Blogs

Christmas 2019

Hi all, Believe it or not, Christmas is just under one week away, so it is inevitable that activity on and around the network will reduce. From Friday 20th December to Thursday 2nd January (inclusive), training staff will not send out the normal session request/availability reminders. Students will not be required to maintain a session request or availability during this period. Reminders will be sent on or shortly after Friday 3rd, and students will have until the end of Friday 10th

Oliver Rhodes in United Kingdom

December 20, 2019

Pilot Training

Good Evening! Please join me in congratulating @Tom Sirett who will be stepping into his new role as General Manager of Pilot Training! Tom has been a member of the Pilot Training team for several years and has played a key part in bringing Pilot Training to where it is today. Keeping with the theme of appointments, @Freddie Charlesworth will be joining the team as the IFR Flight Instructor who will manage our recently released virtual Instrument Rating course, the vIR(A). Tom’s c

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

December 11, 2019

Training Group Instructor TGLL

Hi all, Please join me in congratulating @Nathaniel Leff who will be taking over from @James Yuen as Heathrow TGI. James has patrolled the fort of Heathrow for over a year and has now completed his move goal on his apple watch. I think we will all agree when I say James has always put 95% into his role... (for the reference see the Heathrow Ground Moodle exam pass mark!). On behalf of the entire Training team, thank you @James Yuen for all of your hard work and please don't be a st

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

November 24, 2019

Member Services Director

This is notification of the beginning of the application process for the position of Member Services Director. Application Closing Date: 7th December 2019 2359z. Details about the role and how to apply are in the attached PDF. memberservices.pdf

Simon Irvine in Vacancy

November 22, 2019

Member Support Department

Over the past few months, you may have heard some rumours about a new department in the Division (known to some as Department X ?). I am pleased to say that I can give some more information on our plans. Since we disbanded the Community Department we have been looking at ways we can best serve you, if you are looking for help and support in the Division. The new department will deal with most of the administration that we deal with in the Division allowing the other departments to concentr

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

November 7, 2019

ATC Training

S1 Examinations

Hi all, In order to improve and standardise the quality of our S1 training, and in response to feedback which we have received from mentors, students, and controllers, we will shortly be introducing S1 practical examinations, in line with the process followed at S2, S3, and C1. This will not change the process of training, whereby members initially attend in introductory group session, complete eLearning courses, and receive one-to-one practical training. However, instead of being reco

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

November 2, 2019

Training Forums

Evening Guys! The below concerns all members currently training with us for an ATC or Pilot rating! We are very happy to introduce a new Training area on our forums. The Training Department forums are accessible to any current student training, mentors and training department staff. Upon being assigned to a TG for the purpose of training or mentoring, you will automatically be given access to view your TGs forum. The purpose of this forum is to provide students, mentors and staff

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

October 31, 2019

Training Group Instructor - Heathrow

Hi all, We are now recruiting for a new Training Group Instructor for TG Heathrow (TGLL). General Tasks: Have overall responsibility for training within TG Heathrow; Select and train new mentors through an ‘OTS’ check; Review ATC feedback submitted by pilots; Maintain training standards within TGLL (inc. by ‘sitting in’ on mentoring sessions); Organise group seminars as appropriate; Grant students Heathrow Validations. The candidate must:

Daniel Crookes in Vacancy

October 27, 2019

General Manager - Pilot Training

Dear All, Applications for the position of General Manager - Pilot Training are now open. Below is a summary of the responsibilities and requirements of the role: Responsibilities: Oversees day-to-day and administrative operations on behalf of the Training Director; Is the point of contact for Pilot Training staff on administrative issues; Where requested, assists the Training Director and Flight Instructors (FIs) in the development of documentation; Administ

Daniel Crookes in Vacancy

October 25, 2019

Training Department Q3 Review

Evening Folks!It’s that time again to have a look at what we have achieved last quarter.We’re fast approaching the end of the year and we’re still full steam ahead. Over the past few months, we have seen some new, and some not so new.. faces join the Training team.@Ben Cook has taken over from @Josh Howker as Training Group Instructor (TGI) for TGNC.@Sebastian Rekdal has taken over from @Phillip Speer as TGI for Enroute.To carry on the trend of new faces we have some great opportunities coming u

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

October 23, 2019

Division Policy Updated

In light of the release of Audio for VATSIM, VATSIM UK has adopted Division Policy v7.2.0 and this has been approved by the (acting) Region Director. It is available for download in the policies section of the website. On behalf of the Division Staff, Chris.

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

October 18, 2019

TGNC TGI - Josh Howker

Evening all, @Josh Howker will be leaving the Training Department in his role as TGI. Josh has been a great addition to the team and has helped drive some great changes in TGNC. After recently obtaining his PPL he has decided it's time to put VATSIM aside for flying! Please join me in thanking him for his efforts in the Training Department and wishing him the best in his flying. Thanks, Dan ✈️

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

September 29, 2019

Audio for VATSIM launch date announced

Audio for VATSIM is an innovative new technology for our voice communication which features: State of the art voice quality - a brand new Opus-based voice codec with optional realistic distortion, white noise, VHF and HF simulation Reduced delay - up to 80% reduction in latency, making busy frequencies more realistic and manageable Range simulation - transceivers set up as per real ATC positions, with signal strength dependent on distance and altitude Customisable technology - this up

Simon Irvine in United Kingdom

September 29, 2019

George Barlow

Hi all, George Barlow has decided to leave the Web Services team to allow him to focus on his studies. Please join me in thanking George for his time and contribution in the past year, no doubt a lot of you will have received help from him at some stage through our Helpdesk. Thanks, Calum

VATSIM UK Web Services in Staff Changes

September 29, 2019

TG Enroute

Evening all, A small public service announcement! @Phillip Speer will be stepping aside from his role as TGI TG Enroute; he has built up enough of a pension (so he tells me...) to warrant just one staff position so will be remaining as a DI. With that being said, I have officially granted our in-house Norwegian a VATSIM pension, therefore, he will be taking on the role of TGI TG Enroute, @Sebastian Rekdal in case you know any more Norwegians! Sebastian will be carrying on the exce

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

September 21, 2019

Web Services Manager

Good evening, In order to better support our ongoing projects and ways of working, I am pleased to confirm that @Callum Axon has assumed the role of Web Services Manager. Callum will work closely with me to ensure that we continue to maintain our existing systems and develop solutions that will keep the Division working efficiently for many years to come. The role also provides a level of redundancy to the Web Services Team that has not always been as prevalent as it is in other depa

VATSIM UK Web Services in Staff Changes

September 4, 2019

Training Group Instructor TGNC

Hi all, Please join me in welcoming @Ben Cook to the Training Department in his new role as Training Group Instructor for TGNC. @Fergus Walsh will be moving from his current role as TGM to TGI to facilitate an upcoming change in the way the division handles its administrative workload. Fergus and Ben are both very keen to finish the development of our training syllabus for OBS-S1, which aims to provide students and mentors with a more defined path of progression. Thanks,

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

September 2, 2019

Training Evenings

All, Whilst students at busier aerodromes such as Manchester and Gatwick regularly enjoy busy traffic scenarios to perfect their skills, those training on quieter positions often struggle to attract enough traffic to make their online time worthwhile. To combat this, we're pleased to introduce Training Evenings - designated events for pairs of quieter training aerodromes. Each week will see an event at one of the following pairs of aerodromes: Edinburgh (EGPH) & Glasgow (EGPF

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

September 1, 2019

Marketing

Livestreaming Update

All, As you're probably aware, we run a live streaming series on our Youtube called "Behind the Scope". The series was set up over a year ago with the idea of attracting a live audience to see behind the scenes. The series really allows us to show members outside of the division what it's like to control, and how it looks from a controllers perspective. A few months ago, we brought this back with the plan of running Behind the Scope on the first Friday of every month, however, due to stream

Loui Ringer in Marketing

August 31, 2019

Marketing

Audio for VATSIM Beta Test

All, VATSIM UK’s largest event of the year is this weekend, and we look forward to all VATSIM members experiencing the best ATC the UK has to offer! A large number of UK positions will be staffed live from a conference room in Birmingham, UK from 0900z - 2100z on Saturday 24 August and again from 0900z to 1200z on Sunday 25 August on our current codec, live on the VATSIM network. On Sunday the controllers will be shifting to separate audio for the VATSIM beta server, attempting the lar

Loui Ringer in Marketing

August 22, 2019