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[Policy] ATC Training Handbook Updated

Hello The ATC Training Handbook has been updated to version 1.3. This updates most of our procedures and workflows to reflect the latest versions; seperates certain procedures for training towards the S1 rating and defines the new structure of hours requirements for those members wishing to achieve a C1 rating. Thanks to @Oliver Rhodes for drafting these changes. Chris

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in ATC Training

C1 Training Place Allocation & Hour Requirement Changes

Hi all, Over the past few years, the enroute team have allocated C1 training places on a purely ‘first come, first served’ principle, changing the number of places available for each training sector to suit students’ eligibility. This has ensured overall fairness and parity, but can lead to uneven student:mentor ratios, and therefore uneven training times, on each sector. To rectify this issue, from Saturday 1st May, the number of places available for each training sector will be set,

Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes in ATC Training

Gatwick ADC Endorsement Syllabus

Hi all, We are pleased to release the new syllabus for members working towards their Gatwick ground endorsement. We are working towards releasing syllabi for all of our training courses whether that be for a rating or an endorsement in order to improve the continuity of mentoring provided and to make it easier for students to know what they are working towards. A big thank you to all of the Gatwick mentors who help review and provided some great feedback on the document! Thanks,

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in ATC Training

New Controller Training Group Instructor

Hi all! We are looking for a member of the community to join the New Controller Training Group team as an Instructor. This exciting role is fundamental to VATSIM UK's training programme and is a great opportunity to join the UK staff team. What will the role entail? The following responsibilities are relevant to the New Controller Training Group: Have overall responsibility for training within their designated group; Select and train new mentors; Review ATC feed

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in Vacancy

Heathrow Instructor Staff Changes

Evening everyone! I am pleased to announce that @Fergus Walsh will be moving over to the Heathrow Training Group to work with @Nathaniel Leff, our current Heathrow TGI! Fergus has been a part of the TGNC team for just over two years and has without a doubt, been a key player in maintaining our flow of new students and constantly updating and developing our training programme. He will be initially moving over for three months with the view to review after that period has elapsed. This will o

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

Approach Instructor Staff Changes

Hi all! As we near the end of the quarter there are a few upcoming changes on the horizon in the Approach Training Group. @Charlie Watson will be leaving the team as an Approach TGI in the next week as he settles into his new job off the network. Anyone who has trained for their S3 over the past 3 years will know of - or at the very least will have heard of - Charlie, especially his 'S2 to S3 Progression Guide' 🤭 . Since his initial appointment in 2017 Charlie has been a key player in

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

Changes to Midweek Madness

Hello Everyone!   Some of you may remember a similar post a year ago when we first floated the idea of a weekly event, how time flies! The event has since become synonymous with VATSIM UK, and we see huge crowds of pilots returning each week which speaks volumes for the quality of service our controllers provide. We're currently in a situation where due to the insane volume of traffic, we need a minimum of 7 C1 controllers to comfortably split London into manageable sectors and this is

Ben Wright

Ben Wright in Marketing

The Flying Programme

Hi all! As many of us will know, the first few flights on the network are usually stressful and the amount of information can seem overwhelming. Behind the scenes, the Training Department has been considering the idea of creating a program to assist new members in transitioning into flying on the network. Before going ahead and developing/launching the programme, we want to hear the thoughts of the community! We kindly ask that you read through the below information and then fi

Darren Hill

Darren Hill in Pilot Training

Division Instructor Staff Changes

Good evening,   Please could you all join me in thanking @Jamie Paine for his contributions as a Division Instructor (DI). Jamie has decided to step down from his role as a DI as a result of his time being consumed elsewhere.   Jamie has contributed to the staff team for just under three years. He has been involved in the wider training groups and then proceeded to become a DI where he took over the S3 Moodle Course development. Alongside all of the work Jamie has been doing for

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes

Division Instructor Staff Changes

Hi all, Please could you join me in thanking @Phillip Speer for his unreserved dedication and commitment to VATSIM UK over the past 15 years. Phillip will be leaving our team of Division Instructors as he settles into new personal circumstances. For those of you who may not know Phillip, he started mentoring for the Division in 2006 (at which point I was 7...) and joined the staff team in 2008. Phillip has fulfilled numerous staff roles in the UK and always has, without fail, contributed to

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes

New Pilot Training Manager

Good afternoon! Please join me in congratulating @Darren Hill as he takes on his new role as Pilot Training Manager. Darren has been an active mentor in the training department for 18 months and took on the role of VFR Flight Instructor last spring. He has played a vital role in helping us obtain our approval for the new P1 PPL(A) rating and without a doubt, has the motivation and skill to carry VATSIM UK's Pilot Training into the future. Over the next few month Darren will be wor

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

Operations New Year Review - TopSky and 2020 Statistics

Happy New Year! I hope your festive periods have been relaxing. I'm sure many of you like me, will be looking ahead with more optimism to 2021. The past year has generated some remarkable statistics which show the vast contributions made to the division. The Operations Department has also been working hard on a number of topics recently and there are a few exciting projects in the works as we begin 2021. Top-Sky There has been a growing chorus of voices requesting an official VATS

Jack Edwards

Jack Edwards in Operations

Merry Christmas from VATSIM UK

As 2020 draws to a close (a year many of us will be happy to see the back of) we have spent some time reflecting on recent achievements and saying thank you to the important contibutors within the division (You can find here the end of year messages from Training and Marketing). Both on and off the network, there have been many challenges which we have not always been in control of or predicted. Thanks to the hard work of hundreds of volunteers the division continues to grow and rise to mee

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in United Kingdom

Stand Assignments within UK Controller Plugin

Today, we are pleased to announce a significant update to the UK Controller Plugin - automated assignment of stands to arriving aircraft! We've sourced together stand data for as many airports we can find in the AIP, vMATS and sector file... even the two lone stands at Dundee... to allow the plugin infrastructure to manage and assign realistic stands for arriving aircraft! How does it work? Stands are assigned around fifteen minutes before the aircraft is due to arrive. We as

Andy Ford

Andy Ford in Web Services

Marketing End of Year Message 2020

Hello everyone, please see below the end of year statement from the marketing department.   I can’t believe we’re at the end of 2020 already, where has the year gone? Before I break down different areas of the department, I would like to take a moment to share my appreciation towards every person which makes the clock tick in marketing, the Graphics, Livestreaming and Rostering teams all make this possible, so it is now time to follow in the footsteps of training and take a break

Loui Ringer

Loui Ringer in 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

Training Department Q4 2020

Hi all, Please see below a summary of our new projects and achievements in quarter 4. ATC Training Our approach TGIs have been working to produce 'APC Aerodrome Introduction' PowerPoints for our S3 students, allowing key areas of the vMATS to be boiled down into short and focused presentations. Alongside these new PowerPoints, each of our Approach training aerodromes has a dedicated 'Quick Reference Sheet' - similar to the current crib sheets, but with the added element of essenti

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in United Kingdom

S2 Moodle Course Release

It’s finally here! After many years of anticipation and speculation (we’re not sure exactly when we started it, but we have found a reference to a new Moodle platform in some meeting minutes from October 2011), we finally have eLearning materials available on our Moodle platform for our S2 course! The course is divided into six sections - Introduction to ADC, Aerodrome Control Phraseology, Meteorology, Separation, VFR Traffic, and Aerodrome Operations - with a short quiz at the end of each

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in ATC Training

Operations Department

Good evening, The application process for vacancies in the Operations Department has concluded and I am delighted to announce that the following members have been appointed: Aerodrome Operations Coordinator: @Chad Byworth Sector File Coordinators: @Thomas Mills and @Luke Brown Thank you to all those who took the time to apply for these roles and volunteer their time to the division.

Jack Edwards

Jack Edwards in Staff Changes

Member Services Director

The recruitment process announced here is now concluded and this vacancy has been filled. The DSG has chosen to appoint Harry Downton to the vacancy and he has agreed to join the team as the next Member Services Director. The entire DSG thanks Tom Earl for his dedication and efforts in establishing the member services team. We are additionally appreciative of the instigation of projects relating to new members, helpdesk reorganisation and review of the visiting and transferring control

Chris Pawley

Chris Pawley in Staff Changes

Training Department

Evening all! As you have probably seen over the past few weeks we have been in search of two new TGIs for TG APP and one for TGNC. The search is now over! @Thomas Greer and @William Jennings will be joining the Approach Training Group working alongside @Charlie Watson, bringing the team back up to three! @Kye Taylor will be joining our New Controller Training Group working alongside @Fergus Walsh. Over the next week they will be getting up to speed with our current operations

Daniel Crookes

Daniel Crookes in Staff Changes

Enroute Operations Coordinator

Hi all, As promised, the Operations Team is expanding to include more personnel. It gives me great pleasure to welcome Harry S (1237658) to the team in the role of Enroute Operations Coordinator. Harry will be responsible for enroute procedures and documentation and will lead our group of contributors in this area. He will also work with the training department to to develop and ratify enroute ATC procedures and documentation as required. Harry is an experienced controller an

Jack Edwards

Jack Edwards in Staff Changes

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