New pilot rating system

[EDWARD STEFANOVICH]

Good day all.

I am just trying to clarify a few things with this new pilot rating announcement.

I have been flying in VATSIM for almost a decade and in my account profile I am shown No rating. I guess I should have completed at least a basic training to get at least P0?

It says new members will have to complete a basic training before they can even login. So what is going to happen to pilots like me with no rating? Will I be kicked off from flying till I accomplish a basic training?

Thanks

[Trevor Hannant]

Only affects new members after the implementation date. Current members with no rating will be unaffected

[Mats Edvin Aaro]

Hey Edward, first of all I'm sorry. I belong to the newer generation, and forums aren't the most natural place for me to post things. I will get the announcement out here ASAP!

 

And Trevor is correct. The mandatory program only affects new members. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[Richard McDonald Woods]

What is this? Where is the announcement?

[Tobias Dammers]

https://www.vatsim.net/news/restructuring-pilot-rating-system

[EDWARD STEFANOVICH]

Thanks for the reply everyone. That helps.

[Richard McDonald Woods]

Thanks!

[Fabrizio Pascucci]

I am writing this as my personal opinion I am disappointed on the new Pilot Rating System.

I am part of the Vatsim training program in my division with a rank of

P4 and an S3 as an ATC.

We saw those changes coming in just two months with email and info.

We understand by reading the new policy that the level of demand to

archive those new rankings has become really difficult for people that

apply in their spare time and mostly on budget simulation.

Even for us, trainer the demand for knowledge and software licence is

really too much to ask and in terms of privacy we face many barriers

and furthermore we are not real pilots with a CPL but the request of

the new ranking is the same as to be a real one's.

I always thought that to attract people in every division is to create

a social network where the division benefits and raise the quality and

find adhesion.

The small division has lots of difficulties to raise the traffic and

teach knowledge by the lack of people and resources, so at the end of

the game and every time only larger division can grow and furthermore

only on those divisions you can find ATC and traffic.

What really astonishes me is that Vatsim was always on the optic of

open arms and be respectful for every level of skill but with those

new rules is becoming a more skilled network instead of the old

philosophy.

 

 

This is another wish but this is a dream

I think Vatsim needs to change this behavior and open those divisions

to the rest of the world, where training, Atc and traffic can evolve,

so you can fly everywhere and get the most from every division sector

.

Let's say that Europe becomes one division everybody is invited to fly

and get ATC all along the way plus add training for people that want

to raise their skill so someone can get certification to fly in Europe

and also to cover Atc in an important airport.

Then we cover Africa then south and North of Asia after Australasia,

North America, south or Central America.

I sent a request for a visiting controller as Atc with my rank and the

answer was we only train native language and we are busy at the

moment.

But that was not the case in my division where we accepted people from everywhere but

with English language.

Where English is the facto the aviation language so no barrier should

rise if I want to learn to cover another airport that is not in my

division.

We should really open those barriers and give the chance to everyone

that wants to fly or control in Vatsim.

[Richard McDonald Woods]

I agree with most of Fabrizio's comments. I like his suggestion that there should be far fewer ATOs - perhaps just a single one for each continent.

I am very much in favour of a comprehensive training program if pilots can be encouraged to study it.

However, I feel that the new rating system will be seen as a major raising of the studies required, and this will only further delay the number achieving the higher ratings. This will be counterproductive.

[Ira Robinson]

I agree with most of Fabrizio's comments. I like his suggestion that there should be far fewer ATOs - perhaps just a single one for each continent.

I am very much in favour of a comprehensive training program if pilots can be encouraged to study it.

However, I feel that the new rating system will be seen as a major raising of the studies required, and this will only further delay the number achieving the higher ratings. This will be counterproductive.

 

But it's okay for the controllers to have to do this? This is a discussion that is going to get beat to death, if not here, than under another topic somewhere. And every new pilot is going to complain that it isn't fair. Well, I guess not. But it seems to me that experienced pilots would much rather fly with good ATC than poor ATC. Well the controllers feel the same way. So unless you are a pilot who does not like to fly with ATC at all, this seems only fair to both the other pilots and the controllers that a pilot should know how to turn left or right when instructed to do so.

 

That is as simple an argument I can make for it. There are too many other what-ifs that can only cloud the discussion.

[Scott Clifford]

My interpretation suggest P0 is merely a program designed to ensure new users understand Vatsim policies and the code of conduct and can proficiently operate the software required to maneuver the Vatsim networks. So to have clarification, will new users (pilots) be required to demonstrate any flying knowledge or skills?

 

Secondly, I would like to be [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ured that this upcoming program will remain completely optional for existing users and will not affect access to future Vatsim events.

 

Lastly, I hope Vatsim remains a social environment to be enjoyed by all age groups as in the past. IMHO we don't really need "ultra-realistic" in hobby that is fun. Weeks ago I witnessed a real-world controller bickering with real-world pilot on the Vatsim network and I chuckled (please don't bring real world drama to my favorite fun-filled hobby). Although I found it humorous at the time, on reflect I became a little concerned that real world professionals were invading a social community to impart their superiority in a video game. Most real world aviation professionals have gone above and beyond to help us amateurs and for that I am eternally grateful for their time and efforts to improve the Vatsim experience. I just hope all these ratings don't begin to deteriorate the friendly community atmosphere.

 

Stay safe. Stay healthy everyone!

[Robert Shearman Jr]

P0 will cover basic VATSIM how-to's and do's-and-dont's, and will be mandatory for all new VATSIM members. Existing members will not need to do it.

 

All pilot ratings that involve actual "pilot stuff" (as Goose would call it, sort of) will remain optional.

[Andrew Ogden]

I guess you could think of it this way:

 

The Pilot ratings will be similar to Controller ratings, just... well for pilots of course. Both are very similar concepts, one could think of the Pilot and Controller rating systems as two branches on a tree, one not any more difficult than the other, just providing different skill sets.

 

In the same way as if I perhaps wasn't inclined to earn myself a controller rating, I could choose to remain as a P0. There are scores of people under the present system that have chosen to remain as an 'Observer', rather than learn to control.

 

So therefore, why make it easier for the pilots if it's already hard for the controllers? I feel the new system certainly goes a long way to aligning the training requirements for both systems.

 

There's nobody forcing anyone to earn a pilot rating (aside from the P0 under the new system), just as there's nobody forcing anyone to earn a controller rating. They can simply choose to remain as a P0. But if a person does choose to study for a pilot rating, why make it easier than earning a controller rating?

 

Everything is optional here. VATSIM can remain as an awesome hobby, or as something more serious for the people who desire to progress through the pilot or controller ratings.

 

In addition, Fabrizio raised a good question: Why is it a requirement in some areas of the world to speak a native language for training?

 

My $0.02.

 

Cheers,

[Giovanni Granatiero]

Gentlemen, I am writing this as my personal opinion.

But you really believe that a bricklayer, an electrician, a lumberjack, a dentist, an engineer, an unemployed person, a lawyer, a driver, a doctor, a sailor, a clerk, a bartender etc. tired of the job comes to study the way it was thought? The Italian ATO out of 283 people enrolled in the school in 8 years, only 1 had the PPL, only 97 have achieved the P1, only in 18 in 8 years have achieved the P4.

And the Italian ATO system followed the old syllabuses.

I would really like to know how many people in the whole world have time and desire to get involved with a completely unknown subject, if you are not in the sector.

Only the old ratings had to be revised, the unnecessary eliminated, the new ones were recl[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ified, only small changes had to be made to the old syllabuses, already heavy, for the categories mentioned above, I would have expected that the P3 was taught before the P4, as it took place with a biturboelica, it is a p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]age in real reality, the P4 became the ATPL as you fly with an Airliner.

But I'm Giovanni CFI of the Italian ATO (Ex Flight Check approved by the FFAA, with over 30,000 real flight hours), which counts for nothing ..

Gentlemen do not forget that reality is outside the 4 walls, which close the computer room, when I want to fly, I take a real plane and go, virus permitting.

Thanks for your attention and sorry for my outburst.

 

ps) Sorry my Englisch..

[Tobias Dammers]

Gentlemen, I am writing this as my personal opinion.

But you really believe that a bricklayer, an electrician, a lumberjack, a dentist, an engineer, an unemployed person, a lawyer, a driver, a doctor, a sailor, a clerk, a bartender etc. tired of the job comes to study the way it was thought? The Italian ATO out of 283 people enrolled in the school in 8 years, only 1 had the PPL, only 97 have achieved the P1, only in 18 in 8 years have achieved the P4.

And the Italian ATO system followed the old syllabuses.

I would really like to know how many people in the whole world have time and desire to get involved with a completely unknown subject, if you are not in the sector.

Only the old ratings had to be revised, the unnecessary eliminated, the new ones were recl[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ified, only small changes had to be made to the old syllabuses, already heavy, for the categories mentioned above, I would have expected that the P3 was taught before the P4, as it took place with a biturboelica, it is a p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]age in real reality, the P4 became the ATPL as you fly with an Airliner.

But I'm Giovanni CFI of the Italian ATO (Ex Flight Check approved by the FFAA, with over 30,000 real flight hours), which counts for nothing ..

Gentlemen do not forget that reality is outside the 4 walls, which close the computer room, when I want to fly, I take a real plane and go, virus permitting.

Thanks for your attention and sorry for my outburst.

 

ps) Sorry my Englisch..

 

The way I understand it, not much will actually change.

 

The pilot rating system has been revisited and streamlined, but getting a rating beyond P0 is still completely optional. If you want to enroll in a realistic-ish training system, you can, and it is now more in line with the real-world system. If you don't, then all you need is the basic P0 rating, which, IIUC, is really just a matter of taking a tiny online "exam" to show that you have read and understood the basic rules of conduct and that you are aware of what is expected from you as a pilot on VATSIM. I don't think that's unreasonable at all.

 

And further, anyone who already has an active account will just get P0 without any further action on their part. The full-blown training system, where you have to enroll in a training program with one of the local VATSIM divisions and go through simulated flight training and all that, is only required from the P1 rating up, and those rating are still highly decorative.

 

In other words, there will be no requirement for extensive training just to fly on VATSIM. I believe the "exam" will be such that anyone who has read the rules, knows the basics of flying an aircraft in their simulator of choice, and understands what VATSIM is and is not, will have no problem "p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ing" the P0 "exam".

 

I do think that the way it's presented is superficially misleading, and I sympathize with people who develop a knee-jerk reaction after reading just the headline ("new pilot rating system, everyone needs a P0 rating to fly now!").