BVA’s Pilot Ratings Program has grown! The self-study, ATC-monitored training program that is designed to help members practice flight operations in the ATC environment has been expanded to include 6 new IFR flights. The expansion brings the program to a total of 26 flights, which cover topics such as VFR closed traffic, cross-country flights, instrument approaches, holds, and RNAV procedures.
To celebrate the launch of the new flights, we’re excited to be hosting a Challenge event on May 6 from 1-4pm ET. The event will feature staffing at BED, BOS, BTV, and SYR so members can work through the new flights. Boston Center will also be staffed throughout the week for members who are looking to begin working on the newly-released PRP flights.
The new flights (PRP IFR 14 through PRP IFR 20) are focused on RNAV/FMS procedures. They cover RNAV departure and arrival procedures, RNP approaches, “descend via”, high-altitude airways, Terminal Arrival Areas, and conventional approaches flown using the GPS. The new flights were developed by BVA member Richard Wang, who wrote each of the new procedures and spent hours in an aircraft testing the flights and collecting the screenshots needed to develop the new program. Virtual FBO CFI James Yuen and the original creator of the PRP (controller Kyle Rosenquist) helped oversee the creation of the new flights.
To see all of our upcoming events, please visit the Events Calendar.
As some of us have seen through the forums, we’re excited to announce that Clif Whitten, formerly Events Coordinator and Administration Team member, has recently been promoted to the role of Deputy Air Traffic Manager. As controllers know, as Deputy Air Traffic Manager (DATM), Clif will be responsible for coordinating the majority of the ATC training that takes place with the ARTCC, including assigning training requests and following up with students and ATC Training Staff members.
Clif has long served the community as our Events Coordinator and has been an active member of the Administration Team for over a year. As such, he will continue to bring his wealth of experience working with our community to the table.
As a result of Clif’s promotion, the Administration Team will be looking for one of BVA’s air traffic controllers to apply to become Events Coordinator. In addition to attending regular administration meetings and helping with general community matters, the Events Coordinator is responsible for managing all things events. This includes creating event schedules, posting reminders about the community, writing articles in the Informer about our events, updating the VATUSA events calendar, and creating rosters and staffing for the events we host.
As you know, BVA relies on member donations to cover expenses like website hosting, FlightSimCon, and other community activities. 100% of the donations go to growing our community. Now, there’s a new way you can help contribute to our community without paying anything extra!
BVA is one of nearly one million charitable organizations that works with AmazonSmile, Amazon’s simple and automatic way to support charities just by shopping. Members have the option to register with smile.amazon.com (using their existing amazon.com account) and can select Boston Virtual ARTCC as their charity of choice. By doing so, 0.5% of all purchases will be donated to BVA, and will go back to helping us support and grow the community.
Have you registered yet for FlightSimCon? The annual aviation and flight simulation conference is BVA’s biggest member meet-up of the year, and we sure hope to see you there. In addition to the event itself, we plane spot from the hotel, participate in an unofficial annual ultimate frisbee tournament, and have a special members-only dinner arranged for Friday night.
Join the more 30 BVA members that will be in attendance at FlightSimCon! If you haven’t registered yet for the conference, visit www.flightsimcon.com now. The best prices are available until May 15. Then, be sure to complete our BVA Member Sign-Up Form so we can make sure we have a T-shirt available for you during the event and we account for you in our dinner planning!
If you haven’t booked space yet at the Sheraton, the hotel is 100% sold out for FlightSimCon weekend. However, if you’re looking to share a room, post on our forums as several of us do have rooms reserved. Otherwise, there are several suggestions for other area hotels on the FlightSimCon website (we recommend the nearby Holiday Inn).
The 18th Annual Boston Tea Party is officially a go! On Saturday, August 19th, the controllers of Boston Virtual ARTCC will descend upon the campus of Rivier University in Nashua, New Hampshire for a seven hour live controlling event that has become one of the longest standing and most anticipated annual events on the VATSIM network. Over 20 controllers will pack the computer lab at Rivier University to light up vZBW airspace.
Members flying in the event (from home) will be able to win great prizes throughout, and—of course—will be able to take advantage of a fully-staffed ZBW during the afternoon of August 19.
More information about the event will be available in the next few weeks.
Last month's question was:
Challenge Question:
The answer to the challenge question will be included in next month's Pilot Tip.
