Jump to content

You're browsing the 2004-2023 VATSIM Forums archive. All content is preserved in a read-only fashion.
For the latest forum posts, please visit https://forum.vatsim.net.

Need to find something? Use the Google search below.

Hidden Controller


Arthur Melton
 Share

Recommended Posts

Arthur Melton
Posted
Posted

Hi guy's, Has anyone been accosted by the controller hiding in the clouds in the Australian / Pacific region . He does not show up on vatspy the first thing you know is the call from him,"contact me on ####",he may be the undercover air police. {ATC}.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Richard Walsh
Posted
Posted

Was it a Supervisor?

854300

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Matt Bozwood-Davies changed the title to Hidden Controller
Andrew Ogden
Posted
Posted
Just now, Arthur Melton 1092578 said:

he may be the undercover air police

I've been trying to say this for years! :shock:

Humour aside, he/she may have operated one of the 2 FSS stations in Australia. They operate upper area control above FL245 (correct if wrong).

I don't believe they show up in unmodified VATSPY, so this may be one explanation for you.

Cheers,

Andrew Ogden
Gander Oceanic OCA Chief
Vancouver FIR Senior Instructor

Visit us: https://ganderoceanic.ca
Contact: [email protected] 

CZQO LogoCZVR Logo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kirk Christie
Posted
Posted (edited)
On 4/11/2020 at 12:45 PM, Arthur Melton 1092578 said:

Hi guy's, Has anyone been accosted by the controller hiding in the clouds in the Australian / Pacific region . He does not show up on vatspy the first thing you know is the call from him,"contact me on ####",he may be the undercover air police. {ATC}.

Australia and New Zealand operate under some local specific policies, of which an en route controller can extend their coverage to neighboring en-route sectors to provide as much ATC service as possible to pilots, after all, that is the point of VATSIM right....  

This can be found by visiting the VATPAC website and going to about us, then policies, controller positions and ratings, section 3.3.3 Enroute Extended Coverage.

When a controller extends coverage, there is no way for them to make it so that VATSPY shows the additional sectors they are covering. Any controller providing extended coverage will place that information on what sectors they are extending too, what frequency you can contact them on, and what additional aerodromes are receiving ATC.

You can check this information by right clicking on a controllers name and requesting controller info, remembering that under the CoC, it is the pilots responsibility to check for ATC coverage in an area for which they are flying.

This extended coverage system has been in place since VATPAC was established, ultimately this would not be an issue if pilots just do as the message says.

I can assure you that this is no undercover operation, despite the well known issues you have with ATC ruining your time on a Virtual Air Traffic network.

Edited by Kirk Christie
  • Like 1
  • Haha 6

Kirk Christie - VATPAC C3

VATPAC Undercover ATC Agent

Worldflight Perth 737-800 Crew Member

956763

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andrew Ogden
Posted
Posted

New hit squad? 😲
image.png.40db5a9067411d3aa7c037bcf852acbb.png

Andrew Ogden
Gander Oceanic OCA Chief
Vancouver FIR Senior Instructor

Visit us: https://ganderoceanic.ca
Contact: [email protected] 

CZQO LogoCZVR Logo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

John Koranteng
Posted
Posted

It has to be🤔

John K
VATSIM Membership Department - Data Auditing
[email protected]

vatsim_250.png.cb6bb5fa2b0b19b9301c46c1dea85658.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Christian Kovanen
Posted
Posted

If you haven't updated your VatSpy files from the default ones many areas have changed and wont show up because of that. For example, EFES and EFPS (this was merged to EFES even earlier) have been replaced by EFIN (Finland FIR if you didnt know). Due to this when EFIN_CTR is online it will not show EFES or EFPS being covered on VatSpy with default data (This has caused confusion with pilots).

Christian Kovanen
Director of VATSIM Scandinavia
Membership Audit Team Lead

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mark Doyle
Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Christian Kovanen said:

If you haven't updated your VatSpy files from the default ones many areas have changed and wont show up because of that. For example, EFES and EFPS (this was merged to EFES even earlier) have been replaced by EFIN (Finland FIR if you didnt know). Due to this when EFIN_CTR is online it will not show EFES or EFPS being covered on VatSpy with default data (This has caused confusion with pilots).

You can get the latest data here: https://github.com/vatsimnetwork/vatspy-data-project

 

Developer: vatsim.net | community.vatsim.net | estvacc.org

                                                           vatsim tech logo
   
                                               

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Board of Governors
Don Desfosse
Posted
Posted
On 4/12/2020 at 4:16 AM, Kirk Christie said:

I can assure you that this is no undercover operation, despite the well known issues you have with ATC ruining your time on a Virtual Air Traffic network.

Laughing my rear end off!

  • Haha 1

Don Desfosse
Vice President, Operations

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...
Craighton Miller
Posted
Posted

I've had this happen to me flying between Melbourne and up north near Darwin. Sometimes the center's in Australia won't pop up for me.  

Craighton Miller (1273399)
Marketing & Communications Team

spacer.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Zach Biesse-Fitton
Posted
Posted

Please see Kirks post above, for an explanation about how extended coverage service work in Australia 🙂

  • Like 1

Zach Biesse-Fitton
VATSIM Developer and Supervisor | VATPAC Division Director

vatSys Development Team

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Robert Shearman Jr
Posted
Posted

Generally speaking, if you get a "contact me" request from a controller, you should answer it. It would be extremely unlikely that a controller is unclear on what airspace they do and don't cover.

Cheers,
-R.

fvJfs7z.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greg Barber
Posted
Posted

"contactme" is NOT being accosted.  It's simply a controller saying "Hey there, would you mind giving me a call please?"

  • Like 1

Greg Barber

VATPAC3 - Director ATC Training & Standards

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share