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Contributors to this blog

  • Chris Pawley 42
  • Simon Irvine 37
  • Daniel Crookes 27
  • VATSIM UK 7
  • Ben Wright 7
  • Nathan Donnelly 5
  • Kris Thomson 2
  • VATSIM UK Web Services 2
  • Andy Ford 2
  • Oliver Rhodes 2
  • Adam Arkley 2
  • Gdpr Removed 1
  • Loui Ringer 1
  • Adam Farquharson 1
  • Kieran Hardern 1

About this blog

Entries in this blog

Pilot Quality and Network Enjoyment

The quality of many pilots on the network is the subject of much discussion across VATSIM UK and other vACCs, Divisions and Regions. For as far back as I can remember, the topic has been present on a daily basis across VATSIM and I have dealt with my own fair share of well meaning but very new members of the VATSIM network that disrupt my ability to enjoy the network. As a direct result, I have been encouraging people for some time to make better use of the .wallop command whilst controlling, pa

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in United Kingdom

April 2024 Update

Good Evening Everyone,   I hope you have all enjoyed your long weekend. I can assure you this is not a late April Fools joke, but simply another opportunity to update our members on what has been going on ‘behind the scenes’ since my previous post. Beginning with recent staff appointments, @Archie Middlefell and @Alice Ford were appointed as an Aerodrome Operations Coordinator and Operations Assistant respectively. Last month we also welcomed @Dylan Parkes into the Member Services

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

TVCP Update 1: Visiting/Transferring Eligibility, Restrictions and Training

As some of you may be aware, an updated version of the Transferring and Visiting Controller Policy (TVCP) was recently published. This will be implemented worldwide between now and 01 June 2024 and, although the majority of the changes have been made to align TVCP with GCAP, there have been other changes which will affect Visiting and Transferring Controllers across the Network.  You may view the full policy via the link here. We will endeavour to provide further details on how the Transfer

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

GCAP Update 2: Technology and Endorsement Changes

As the 1st March rapidly approaches, Mr. Jennings and I caught up with the Tech team this evening in order to review the progress of our technology solutions that will enable us to meet the requirements laid out in GCAP. I am pleased to say that things are progressing well and that there should be no impediment to us going live with new and enhanced functionality on the 1st March. Details of the pending technology changes are outlined later in this blog post. Before we explore anyt

Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in United Kingdom

[Vacancy] Marketing Director

Vacancy - Marketing Director Role Description The Marketing Department is responsible for all public-facing media and the planning of events in our Division. The Marketing Director is a position appointed to the Division Staff Group, with the primary responsibility of providing strategic direction to the Marketing Department. As this position frequently serves as the first point of contact with Divisions and Subdivisions across the world, excellent interpersonal skills and a good stand

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

New Member Services Director

Hello All,   I'm pleased to announce that @William Shaw will be joining the DSG as our new Member Services Director. Will has been an active staff member within the Member Services Department for almost 2 years and many of you will have already interacted with Will through this capacity before. He brings a number of new ideas to the Department, and will be working closely alongside the ATC Training Department in particular as we embrace GCAP and look to open Visiting and Transferring f

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

January 2024 Update

Good Evening All,   The days seem to be moving incredibly quickly, owing to time off during the Christmas break and, in my case, a subsequent week on holiday. It seems hard to believe I am now over a month into this new role, but nevertheless, your staff team have been hard at work, and I would like to provide a quick update on our progress over the last month. Firstly, we have seen a number of recruitments to our staff team. @Adam Arkley's appointment as ATC Training Director and

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

New ATC Training Director

Hello All,   Following a competitive application process which concluded this week, I am happy to announce Adam Arkley as the Divison's new ATC Training Director. Adam is no stranger to our staff team, serving in a variety of positions over the past 10 years, including his recent appointment as the Aerodrome Operations Coordinator. His passion for the role was made obvious during the interview process, and he brings a host of new ideas to the ATC Training Department. I personally look

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

December 2023 Update

Hello Everyone,   Before people start heading away for the Christmas break, I wanted to take the time to formally introduce myself, as I am conscious that many of us have not had the pleasure of meeting before. I am no stranger to VATSIM UK, having joined the Division in early 2016 and, for the last four and a half years, I have served as the Marketing Manager under Loui Ringer's leadership. During this time, I have risen to the somewhat dizzying heights of VATSIM Network Supervisor, B

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

New VATSIM UK Division Director

I am delighted to announce the appointment of @Ben Wright as the new VATSIM UK Division Director, effective immediately. Ben brings nearly 5 years of invaluable experience within VATSIM UK in the Marketing team, recently running the day to day operations of the department.   Ben is no stranger to the network as a controller, pilot and also part of the Supervisor team. Ben has some fantastic ideas for the future of the Division. @Chris Pawley will help Ben transition into the r

Simon Irvine

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

Marketing Department Changes

I am regretfully informing you that due to a change in personal circumstances I have received the resignation of Loui Ringer as Marketing Director. Loui has contributed substantially to the division’s events and marketing for many years and has become part of the furniture. The entire DSG thanks Loui for his extensive contributions which have had a visible impact on the division and its members. We wish him well for the next stages of his training.   Due to the widespread staff changes

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

VATSIM UK Live! 2023 - Bookings now open

We are pleased to announce that tickets for VATSIM UK Live! are now available to purchase from our website (live.vatsim.uk). Here you will find tickets available for purchase, options for hotel accommodation as well as other information about the weekend. Due to the great support of members previously and the pricing from the venue this year, we’re offering an inflation busting price match to last year. Weekend tickets are available at £30 and day tickets are available at £20.   If you

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

VATSIM UK Live! 2023

The organisers of VATSIM UK Live! are pleased to announce that the next event will take place on 19th and 20th August 2023. The event will take place at Conference Aston, Birmingham. This is the only in-person event of the year for VATSIM UK. We look forward to welcoming all interested members to join us to fly, control and socialise during this weekend. Our event runs from 10am to 10pm on both Saturday and Sunday.   What is VATSIM UK Live!? This event is an in-person event hosted

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

DSG Meeting Minutes Published

This week, we have published several versions of the minutes of previous DSG meetings. This covers almost all of the meetings held in 2022. We plan a change in process to inform the community about the content of these meetings at a more regular interval moving forward.   On behalf of the DSG, Chris.

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

New Member Services Director

The DSG is pleased to announce that @John Batten is appointed as the Member Services Director. This recruitment round has been especially challenging as we negotiated this appointment with external parties and have held extensive discussions with the relevant applicants. Ultimately this has meant that our outgoing Member Services Director ( @Lee Roberts ) has remained in role much longer than anticipated in order to transition this function to our new appointment. For this we thank him. John is

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

Training Department Christmas Message

Hi all, As we approach Christmas and new year, many of us will be taking a break from the network to spend time with our friends and families. With this training levels will inevitably decrease. Between 19th December and 2nd January (inclusive), Training Department staff will not be sending out the usual availability/session request reminders. All students (ATC or PTD), you are not required to keep your usual session request/availability during this time. Many Training Department

Adam Farquharson

Adam Farquharson in United Kingdom

VATSIM UK Live! 2022 - Bookings Now available

We are pleased to inform you that bookings are now available for VATSIM UK Live! 2022 at Conference Aston in Birmingham, UK. You can book via our website - live.vatsim.uk Our event tickets will cost £20 for a single day (either Saturday or Sunday) or £30 for the whole weekend. Accommodation:- this is available at Conference Aston itself, we recommend either booking directly via their website or via a third party provider (hotels.com or booking.com) - this year there is no option to bo

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

VATSIM UK Live! 2022

VATSIM UK Live! Is pleased to announce that our event will return on the weekend of 13th & 14th August 2022 at Conference Aston in Birmingham. VATSIM UK Live! is an in person event - where members of the network join together to control and fly from the same room for two days.   We understand that this is at short notice, but working out how to best run an in-person event (including logistics, insurances etc.) is a challenge as we move out of the pandemic. As organisers, we wanted

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

Update Terms and Conditions

The DSG has drafted new terms and conditions for the division's services. These will come into force on 20th May 2022. You can view both the new and old terms and conditions here:https://www.vatsim.uk/community/terms-and-conditions. Since our terms and conditions were last revised, the division has introduced a number of new platforms; notably Discord, and the majority of our activities have moved away from the forum and teamspeak. We have generalised our rules away from being platform spec

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

[Appointment] Training Directors

Following the conclusion of the recruitment process started here, to replace Dan Crookes I am pleased to announce the DSG has agreed to make two appointments: We have appointed @Darren Hillas Pilot Training Director. Darren has been the Pilot Training Manager since January 2021 and has been crucial to the development of the pilot training courses during this time. In addition, Darren has begun to fill the gap left by the previous P1 rating, which especially catered to beginner pilots taking

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

On behalf of everyone in VATSIM UK, let me wish all of our community a happy and healthy Christmas and prosperous and enjoyable 2022! As 2021 draws to a close, we reflect on another turbulent and challenging year outside of the network. While many of us had a return towards normality in the summer and autumn, we have seen widespread distruption for many celebrating with friends and family this week. Additionally, we have the prospect of a new year which is likely to bring new restrictions a

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

Training Director Resignation

Hi everyone, Over the past 5 years, I have had the pleasure of being part of what can only be described as a community teeming with enthusiasm, knowledge and the will to want to help others. As with most commitments, there comes a time when it is appropriate for the baton to be passed on. To say that I have enjoyed the past 5 years wouldn’t do it justice.  I will see the department into the new year followed by the commencement of a recruitment period for the role(s) in January 2022.

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

Global Control Adminstration Policy (GCAP) feedback

The UK Division has provided a lengthy feedback document privately to the authors of the new global controller administration policy (GCAP). We are broadly supportive of a new policy which unifies some of the key policies which determine how many elements of our division operate. With this in mind there are some concerns which remain in the current draft. We believe it is especially important to ensure that all divisions are treated equally; regardless of their (internal) structure. In addition,

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

[Appointment] Member Services Director

Following our recent vacancy for a new member services director, I am delighted to report that @Lee Robertshas been appointed to this role. Lee has a wealth of experience in the division and the network overall - having worked with the vSOA team at VATSIM.net and within the training department at VATSIM UK during the recent few years. Harry and Lee will work in parallel for the next few weeks as Lee gets up to speed. We thank Harry for his efforts in running this department and w

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

Richie Turnbull

A few days ago we were informed that a member of our community, Richie Turnbull has sadly passed away. Richie was in the prime of his life having just moved to Florida in order to begin the next stage of his training to be a commercial pilot. His sudden passing is a surprise and a shock to all of his friends and family and we hold them all in our thoughts during this difficult time. Richie has been a deeply passionate and involved member of our community for more than ten years. He was

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

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