3960N SELIM M203 SNAGY TRACK Q: KOPAS 4420N 4230N 4040N 3850N 3560N BALOO JIMAC M327 SUMRS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A SLOT... You are welcome to fly without a slot between event or non-event airfields, however please take into account the following three important principles: You should not file via an event track or via a routing that conflicts with an event track. Controllers in Europe will be utilising a plugin to detect where flight plans conflict with the event tracks and those pilots will be requested to refile. See below our requested non-event routings - it’s important you use these. You will be requested to amend your flight plan if you file via one of the following NAT entry points: RATSU, LAPEX, BEDRA, PIKIL, LIMRI, MALOT, DOGAL. You should expect delays in departing event fields. Please be patient with controllers when waiting your turn - it will be busy! Due to the unprecedented numbers of pilots expected, it’s important we consolidate our limited Oceanic resource - for this reason you should not expect Oceanic ATC if you do not have a slot, and should monitor UNICOM if there is no controller online for your track. Where possible we will attempt to provide non-event Oceanic controllers. The available routings for the event have been optimised for minimum 'h[Mod - Happy Thoughts]le' before, during and after the Oceanic segment. It is therefore important that you file the following routings if you you do not have a slot, to get the best experience: #1 ROUTE FROM YOUR DEPARTURE AIRFIELD TO THE NAT ENTRY POINT If you are flying from the following airfields (EHAM, EGLL, EGKK, EDDK, LOWW, LIRF, EGCC, EIDW, EDDF) without a slot, please select your routing from #1 (departure to NAT), #2 (NAT track) and #3 (NAT to destination).If you are NOT flying from one of the above airfields, go straight to #4 for your routing. We've included some popular non-event airports such as London Heathrow in this list. EHAM to non-event TRACK J Iceland (KSFO, West Coast USA) ANDIK Z733 KONOM DCT GREFI DCT VAXIT UP60 FORTY L7 SUM DCT PEMOS EHAM to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) BERGI L602 TLA DCT IBROD DCT SUNOT EHAM to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) IDRID L980 MANGO L620 DAWLY P71 LESLU DCT DINIM EHAM to non-event TRACK P Santa Maria (KMIA, Caribbean) (KMIA, Caribbean) WOODY N872 MEDIL UN872 LESDO UM728 KOVIN UN872 TERPO UN461 RIVAK UN460 SIVIR EGLL to non-event TRACK J Iceland (KSFO, West Coast USA) UMLAT T418 WELIN T420 TNT UN57 POL UN601 TLA L613 BAMRA DCT PEMOS EGLL to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) UMLAT T418 WELIN T420 TNT UN57 POL UN601 TLA DCT IBROD DCT SUNOT EGLL to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) CPT UL9 KENET N14 FOXLA DCT STU P2 BANBA DCT DINIM EGLL to non-event TRACK P Santa Maria (KMIA, Caribbean) GOGSI N621 SAM M195 LORKU UN866 COQUE UN462 RIVAK UN460 SIVIR EGKK to non-event TRACK J Iceland (KSFO, West Coast USA) LAM L10 BPK UN601 TLA L613 BAMRA DCT PEMOS EGKK to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) LAM L10 BPK UN601 TLA DCT IBROD DCT SUNOT EGKK to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) NOVMA L620 SAM N19 ADKIK L22 MOPAT DCT DINIM EGKK to non-event TRACK P Santa Maria (KMIA, Caribbean) NOVMA L620 SAM M195 LORKU UN866 COQUE UN462 RIVAK UN460 SIVIR EDDK to non-event TRACK J Iceland (KSFO, West Coast USA) PODIP Y867 WRB N850 LARBU DCT KUGAL DCT KARLI DCT BEREP DCT PEMOS EDDK to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) WYP P64 TENLI L602 SPY DCT MIMVA L602 TLA DCT IBROD DCT SUNOT EDDK to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) NVO Y868 NAVAK DCT DENUT L610 KOPUL Q60 UGNUS L18 DIKAS P4 EVRIN DCT DINIM EDDK to non-event TRACK P Santa Maria (KMIA, Caribbean) NVO Y868 NAVAK Z283 LNO DCT RASCA DCT FAMEN DCT BSN UT300 PON UN872 TERPO UN461 RIVAK UN460 SIVIR LOWW to non-event TRACK J Iceland (KSFO, West Coast USA) LANUX L858 HDO DCT POGAB DCT NIKDA DCT RAMUD DCT BEREP UN603 SUM DCT PEMOS LOWW to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) DITIS DCT SOPGA DCT VARIK DCT KEMAD DCT LONAM N610 NATEB N97 TLA DCT IBROD DCT SUNOT LOWW to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) MEDIX DCT RENKA UL610 INBED DCT BOMBI DCT BETEX DCT IDOSA UN857 GIMER UT300 SENLO UN502 JSY UN160 LIZAD N160 LND M142 LESLU DCT DINIM LOWW to non-event TRACK P Santa Maria (KMIA, Caribbean) SOVIL DCT SITNI DCT BAGSI DCT MATIG DCT TRAUN L856 HOC UL856 DJL UM129 BEBIX UN857 LMG UN460 SIVIR LIRF to non-event TRACK J Iceland (KSFO, West Coast USA) SOVAN L995 AMTEL Q58 LUMAV M726 UPALA DCT KUMER DCT KUGAL DCT VAXIT UP60 FORTY L7 SUM DCT PEMOS LIRF to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) SOVAN L995 AMTEL Q58 LUMAV M726 UPALA DCT KEMAD DCT LONAM N610 NATEB N97 TLA DCT IBROD DCT SUNOT LIRF to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) NEMBO DCT TOP DCT RONOP UP860 GIPNO UM733 CHABY UH10 AMODO UM729 RESMI UN491 LGL UN502 JSY UN160 LIZAD N160 LND M142 LESLU DCT DINIM LIRF to non-event TRACK P Santa Maria (KMIA, Caribbean) PODOX DCT TOBGA DCT DOBIM UM616 LERGA UT183 FOUCO UN460 SIVIR EDDF to non-event TRACK J Iceland (KSFO, West Coast USA) MARUN Y152 ARPEG Z850 ABILU DCT RORUS DCT AMADA DCT VAXIT UP60 FORTY L7 SUM DCT PEMOS EDDF to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) MARUN Y152 ARPEG Z850 ABILU DCT LONAM N610 NATEB N97 TLA DCT IBROD DCT SUNOT EDDF to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) SOBRA Y180 BITBU Y181 DEMUL DCT DENUT L610 KOPUL Q60 UGNUS L18 DIKAS P4 EVRIN DCT DINIM EDDF to non-event TRACK P Santa Maria (KMIA, Caribbean) SOBRA Y180 DIK UN857 GIMER UT300 PON UN872 TERPO UN461 RIVAK UN460 SIVIR EGCC to non-event TRACK J Iceland (KSFO, West Coast USA) POL UN601 TLA L613 BAMRA DCT PEMOS EGCC to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) POL UN601 ABEVI UN590 GOW DCT IBROD DCT SUNOT EGCC to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) KUXEM UP17 NOKIN N862 AMRAL DCT DIKAS L180 LESLU DCT DINIM EGCC to non-event TRACK P Santa Maria (KMIA, Caribbean) SANBA UN859 CPT Y321 PEPIS Q41 SAM M195 LORKU UN866 COQUE UN462 RIVAK UN460 SIVIR EIDW to non-event TRACK F Shannon NORTH (CYYZ, KORD, Central USA) SUROX DCT REVNU DCT SUNOT EIDW to non-event TRACK A Shannon SOUTH (KJFK, KBOS, East Coast USA) PELIG DCT SHA DCT DINIM #2 ROUTE ON THE NORTH ATLANTIC TRACK All tracks have the Track Message Identifier (TMI) of 095 to uniquely identify them for your oceanic clearance. TRACK J: PEMOS 6310N 6420N 6530N 6640N 6750N DARUB TRACK F: SUNOT 5720N 5730N 5640N 5550N LOMSI TRACK A: DINIM 5120N 5130N 5040N 4850N NICSO TRACK P: RIVAK SIVIR 4520N 4330N 4140N 3950N 3660N RNGRS JIMAC M327 SUMRS #3 ROUTE FROM NAT EXIT POINT TO DESTINATION To CYYZ: LOMSI ARAME PETNO YYB IRKIM To KORD: LOMSI YWK YXZ SAW IDIOM SHIKY FYTTE5 KORD To KJFK: NICSO VITOL SAILE KENDA BERGH OWENZ CAMRN To KBOS: NICSO TOPPS AJJAY OOSHN5 To KMIA: 4140N 3950N 3660N RNGRS JIMAC M327 SUMRS A699 NUCAR ZFP FLIPR7 To KSFO: DARUB 6680N TULAG COUTS IMB J3 RBL MRRLO BDEGA3 #4 IF you are NOT flying between event fields, you must construct a flight plan which sends you to NAT P, A, F or J below. You must construct your own route to bring you to and from the NAT at each end. TRACK J: PEMOS 6310N 6420N 6530N 6640N 6750N DARUB - for flights to West Coast USA and KSFO TRACK F: SUNOT 5720N 5730N 5640N 5550N LOMSI - for flights to Central USA, CYYZ and KORD TRACK A: DINIM 5120N 5130N 5040N 4850N NICSO - for flights to East Coast USA, KJFK, KBOS TRACK P: RIVAK SIVIR 4520N 4330N 4140N 3950N 3660N RNGRS JIMAC M327 SUMRS - for flights to KMIA, Florida and the Caribbean Enjoy the event!

More information, particularly for pilots flying without a slot, will be posted here later tonight.

Over the past week, VATSIM has seen two huge records broken: for the first time ever, our community saw 2,500 unique members online at the same time and we also saw 10,000 different VATSIM members connect to the network over a 24 hour period. These are huge figures for the network which has seen significant and steady growth in popularity since the release of Audio for VATSIM last year. It also comes at a time when the network is ramping up for further upgrades to enhance the user experience, including a total overhaul of the pilot ratings system which will include brand new learning material and a basic online knowledge check for new pilots as part of the joining process. VATSIM has also revealed its plans to implement a global events and ATC booking system this year to make it easier for pilots and controllers to plan their online sessions. These new records come at a time as the community gears up for the biggest online flight simulation event anywhere: Cross The Pond, which takes place on VATSIM this Saturday, 4th April. The technical team have been working hard to ensure the network’s servers are ready for the unprecedented numbers expected this weekend. Finally, our local VATSIM communities across the world have been ramping up their activities. You can find a summary of planned VATSIM events here.

Our community has had an incredible weekend, with TWO all time records set! We saw 2,042 unique users online - this is the unique user count which doesn't include ATIS and duplicate connections. We saw well over 8,000 different VATSIM users online over a 24 hour period. These are HUGE figures. Over the coming weeks and months, we expect the network to get even busier. If you hold an ATC rating, please consider controlling so that we can maximise our coverage across the network!

The rule is perfect as currently written. The intent behind it is to make clear that a pilot should initiate contact ATC if in their airspace and to prevent them knowingly sailing through without contacting anyone. In other words, the onus is on the pilot to make reasonable efforts to check. My point is that knowing exactly which sector you're in and how they are split isn't always possible, so if a controller sees a pilot enter their sector without contact they would do well to send a contact me instead of hiding behind this rule. In other words, it takes two to tango.