[2nd April 2022] Cross the Pond Westbound - Discussion Thread

[Nick Marinov]

Cross The Pond - Westbound 2022

Welcome to the discussion thread for CTP Westbound 2022!

Cross The Pond is the largest and longest-running event on VATSIM (almost 20 years). The event is biannual flying between Europe and North and Central America Westbound in the spring and Eastbound in the autumn. Hundreds of pilots light up the virtual skies, dozens of controllers burn both ends of the candle to provide professional ATC service over the Ocean and the Continents.

To keep in touch with news regarding the event, you can follow us on our social media and look for the hashtag #CTP22W
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vatsimctp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vatsimctp

Discord

You have already been asking where the place to talk about CTP is. For the first time, we are inviting you to our own discord server to interact with the community and the event team. Head over to https://ctp.vatsim.net/ and join the chat!

When does everything happen?

The event is big and it takes various people around 2-3 months to organise. This is the general timeline of how things will happen:

1. Date Announcement - 2nd April for this edition
2. Airfield Applications - local staff can submit airports for consideration for the event
3. Airfield Voting - you, the VATSIM membership tell us where you want to fly
4. Airport Announcement - we announce the airports that will take part n this event
5. Slot Lottery Entry - pilots are able to express their interest in flying the event and submit themselves into our lottery system
6. Slot Lottery Results - around 2 weeks before the event, the lottery runs and you get the opportunity to pick your slot
7. Confirmation - by the week of the event, everyone will have to re-confirm they are flying to keep their pilot slot, otherwise it will become available to others
8. Route allocation - on the day of the event, you will receive a route to fly
9. CTP DAY
10. Sleep for all
11. Feedback from controllers, pilots and staff

We will provide more information on every step as we go along.

Seeing the News

We will be posting news in this post, our social media and our discord server. Make sure to get involved at those places so you don’t miss anything!

Our Aims

We are fortunate to be run by a team of very experienced VATSIM members. Our core Planning Team commits a significant portion of our free time to this event every year. It's not uncommon for a significant proportion of us to sleep no more than 3-4 hours on the night before the event to get everything done and then get up to control until we collapse. We do this because we are committed to a successful event and the enjoyment of hundreds to thousands of members. If you're one of those members, then we can't wait to welcome you to our event this year. If however you don't enjoy or think we can do better in this event, we are also happy to hear it. You can post here. You can submit feedback after the event. We know we don't make everyone happy, but we love to try to improve year on year.

From the Planning Team

This event will never be possible without the wonderful volunteers from various teams - tech teams, marketing teams, events and more. Our thanks go to them.
 

[Nick Marinov]

Cross the Pond is happy to announce our departure and arrival fields for 2022 Westbound!

Departing:

• EDDM
• EGKK
• EHAM
• EIDW
• ENGM
• GCTS
• LFPG
• LOWW
• LPPT
• LTFM

Arriving:

• CYUL
• CYVR
• CYWG
• KATL
• KBOS
• KEWR
• KIAH
• KPHL
• KTPA
• TBPB, TFFF, TFFR

 

You can keep up to date with us via our twitter and facebook @vatsimctp, or the CTP Discord server. To join our discord head over to ctp.vatsim.net and follow the instructions.

[Nick Marinov]

 

Pilots are now allowed to join our slot lottery!

Demand for participation in CTP outweighs the available capacity of the controllers and airspace. As a result, we choose to limit the number of participants using a slot system.

Only pilots with a slot are able to participate in the event. In order to distribute the slots to pilots we complete the following steps:

• Pilots register their interest (available 8th - 17th March 1900 UTC)
• The lottery calculates if you have been awarded a slot and your position in the queue
• Pilots login after their allocated time and pick a time slot and city pair (being earlier in the lottery gives more chance for the route you want) (available 21st -25th March)
• After everyone has had some time to select their route, the remaining slots are released to all members (on Saturday 26th March)

Several factors affect the outcome of the lottery, the most significant of which is your historical interaction with this event. If you have no-showed during a previous event when you held a booking, you will have slightly less chance of getting a slot now. If you applied but did not get a slot last year, you will have a slightly higher chance of getting a slot now.

 In a change from previous events, you will have to return to the website in the week leading up to the event to reconfirm your intention to fly and to provide important information such as your callsign, maximum assignable flight level and so on.

We hope that these changes will ensure as many people can fly for this event as possible and importantly, that as many people with a slot join us for the event.

You may now register to be included in the lottery at ctp.vatsim.net

If you want to keep up to date with CTP, don't forget to join our Discord server at ctp.vatsim.net
 

Edited March 23, 2022 at 07:24 PM by Nick Marinov

[Nick Marinov]

This Event's system in Detail

To explain the process in detail this year. The lottery will run much the same as previous - that being that everyone will go into the lottery and get randomised into an order. This order will be affected primarily by chance, however, there will be weighting for the following:

• No shows - negative weighting if you no-showed a slot you had in the previous event. This does not include people who dropped a slot they were allocated.
• Previous slot allocations - if you got a slot in the last lottery, you have a slightly negative weighting. Likewise, if you didn't, you have a slight positive weighting
• Sequential events - if you have multiple sequential unsuccessful events, you get more of a positive weighting

With all of those factors taken into account, people will be ranked from 1 to N (N being the total number of people who express interest). A reminder that the main factor is chance, and therefore if you have negative weighting, you aren't guaranteed to not have a slot. Likewise, with a positive weighting, you aren't guaranteed.

Each person is then given a time that they can book from. These times will probably start at 1400Z on Monday 21st and there is at least 1 minute between each person in the lottery, therefore a maximum of 5 people getting in every 5 minutes. Times will be 1400-2200 UTC only, which we have picked based on an acceptable 'daylight' time between the US and Europe, our core pilot base. So the first person in the lottery will end up being able to book from 1400Z on Monday. Someone in the middle of the lottery may not be able to book until 1600Z on Wednesday (for example). The point of this is that if you can't exactly make whatever time you're given, you are likely to be able to log on soon after and still get a choice of slots, in contrast to the classic 'free for all' system where being 15 minutes late meant no slot at all.
 

[Tom Sylvester]

On 3/8/2022 at 8:13 PM, Nick Marinov said:

Each person is then given a time that they can book from.

So I expressed an interest, but didn’t get an email… does that mean I was unsuccessful?? Would have been nice to have had some information… or did something else go wrong?

Thanks

Tom

[Dave Catalani]

• After everyone has had some time to select their route, the remaining slots are released to all members (on Monday 26th March)

March 26 is a Saturday. please clarify when routes are open to all members.

[Nick Marinov]

17 hours ago, Tom Sylvester said:

So I expressed an interest, but didn’t get an email… does that mean I was unsuccessful?? Would have been nice to have had some information… or did something else go wrong?

Thanks

Tom

Yes, only those who were successful in the lottery got an email. However, I have seen one case of the email getting lost somewhere, so you can also check here: https://ctp.vatsim.net/bookings

12 hours ago, Dave Catalani said:

• After everyone has had some time to select their route, the remaining slots are released to all members (on Monday 26th March)

March 26 is a Saturday. please clarify when routes are open to all members.

Bookings will be released to all in the evening (zulu). Exact time will be announced later this week with enough time in advance.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Nick, I believe the OP was asking for clarification on the date itself, as it's written "Monday 26th March" which doesn't exist.  Either the 26th is correct, or the Monday is.

[Nick Marinov]

15 hours ago, Robert Shearman Jr said:

Nick, I believe the OP was asking for clarification on the date itself, as it's written "Monday 26th March" which doesn't exist.  Either the 26th is correct, or the Monday is.

Oh, haven't noticed. This has been corrected in the post. It's meant to be Saturday the 26th.

[Evan Reiter]

As Cross the Pond approaches, experienced VATSIM pilots and controllers will be hosting a 45-minute pilot briefing livestream to help pilots get ready for the event. All VATSIM pilots, especially those with or expecting a CTP slot, are invited to participate live or watch the recording.

• Date: March 26, 2022 (tomorrow!)
• Time: 1800 UTC
• How to Watch: https://www.twitch.tv/vatsimnet or https://www.youtube.com/c/VATSIMnetwork

You can also (optionally) register on Flight Simulation Association's website. Registration provides you with a calendar invitation, along with the links/resources and slides from the presentation.

The session will be recorded and available on replay immediately following the livestream. 

Covering European operations, oceanic procedures, and tips for the arrival into North America, this 45-minute seminar will be perfect for pilots flying Cross the Pond Westbound, as well as those looking for some reminders on best practices for online network flying. Following the presentation, there will be plenty of time for questions! 

Agenda:

1. What is Cross the Pond? 
2. Departure: Tips for European Operations
3. Oceanic Procedures
4. Arrival: Flying into North America
5. Checklist for Flying CTP
6. Questions & Answers

Presenters:

This live session will be presented by VATSIM air traffic controllers experienced with online domestic and oceanic operations. @Robert Shearman Jr, host of Slant Alpha Adventures on Twitch and YouTube, is the former VATSTAR Chief Flight Instructor and an active VATSIM controller. He has flown in six previous CTP events and provided ATC coverage for three. @1341101is a C1 (Center) controller on VATSIM, Deputy Director of VATSIM Spain, and the Operations Director within Gander Oceanic. He controls various positions across Europe and North America. The free live event is hosted by Flight Simulation Association and will be available on Twitch, YouTube, and the FSA website. 

Edited March 25, 2022 at 01:19 PM by Evan Reiter

[James Cardwell]

On 3/21/2022 at 5:05 AM, Nick Marinov said:

Yes, only those who were successful in the lottery got an email. However, I have seen one case of the email getting lost somewhere, so you can also check here: https://ctp.vatsim.net/bookings

Bookings will be released to all in the evening (zulu). Exact time will be announced later this week with enough time in advance.

Has the time been determined yet for the release of the remaining bookings to those that did not get a spot in the lottery?

Cheers - Jim

 

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Saturday the 26th at 1900z.

[Kevin Hornaday]

[Dave Catalani]

[Miguel Pazos]

I've received the email, and I booked an slot. However, later, I changed the route, baut now I cannot conform the slot.

If I use the link that i hace received, I received an error.

I´m not sure if I have the slot yet

Edited March 28, 2022 at 10:26 PM by Miguel Pazos

[Nick Marinov]

All pilots with a slot MUST login to confirm you are flying between now and  27th October at 2100 UTC, otherwise it will be lost! View your dashboard to confirm your slot.

This might seem excessive, however it's easy to forget to drop the slot if you are no longer available and we want as many people to enjoy the event as possible. We therefore provide any unconfirmed bookings to those looking for a last minute slot.

If you are planning not to fly, please log into the site to drop your slot. This enables someone who wants to fly to do so.

While you’re there, double check you have a callsign you are happy with and that you have put in your maximum acceptable flight level. This flight level is the maximum level you anticipate to be able to achieve by the ocean entry point. We will allocate you a level at or below this level when we assign your route.

You will receive your route, SELCAL along with your confirmed flight level on the day of the event. This will be sent via email and available via your pilot dashboard.

If you have questions, you can contact us via this thread. If you're a discord user, visit the CTP website to join our Discord server where you can interact with the community and directly ask questions to the event organisers.

Edited March 28, 2022 at 10:54 PM by Nick Marinov

[Kieran Hardern]

31 minutes ago, Miguel Pazos said:

I've received the email, and I booked an slot. However, later, I changed the route, baut now I cannot conform the slot.

If I use the link that i hace received, I received an error.

I´m not sure if I have the slot yet

 

 

Miguel

Our records show that you clicked the 'release slot' button at 2321z on 25th March. This means the slot was released and it was booked by someone else. In this case you also went onto the bookings page and clicked 'book' on another slot about 10 minutes later.

Unfortunately this means that you don't have a booked slot for the event.

[Miguel Pazos]

OK, my mistake, thanks

[Martin Flecker]

Hello, last week i got the verification mail for the booking LOWW - CYUL.

Now is the time frame, wich noted in the mail, but when i click the link, i´m getting an error mesage: "You are unable that URL at this moment!" 
I need some help please!

Thx in advance

Edited March 30, 2022 at 08:05 PM by Martin Flecker

[Alan Boulianne]

When I go to my Cross the Pond page with my different computer, I can't see the dashboard with the confirmation. It show this message: error we are unable to access your URL this time. 

I was selected and I booked and received a confirmation email saying that I need to confirm but can't get it. Can anyone please help?

Thank you, 

Al Boulianne ID: 819730

Edited March 30, 2022 at 01:15 PM by Alan Boulianne

[Alan Boulianne]

Did you get my reply with photo of my booking?

Al

[Nick Marinov]

Hi Alan,

You messages us on 4 different mediums now. One is more than enough and the tech team has responded to you where you first posted your issue. Things like this only make us spend more time looking around stuff, rather than helping and resolving issues.

[Nick Marinov]

On 3/29/2022 at 10:45 PM, Martin Flecker said:

Hello, last week i got the verification mail for the booking LOWW - CYUL.

Now is the time frame, wich noted in the mail, but when i click the link, i´m getting an error mesage: "You are unable that URL at this moment!" 
I need some help please!

Thx in advance

Can you send a message in the organiser-questions channel if you are in the CTP discord or if not, send a private message to one of the CTP social media accounts (@vatsimctp) please?

[Angel Medina López]

• Members
• •  3
• VATSIM ID: 1188241

Posted 11 minutes ago

Hi,

I won't be able to perform flight DLH480 EDDM CYUL  Is there any chance to cancel it?

[Nick Marinov]

1 hour ago, Angel Medina López said:

 

•  
• Members
• •  3
• VATSIM ID: 1188241

 

Posted 11 minutes ago

Hi,

I won't be able to perform flight DLH480 EDDM CYUL  Is there any chance to cancel it?

Unfortunately, no. All slot data has now been locked and sent to local facilities in preparation for the event.