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A group blog by DSG in Division Updates

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Contributors to this blog

  • Chris Pawley 44
  • Simon Irvine 37
  • Daniel Crookes 27
  • Ben Wright 21
  • VATSIM UK 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

United Kingdom

Training Department Q2 Review

Six months down; six to go! Firstly, to all those who’ve had their head glued to a textbook for the past few months, welcome back! And to those of us who’ve had to listen to the perpetual sighs of students... hallelujah, it's over! Here’s what the Training Department has been up to over the past three months: April: With several members of the team focusing on academic exams, things were reasonably quiet on the ATC side of the fence.  Pilot Training led most of the development
Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

1
United Kingdom

Training Department Q2 2020

Afternoon all! Please see a summary of our progress and achievements throughout the second quarter of this year! ATC Training This quarter saw the restructuring TG1 & TG2 into a Tower Training Group and an Approach Training Group, with instructors dedicated to each rating programme. This move towards a more linear structure has allowed our mentors to operate across different positions more easily, and has drastically improved our instructors ability to personalise our students
Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

0
United Kingdom

Training Department Q1 Review

Guten Abend! 1 down, 3 to go! What a quarter it has been! Here’s a short summary of what the team has achieved since January this year. January: The month started off with the addition of EGAD (Newtownards), EGCJ (Sherburn-in-Elmet), EGSQ (Clacton) and EGHJ (Bembridge) to our collection of AG/AFISO aerodromes; followed closely by the release of the UKCP (thanks to the Rt Hon gentleman Andy Ford). Since the release of the UKCP, TGNC have integrated its use and setup into the OBS session
Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

0
United Kingdom

Training Department Q1 2020

Afternoon Folks! I cannot say that 2020 has been a very nice time for any of us so far, nor can we even begin to understand how some people are being affected by these terrible times. But what I can do, is reflect upon the amazing work that you have all made possible through your contributions as pilots, students, mentors, instructors, chief tea maker, you name it and I guarantee you will have helped somewhere.   ATC Training We saw the beginning of the end for our Central Tr
Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

2
United Kingdom

Training Department Christmas Message

Good evening! It's that time again! Christmas is coming up, and as we all take some time off, activity in the training system and on the network itself will inevitably reduce. As such, from Friday 18th December to Monday 4th January (inclusive), training staff will not send out the normal session request/availability reminder. If you're a student training on one of our programmes (pilot or ATC), you will not be required to have a session request or availability entered into the CT Syst
Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

1
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

0
United Kingdom

Training Department Changes

Folks, With the departure of Andy Ford as ATC Training Director, I am making some changes to the way training is organised in the UK. I am delighted to announce that Daniel Crookes will take on the role of Director of Training and will have ultimate responsibility for both ATC and Pilot Training.  Dan will appoint a General Manager of ATC Training and the same for Pilot Training. Dan will assume responsibility for both departments with immediate effect.  While we finalise the stru
Simon Irvine

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

12
United Kingdom

Shanwick Oceanic Currency Changes

After discussion amongst the DSG, it has been decided that UK Visiting Controllers who are only permitted to control Shanwick positions will be exempted from quarterly activity requirements effective immediately. Practically speaking, this means that Shanwick only visitors will not fall inactive on our controller roster. If you believe you meet this requirement and have been erroneously marked as inactive, please get in touch with the Member Services Department via the Helpdesk who will be able
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

0
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

8
United Kingdom

Resignation - Dave Woodward

Good Evening All,   It is with sadness that I announce Dave Woodward’s departure from the VATSIM UK DSG and staff team effective immediately. Dave joined our team at the beginning of this year as Training Group Instructor for TG Enroute and, during his tenure, has been working hard to supervise the training of our C1 students. In stark contrast to this time last year, our C1 waiting lists currently stands at just 12 members, a large part of which is down to the effort which Dave has in
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

1
United Kingdom

Region Report(s) Published

As part of the reporting structure of the division we prepare quarterly region reports which are passed to the Europe Region director, via the Executive Committee to the vice president of Regions (VATGOV4).   As these provide a reasonably condensed summary of the divisions performance in the previous quarter, we have begun to publish these as they are completed. You can find these here: https://vatsim.uk/download/info/?downloadID=00414   Future reports will be added to the ab
Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

4
United Kingdom

Recent Behaviour

Folks At the outset, I would like to point out that this post is targeted at a very few members however I thought it would be a good insight to everyone to let them see the behaviour that has been happening of late. Some of it has been pretty innocuous for example someone who attended the recent pilot careers event in London signed used a VATSIM UK staff email address to sign up for some information.  Some of it has been a bit more sinister, for example someone signed some of the staff
Simon Irvine

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

0
United Kingdom

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

25
United Kingdom

Operations Director

The division has concluded the recruitment for the vacancy of Operations Director. We have chosen to appoint @Jack Edwards to this role. Jack has most recently been TGI Approach within the Training Department and has held roles in both the vRAF and in the VA/SOA team of VATSIM.net where he previously has coordinated operations across multiple agencies and countries. Via this and contributions to the operations functions in the UK he has indicated suitability for executing the role. During i
Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

32
United Kingdom

October 2024 Update

Good Evening All,   Time really has been flying as of late, and as I write this I realise it’s been 6 months since the last update was posted to the forums! As I’m sure is the case for most of you, summer has been particularly busy for me but (thankfully for my wallet) the summer socials are over and winter appears to be on the way all too fast. It’s been great to have some more free time lately, and I’ve very much enjoyed getting back on the Network to fly and control. It seems as tho
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

0
United Kingdom

New VATSIM UK Division Director

Folks I am delighted to announce that Chris Pawley is the new VATSIM UK Division Director. Chris's near 2 decades of experience on the network and staff positions made him the ideal candidate to lead the Division into a new era. I will be doing a handover with Chris in the coming week and he will let you know when is in running solo. I would like to wish Chris, and you all,  the best of luck and thanks again for your support over the past 4 years.  
Simon Irvine

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

53
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

0
United Kingdom

New VATSIM President

Folks Please see here.  Gunnar Lindahl  is VATSIM's new President (VATGOV1). Many of you will know Gunnar as a UK member and a former VATSIM UK Division Director. Well done Gunnar, very well deserved!!  Drinks are on you this weekend at Live!
Simon Irvine

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

25
United Kingdom

New Operations Director

Good Evening Everyone,   I hope you enjoyed your weekends and I write to you with good news! This morning @Dave Woodward accepted my offer of the Operations Director role, making him the latest addition to the Division Staff Group. Dave will be known to many already, having served as our Enroute ATC Training Group Instructor since the beginning of this year, and he brings a wealth of practical and procedural knowledge to the Operations Department. I would like to welcome Dave to the DS
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

1
United Kingdom

New Operations Director

Good Afternoon All, Following Dave Woodward's resignation from the DSG, I am pleased to announce Jack Edwards as the new Operations Director. Many of you will already know Jack from staff roles he has held over the years, such as Division Instructor, and a previous stint as Operation Director. Jack's previous experience within the DSG and wider staff team makes him an excellent appointment - I look forward to working alongside him and seeing the Operations Department progress under his lead
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

0
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

5
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

3
United Kingdom

New Marketing Director

I am delighted to announce that Loui Ringer will be joining the DSG as VATSIM UK's new Marketing Director. Loui is well known to the community as our Social Media Manager and is well placed to lead the department. I would like to thank Trevor Hannant for his time on staff and I wish him well in his new adventure. Please join me in congratulating Loui on his appointment!!  
Simon Irvine

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

24
United Kingdom

New Feedback System

Folks I am delighted to announce that we have developed a new feedback system. The new system is built within Core and will allow you to give feedback, positive or negative, to UK based controllers. Feedback for pilots will follow shortly. The feedback that is submitted will be used in three ways... Review our training program based on trends identified in feedback that has been submitted. Pass on positive feedback directly to members. Ensure members with consiste
Simon Irvine

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

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