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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

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ATC Training

TGI Tower - Appointment

Good morning, It's with great pleasure that I welcome @Reece Buckleyback to the ATC Training team, this time in the role of Training Group Instructor - TG Tower. Reece is no stranger to the ATC Training Team, having previously held a post as TGI APP and his familiarity with the department makes his return to the team most welcome. I was pleased to hear that Reece brought several ideas to the table during interview and have every faith that he'll continue to build upon the solid foundation i
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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United Kingdom

Department Restructuring

As alluded to during my October 2024 update, there are some planned changes to the structure of the Marketing Department. To summarise, this involves the splitting of the Marketing Department into Events and Social Media, with Events moving to fall under the Operations Department’s remit. Social Media responsibilities will move to the current Member Services Department, which will rebrand to become the Community Department. Luke Thompson and Thomas Hallam will move to the Operations and Communit
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

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United Kingdom

VATSIM UK Christmas Social

All,   It’s almost that time of the year, and what better a way to get in the Christmas spirit than dinner and drinks with your fellow VATSIM-ers? The VATSIM UK Christmas Social will be held in Birmingham on 30 November - join us for dinner at 19:30 at the Indian Cafe Racer, followed by one of the below group activities: VATSIM UK Christmas quiz, likely to be held at a hotel bar Darts at the Flight Club Birmingham Crazy golf at Golf Fang Birmingham Dinner w
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

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ATC Training

Changes to our OBS > S1 Process

Dear all, Since the beginning of my tenure, I have been discussing the OBS > S1 process with our New Controller Training Group leads in order to discuss potential improvement in that process. At present, we run a seminar roughly monthly - although these are typically delayed at times like summer and Christmas - in which we invite 30 people to join a seminar. Those 30 people are made up of batches of invitations that are sent out in groups to people at or near the top of the waiting list,
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

1
ATC Training

[VACANCY] Training Group Instructor - TG TWR

The department is pleased to accept applications for the Training Group Instructor - TG TWR. As you will no doubt be aware, VATSIM UK is a highly-demanded division for ATC training, providing thousands of mentoring sessions per year and hundreds of rating upgrades. Globally, we are renowned for providing high quality training and providing a high standard of service in some of the most densely populated and complicated airspace in the world. Our ethos is to provide pragmatic, high-qual
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

0
Pilot Training

Quarterly Review: Q3 2024

Join the team We are always looking for new mentors across our training courses: P1, P2, and TFP. Irrespective of your experience, if you are interested in contributing to the division and passionate about flying then please reach out! Helpdesk: https://helpdesk.vatsim.uk/ (select “Pilot Training” as the department) A new horizon The third quarter of 2024 played host to a mentality shift within the Pilot Training team. The numbers may not show it directly, but some great stri
Darren Hill

Darren Hill in Pilot Training

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ATC Training

Changes in TG TWR

Good morning, all, It is with much sadness that I announce that Will Hinshaw has left his role within TG TWR, effective immediately. Will has held post within the training group since June 2023 and has been subject to incredible pressure in that time. TG TWR is a very difficult place in which to work, subject to high training delays, a challenging teaching environment and significant drop-out rates as people bed into their VATSIM controlling careers. Will has made great progress in reducing
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

1
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

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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
Operations

Controller Pack Updates

Firstly, an apology Following user feedback, I'd like to explain some recent functionality changes to the UK Controller Pack. My apologies for not ensuring that communication was widespread or detailed enough to keep disruption to a minimum. Going forward, we'll utilize UKCP notifications alongside regular procedure change posts and Discord announcements to better disseminate information to controllers. Over the past four years, we've worked on moving the UK Controller Pack to GitHub,
Luke Brown

Luke Brown in Operations

0
United Kingdom

[Vacancy] Operations Director

The Operations Department is responsible for the creation and maintenance of our sector file, controller pack, local procedures and documents, letters of agreement and temporary procedures. The Operations Department also supports the Events Team during the event planning phase to assess event feasibility and provide guidance in order to ensure the success of events. The Operations Director’s main responsibility is to provide leadership to the Operations Department. Other responsibilities of
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

0
Pilot Training

Quarterly Review: Q2 2024

Join the team We are always looking for new mentors across our training courses: P1, P2, and TFP. Irrespective of your experience, if you are interested in contributing to the division and passionate about flying then please reach out! Helpdesk: https://helpdesk.vatsim.uk/ (select “Pilot Training” as the department)   The second quarter The second quarter of 2024 was a rather challenging quarter, both in the department and in my personal life. Many of you will notice a d
Darren Hill

Darren Hill in Pilot Training

4
Staff Changes

Operations Director - Resignation

Good evening everyone. I write primarily with a sense of relief, but a tad of regret to inform the Division that I have chosen to leave the Operations Director position. This is a fantastic role that I have held for just shy of 3 years, but one that has required such high levels of effort and expectations of availability that it is time for me to step aside. During that time, I have had the pleasure of working with numerous bright, dedicated and hardworking individuals that churn out a neve
Kieran Hardern

Kieran Hardern in Staff Changes

1
ATC Training

Q2 2024 Review

Good morning, all! When I took this role, I had planned to provide quarterly updates for visibility; certainly I provide a quarterly update to the region to provide them with some oversight and to facilitate governance and, in the spirit of openness and transparency, it's only appropriate that I do the same with all of you. I had intended to write something a little closer to the end of Q2, rather than 1/3 of the way through Q3, but Real Life has conspired against me and I have been delayed
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

0
United Kingdom

VATSIM UK Live! : Tickets now available

Tickets for VATSIM UK Live are now available for purchase from our site - https://live.vatsim.uk Our event is open-door, meaning every VATSIM member is welcome to join us for this in-person event over the weekend of 10th and 11th August 2024. This is the one chance each year to fly, control and socialise alongside other VATSIM members from across the network hosted in the UK. It is not only a moment to deepen the experience of the network, but also learn and collaborate with other members. 
Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

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United Kingdom

Introducing Town Hall Sessions

During the last DSG Meeting and following feedback from our members, we discussed at length the lack of interaction between the DSG and our membership. We understand that this is not a new issue, and for many years there has been a growing feeling of disconnect between members, staff and DSG. We are keen to hear your thoughts and suggestions on matters concerning VATSIM UK as a whole, as we are conscious that many of our pilots and controllers can provide insight into problems which may not be a
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

0
United Kingdom

New Deputy Division Director

All,   I'm pleased to announce that @Nick Marinov has accepted my offer for the position of VATSIM UK Deputy Division Director. Nick has served as Assistant to the Vice President - EMEA for the past four and a half years; prior to this role he has also served as a Training Group Manager and Community Manager within the Division. Those of you who know Nick will understand that his return to the UK will bring a wealth of knowledge, and I am certain that he will be a great asset to the Di
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

0
United Kingdom

Discord General Chat Changes

Last Sunday we announced the removal of the ‘general-chat’ channel within Discord. Clearly this was an emotive subject for many of our members, and we pledged to thoroughly review this decision before committing to making changes. It was pointed out by many, and evident on review, that the brevity of the announcement and lack of clear explanation for this action was a mistake, and I would like to apologise for the confusion this has caused. The purpose of this post is to update you all on our pl
Ben Wright

Ben Wright in United Kingdom

1
Staff Changes

Operations Staff Changes

I regret to inform that @Kye Taylor, one of our two Aerodrome Operations Coordinators has resigned his position in the department. Kye joined my team in August 2023, filling a long vacant gap. From there I've worked with Kye (along with Adam and Archie) through the 8.33 trial, 2 Cross the Ponds, the TC Midlands Implementation and the closure of Doncaster - to name just a few of our projects - alongside keeping our core and supported documents up to date. Most recently Kye has been coordinat
Kieran Hardern

Kieran Hardern in Staff Changes

0
United Kingdom

VATSIM UK Live! Announcement

We are pleased to announce the 2024 edition of VATSIM UK Live! will take place on the weekend of 10th and 11th August 2024 at Conference Aston in Birmingham, UK.  VATSIM UK Live! is the annual in-person event where pilots and controllers can spend two full days flying and controlling besides one another in the same room. This brings another level of immersion to the VATSIM experience, as you get behind the scenes insights on the other side of the scope, control side by side or meet and chat
Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

5
ATC Training

S3 Syllabus

In our quest to create a holistic ATC Training Syllabus and overhaul documentation associated with ATC Training, I am pleased to announce the next training syllabi as now been released - the S3 Syllabus. The new S3 Syllabus has been formatted similarly to the recent S2 Syllabus and is detailed below: Block 1 - Fundamental Approach/Radar Competencies: Block 1 aims to take students from zero experience to a solid understanding of S3 fundamental competencies. This includes Euroscope
Will Jennings

Will Jennings in ATC Training

0
ATC Training

Resignation - John Batten

Dear all, It's with some regret that I announce that @John Battenis standing down from his post as Training Group Instructor within our New Controller training group. John was appointed in March 2022 and in the 27 months that he's been in post, he's been instrumental in the success of TGNC, leading the delivery of quality training to new members of our community whilst also juggling his tenure as Member Services Director. In recent times, the training group has seen record numbers of e
Adam Arkley

Adam Arkley in ATC Training

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