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Boston Virtual ARTCC is proud to announce the return of Ground School: focused, 1-hour training seminars designed to offer discussion around common virtual aviation topics. The sessions, which will take place in the Member TeamSpeak, are open to all BVA members, with a specific focus on welcoming pilot and newer members into the community.
Ground School topics include VFR Procedures, Weather, RNAV, Radio Communications, Holds, and much more! The sessions will be hosted by BVA C1 controller and P5 holder Alec Liberman, who is also a real-world CPL-ASEL, Instrument certificated pilot.
The first session will take place on Monday, November 19 at 7pm ET in the Member TeamSpeak, with the second two weeks later. Immediately following the discussion, ZBW will be staffed for members to enjoy the ATC experience, and to put the topic of focus into practice.
Please join our Member TeamSpeak at 7pm ET on November 19 for Ground School. You can find server connection information and a detailed connection guide on our website.
On October 27, 2018, VATSIM set a record with over 1,500 unique members online for the first time in its history! It happened during an intense, busy, and extremely fun event that featured transoceanic departures from Boston, New York, Washington, Toronto, and Denver.
Starting at 6am ET on Saturday, October 27 and for over 8 hours, our controllers staffed up Boston Center, Approach, and Tower for VATSIM's bi-annual Cross the Pond event.
As a departure airport, KBOS sent 155 aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean for destinations across Europe. In total, the airport handled 193 takeoffs and landings during the event.
The biggest challenge with Cross the Pond is that it often presents volumes of traffic that mirror or exceed what’s seen in the real world. Our controllers worked hard to keep traffic moving, with departure delays at Boston remaining under 15 minutes throughout the event. Meanwhile, radar controllers merged KBOS departures with traffic from KIAD, KJFK, CYYZ, and other non-event airports throughout the course of the event.
Cross the Pond is the busiest event of the year and puts every controller who shows up to the test. In addition to the nearly twenty controllers who "plugged in" to a Boston ARTCC position, BVA controller and ATC member Chris Raabe (RB) was put to the test with a live Over the Shoulder (OTS) training session in which he received his on-peak Boston Center certification. This certification is no small feat as it represents the pinnacle of training within the BVA ATC structure.
Congratulations to the entire BVA team for yet another successful Cross the Pond and to Chris on his new certification. We look forward to seeing all of you back for another round of Cross the Pond madness in the spring!
ZBW is proud to announce that Clif Whitten, formerly Deputy Air Traffic Manager, was named the permanent Air Traffic Manager earlier this month. Clif’s appointment follows the resignation of Ian Fisher, who had a short but impactful tenure with our community.
Clif has been part of ZBW since 2008 when, in April, he posted his first Test Corrections to enter into the ATC training program. Since then, he has risen through the ranks of our controllers and become increasingly involved in the community’s administration. Today, as one of the longest tenured members of the community, Clif has been actively managing the relationships between our ATC trainees and the instructional staff, while welcoming new controllers and tracking currency for existing members.
As we welcome a seasoned member of the community and Administration Team to the role of Air Traffic Manager, we also wish Ian all the best with his future endeavors. Ian joined the ARTCC at a time when we were seen as a very successful, but somewhat secluded, facility within VATUSA. Behind the scenes, he worked hard to help other facilities and VATUSA controllers understand what ZBW is all about. In many cases, this involved spending time in other TeamSpeak servers, explaining most of the time that ZBW isn’t all that different, and dispelling myths and sharing information. The recent increase in activity and visitors is a direct result of these efforts.
As a result of Clif’s appointment, the Administration Team will be reviewing our personnel needs and looks forward to welcoming applicants in the coming weeks. Members who are interested in giving back to BVA and ZBW should keep an eye on the forums for position postings that will detail application processes.
Please join me in congratulating Clif on his new role, and thanking Ian for his contributions to the organization.
As many of us know, flight simulation is a hobby that we can’t always spend as much time involved with as we might like. For some, it’s easy for the hobby to get away from us; we may want to get back into flying online, but don’t know where to start.
If you’re a BVA member who isn’t active, and wants to get back into the fold, this article will offer a few pointers on how to get reacquainted with our online aviation community.
The first thing you’ll need is your login information at www.bvartcc.com (if you’re receiving this information, you are a community member, so you’ll have an account). If you remember your account’s username, which is often your VATSIM CID, you can try to reset your password. If not, just send us an email and we’ll get you set up. We can also help retrieve a lost VATSIM CID.
Once you have an account, the best place to start with getting reacquainted with the community is our Getting Started Guide. This step-by-step instructional guide provides everything you need to know about getting connected to the community, by simulation platform. It also offers resources to make the best of your simulation experience, like our model matching solution called Fly AI (FLAi).
You can also visit our detailed Pilot References site, which includes information on flight planning, radio communications, and much more.
If you get stuck along the way, we’d love to help! You can post for help on our forums, find us in TeamSpeak and Discord, or just send an email to [email protected].
Remember, we were all new once, and we are happy to welcome new and returning pilots and controllers to the community. If you’re nervous about flying online for the first (or hundredth) time, don’t be! We all remember what it was like the first time we connected to the network, and work hard to ensure you’ll have a positive, welcoming learning environment when you participate.
You can help us help you by:
1. Including “BVA student pilot” or “new BVA pilot” in the “Remarks” section of your flight plan
2. Checking in on frequency with the phrase “student pilot”
3. Sending the controller a short message about your experience level, and your concerns, before you start flying
4. Don’t be shy: join TeamSpeak or Discord and say hello
We hope to see you at our Ground School later this month, and on the network again soon!
Last month's question was:
Answer: when adding an additional category to an existing FAA airman certificate, there is no requirement to take a written exam. However, one must complete all aeronautical experience requirements and take a checkride. Be careful; when adding an additional class to an existing certificate, there is still no need to take a written exam, but there is no longer a need to fulfill the full aeronautical experience requirements, either. All that's required is the checkride; it's competency-based. For example, if I am a private pilot with an airplane single-engine rating, I do not need a written exam, nor to the full aeronautical experience, for a multi-engine rating. I just need the training and the checkride.
Challenge question: with regards to spin recovery, what are the four steps in the PARE model?
