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Congrats Adam 🎉

Congrats!

Please join me in congratulating @Adam Bass for passing their S2 exam on Gatwick Tower!

Good Luck!

There will be an exam on Gatwick Tower (EGKK_TWR) on the 13th November, commencing 1800z. The exam is expected to last 1 hour but the exam may end earlier/later, depending on whether the competencies have been sufficiently assessed. A good number of IFR outbounds as well as some IFR inbounds/VFR are essential to making this exam a success. Please, no funny business without first speaking to EGKK_X_TWR. Pilots wishing to fly to ensure that they are familiar with the pilot guidance for ATC exams. Good luck to the candidate!

The department is pleased to accept applications for the role of Training Group Instructor - TG Enroute. 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-quality training with a focus on skills, rather than processes. The division aims to provide training to engaged parties efficiently and quickly, ensuring that they have the skills to continue to develop their knowledge whilst controlling within the division. TG Enroute (ENR) provides the pinnacle of rating training within VATSIM, delivering training for the last controller rating that one can obtain for which there is a structured training programme. The lead of each training group is responsible for: Managing the award and maintenance of training places, supported by the ATC Training Management Motivating student controllers in their training group, ensuring good availability and commitment to the training course Motivating mentors, ensuring commitment to the training group Maintaining training standards, ensuring that mentoring within their training group adheres to the published syllabus Recommending student controllers for examinations, in accordance with the published syllabus To be considered for the role, you must: Be a C1 rated controller, or higher; Have been listed on the active ATC roster for the previous two quarters; Have controlled for least 100 hours post the award of your C1 rating; Have performed extensive mentoring in TG ENR; Be up-to-date on current procedures and familiar with the ATC Training syllabi for TG ENR, alongside the syllabi of the adjacent training group (TG APP - S3); Agree to maintain currency across ATC disciplines, either by controlling at various positions or providing 'top-down' ATC services. Demonstrate good organisational and communication skills; Dedicate a minimum of 2 hours per week to the role; Dedicate a minimum of 18 months to the role To apply, candidates should prepare a letter of application, which includes details of their relevant experience, and e-mail this to jobs[at]vatsim.uk. Applications will be reviewed and may either be rejected at application or invited to a brief interview to discuss the role and their suitability in further detail. Applications will close at 15:00z on the 20th November 2024. Any application received after this date may be rejected.

The restructuring of Events into the Operations Department has created some vacancies! If you have any questions about the roles, including suitability then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I am keen to foster some more home-grown talent in the department - we do not expect anyone to be the complete package when they apply for staff roles - training and guidance will be provided. I would be keen to receive applications from newer and more experienced members alike. Vacancies I am opening applications for the following roles: Operations Manager Enroute Operations Coordinator Events Assistant The Operations Manager role is the counterpart to the Events Manager Role. In this role you will act as my deputy, helping me to manage the day-to-day function of the Operations half of the Department. A C1 rating is not required, what I need most is someone who enjoys working alongside others in a wider team, has the availability and desire to excel in the role and enough experience on the network to understand the wider context and implications of the work we produce in the department. Experience as a staff member in VATSIM UK, or equivalent experience is desirable. The Enroute Operations Coordinator is the department’s subject matter expert on area control. For this reason, a C1 rating (or greater) is required. No-one is an expert on every sector and I do not expect applicants to be (I am certainly not one!). We are lucky to have many contributors, all with their own knowledge bases whose experience you would be required to draw upon in the role. The Events Assistant role, will report to the Events Manager (Luke Thompson). You will be helping Luke to organise the UK’s event schedule including Hogmanay Fly-ins, Mancheaster and of course Cross-the-Pond! You will also be working with the Community department to help them advertise our events, organising our Events Team of volunteers who produce rosters and help to manage events on the day. More detail can be found on these roles in the Operations Handbook. If you wish to discuss any of these positions, particularly if unsure how you might best fit into the department, please feel free to contact me, either via Discord DM (add me as a friend first!) or via email jack.edwards[at]vatsim.uk To Apply Please submit an application by email to jobs[at]vatsim.uk. Please write a short application (max. 300 words) outlining your relevant experience and why you are interested in the role. Application Deadline Applications will be accepted until latest 23:59z on Sunday 24th November, however I reserve the right to close applications earlier if suitable candidates are found.

VATSIM UK is pleased to announce its annual event, Channel Island Christmas Shopper. Join us on December 13th from 1900 to 2200z when we staff all the Channel Island airports for an evening of smooth and efficient holiday operations. With all airports fully covered by ATC, you’ll experience seamless flights and enjoy the scenic routes the Channel Islands offer. Prepare the shopping carts and de-icing fluid as we prepare to staff up the Channel Islands. Whether you’re making quick hops between the islands or planning a longer journey, this event offers an ideal way to fly during the holiday season. Controllers please note that this event will be rostered, an Expression of Interest will be posted in due course.

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 leadership. Please join me in welcoming Jack into his new role. Ben

Well one's a carpenter and one's an arrowsmith.🤣

Hi all! I am pleased to announce that @Ben Carpenter has returned to the Pilot Training team as our new co-VFR Flight Instructor alongside @Benjamin Arrowsmith. Ben has some great ideas about how to optimize our P1 course and brings passion from his real-world flying. Welcome back! (And yes, we still need to sort out the Ben and Ben situation 😂) Safe landings ✈️

Sad...

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 invested in this role. More recently, Dave joined the DSG as Operations Director, and I was thrilled to see him tackle this new role with enthusiasm. I am sure that with more time, the Operations Department would have seen similar success under Dave’s leadership, but unfortunately this was not to be. Dave’s resignation will come as a shock to many as it did for me - naturally I cannot share the specifics as to why his resignation was tendered, however the reasons for doing so are unfortunately out of Dave’s control. I do not wish for this to detract from Dave’s achievements over the last year and on behalf of the DSG I would like to thank him for his hard work and contributions, and I wish him the very best for the future. Ben

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 in TG Tower, ensuring that we continue to deliver high quality training, promptly and efficiently. Please join me in congratulating Reece on his appointment and making him feel very welcome indeed!

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 Community Department respectively, but further recruitment for staff positions in both of these departments will be published over the coming week. For those interested in why these changes are being made and the background behind this decision, please see the below. What are we trying to solve? Almost one year ago, Loui Ringer announced he would be stepping down from the role of Marketing Director, a role he had occupied since early 2019. Throughout Loui’s tenure, we saw a transformation in both the frequency and complexity of UK events due to increasing traffic levels on the Network, particularly in the pre-event planning stages, which was necessary in order to ensure events were manageable from an ATC perspective and therefore enjoyable to all pilots. Throughout this transformation, myself and Loui relied heavily on the Operations Department to provide the necessary input during the pre-event planning process, however, we understood that this reliance on a small number of individuals in the Operation Department would not be sustainable long term. With this in mind, and following the addition of Luke Thompson and Thomas Hallam to the Marketing Department, the decision was made to create and implement the Events Team. This team is composed of members of the Division, including some staff, with the goal of developing and retaining event planning knowledge amongst a wider group of individuals on the Network. It was during this time that Loui announced his resignation and shortly thereafter I left my role of Marketing Manager to become Division Director, therefore the Marketing Department and Events Team was left without direct leadership. In the months that followed, recruitment for the role of Marketing Director opened and closed unsuccessfully. Although the Events Team removed a large knowledge prerequisite from planning events, an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of event planning, flow management and enroute knowledge is still required in order to lead the Events Team and make a suitable decision on the viability of event ideas, which made this a particularly challenging role to fill. Kieran Hardern briefly assumed responsibility for directing the Events Team, as his knowledge and role as Operations Director allowed him to pick up this responsibility with relative ease whilst we discussed long term leadership solutions amongst the DSG. At the same time and somewhat unrelated, other discussions were being made regarding the experience of members in the Division. There are a number of areas which myself and DSG believe have historically lacked attention, for example, the onboarding of new members and controllers’ use of Discord and Teamspeak, social events and moderation. It is crucial that we continue to attract and retain members so that we have a continuous pipeline of future mentors and staff, but also so that the community which has been built continues to thrive. A large part of the reason these areas have fallen by the wayside is that they do not fit neatly under one particular department - in the past, these topics have seen little input until feedback from the community has grown strong enough for a band-aid fix to be applied. This stagnation in development and reactive nature regarding change is something which clearly must improve, and so a solution was also being sought here. One such solution put forward and discussed was the restructuring of the Marketing Department to place the responsibility of Events under the Operations Department, and the movement of all other Marketing activities to the Member Services Department. This would provide the Events Team and current events staff with leadership and would also simplify workflows within event planning, as all planning now takes place within one department. By moving the remaining Marketing functions such as media and graphics to the Member Services, these skills can be better utilised to benefit the wider division, instead of being used primarily for the benefit of UK events. Following Kieran’s resignation, a decision was placed on hold until a new Operations Director was appointed, however with Dave Woodward now in position we were able to reach an agreement on this solution. How are we going to solve it? Moving forwards, we will see the permanent movement of events from the Marketing to the Operations Department. This includes the movement of Luke Thompson, who currently organises the majority of UK events, to the Operations Department where he will report to Dave, our Operations Director. Recruitment of additional events staff will take place over the coming weeks, and it is expected that Luke will be involved in training these new staff members, as well as assuming responsibility for the day-to-day running of events. The media and graphics functions will be moved from the Marketing to the Member Services Department - this includes the movement of Thomas Hallam who is currently responsible for managing the Graphics Team and our social media accounts. Tom will report to Will, our Member Services Director, and it is also expected that a number of roles in this team will shortly open for application. What does this mean for me? These changes will result in the movement of all Marketing functions and, therefore, the Marketing Department will no longer continue to exist. To reflect the Member Services Department’s increased focus on topics which affect the community greatest, the Member Services Department is being renamed to the Community Department. As an aside, those of you who have been around for longer than I have will likely appreciate the irony of this change now that we have come full circle! For the vast majority of our members, these changes will have no immediate impact on you. Luke and Tom will continue to manage the day to day running of the Events and Graphics Teams respectively, and therefore any issues should continue to be flowed upwards in the usual manner. We hope that the benefits of a leaner management structure and better aligned departmental responsibilities will result in greater benefits to the community in the long term, and myself, Nick, Will and Dave will be working closely over the coming weeks and months to ensure the transition runs smoothly. If you are interested in one of the staff positions outlined in this post, please keep an eye on the forums and the UK Discord over the coming weeks. If you are considering applying but want to understand more about what these roles entail, feel free to reach out to me and I would be happy to explain further. Likewise, if you have any questions regarding these changes, please get in touch. Ben

Congratulations 🤩

Congrats!

There was an exam this evening on EGSS_TWR. The exam was not advertised in advance due to anticipated traffic levels with the recent release of the FBW a380. I'm delighted to announce that @Mikolaj Huk passed their exam and earned an S2 rating during the exam. Congratulations Mikolaj!

Version 2024/11 Available ⚠️ You must update your sector file and controller pack to ensure correct sector ownership and sector file identification when controlling. Installation Instructions The pack is compatible with EuroScope 3.2.3.2 which can be downloaded here. You should install in the default 'working directory': \%appdata%\Roaming\EuroScope Please read the README contained within the pack for full details. We continue to work with Gergely to test the latest version of EuroScope (3.2.9) However, at the time of writing we cannot guarantee it will be stable. Please keep an eye on Discord announcements for the recommended ES version. Changes Only Version A changes only version has been included this cycle available for download here

2024/11 Released! --- AIRACs: --- 2411: Moved position of Lydd (LDZ) NDB Updated Bristol (EGGD) SMR Added Blackbushe (EGLK) Hold W Updated Norwich (EGSH) SMR Updated Odiham (EGVO) frequencies Updated Benson (EGUB) frequencies Updated Lakenheath (EGUL) Runway definition Updated Lakenheath (LKH) TACAN position Updated Leeming (EGXE) Approach frequency Updated Benson (BSO) TACAN coordinates --- Other: --- Bug: Corrected Manchester (EGCC) AIR Split Airport Ownership Removed duplicate label for Portsmouth CTA 15/16 Enhancement: Changed order of defined exits on Ground Networks Added Manchester (EGCC) Ground Network --- Many thanks to our contributors this cycle: --- Will Hinshaw Peter Mooney Aiden Bok

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 will be £30 per person for 3 courses, payable in advance, however this price excludes drinks. Further costs may be payable upfront depending on the group activity chosen, and those attending the event will have a say in the activity chosen! All VATSIM members are welcome, but due to the nature of this event it will be restricted to those members over the age of 18 only. As with VATSIM UK Live, we have chosen Birmingham due to its ease of access and central location, although it is expected that many of our members will be staying overnight. Those who have attended Live! will likely be familiar with the available accommodation options and, at the time of writing, many are very reasonably priced for the evening. To be clear: this event is being organised independantly of VATSIM UK Live and there will be no facilities provided to bring your PC and fly/control! If you are interested in attending, please contact me directly and ideally no later than Tuesday 5th November. A small deposit will be payable by bank transfer to VATSIM UK in order to confirm your place. If you have any questions about the evening, or you have suggestions regarding activities we should consider following dinner, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Ben

Valid 1st November 0001z to 11th November 2359z During vHelimed’s VSOA Operation ‘Merlin’, controllers with the military approach endorsement may open Aberporth Radar (EGFA_D_APP - 120.835 MHz). Aberporth Radar is responsible for providing Special Use Airspace Activity Information Services (SUAAIS), Low Altitude Radar Services (LARS) to aircraft outside of controlled airspace, and Special Use Airspace Crossing Services (SUACS). Aberporth Radar has a Primary Surveillance Radar, located 2 miles north of West Wales/Aberporth Airport, which can cover up to 66 nm. Aberporth Radar is not a typical APC unit and does not provide approach services to any airports. The below diagram shows danger areas covered by Aberporth Radar in pink (except D217). Aberporth Radar is responsible for the following danger areas: D201A-K (except E), D202A-D, D133A/B, D115A/B, D117 and D118 on the west coast of Wales. Details of the danger areas can be found in the AIP. UAVs may be flying during the event and will be restricted to the danger areas. They are to be treated as normal aircraft, however will not require approval to enter the zones or be required to contact Aberporth Radar. Danger Areas are activated by NOTAM (or when a UAV is flying in them), however controllers may use the following times as a guide: D201/202 - 0800-1900 D113/115 - 0730-1600 D117/118 - 0630-1700 Aberporth Radar is assigned the following squawk ranges 4521-4527 and 4531-4537. UAVs are reserved 4540-4542. Example Special Use Airspace Crossing Service (SUACS) ‘Aberporth Radar, G-XAVI, request Crossing Service for Danger Area 201’ ‘G-XAVI, Aberporth Radar, Danger Area 201 active, remain outside’ or ‘G-XAVI, Aberporth Radar, Danger Area crossing approved between 1130 and 1200, report vacated’. Example Special Use Airspace Activity Information Service (SUAAIS) ‘Aberporth Radar, G-XAVI, request information for Danger Area 201’ ‘G-XAVI, Aberporth Radar, Danger Area 201 active, crossing service available on this frequency’ or ‘Danger Area 201 not active’. More examples can be found in the CAP413 supplementary instruction. In order to avoid confusion with pilots on the network, Aberporth Radar should provide a top down flight information service to West Wales/Aberporth Airport (EGFA) in the absence of West Wales Information (EGFA_I_TWR). Controllers are encouraged to update their controller information/controller ATIS to reflect their responsibilities.

The seems like a really good idea to me! I think it's a great plan to make some broad changes to the process with the aims of making it better. Good stuff

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, until we have a seminar of 30 people. That seminar then involves anything between 8 and 15 S1 mentors gathering in Teamspeak and Discord to go through what are largely administrative processes. Whilst the seminar touches on introductions to VATSIM-centric concepts and very simple Air Traffic Control principles, the bulk of the session is spent getting student controllers to open Euroscope and make sure that they can see it correctly. Given the competence of the UK Controller Pack, the readme included therein and the availability of videos to supplement the readme, we recognise that this is a waste of our mentors time. We also recognise that the publicly available video is slightly out of date, but our collective opinion is that it’s not so out-of-date as to be unusable. Accordingly, we’ve been discussing a new process which has now been reviewed by the Region as being GCAP compliant and that we will be implementing imminently. The New Process Our new process aims to ensure that engaged and willing student controllers are fed into the training process. Instead of inviting people to a seminar and then expecting them to complete theory training before a training place is awarded, we’re changing the structure of the seminar and we’ll ensure that people are only invited to that seminar when they have both completed the theory exam and they have demonstrated that they can appropriately configure Euroscope. The purpose here is simple: we want to ensure that our mentors are teaching practical skills rather than teaching people how to perform basic configuration of software and ensuring that they have followed the theory. We also want to ensure that there are as few bottlenecks as possible after the seminar, such that we don’t inhibit engaged people from joining the process because an un-engaged student ahead of them in the process has not completed the theoretical elements of their training in the required timeframe. To that end, our process is now: The waiting list will be reviewed and the first 30 people who have completed the CTS Theory Exam for Observers will be invited to demonstrate that they have correctly installed and configured Euroscope. This invitation will take place by e-mail and the student controllers will be expected to demonstrate this by submitting a ticket to the Helpdesk with an appropriate screenshot of their connection. A date will be arranged for a Seminar and those 30 will be provided with that date. If, by the time the Seminar takes place, a prospective attendee has not demonstrated that they can connect to Euroscope, their place at the seminar will be forfeit. If, during establishing the list of 30 attendees, prospective controllers are found near the top of the waiting list that have not completed their CTS theory exam, they will be e-mailed separately requiring them to complete the exam. If, by the next time a batch of invitations is sent, the exam has still not been completed, the student will be removed from the waiting list and notified accordingly. In light of this new process, no no-show spaces will be offered to seminars. Our anticipation is that the waiting list will move much more quickly and, of course, if out of 30 students invited only 5 attend the seminar, we’ll just run another seminar! The New Seminar Given that the seminar currently has a large focus on ensuring that Euroscope is configured and ready for use, the seminar will change in structure. Significantly fewer mentors will be required and the seminar will largely focus on: An introduction to VATSIM - understanding VATSIM UK’s place within VATSIM and how VATSIM works An overview of course content Expectations of students Roles and responsibilities of controllers An introduction to simple ATC concepts Why are we doing this? Our attrition rate in the OBS > S1 process is really very high. On average, of each 30 people who are invited to a seminar, we lose more than half before the award of an S1 rating. In a batch that we analysed, which consisted of more than 30 students attending a seminar: 10 students were removed before the start of practical training, likely because they did not complete the CTS theory exam 21 students (48.8%) were removed at the mentoring stage, likely because of a lack of availability or session request A number that I can’t read because the slice on the graph is too small (!) didn’t attend a seminar that they were invited to An equally small number are still on a buffer list The rest have passed their exams At the time of writing, our waiting list is 777 people strong. When I first published a quarterly review in March of this year, the waiting list stood at 660 an increase of 117 people over a seven month period. We must act to ensure that engaged, excited prospective controllers are offered the ability to train promptly and we weed out those people quickly who express an interest in training but do not then engage with the training process. We’ll implement and review these changes, with a view to determining quickly whether or not this makes a material different to training times and process through the waiting list. We’ll seek to maintain some statistics where can and share this when it’s appropriate. I’ll also submit requests to our technology team to ensure that we support as much of this process technologically as we can, including visibility of position on the waiting list.

Valid 19th October 2024 for the duration of Cross the Pond. A temporary arrangement is permitted to split LAC West during Cross the Pond. This temporary arrangement allows the Brecon split to be opened with or without the parent sector. Controllers operating splits positions must provide a link to vatglasses.uk/ukireland/ in their Controller ATIS. Any errors in procedures should be reported to the Operations department via the Helpdesk or Discord. AC West - LON_W_CTR (Relief: LON_W__CTR) Frequency: 126.080 MHz RTF callsign: London Control Coordination callsign: AC West Top-down responsibility for: All sub-sectors AC West is the parent position of the West LAG, as published in the London FIR (EGTT) vMATS Part 2. Brecon - LON_WB_CTR (Relief: LON_WB__CTR) Frequency: 135.255 MHz RTF callsign: London Control Coordination callsign: Brecon Top-down responsibility for: Gloucester, Cardiff (and St Athan), Bristol Brecon is responsible for airspace from the northern boundary with AC Lakes, down to (and including) the core east-west routes, but excluding the airspace in the lower eastern region, as shown in Figure 1. Brecon - LON_WH_CTR (Relief: LON_WH__CTR) Frequency: 128.815 MHz RTF callsign: London Control Coordination callsign: Berry Head Top-down responsibility for: Channel Islands, Exeter, Newquay, Land's End, Scilly Isles, Yeoville/Westland Berry Head is responsible for the airspace frmo the southern boundary with Brest to just south of Bristol/Cardiff. The airspace is depicted in Figure 2. Agreed Levels Controllers are advised to use the "LAC West (North Sheet)" and "LAC West (South Sheet)" level diagrams for splits. The following agreement in addition is the only agreement from Berry Head to Brecon: To Agreement Conditions Brize Group, EGBB, EGBE FL240 lvl EPACE - Coordination with Adjacent Units, Sectors and Airfields Brecon and Berry Head controllers must inform all adjacent controllers when the split is opened/closed. Neighbouring ACCs are aware of these procedures, however, adjacent UK controllers (enroute, approach and aerodrome) may need guidance on top-down coverage and transfer of traffic. Figure 1 - LAC West - Brecon - Area of Responsibility Figure 2 - LAC West - Berry Head - Area of Responsibility