Hat Off to Portugal vACC

[Randy Tyndall 1087023]

I looked at the Portugal vACC website as well as the VATEUD website for a place to leave pilot feedback and I know during my latest round of browsing the different pages there that there is one...I simply couldn't find it again. At the time I found it, I wasn't ready to leave feedback, although I already knew what I intended to say. Now that I'm ready I can't find it again. All the better, though, as I think this is important enough to let everyone in the European Region know something.

 

Got you on the edge of your seat, don't I? Okay, well maybe not.

 

Just wanted to give a shout out to Miguel Frias and Duarte Folgado in the Portugal vACC. I just completed my evaluation for my P3 rating...I p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ed...and wanted to thank both of them specifically, but also the entire vACC Portugal staff as well as members of VATEUD and VATEUR. You are all awesome hosts.

 

The P3 Course Material was very well design and easy to follow. I knew at all points what was expected of me. Miguel and Duarte were very accommodating when it came to my schedule given my normal days off (I work weekends) and the 7 hour difference in our time zones. What should have been one session turned out to actually be three, all because of issues on my end. I flew the first leg of the evaluation on January 19th, but my internet provider decided at 1,000 feet out of Cascais on leg two to Evora to shut down our local service for over 2 hours for server/line maintenance. After finally completing leg two to Evora on the 27th I felt really embarr[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ed about my performance and Miguel, being honest about his expectations also felt I could have and should have done better. Miguel suggested and I agree to have a third session flying a return trip from Evora to Cascais.

 

Happily, I now have a P3 VATSIM Rating and I'm glad I chose vACC Portugal as the PTO to be evaluated through. One couldn't ask for a more dedicated and knowledgeable set of evaluators in Miguel and Duarte. I knew before each flight what their expectations and my tasks were. Not only that, but during the flights I learned some history of Portugal, facts about the landscape, pointers about what to look for visually...these were VFR flights after all, and very complete explanations about ICAO requirements (I am a predominant USA/FAA kind of pilot).

 

A little bit about my evaluation and then I'll be off here. Please bear with me. One of the suggestions in the Course Outline was to download and utilize the PlanG program created by Mr Tim Arnot. If you haven't looked at it before, do so. It is an immense help when doing VFR flying, especially where reporting points and visual reference points are concerned. However, a word of caution about PlanG. I was flying a Cessna 182 that had no Altitude Hold capability. It did have heading and Nav hold, but the type of VFR flying present in the P3 exam doesn't lend itself well to using those abilities. What I found during the course of preparing for and flying the route set out in the Course Outline was that I continually was minimizing FS2004 to look at PlanG to see if I was "on course". Hand flying in a minimized FS2004 is not a good idea. Getting back into FS2004 I just about always was off course and either descending past or climbing beyond the [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned altitude. Doesn't look good to the instructors and honestly, made me feel like a 10-hour "New Guy" again, not an experienced VATSIM Pilot with almost 3,000 hours. I was embarr[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ed!

 

So, my suggestion to anyone using PlanG to help with any of the Pilot Rating Evaluations is to use it to verify that you are on course in practice sessions on your own and, when using it, look out the windows to see the scenery you are flying over. Know what "on course" looks like out the window, to the front, the sides, all directions. Know how your flight simulator depicts a specific lake, or town, or landmark. Don't get comfortable with Plan G, get comfortable with your aircraft and the scenery you are in. I ended up flying my last few practice sessions without PlanG and flew today's evaluation without it as well. I knew what I was supposed to be seeing and knew if I "saw" what I was supposed to, I was on course. I didn't need PlanG to tell me that. Consequently I had far fewer (I think) course and altitude deviations. I have seen it here many times that the scenery in Flight Sim is not very accurate. You'd be surprised how accurate it is once you begin to realize how the scenery is depicted.

 

Anyway, my thanks again to Miguel and Duarte, as well as whoever was controlling Lisboa Approach and Cascais Tower on the 27th (my apologies, I didn't get their names), and the entire vACC Portugal staff. Excellent course material and excellent course.

 

Thank You

 

Randy

[Miguel Frias]

This feels like a payment check for our work at Portugal vACC. Cheers, Randy!

[Duarte Folgado 1106197]

Thanks for your kind words Randy!

 

I agree with Miguel, since VATSIM is a hobby and we didn't get paid for our staff/examiners positions, the best "payment" is indeed a constructive feedback in order to enhance our motivation and make a continuous [Mod - Happy Thoughts]essment and improvement of our workflow.

VATSIM PTD ratings are more than the ratings itself, both professionalism in the evaluation and pleasant from the candidate perspective can coexist in a way that the final goal can make a balance between fun and knowledge improvement, that's why they can be experienced from the most recent newbie to the "old-timer" VATSIM pilot.

 

Hope to see you soon on Portuguese airspace and in the P4.

 

Duarte

[Mike Sweeney]

Ditto Randy's thoughtful comments.

The Portugal vACC has always been very high quality; with a helpful and welcoming team.

 

Congrats to PT-vACC's continued success as an ATO in VATSIM.

... obrigado!