Evan Reiter

BVA is currently seeking a Community Treasurer, who will manage our community’s finances, have access to the bank account, track member donation, and produce an annual budget. As is the case with our position postings for Training Administrator and Events Coordinator, this position is available to any member of VATSIM. Key Accountabilities • Report to Community Manager • Track donations received from members on an ongoing basis • Maintain an active reconciliation of transactions to and from our bank account • Produce an annual report of the community’s finances Requirements • Be a citizen of the United States, and reside within the contiguous U.S.A., with driving access to a Chase bank branch • Active member on the network in good standing with a clean history, with prior controlling or flying experience within ZBW • Capable of working well in team-oriented environment • Excellent written and oral communication skills • Access to and strong ability with Microsoft Office suite, including PowerPoint, Word, and Excel Preferred Skills • Prior financial or accounting experience • Leadership, managerial, or supervisory experience How to Apply Candidates can expect an initial evaluation of their application after which they may be contacted for a comprehensive interview. Prospective applicants shall submit a letter of application, which provides answers to the following questions: 1. Why are you interested in this position? 2. How will you balance the time commitment required for administrative activities with any training and/or controlling you currently do on the network? 3. What’s one thing about yourself that we should know, but don’t already know? 4. What do you imagine being part of ARTCC senior staff is like? 5. What do you wish to get out of the role you have applied to? The letter of application shall also include your name, CID, and current VATSIM rating. The letter of application shall not exceed 1 page. Applications should be submitted to Evan Reiter, Community Manager ([email protected]) by November 30.

Our friends at Navigraph are conducting the third annual FlightSim Community Survey, designed to gauge the prevailing flight simulation trends and users' requests for future development. They have asked us to share the survey link with interested parties. The survey will take 10-15 minutes to complete, so (as they suggest) grab your favorite drink before getting started! https://www.navigraph.com/flightsimsurvey2018?source=fsexpo

Actually, we've got the entire series on our YouTube channel from 2015/16 when we did these the last time. Although there have been some minor updates, the main content or subjects haven't changed substantially. You can find them here: I hadn't planned to record these sessions given we've already got edited, clean versions online. However, if it's somewhat easy to do through the teleconferencing platform that we're using, I'll certainly look into it.

Boston Virtual ARTCC is proud to announce the return of Ground School: focused, 1-hour training seminars designed to offer discussion around common virtual aviation topics. The sessions, which will take place in the Member TeamSpeak, are open to all BVA members, with a specific focus on welcoming pilot and newer members into the community. Ground School topics include VFR Procedures, Weather, RNAV, Radio Communications, Holds, and much more! The sessions will be hosted by BVA C1 controller and P5 holder Alec Liberman, who is also a real-world CPL-ASEL, Instrument certificated pilot. The first session will take place on Monday, November 19 at 7pm ET in the Member TeamSpeak, with the second two weeks later. (Sessions and topics will appear below with dates as they are scheduled.) Immediately following the discussion, ZBW will be staffed for members to enjoy the ATC experience, and to put the topic of focus into practice. Please join our Member TeamSpeak at 7pm ET on November 19 for Ground School. You can find server connection information and a detailed connection guide on our website. 2019 Ground School Topics and Dates Dates and times will appear beside a topic once the session is scheduled. Completed sessions will have a link to presentation materials. [*]Radio Communications - November 19, 7pm ET [*]Weather - December 3, 7pm ET [*]VFR Procedures - January 7, 7pm ET [*]IFR Clearances - January 24, 7pm ET [*]Oceanic Procedures - February 25, 7pm ET [*]Holds - March 4, 7pm ET [*]Instrument Approach Procedures (Part 1 of 2) - March 11, 7pm ET [*]Instrument Approach Procedure (Part 2 of 2) - March 18, 7pm ET [*]RNAV Procedures - April 18, 7pm ET

As we congratulate Clif on his promotion to Air Traffic Manager, we also recognize the contributions that Ian has made to the ARTCC during his short but impactful tenure here. Several of the ways Ian was able to help move our community forward might not have been immediately obvious to the general membership, so I wanted to take a moment to share some of those thoughts with you. I’m writing this post because I’ve been speaking to Ian a little more than Clif has. However, Clif has had the chance to read over this message and provide his feedback on the content. Ian joined the ARTCC at a time when we were seen as a very successful, but somewhat secluded, facility within VATUSA. Behind the scenes, he worked hard to help other facilities and VATUSA controllers understand what ZBW is all about. In many cases, this involved spending time in other TeamSpeak servers, explaining most of the time that ZBW isn’t all that different, and dispelling myths and sharing information. The recent increase in activity and visitors is a direct result of these efforts. When we held the first meeting a few weeks ago to introduce Ian to the community, the ideas and vision he had for the group were laid out. However, as we all know, sometimes life gets in the way. In the discussions I’ve had with Ian, it has become apparent that factors outside of VATSIM made it challenging—and perhaps impossible—to achieve these objectives. The feedback I gave him during these discussion was to do what would be best for him, recognizing that it’s important for people in volunteer roles to really and truly enjoy what they are doing. Ian, please know that all of us here at ZBW appreciate the short time you were able to be with us, and wish you all the best in every way. We hope you’ll continue to control here with us and not be a stranger!

Congratulations Clif! A well-deserved appointment, no doubt. Glad you decided to take the next step. Gents, I realize this is a bit of a sudden and perhaps unexpected announcement. I have been in touch with Ian regularly for the past several days, and will be able to share a little bit more information here on the forums when I get home. Rest assured the Administration Team remains focused on ensuring the success of the community, and is looking forward to posting for some new leadership opportunities in the next several weeks. See you for the CTP brief tonight.

Corrected to 2018.

DY, you have your S3 now. You don't need to suck up to him anymore.

Yes, I did it...I came up with another pun on RQ! Now I'll RQuest from Clif that some other unlucky Mentor or Instructor gets assigned to Austin for his next training session so I don't have to think of RQ-related puns anymore. Wait, what, we're live? Oh, my bad, sorry...uh, hello, good evening, and it's my pleasure to share that Austin Ciruclqiduqialli (RQ) has just completed the Class C Approach OTS at Providence (PVD). This gives Austin the Class C Approach certification, meaning he'll be out on the network staffing up Class C and D facilities from behind a radar screen. Over the past weekend, BVA has certified no less than 3 new Class C Approach controllers, including Josh Nunn (NU) who worked together with Austin Cirulli (RQ) in a group session. It's wonderful for our community to see so much training activity and upward progress from controllers like Austin, Josh, and Sean Doyle (DY). And for the pilots in our community, keep a sharp eye out for traffic the next time you're flying into some of our smaller airports: no doubt these three will be out in full force!

No, I'm not talking about Tiverton Power. But today, we threw everything we could at Josh Nunn (NU) at Providence...and he fused together a mess of aircraft into a beautiful sequence (without letting the atoms touch). It's my pleasure to say that Josh has now achieved his Class C Approach certification, and a quick VATUSA exam later he'll be up and running the radar in no time! Fun fact: this OTS was completed live and in person!

Nope, you stole it from me, I just hadn't posted it yet.

Congratulations to Ian Machemer (ME) on completion of his Class B Ground OTS! This full certification enables him to begin Class C Tower training over the next few months. Until then, I'm sure he'll be spending lots of ME time...on BOS_GND!

Welcome! We're looking forward to working with you.

It is my pleasure to formally welcome Jonathan to ZBW's ATC Training Staff! Jonathan joins the team who have the important responsibility of providing training to the air traffic controllers here in ZBW. Jonathan joined our ATC training program on August 24, 2017, completing his first session with none other than Camden Bruno. Poor HS. Surprisingly, the initial feedback was actually positive. That's right...Camden said something nice in a training report. Don't believe me? (I edited out the swear words.) After earning the S3 rating (allowing him to work Approach on the network), HS recently took the plunge into becoming a Mentor. As many of our controllers know, involvement in Mentoring is extremely important in keeping our ARTCC alive and well. New controllers are the lifeblood of the community. Anyone else who is in the process, or has recently achieved an S3: please consider submitting an application. To date, HS has logged 234 hours on the network.

It's my pleasure to share that Jonathan Halverson (HS) is now the newest radar controller at BVA! He handled VFR-IFR requests, a localizer/backcourse approach, and a whole bunch of PVD traffic (with a terrible overlying CTR controller that doesn't know how to space arrivals) in our simulator with ease. The transition from Tower to Approach is typically one of the biggest learning curves virtual controllers face. Well done, and welcome to the dark side! Oh, and pilots: watch out!

A few moments ago, it was officially announced that Orlando will host FlightSimExpo 2019 on June 7-9. Boston Virtual ARTCC is a proud partner of FlightSimExpo, and looks forward to welcoming our members, along with the rest of the simulation community, to Orlando this June. The press release below has been shared with media partners across the industry, and myself and Phil will be working on the next few days on updating our website with information about the 2019 location and some of the new and exciting features of this year's event. As you know, BVA was an integral part of making FlightSimExpo's inaugural year in Las Vegas a tremendous success. We look forward to working with our members once again to make FlightSimExpo 2019 bigger and better yet!

Congratulations PI, and welcome (formally) to the team! We're proud to recognize the great work you've been doing in support of our community, much of it behind the scenes. Now that GDPR is in effect, he'll need to ask each of us for approval before doing that.

Well done to Jonathan Halverson (HS) for the completion of his Class B Tower OTS! Me (and my ISP) threw everything we could at him, including helicopters, go arounds, and a pesky Boeing 777 that didn't want to take off. He handled it all with style, grace, and even a little "flare" (see what I did there?...oh, and that rhymes too!), and is ready to take on the next big ATC challenge: Approach! Well done HS!

Congratulations to our newest Class B Tower On Peak controller! Austin Cirulli (or Circulli, or Cirucli, depending how I'm feeling) passed his OTS on Boston tonight with a strong 4/9 showing that even included a Southwest Boeing 737 doing an overhead break. Join me in welcoming him to the ranks of Class B Tower, and counting the days until he starts colliding airplanes on Approach as well as Tower.

We've got the downloads for KACK/KHYA/etc. here, as part of our "Featured Airports Scenery Enhancement" package: http://www.bvartcc.com/Members/Downloads/RequiredSoftware.aspx. Weren't you flying the Cardinal at KACK? I thought I had to vector you around and land you on Runway 6, opposite direction. Was that someone else?

Lantz -- do you have the KACK update published on our website? I don't know how it plays with P3D but I do know it solves the ILS problem (in FSX).

No, never did. I didn't bother following up; that thing is so old at this point, it wouldn't be worth anything.

It's delissio when a student like DL finishes his Class B Tower training! No dud sessions here, congratulate Benjamin Dudley on his successful Class B Tower OTS. He's a great student to work with and a quick learner. Watch out if you're departing Runway 22R and don't make the RNAV turn, because he knows what to do! See you on radar training...

I'd like to propose that we change RQ's initials to something easier to make puns out of. Either that, or I'm just going to have to stop training him. Either way, I'm happy to say that RQ is our latest Class B Tower controller, having completed the Class B Tower Off-Peak authorization on the network this evening. Thanks to some quality helicopter flying from our ZNY friend AJ, we got everything from helicopters, VFR requests, IFR jetliners, and even a few .wallop requests too! Good times were had by all except RQ, which usually means it was a good session. My favorite line of the night was definitely "takeoff from the beach at your own risk". Good thing they have spare helicopters sitting there...

Seriously...who is ever that hungry that they feel it's reasonable to eat at Arby's? I've never watched television ads that make food look so inedible. What, we're live? Oh, okay...Congratulations to BVA's two newest soon-to-be C1s! Brandon Bergna (BG) and Chris Raabe (RB) recently completed successful off-peak Center OTSs, and will be managing the complex airspace across New England. Becoming a Center-certified controller is the result of a tremendous amount of self-study, hard work, and bothering Mentors and Instructors for training. Brandon began ATC training on February 16, 2015 with ATC Mentor Andrew Miller. Less than a month later, I worked with Brandon on Class B Ground and told him to stop "calling out aircraft for incorrect taxi instructions" and to use more professional "amend taxi instruction" phraseology instead. It's always fun seeing how far we've come: Brandon he passed his Class B Approach off-peak certification on July 28, 2016. Since then, he's worked almost 200 hours on the network refining his skills at the Approach and Center level. An avid enthusiast of BVA's military, Chris actually started his training way back on October 23, 2012. In my first-ever training post, I wrote "Student's first session on position was extremely strong, enough so for the certification. Things started out a little shaky -- not surprising since it was his first on-session experience -- but with heavy traffic in tonight's KBOS/KPWM Regional Circuit event the student performed exceptionally." Not much has changed: Chris continues to excel throughout his local training, many years of regular ATC at the local control level, and eventually his first Approach training session in January, 2016. We thank Brandon and Chris for their dedication to the community, and welcome them as BVA's newest Center controllers. Congratulations, gentlemen!