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ATC Training

Tower Syllabus Updated

Version 1.1 of the S2 (TWR) Syllabus is now available for download. The document has been updated based on member feedback to clarify a number of points and to add some extra reading material. We have also introduced a section for attitude towards self-learning. The progress sheets will be updated in due course to incorporate the new criterion.
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

2
United Kingdom

Marketing Director (VATUK4)

This is notification of the beginning of the application process for the position of Marketing Director (VATUK4). Application Closing Date: Sunday 26th August at 2259z The Marketing Director shall: Sit on the Division Staff Group; Have oversight for all marketing within the division; Manage and direct marketing strategy; Be responsible for the Events Manager and Social Media Manager; Be responsible for the planning and execution of division events;
Nathan Donnelly

Nathan Donnelly in Vacancy

1
Marketing

- Alex Ashley

All, It is with deep regret that over the last few days I have come to the difficult decision to resign from the role of Social Media Manager. With an increasingly busy personal life and with my acceptance of a role at a flight simulation service, I feel that I no longer have the time nor the energy to deliver what the community deserves. Since joining the team at the start of the year, I have been thrilled by the support I have received from both the staff group and membership alike -
Alex Ashley

Alex Ashley in Staff Changes

12
Technology

Getting Started With Core

Core, the service that runs at https://core.vatsim.uk, is the backbone to the Web Services department. It has been a long time since it "just" handling sign on to all of our other services. Now, it is a platform that facilitates feedback, handles Visiting/Transferring applications, creates TeamSpeak registrations and more. Soon, it will become the shop window of the division too, handling our public facing website and the content that it provides. To give you an idea of how much it is used.
VATSIM UK Web Services

VATSIM UK Web Services in Web Services

34
ATC Training

S2 and S3 Theory Questions: Revisited

Many of you who have taken your S2 and S3 theory exams recently may have noticed that quite a few of the questions weren't exactly relevant and some were, well, too easy. It turns out that some of our theory questions are very old, with some of the S3 questions dating back to the pre-GRP days when S2 didn't exist and S3 was in-part a TWR rating. You will all be glad to know (or maybe not, if you were hoping for an easy pass!) that we have removed a lot of questions and added new ones to ref
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

4
ATC Training

Training Group Manager

The application period for the position of Training Group Manager has now concluded. I would like to say a big thank you to those who took time to apply, we had a strong pool of applications this round. We are pleased to announce that Lee Roberts has been appointed as a Training Group Manager. Lee will be working closely with Nick and Alex as we look to change up the way that we manage our training groups. Instead of our traditional TG1/TG2 structure, the TGM's will be split by level -
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in Staff Changes

19
ATC Training

S3 Training at Heathrow

With the appropriate staff and support now in place, we are pleased to announce the resumption of Approach Radar (S2->S3) training for UK Students at Heathrow. Heathrow will draw from the existing waiting lists of TG1 and TG2. When a training place becomes available, it will be offered to the first eligible student on one of the lists. Completion of training will result in the awarding of an S3 rating and the Heathrow APP Major Endorsement. Solo Approach Validations (SAV's) will be handl
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

4
United Kingdom

Changes to CTS Emailing

Due to the incredibly large volume of emails currently flowing from the CTS (because there's a lot of ATC and Pilot sessions right now!) which pushes us very close to our monthly quota, we're going to be be removing a couple of the email categories. These ones have been removed partly due to the amount of traffic they generate and also their perceived usefulness. They are as follows: Notification to mentors that a session request has come in. Notification to mentors that they h
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in United Kingdom

0
ATC Training

Heathrow Training Group Instructor

We are pleased to announce that James Yuen has been appointed as the Training Group Instructor for TG Heathrow. James will be working closely with Oliver and myself to re-ignite the S2->S3 training program at Heathrow, details of which will be announced over the next week. Good luck, James!
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in Staff Changes

26
Pilot Training

Pilot Training Q2 2018 Summary

Hi all, A quick summary from the Pilot Training Department of Q2! Q2 Progress We have made great headway in our mentor recruitment which is reflected by the number of sessions conducted as the months of Q2 progress. Oliver Hall has departed the team as IFR Flight Instructor, this role will soon be filled. FTE production has been slow over the past 6 weeks due to availability with the team, but we will gear back up as this month continues! But our biggest de
Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in Pilot Training

0
ATC Training

ATC Rating Progression: The Story So Far

Hi Folks, We're now well into the second half of the year and I've taken this opportunity to have a look at the statistics and let you know how we're doing. The good news is, we're way way up on exam passes, compared to where we were this time last year! To this day in 2017, we had a total of 16 exam passes: 8 TWR 6 APP 2 CTR So far this year, we've had a total of 41 exam passes: 29 TWR 11 APP 1 CTR As well as the above, we currently ha
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

S1 AFISO/AG Validation: Additional Airfields

Now that things have had time to settle, we're adding some additional aerodromes to the list of those that S1 rated members holding the AFISO/AG validation may control. They are as follows: Barra (EGPR) Bodmin (EGLA) - airfield information sufficient to VATSIM needs is available on the airfields website - Bodmin does not feature in the AIP. Wolverhampton / Halfpenny Green (EGBO) We decided not to add Barrow/Walney Island (EGNL) at this time, due to instrument approach an
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

5
ATC Training

Shifting Focus: Enroute Training

Having restructured the Tower and Radar training schemes, we are now in a position to take the final step, release of the first version of our restructured C1 syllabus. Thank you to everyone who commented and gave feedback. The key points of this re-thinking of our syllabus are as follows: A number of competencies have been designated as self-taught. In the past, these were included in practical mentoring reports, which led to some students assuming that the mentor would teach them. N
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

0
Technology

Web Services Assistant

Hi all, I was pleasantly surprised at the volume of strong submissions to the announcement of a vacancy within the Web Services team. After spending some time reviewing them, I am pleased to announce that Callum A will be joining the team. Callum has spent time on the ATC staff team in the past and is very familiar with the Division's operations. His past experiences with the technologies that we utilise will be of great assistance as we take on some rather large projects in the comi
VATSIM UK Web Services

VATSIM UK Web Services in Staff Changes

9
ATC Training

James Edwards

Dear all, It is with regret that James Edwards has resigned from his role of TG2 Training Group Manager this afternoon, effective immediately. James has been maintaining the administrative operation (mainly behind the scenes) for TG2 for the past 6 months, ensuring that training runs smoothly for all involved. Please join me in thanking James for dedicating his time to the division. Alex
Alex Beard

Alex Beard in Staff Changes

11
ATC Training

Training Aerodrome Preferences

Under the old RTS' System and also under the early days of the new system, we took students aerodrome preference into account during the early stages of training and only offered the student a place when their chosen aerodrome came up. This sometimes led to students becoming disappointed in the waiting times if the student in front of them took longer to pass and thus held up a training place at their chosen aerodrome whilst their friends at other aerodromes passed before them. Under a new
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

Reciprocating Effort

The re-drafting of the training syllabus has brought with it an encouragement for students to learn on their own, by designating significant portions as self-taught. That is, the student is expected to read the material on their own and bring any questions to sessions, not expect to have it spoon-fed to them by mentors. Most of you have risen to the challenge with enthusiasm. Of course, there are still one or two who aren't reciprocating the effort that their mentors are putting in to train
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

0
United Kingdom

VATSIM UK Live! 2018 - Bookings Now Open!

We are delighted to announce that bookings have opened this evening for VATSIM UK Live! which is taking place on the weekend of the 4th and 5th of August at Conference Aston. Tickets are priced at £30 for the weekend, or £20 for one day. We have also worked with Conference Aston to provide options for on-site accommodation (incl. breakfast). For more information on pricing, or anything about the weekend, visit the Live! website. We have also provided more detailed information about the g
Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

4
ATC Training

Returning Mentors: An Exercise In Trust

Effectively immediately, we are going to be trialling out a new policy for mentors returning to us after a break from the network. In the past, returning mentors were usually subject to the same training regime as new mentors, which was often discouraging. We're still quite unsure about this one - with some good arguments both supporting and refuting the idea. So, we thought the best thing to do was give it a go and see how it pans out. The trial process as follows: If a mentor has been "s
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

0
United Kingdom

GDPR - What It Means For You

Unless you've been living under a rock, you will have heard of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) that comes into effect on May 25th. What you may not know is what it means, how it may affect you and why organisations of all sizes are flooding your inbox with "please click here to say we can contact you" links... I don't study the law... but what is GDPR? I don't either so I'll give you the key points! GDPR... is the biggest shake up to data protection regulations in aro
VATSIM UK Web Services

VATSIM UK Web Services in United Kingdom

1
Marketing

Events - Summer Season

Over the past few Events, getting the number of controllers we need to cover them comfortable has been more of a challenge than it was earlier in the year so we've decided to take a short break from running any for a few reasons: - it's Exam season and some pilots/controllers have these to concentrate on - summer holiday season (for some) - some controllers (in particular) may be "Event-ed out" As exam season is now under way and as some of you head off to sunnier locations (if it
Trevor Hannant

Trevor Hannant in Marketing

0
ATC Training

Shifting Focus: Approach Training

Following on from the restructuring of our S2 syllabus, we are now in a position to release the first version of our restructured S3 syllabus. Thank you to everyone who commented and gave feedback on the request for comments thread. The key points of this re-thinking of our syllabus are as follows: A number of competencies have been designated as self-taught. In the past, these were included in practical mentoring reports, which led to some students assuming that the mentor would teac
Andy Ford

Andy Ford in ATC Training

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