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Hi all! I am pleased to announce that with Riley's appointment as the VFR Flight Instructor we will be recruiting a new Initial Flight Instructor to run the Flying Programme! The Initial Flight Instructors main responsibilities will be: Has overall responsibility for training of both the flying programme IFR and VFR; Assisting new pilots with gaining experience on the network Maintains training standards of the Flying Programme course; Select and train new mentors for the Flying Programme course; Organise group seminars as appropriate; Organise group flights as appropriate; Issue training places to students on the Flying Programme course; Manage students on the Flying Programme course; Is the point of contact for mentors of the Flying Programme course; Work with the Operations department to produce and review documentation as required; Continuingly review opportunities to develop elements of the flying programme; Provides the Pilot Training Manager with administrative support in relation to the Flying Programme course were appropriate; Holds a continuous review of the Flying Programme course and leverages opportunities for improvement where appropriate. To be considered for the role, you must: Be a home member of VATSIM UK or able to transfer to the UK division as a home member; Be passionate about pilot training and aviation Be a member in good standing. No Pilot Rating is needed Those who are interested should send their application to jobs[at]vatsim.uk. Your application should include a brief explanation as to why you think you are best suited to the role and any other information you deem relevant. If you would like to discuss the role and its responsibilities further, or you have any other questions regarding this position, please contact Lewis Hammett or myself and we will be happy to arrange a short call. Please submit all applications in writing via a Helpdesk ticket to ‘Jobs and Applications’ before 22:59z on 9th November 2025.

I'm please to announce that @Riley Casement has been appointed as our new VFR Flight Instructor! Riley will be working alongside @Benjamin Arrowsmith Riley has been the Initial Flight Instructor for the flying programme course and has been making some amazing change and has transformed the department. He brings some amazing experience and I look forward to seeing Riley starting to take over the responsibilities of the role over the coming weeks! I wish all the best to Riley and please join me in congratulating him on his new role! Ben

Hi all! I am pleased to announce we will be recruiting for a new Advanced Flight Instructor who will co-run the department alongside our current advanced flight instructor @Tarik Merrylees. The advanced FI is responsible for creating and maintaining the P3_CMEL(A). The Advanced Flight Instructors main responsibilities to begin with will include: Working alongside the current advanced FI to create the P3_CMEL(A) Oversee the development of the P3 CMEL(A) Moodle, lesson plans, and associated course content; Ensure course compliance with relevant PTD documentation such as the MCS; Work with other Pilot Training staff members to align the course with current standards After the course is launched the main responsibilities will include: Has overall responsibility for training of the P3 CMEL(A) course in accordance with VATSIM UKs P3 CMEL(A) training syllabus; Maintains training standards of the P3 CMEL(A) course; Select and train new mentors for the P3 CMEL(A) course; Organise group seminars as appropriate; Issue training places to students on the P3 CMEL(A) course; Manage students on the P3 CMEL(A) course; Is the point of contact for mentors of the P3 CMEL(A) course; Work with the Operations department to produce and review documentation as required; Provides the Pilot Training Manager with administrative support in relation to P3 CMEL(A) course were appropriate; Holds a continuous review of the P3 CMEL(A) course and leverages opportunities for improvement where appropriate. To be considered for the role, you must: Be a home member of VATSIM UK or able to transfer to the UK division as a home member; Hold a P3 rating or above, or a real world equivalent Be passionate about pilot training and aviation Be a member in good standing. Those who are interested should send their application to jobs[at]vatsim.uk. Your application should include a brief explanation as to why you think you are best suited to the role and any other information you deem relevant. If you would like to discuss the role and its responsibilities further, or you have any other questions regarding this position, please contact Lewis Hammett or myself and we will be happy to arrange a short call. Please submit all applications in writing via a Helpdesk ticket to ‘Jobs and Applications’ before 22:59z on 31 October 2025.

First of all I just want to say a massive thank you to the entire mentoring team who have made 2025 possible in the Pilot Training Department! 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) Overview Hello everyone, I’ll start this post by introducing myself. I am Ben Carpenter, the new Pilot Training Director here at Vatsim UK. For those who don't know me, over the past year I’ve been working on the P1 course alongside Ben Arrowsmith. I came into this role at the start of September and so far I’ve been working with our amazing instructor team to implement new changes and start some new exciting projects which I hope to be able to share soon. A number of projects that have been launched this quarter include waiting list changes, mentor standardisation and the launch of the P1_PPL(A) syllabus V3. We are excited to bring a number of lessons learned from the P1 through to both the P2 and P3 and hope to have more news in the coming months. The numbers and graphs P1 PPL(A) In Q3 2025, we had 65 sessions for the P1 which is our 3rd best quarter of the year just behind Q1. However this is an abnormal result based on previous years as we tend to see a significant drop in sessions over the summer however we have maintained sessions just a couple behind last month. To put in comparison in Q3 2024 we only had 11 sessions. We’ve had our best year on record by an additional 82 number of sessions. Our total session number for this year is 202. We launched our version 3 syllabus this quarter which has reduced the total number of sessions to 14 with only 7 of them being with a mentor which is down by 4 sessions. This has massively increased our output of students, reducing the average training time from 4 months to 3 months. We have had 8 exams this quarter with 7 of them being passes! This made it the best quarter and best year for exams since our launch. We have had a total of 13 passes this year which is 5 more than our previous best year which was 2021! P2_SEIR The P2 has had a reduction in the number of sessions this quarter most likely due to the summer dip that most departments experience and we can see this in the number of mentors picking up a session has reduced. However 2025 has been the second best year in terms of session count so a positive trend we’re starting to see! The P2 is yet to have any exams this year however we are proud to maintain our 100% pass rate since the launch of the P2. The Flying Programme TFP has made leaps and bounds this quarter with the launch of TFP VFR which was launched earlier this quarter. TFP has had 14 sessions this quarter making it the best quarter of 2025 increasing the total number of sessions to 30 making it just 4 short of the total number of sessions last year. TFP has seen a rise in mentor activity with 3 mentors picking up 3+ sessions and 2 more picking up at least 1 session. I would like to thank Riley for his hard work this year to launch both TFP VFR and engaging new mentors and working to increase the student output through increasing the number of sessions this year! Department Updates Waiting List Changes P1 Changes Earlier in Q3 we changed the requirements to our P1 waiting list which has helped reduce our waiting list from 188 to 97. We have set a maximum capacity of 100 on the waiting list to reduce excessive waiting times. We are still seeing a huge demand for the P1 with the waiting list rising by 7 in the matter of 2 days recently. To join the waiting list: Must be a UK Home Member Hold 30 hours as a pilot on Vatsim To Maintain your place on the waiting list: Maintain 10 hours in the last 3 months or; 5 hours if you are active as ATC on the network Complete the P1 theory within 1 month of being asked to Respond to regular activity checks P2 Changes We have also recently changed the requirements for the P2 waiting list: Must be a UK Home Member To Maintain your place on the waiting list: Maintain 5 hours in the last 3 months When offered a training place you can only defer once Mentor Standardisation On the P1_PPL(A) course this quarter we implemented standardisation training and information for mentors which has meant mentors are now all teaching exactly the same items reducing confusion for students which increases the rate of their training as less has to be recovered due to differences between mentors. Conclusion In conclusion this quarter has been another big improvement for the PTD. We are seeing continued success with the P1 with it being the best year on record and it continues to be being improved with more exams coming up and new mentors joining the team. The P2 has some exciting projects coming up in Q4 2025 and we hope to bring what we learnt from the P1 into the P2 to increase the number of exams per year! The Flying Programme has continued to increase its capacity this year which is what we set out to do at the start of the year and with the launch of TFP VFR we are always looking to expand the scope and increase the capacity of TFP. P3 is still in progress, we’re always looking for more volunteers to help with the project, so whether you have experience or not please reach out as we always look for new volunteers! I can’t wait to make real changes at the PTD and continue to work with the instructor team to make an efficient but high quality training programme. Ben ✈️

Good Evening All, I am thrilled to announce that @Ben Carpenter will be joining the Division Staff Group after his successful application to the role of Pilot Training Director! Ben brings a wealth of real world experience to this role and has been a long time member, controller, and pilot instructor within the Division. The P1 course in particular has thrived under Ben's previous stewardship, and I look forward to seeing similar future improvements rolled out across the whole Pilot Training offering. Please join me in congratulating Ben - I look to forward to working alongside him and I wish him all the best in his new role. Ben

The Pilot Training Department is responsible for managing the VATSIM UK Authorised Training Organisation (ATO), through which VATSIM UK provides training for Pilot Ratings in accordance with the VATSIM.net Pilot Training Department guidelines. The Pilot Training Department is also responsible for managing The Flying Programme, which aims to further develop pilot knowledge and competence within the UK. The Pilot Training Director’s main responsibility is to provide leadership to the Pilot Training Department. Other responsibilities of the role include: Continually - Provide leadership to an active, volunteer staff team of instructors and examiners Continually - Provide, develop and implement long-term strategy and vision to the department Continually - Manage and oversee the maintenance of Pilot Training documentation, course content, and syllabi Regularly - Manage the award of training places, review student progress and ensure efficient use of mentoring resource Regularly - Act as a liaison between VATSIM UK and the VATSIM Pilot Training Department as the Responsible Representative. Occasionally - Assist flight instructors with practical and theoretical queries regarding student sessions and progress The Pilot Training Director sits on the Division Staff Group and reports to the Division Director. Members of the DSG are expected to: Prepare for and attend DSG meetings Prepare quarterly departmental reports for the EMEA Region Contribute to internal discussion on matters related to the running of the Division Contribute to the Moderation of VATSIM UK services and maintain an active presence on the Network Attend Town Hall meetings and other ad-hoc meetings where possible The successful candidate must possess the following: Be a full UK Home Member in good standing Excellent written English skills and the ability to communicate effectively The ability to lead a small volunteer team Excellent self-organisation skills and the ability to work to monthly deadlines A thorough understanding of flying practical skills, theoretical knowledge, and UK VFR/IFR procedures The motivation to learn and develop into the role A minimum of a P1 pilot rating The successful candidate may possess the following: Previous experience and understanding of the VATSIM Pilot Training system and ratings Previous experience as a flying mentor, instructor or examiner, either within the VATSIM Network or from elsewhere If you would like to discuss the role and its responsibilities further, or you have any other questions regarding this position, please contact Nick Marinov or myself and we will be happy to arrange a short call. Please submit all applications in writing via a Helpdesk ticket to ‘Jobs and Applications’ before 22:59z on 31 August 2025.

Changes to The Flying Programme We’re pleased to announce the launch of a brand new VFR (Visual Flight Rules) course within The Flying Programme, built specifically to support everyday pilots who want to fly light aircraft confidently on the VATSIM network without getting too buried theory or technicalities. This course provides a practical, no nonsense introduction to VFR flying, focusing on the essential knowledge and skills needed to operate competently in the online environment. Unlike the highly detailed P1 course, this VFR module keeps things simple and actionable, just enough theory to understand what you’re doing, with the focus squarely on application. Why This Course Exists The Flying Programme has always aimed to guide pilots to full VATSIM competency, and that mission hasn’t changed. What has changed is how accessible that pathway can be. This new VFR course acts as a foundation, not a shortcut. It gives new pilots a solid, confidence building first step into online flying and serves as a great lead in to more advanced training like the P1. As mentioned by Darren in a previous blog post, completion of The Flying Programme’s VFR course now grants a reduced hour requirement toward the P1 rating, meaning you’ll not only be better prepared but also one step closer to certification. What You’ll Learn The course covers the most important areas of VFR operations on VATSIM, including: VATSIM Mandatory Knowledge (Flight Plans and Connecting) Radiotelephony Basic Aircraft Knowledge Airspace and Flight Rules Operations of Aerodromes Meteorology and Altimetry FISO and A/G Operators Standard VFR Procedures All training will use common GA aircraft like the Cessna 152, Cessna 172, and PA28, the kind of aircraft most people are familiar with. Who It’s For The course is aimed towards: Pilots who want to fly VFR without getting bogged down in technical deep dives Newcomers who’ve never used the radios or flown a circuit before IFR focused pilots looking to expand into the VFR world Anyone preparing to take on the P1 rating and looking for a stronger foundation Ready to Get Started? The VFR course is live on our Moodle platform and available to all eligible members.

I am pleased to announce that James Bayliss-de Gruchy has been appointed as the events manager. I have been covering this role for a while whilst James got to grips with the department. He will now be supporting me with the events side of operations, whilst support the events assistants.

As we head into the summer of 2025, the Operations Department is short of a few staff members. We would like to recuit one events assistant and a handful of operations assistants. If you have any questions about the roles, including suitability then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Myself and peter are 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 Assistant Enroute Operations Coordinator Events Assistant The Operations Assistant role is a very fluid, as their primary responsibilities can be within Enroute, Aerodrome or the Sector file. It is suited to both experienced and inexperienced members. Currently in our assistant roles in the department, we have some of our most experienced writers who work on projects rather than coordinating the entire branch. We equally recruit less experienced members to work on Aerodrome or Sector File projects and to develop their skills. 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 . You will be helping the events manager to organise the UK’s event schedule including Hogmanay Fly-ins, Mancheaster and any new events! 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 (including flow management). 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 or Peter, either via Discord DM or via email archie.middlefell[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. We are not expecting long applications! Application Deadline EDIT: Applications will be accepted until latest 23:59z on Tuesday 19th August for the Operations Assistant and Events Assistant Role. Applications for the Enroute Operations Coordinator will remain open UFN.

Good Afternoon, I'd like to start by announcing the departure of @Thomas Hallam from the team. After years of dedication, hard work and valuable contributions, Tom will be stepping away from his role in the Outreach Team. Tom began in the Marketing team where he helped deliver numerous successful events, with a particular focus on the graphical elements that came with them. Since the disbandment of that team, Tom agreed to continue some of his responsibilities within the newly formed Community Team, where he has been a great help that will be missed. On a more positive note, I am pleased to announce that @Callum Hicks, @Noah Murdochand @Charles Newman will be joining the team in the role of Outreach Assistants. All three bring fresh ideas, and new skills to the team, allowing us to make consistent progress across multiple projects, designed to help us better engage with both current and prospective members, improving the overall experience across the board.

🖌️ Want to join the VATSIM UK Media Team? 🖌️ We are looking to expand the VATSIM UK Media Team! This is a voluntary group of people who assist the community department with the creation of event banners and various graphics for our social media and forums. If you are interested in joining, please create a fictional banner! "Newcastle Overload - 24/01/25 - 1200z - 1500z - Full staffup of Newcastle" Feel free to be as adventurous as you like, but attempt to stick to the branding guidelines where possible: VATSIM UK | Branding Guidelines Please note, this is a fictional event and the role is not a staff role. Looking to contribute in a different way? You may be interested in helping produce some of our video and/or animated content, to express interest, please provide us with a few examples of your work. Submit either to [email protected] with your name and CID. From the submissions, we will select a handful of members to join the Media Team. Good luck!

Hi all! Please take note of the purple supplements/corrections to the original post for changes made on 2 July 2025 after further consultation with members and PT staff.

Waiting Lists Are Now Self-Enrollable! We’re excited to announce that all ATC and Pilot rating-based waiting lists are now self-enrollable. These are available through https://www.vatsim.uk/mship/waiting-lists If you meet the required rating and hour criteria, you’ll be able to add yourself directly, meaning no more waiting to be manually added by a staff member. This change brings several benefits: Reduces the workload on our Community Department. Ensures a faster and fairer process for members. Helps the division move towards greater automation, allowing staff to focus more on development and support. Note: Some ATC endorsement lists such as Heathrow TWR/APP are unavailable for self-enrolment. These lists require prerequisite endorsements that must be checked manually for the time being. Please continue to submit tickets for these as normal. A huge thank you to our Technology Team for making this possible! Their continued work behind the scenes is helping us create a more streamlined and modern experience to members. Going forward, any questions about ATC waiting lists (e.g. "Am I eligible?", "Why isn’t it moving?", "Where am I on the list?") should be directed to the ATC Training Department, not Community.

Thanks for your hard work Cole! Don't be a stranger a ✈️

Good afternoon, James, I've only quoted your post in the hope that you get some sort of notification; I am conscious that I am days late in responding to you owing to a work trip. I hope you're well. Thank you for taking the time to write and to not only read but also consider what I have written. I agree with many of your points - this is in fact just 'data'. But the purpose behind providing it is to attempt to illustrate to everyone - those who are supportive of our efforts, those who are critical of our efforts and those who have self-serving interests or demonstrate perpetual impatience - just what's going on within VATSIM UK and the efforts we're going to in order to try to expedite training. As you say, people come here to have fun but they need at least an S1 to do it! I think that perhaps your best observation is one that I whole-heartedly agree with - other than 'good nature', mentors have little reason to mentor. There is no incentive for them to do so and I have mentioned, I think, in other blog posts that we do intend to do something about that, but our plan relies rather a lot on being able to track rather a lot of things and getting everything in line to do that is challenging to say the least - you are no stranger to the lack of resources that we have and thus, all things take time. Had this been a corporate entity, we'd have delivered it long ago! With respect to KPI, my focus is rating upgrades. Whilst recognising that we have few mentors, if we can at least make the process more efficient, we get better value from the precious time that our mentors do provide. You are also right that much of VATSIM's culture stems from .Net. In a late-2023 conversation with Simon, I shared with him my views on the Region/Division/vACC structure within VATSIM and that almost overwhelmingly, the reason for that structure relates to the provision of ATC, both training and for events. That is not to diminish the excellent work of our Pilot Training Team, but given that there is neither an obligation for divisions to provide pilot training, nor is it necessary for a .Net accredited ATO to sit within the division structure (think BAVirtual), it is not a requirement for the hierarchical structure to exist for the provision of pilot training. Accordingly, we are very limited as to our influence over network-wide pilot quality. That is not to say that we are doing nothing about it. Whilst I agree that the survey results are, again, just data, they're perhaps the most meaningful data that we have - it demonstrates a first-hand understanding of why people are voting with their feet. It is not actionable by us, but it's definitely something we can wave in front of other people's faces and do something with. If nothing else, it demonstrates that we, at least, are listening and part of what I have told people stoically from day one is that I'm here for them, to represent their interests. I've already presented the numbers to representatives of the Region and we'll be following up with some of our neighbours - watch this space. Your final comments on community are, honestly, challenging to address. We're very conscious of the topic within the DSG and I feel that addressing that in full is perhaps better left to others within the DSG. But, rest assured - I do have fun in my role. I very much enjoy teaching, I've had some cracking mentoring sessions recently and I still control independently when I'm not developing. What's important to me is that me and my team facilitate training so that others can enjoy their ratings and I think we're doing OK at that. To me, that's worth the stress. Take care, James - thank you again for sharing your thoughts. Adam

VATSIM UK Live! 2025 VATSIM UK Live! is back for the 12th edition and you are invited to join us! This year’s event takes place on the 2nd and 3rd of August 2025 at Conference Aston – a meeting space and hotel located close to the centre of Birmingham. We'll be taking over their large event room providing a space for everyone to fly, control and socialise in person with dozens of other members from across the network. The weekend offers a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes how VATSIM Controllers work, sit side-by-side with your colleagues, coordinate traffic, or learn from experts in the room, with in person training and mentoring. Conference Aston and its surroundings offer a range of options for meals over the weekend, with the option to join groups for dinners or make your own plans. The weekend is informally organised without a strict timetable to adhere to. Be sure to bring your own equipment (PC, laptop etc.) – all power and (wired) internet will be provided. We've also secured a hotel discount for up to 10 people at the Aloft Birmingham - Thank you @Craig Stewartfor organising this. Rooms include breakfast, Wi-Fi, and a king-size bed for one (with the option to add a second guest for £13). Bookings are flexible and cancellable up to 23:59 the night before, and must be made by 4th July. Rooms are limited and availability is not guaranteed - send us a ticket if you'd like access to the discounted booking link. Tickets cost £29 for a one day ticket, £39 for a weekend ticket and can be purchased now at live.vatsim.uk We look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham on the 2nd and 3rd of August! Facebook Instagram

Good evening, We've had really rather a lot of discussion during my tenure so far about the capability for S1s to mentor others hoping to achieve their S1 rating. Whilst we've allowed S1s to mentor at Gatwick Ground for some time and more recently expanded this to Heathrow, there have been two key impediments that have prevented us permitting S1s to mentor others on Sweatbox: On average, our S1 controllers - whilst competent - represent some of the least experienced controllers on VATSIM and, thus, tend to have the least exposure to the varied traffic presentations that we might see. To that end, our position remains that on average, S1s are not typically suitably equipped to introduce others to all that VATSIM has to offer. There are also technical limitations. In short, the back-end servers that facilitate connections from pilot and controller clients permit people connecting to Sweatbox to elevate their rating (do not do this on the live network - you have been warned!) by one. However, for seemingly arbitrary reasons, the developer of Euroscope sought to impose an additional limitation, preventing Euroscope from making connections to Sweatbox to run a scenario - whilst they can connect to join an existing scenario. One of our lovely Operations staff opted to reach out to Gergely, who has very kindly provided a version of Euroscope with this limitation removed. Accordingly, we now have no technical impediment preventing us from allowing S1s to mentor Observers for their rating training. We're left with a question of competence. Through long discussions between myself, Will, Ben and the TGNC leads, we're going to invite a small number of our more active S1 Gatwick mentors to join the TGNC team as rating trainers. We recognise that this will likely stir some debate, but given the significant increase in the rate at which people join the waiting list, we must take measures to ensure that we're meeting demand. We've already invited the first three of our existing Gatwick mentoring team to join us and we'll be onboarding them as rating training mentors very shortly. I've laid clear to them my expectations and all understand that they'll need to work closely with the TGNC team, me and Will to ensure that this is a success. Moving forwards, further invitations will be made after an initial trial period. There is a preferred pathway towards being invited and once we've evaluated the success of the programme, that pathway will be outlined in the ATC Training Handbook. For now, we anticipate that: Prospective S1 mentors must have held their S1 rating for a minimum for six months. Prospective S1 mentors must have amassed a good number of controlling hours at a variety of aerodromes post the award of their rating. Prospective S1 mentors must have mentored at Gatwick in advance of their consideration to begin rating mentoring. Prospective S1 mentors would ideally have mentored at Heathrow in advance of their consideration to begin rating mentoring. We'll all be keeping a very close eye on this in the hope that we can make some meaningful impact to the S1 waiting list. I hope to be able to provide a further update on progress in around three months. As ever, if there are questions or comments please let us know! Best regards, Adam

Hola! Long time. Your last feedback submission was indeed the 28th July 2024. You'll either need to either blow hotter or colder to solicit more. We discuss automagic feedback periodically, but the problem is that sometimes, there's utter waffle submitted, or things submitted in the wrong name and so on, and we currently have no mechanism to unshare feedback. To that end, the process remains manual for now. A

Outreach Assistant We are looking to expand the Community team and as such I am pleased to start recruitment for an Outreach Assistant. This role sits within the Community department under the Outreach Manager, and will play a key role in developing a vibrant, welcoming community experience. The Outreach Assistant will be responsible for: Developing our Community Spaces (Discord, TeamSpeak etc); Developing member retention and outreach strategies; Developing our onboarding process for new members; Undertake marketing related activities, including VATSIM UK social media, and the use of our design and brand; Utilisation of our Graphics & Video team; To be considered for this role you must: Be a home member of VATSIM UK; Be a member in good standing; Have a high level of English writing ability; Have a high level of interpersonal skills; Be able to commit a minimum of 6 months to the role; Have the motivation and commitment to see tasks through. A desirable candidate would possess all or some of the following qualities: Experience working within a small team of volunteers; Good communication, administrative and teamwork skills; Motivation to excel in the role and a vision to strengthen the areas you are responsible for; Demonstrate good organisational and planning skills; Experience in good social media practises; Experience in graphic design and video creation; How much time do I need to commit to the role? You must be able to dedicate enough time each week to perform assigned tasks and support the department. The time each week will vary based on your assigned tasks and any special events / key projects. You will be responsible for managing your time effectively to meet deadlines and expectations. What could I discuss in my application to help me be successful? To stand out you may wish to discuss ideas you have for improving member retention, onboarding, engagement or any other aspect of the role. You may also wish to discuss any skills or experience you find relevant. How to Apply Please submit applications by email to jobs[at]vatsim.uk. Please state why you are the most suitable candidate for the position, how you meet any desired attributes and what you can bring to the team. If you wish to discuss any part of this role, please feel free to contact me via Discord. We are not looking for an essay, just a reason why you stand out. We are also not looking for you to be the complete package, the requirements for this role reflect this. As long as you have the ability and willingness to develop in your role we want to hear from you, so please do apply or ask questions! Applications will close at 23:59z on the 20th May 2025. Applications received after this time may not be considered. All applications will be reviewed after this date and everyone will be notified of the outcome in due course. Some applicants may be invited to a short interview style discussion to allow you to further expand on your application.

Hi all! I am please to announce two appointments to the Pilot Training team! @Lewis Hammett returns to the team as our Pilot Training Manager @Riley Casement joins us as our second Initial Flight Instructor alongside Cole Both of them bring the enthusiasm and passion we need to take our training forward. I cannot wait to see where Pilot Training goes! Safe landings ✈️

All, The ATC Training Department is seeking motivated individuals to join our new Moodle Team. This team will support Training Group Instructors (TGIs) with the ongoing upgrade of existing Moodle courses and the development of new training resources. Reporting to the ATC Training Manager, ideal applicants should: Hold at least an S1 rating (We would ideally like a plethora of members across all rating levels) Have recent mentoring experience (Preferred but not essential) Possess good controlling experience at a variety of UK aerodromes Demonstrate strong writing skills and a keen eye for detail Have a genuine interest in improvement and development We encourage applications from all interested members – previous departmental experience is not required! A group introductory session will be held in due course for those selected. To register your interest, please submit a ticket to 'ATC Training', outlining your suitability for the role and what you can bring to the team. Will

All, We are now accepting applications from S1 rated members to mentor at Heathrow. Please see the following extract from the next update to the ATC Training Handbook: S1 rated members may also mentor at Heathrow, at the discretion of the TGI, if they: ● Have no significant negative feedback; ● Have previous Gatwick mentoring experience: ● Have at least 20hrs on Heathrow GND/DEL positions post award of endorsement. There is a minor inconvenience being that S1 members are unable to conduct Sweatbox sessions, although we still believe this change will provide invaluable support to TG Heathrow whilst enhancing the skillset of our S1 members. Interested members should submit a ticket to ATC Training. Will

Good evening, all, In my last blog post, I spoke about how I'd come to the epiphany that not everyone on our OBS > S1 waiting list was waiting for training. For reasons described in that blog post, many people were on our 'waiting' list that were not actually waiting. Many of you will know that I am a man of action and I promptly sought to remedy this. With thanks once again to the legendary @Callum Axon, we now have the capability for prospective controllers to self-enrol on the OBS > S1 waiting list. With the waiting list having moved to our core web platform, away from CTS, we can now manage our waiting list with far more granularity, providing real clarity as to how many people are actually waiting for training. Our 'becoming a controller' page will be updated shortly with information on the new process for joining the New Controller waiting list - any aspiring S1 controllers who are not already on the waiting list should read this new documentation carefully in order to ensure that they join the waiting list correctly - the division cannot be held responsible for any failures to follow this new process. Once this new process has bedded in and we've been able to update the waiting list to remove those people who have already started (or completed!) their S1 training, I'll publicise a small update with some revised statistics. As ever, I remain available for questions, comments or suggestions. All the best, Adam

Hello mate! Long time... The policy is that if people fail to engage, we remove them and they're welcome to come back for a further attempt. The reason that we do this is demand: if we wait forever for people to engage and we just pick them up when they're ready, nothing ever moves - idle members are in control of the progress of our waiting lists and not the department. Demand is high across the division, as depicted by the waiting list numbers above. For myriad reasons, the number of C1/C3 rated controllers who are active, current, eligible to become Division Instructors and interested therein is low. In order to keep the waiting lists for training moving forwards, we prioritise rating training and tend to lean on DIs to provide recurrent training to people. Those needing recurrent training fall into two categories; those returning under GCAP and those who are subject to significant negative feedback. Currently, there are 10 people waiting for the attention of DIs. One of our DI's is currently in another time-zone; two are involved in the running of the department as a whole; one is currently on a break and the other is doing his best. Let me answer one of your questions: the policy for returning controllers is more permissive than for people awaiting rating training. When we offer a training place for someone awaiting rating training, they have only 3.5 days to accept the training place and acknowledge the relevant terms of our handbook. I think it's fair to say that almost five weeks (which is actually when we first reached out to you to offer you a session) is very relaxed in comparison! As far as your suggestion of the focus being statistics is concerned - I implore you to point out to me a place where I have ever reported on the waiting list length for revalidating controllers...

Hi, Back in June @Ben Wright posted an update regarding the removal of general-chat. Within this forum post, he mentioned the future expansion of “short-term channels designed to encourage discussion of upcoming events such as a ‘pmdg-777-chat’.” In collaboration with the Technology team, We have created a new category called “General - Temporary Discussion” with it placed under the existing “General” category. This category will house channels created for temporary short-term discussion. The Outreach Team will keep an eye on various different topics, scenery/aircraft releases and hot-topics to create channels on an ad-hoc basis. However suggestions for channels are always welcome and can be directed to me. The temporary channels, and their content will be deleted once the topic or conversation is deemed to be stagnant and / or no longer relevant. Given the upcoming F1 races, we have decided to create a #F1 2025 - Bahrain where we welcome discussions around this race. Other channels will follow, where appropriate. It’s important to note, this and other temporary channels are not intended to request support, please continue to direct support requests to the #community-help forum.