[DEC 14 17:00Z - DEC 15 13:00Z] Cross the Ditch 17

November 21, 2019 at 04:44 AM

Cross the Ditch 17: Summer 2019

Celebrating ten years of Crossing the Ditch!

All eyes are on Wellington, as VATSIM's pilots connect New Zealand's capital to three great Australian airports. December is the time for all pilots to taste the Southern Summer and Cross the Ditch!

What's it all about?

For twenty hours this December, the skies over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand will be filled with aircraft all on a mission to Cross the Ditch.

An example of that typical down-under understatement, this "ditch" is over 1100nm wide. The flight routes all range from three to four hours flight time.

Throughout the event, the Oceania region's two divisions - VATNZ and VATPAC - will be providing full ATC coverage, in the Southern Hemisphere's premiere oceanic event.

This is a great opportunity to experience Oceanic flying without the need to commit to an eight-hour flight!

If you're new to Oceanic Flying, our reporting tool makes taking part a breeze.

Event Times

This twenty hour event is timed to allow pilots from all over the world join the fun:

UTC: Saturday 14th December 2019 17:00 - Sunday 15th December 2019 13:00
AEDT: Sunday 15th December 2019 04:00 - Monday 16th December 2019 00:00
NZDT: Sunday 15th December 2019 06:00 - Monday 16th December 2019 02:00

Waves

This season's event is organised in waves. Each airport will have a set departure window, during which time flights will be able to leave for the next destination. As the window closes, the departure window will open at the next destination.

Given each of the flights is 3 - 4hrs in length, the previous wave's flights will be arriving at the same airport as the next wave departs, maximising the amount of traffic at each airport.

NOTE: in order to ensure that you have ATC coverage throughout your flight, you MUST fly the wave route that is active at the time of your departure.

The individual routes are designed to ensure as much opposing traffic enroute as possible.

Each flight p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]es from one Oceania division to the other, and the result is six mini-flyins over the course of twenty hours!

The Wave Route and Departure Windows for Cross the Ditch 17 - Summer 2019 are:

Wave 1 : 1700-1930z : Wellington (NZWN) to Brisbane (YBBN)
Wave 2 : 1930-2330z : Brisbane (YBBN) to Wellington (NZWN)
Wave 3 : 2230-0300z : Wellington (NZWN) to Avalon (YMAV)
Wave 4 : 0200-0630z : Avalon (YMAV) to Wellington (NZWN)
Wave 5 : 0500-0930z : Wellington (NZWN) to Canberra (YSCB)

Calling all Pilots and Controllers

Flight plans are available from the Flight Plans section.

Book your flights now from the Flight Bookings page. Bookings made on this site help us plan for the event, and will also show up in vroute.

Controllers wanting to get in on the action can also apply now at the event's ATC Applications page.

Cross the Ditch is brought to you by VATNZ and VATPAC.

November 21, 2019 at 02:57 PM

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh

I never miss event!!!!!!!

Regards,

Aharon

November 22, 2019 at 03:30 AM

Published on the #vatsimevents calendar. https://www.vatsim.net/events/cross-ditch-17

November 24, 2019 at 10:26 PM

Cross the Ditch 17 is three weeks away!

Join us as we celebrate TEN YEARS OF CROSS THE DITCH!

December 5, 2019 at 03:58 AM

Cross the Ditch 17 is just ten days away!

Excitement is building for our tenth anniversary event.

Why Wellington?

For the first time ever, we're running the Wave format with a single airport on the VATNZ side of the Tasman - each of the five waves starts or ends in Wellington.

One of the questions we've received was why we chose Wellington to be the focus airport.

There's a number of reasons, including the availability of quality scenery for the airport across all of the major sims, but the largest factor is that Wellington is one of the most exciting airports to fly into across the entire Oceania region. Its relatively short runway for an international airport, and the fact that Wellington sees gale-force winds more than a hundred days out of the year makes flying (and especially landing) there an exciting experience for p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]engers and pilots alike.

As if to prove our point, this week Wellington has seen winds of over 100km/h on three of the last four days (the other day only registered a paltry 98km/h!). It peaked at 113km/h (61kts).

One of the local news websites published a video of a landing during the gales shot from onboard an Air New Zealand A320. Looks like fun!

We'll have a post here with the seven day forecast for the event coming up in a few days.

ATC Roster Out Soon

The first iteration of the CTD17 ATC Roster will be out at the beginning of next week. Controllers wanting to join in the fun and spend some time behind the scope should register their availability via the ATC page on the Cross the Ditch website as soon as possible to make sure you don't miss out.

Pilots - Claim your slots now!

Pilots should book your flights now to ensure you get the pick of the landing/departure slots. History has shown that over the final week leading up to CTD, the bookings tend to explode as pilots firm up their plans, and slots for the busier times of day start to run out. Now is your chance to lock in the slots you want before they're gone.

December 10, 2019 at 01:16 AM

Cross the Ditch 17 is this coming weekend!

Our tenth anniversary event is less than a week away.

Long Range Forecast

Having posted last time about the wild weather that Wellington has been experiencing of late, the long range weather forecast for the this weekend's event is suggesting near perfect flying conditions not only in Wellington, but in the three Australian airports as well.

Wellington's forecast is for a fine day with relatively light northwesterly breezes. What cloud there is will remain offshore affording pilots fantastic views of the mountain and coastal scenery of central New Zealand.

Brisbane is forecast to be hot (35c) and sunny with light north-easterly winds.

Avalon is the outlier in terms of weather with the event's only forecast cloudy conditions. Temperatures should be mild (20c) with light south-westerly winds.

Canberra is expecting a hot day (30c) with strengthening westerlies during the event.

Obviously, much can change between the long-range forecasts and the event, so we will be providing an updated weather briefing heading into the weekend. Pilots should ensure they have booked their flights through the Cross the Ditch website to ensure that they receive the pre-flight briefing mailed to them.

ATC Roster Out Tomorrow

The CTD17 ATC Roster is due out tomorrow. There is still time from controllers wanting to take part in the event to register their availability via the ATC page on the Cross the Ditch website.

Pilots - Claim your slots now!

Pilots should book your flights now to ensure you get the pick of the landing/departure slots. History has shown that over the final week leading up to CTD, the bookings tend to explode as pilots firm up their plans, and slots for the busier times of day start to run out. Now is your chance to lock in the slots you want before they're gone.

December 13, 2019 at 12:52 AM

Cross the Ditch 17 is in two days!

Our tenth anniversary event is this weekend.

Weather Update

The three-day weather forecasts are still suggesting relatively calm, warm, and sunny weather. This is pretty much in line with the long-term forecasts above. The only noteworthy change is that the Canberra forecast is now showing Smoke Haze from the nearby bush-fires, which could significantly reduce visibility for pilots at the end of the event.

A final weather forecast will be sent to all pilots who have booked flights, as part of their flight briefing emails, around this time tomorrow. Get your flights booked before then to ensure you receive the briefings.

ATC Roster Out

The CTD17 ATC Roster was published earlier this week. If you applied to help out with ATC and have not received a copy, please contact Eric or Sam to get a copy and to confirm what shifts you've been allocated.

Pilots - Book your flights now!

Pilots should make sure to book their flights within the next twenty-four hours to ensure you receive the flight briefing mails when they are published tomorrow.

Bookings remain open right up until the event, so be sure to book your flights and reserve the departure and landing slots for the flight segments you wish to operate.

December 14, 2019 at 11:47 PM

Cross the Ditch 17 is underway!

Our tenth anniversary event is on right now.

Wellington Weather

As is often the way, Wellington has defied the weather forecasts and thrown up some spicy flying conditions:

NZWN 142300Z AUTO 36022G37KT 9999 BKN032/// 18/11 Q1009 NOSIG

It's not too late to come and join the fun - head over to the Cross the Ditch website to grab the official flight plans and get in on the action.

[DEC 14 17:00Z - DEC 15 13:00Z] Cross the Ditch 17

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