Evan Reiter

The event has been scheduled over two days: - Pre-event briefing: July 11, 1-2:30pm ET - Flight: July 12, beginning at 1pm ET Bill ('Romeo 33 Delta') has done amazing work in getting together aircraft, scenery, and route packages for us to use. I'll be working with Steve ('TheBlueRiband') and our Events Team to make this event happen this July. Of course, I expect John and Bill to be key parts of the team, and we'd love to have you as well given you came up with the original concept!

Dan has made a number of great contributions to our community during his tenure on the A-Team, including (most importantly) setting the direction for the ATC team prior to passing that responsibility to Matt. We as a team are grateful for his efforts over the past years, and look forward to continuing to benefit from his beautiful designs when it comes to scenery. Thanks Dan for your commitment to the community. Talk to you soon.

The plan is to use real-world weather and hope for the best. If we end up having a marginal or IMC day, we'll see what we can do with it.

The Hump has officially been added to our events calendar for 2015! This exciting, unique event will be held on the weekend of July 11-12. The first day of the event will involve a briefing on the flight to follow, including some learning materials about the way navigation was managed before the advent of GPS, radar, and other modern methods. The briefing is scheduled to begin at 1pm ET on Saturday, July 11. Following that, the flight itself will take place at 1pm ET on Sunday, July 12. The trip across the mountains takes just under 4 hours, including potential time spent in the "stack" at the arrival airport. Mark your calendars. This will be like no BVA event we're ever held before. More information about the event will be posted on our website in 2015.

I imagine that most add-on developers will eventually update their installers and products so that compatibility with FSX: Steam Edition is possible. I don't think there will be many, if any, add-on manufacturers that decide against supporting FSX: Steam Edition. For most manufacturers, the changes appear to be relatively straightforward to make because they own the code they are modifying. For us, however, Dovetail has completely changed the multiplayer landscape and, of course, none of that is open source. Compatibility isn't a "quick fix" that we can make. Obviously there is little to no reason for BVA members to purchase FSX: Steam Edition as you're really just re-purchasing FSX (as we saw Dovetail themselves describe on their forum). However, it's clear there will be a new base of users out there and it's regrettable that people who discover BVA through FSX: Steam Edition won't be able to connect until they have purchased FSX. I imagine we will need to look to the third-party developer community for someone with the skill and ability with multiplayer networking/gaming to try to create a bridge between FSX and FSX: Steam Edition, unless Dovetail decides to do that at a time in the future. For BVA, Prepar3d is still the top priority when it comes to compatibility and, amongst other projects, we are dedicating our time to building a bridge to that platform. P3D is a well-established program that is starting to offer improvements over FSX, while maintaining compatibility with the add-ons we know and love. We know there is future support for P3D in terms of development, and that the platform is alive and well. These are all uncertainties when it comes to FSX: Steam Edition. I'm hopeful that someone will find a way to bridge the multiplayer functionality between FSX and FSX: Steam Edition so that we may someday be able to support users from there. Until then, it's business as usual for us.

In reading some of the comments on the Steam Community, it appears that: The PMDG NGX isn't currently compatible. FSUIPC isn't available/compatible. Some users are having trouble with TrackIR. So far, I haven't heard complaints about any other add-ons. Phil, Zac, and I are keeping a close eye on that community and will post about any other issues we notice.

Here's some more information about FSX:SE from the Steam Community, as posted by Dovetail. FSX:SE Change Log: http://steamcommunity.com/app/314160/di ... 729615790/ Information about FSX:SE for FSX Owners: http://steamcommunity.com/app/314160/di ... 730080279/

You'll love ActiveSky Next. Big improvement over previous versions of ActiveSky, and night and day when compared to REX weather or just the default FSX "real-world" weather. I'd be curious to know your thoughts on Vector as compared to UTX. I currently run FTX Global + UTX, but was thinking about upgrading to Vector.

This thread has just been updated with the four videos that were posted during the latter portion of Ground School. You can find all four on our YouTube channel. With our first-ever Ground School now "in the books", we're looking forward to continuing the discussions near year. Keep an eye out for more information near the beginning of 2015.

Perhaps a side frequency where an ATC-like individual could help direct people to a lineup of parked aircraft?

Effective today, the Boston Virtual ATC ZBW ARTCC is taking part in the Windsor, Toronto, Montreal (WTM) and northeast United States modernization project. This includes: Implementation of multiple RNAV Q-routes and T-routes Re-designing preferred (RNAV) routes between several major airports Implementing new optimum profile descent (ODP) RNAV STARs at KBOS In all, 80 airways/routes in Boston Center (ZBW) airspace will change, including 12 new and 17 amended Q routes, 14 amended jet routes, and 28 route deletions (along with the new STARs). These changes ONLY affect BVA members who fly RNAV-equipped aircraft, and even then most of the changes affect only turbojets. Those of us flying non-jet aircraft and shorter IFR flights are not affected by the changes. Members who use Navigraph to update their aircraft will be able to access all of the new waypoints, airways, and procedures with the latest cycle (1412) installed. If you use the freeware source of navdata updates for the default FSX GPS, those are current for cycle 1412 as well. Most of the preferred routes within the ZBW ARTCC (e.g., KBOS to KACK) are unaffected because they use low-level airways. However, routes headed northwestbound (e.g., to CYYZ, KDTW, etc.) will use new preferred routing. Routings are available in the usual NFDC Preferred Routes application and -- of course -- on FlightAware. The biggest changes that pilots of RNAV-equipped aircraft inbound to KBOS will notice are those stemming from the KBOS RNAV STAR OPD project. The KRANN3 arrival has been replaced with the ROBUC1, and the QUABN and OOSHN RNAV STARs have been updated. A new RNAV STAR (ZELKA1) has been added with a vertical profile that will serve KBED, KBVY, and KLWM. Each of these RNAV procedures that include vertical navigation extending beyond the Boston TRACON (previously, the RNAV arrivals at KBOS only had depicted altitude instructions and "descend via" operations within Boston TRACON). To reflect real-world operations, we will NOT begin "descend via" operations on November 13 but will complete a phased in approach. Pilots can expect Boston Center to issue the applicable STAR and runway transition with a specific crossing restriction. For example, pilots on the QUABN3 arrival could be "cleared via Runway 4R transition, cross UROWT at and maintain 11,000". In this case, the pilot is authorized to fly the lateral routing of the procedure (i.e., Runway 4R transition) but must cross UROWT at 11,000', and remain at that altitude until given another descent instruction. The altitude restrictions before UROWT are cancelled, but all published speed restrictions (e.g., 280K over SEETS and DUBLE, and 270K at UROWT) are still required. Pilots are NOT expected to begin "descend via" operations until so cleared. Once handed off to Boston Approach, pilots will receive the familiar "descend via" instruction, at which point pilots are expected to descend to comply with the published altitude and speed restrictions on the appropriate runway transition. As "descend via" operations become more common on our server, please keep the following points in mind: Do not comply with the vertical profile altitude restrictions until given "descend via" by ATC. By default, all published speed restrictions along a route or procedure are required (independent of any "descend via" clearance) unless ATC issues an alternative speed instruction. A subsequent "descend via" clearance for a vertical profile cancels any ATC-assigned speed restrictions and requires compliance with all published speeds unless the controller specifically assigns a speed after the "descend via" clearance is issued. Minimum Enroute Altitudes (MEAs) are not part of any vertical profile. MEAs are identified on the procedure graphic along the track, whereas procedure restrictions are identified beside the related waypoint. Only the published altitude restrictions are relevant to "descend via" instructions. MEAs simply provide for the lowest safe altitude for obstruction clearance and radio navigational aid reception. As always, feel free to ask ATC if you have any questions about the instruction you have been given. Additional information will be posted as Boston Center phases in "descend via" and the vertical profiles extending outside of Boston Approach's airspace become operational.

We had another incident again tonight at approximately 12:50am ET. Fortunately there were just a few pilots airborne at the time. Clearly, the issue of temporary outages is continuing to pose problems for our operations. We are awaiting word on the ISP as to the cause of the issues. Resolving connectivity issues and ensuring server connectivity is the top priority for our administrators.

The 2014 60 Hours of ATC event originally scheduled for this weekend has been postponed. This weekend's activities, including the continuous ZBW availability, the KBOS/KJFK Regional Circuit, and the KBOS Pack The Pattern, will be rescheduled to take place in the first few months of 2015. Over the past few days, we have been experiencing intermittent FSX server connectivity that, while brief in duration, has interrupted our operations. During these outages, which can last between 30 seconds to 10 minutes, members are disconnected from our servers (FlightDesk, FSX, Live ATIS, and TeamSpeak), and are unable to re-connect until normal connectivity is restored. We have engaged our ISP to identify the cause of the issues and are working toward a resolution. Given that we are not currently able to identify and prevent these outages, postponing the 60 Hours of ATC event allows us to continue to troubleshoot connectivity so that we can run a successful event. Determining the cause of the issues and providing the stable connectivity that our members are used to is a top priority for our administrators. This is an unprecedented situation. We have had minor connectivity issues in the past. However, the consistency of the issues experienced over the past month is something new. We are able to confirm at this time that the issues are not occurring within any of BVA's server applications but rather is a connectivity problem. The ISP is trying to trace that connectivity problem to determine whether it is within their network or outside of their control. Our next official event is an IFR Procedures Challenge at KMSO that we anticipate will continue as scheduled on Wednesday, November 19 at 8pm ET. Although we are not holding any events this weekend, we anticipate regular ATC availability. Controllers have been asked to post any planned ATC on our ATC Timetable over the next few days. Thank you for your support and understanding. We will continue to troubleshoot the connectivity issues we have been experiencing and, as we always do, will evaluate whether we have the right infrastructure in place to support our growing operations. We look forward to providing a great 60 Hours of ATC experience in early 2015. The new date will be confirmed at the beginning of December.

Unfortunately we have just had another instance of intermittent FSX connectivity that, though brief, disconnected approximately 10 pilots mid-flight this evening. Once again, the issue is outside of our control and we will need to rely on our ISP to resolve these types of issues. I will communicate with them again tomorrow and post any additional information I receive.

We are continuing to investigate the issue that occurred last night to determine if we can identify a cause on our end or at the ISP. At this point, it is most likely that the issue was caused by networking congestion between BVA and our server, meaning that it was entirely out of the control of us or the ISP. I'm working with the ISP to confirm that as the cause. If that is the case, last night's outage will be unrelated to the previous two outages that occurred on November 2 and October 19. BVA strives to provide 100% uptime on our server but networking issues are inherently difficult to manage, and impossible to avoid. In most cases, a networking issue must be allowed to 'run its course' and typically lasts less than a few minutes. Unfortunately, those types of issues often mean that members lose connection to the server and must re-start their flights. We also do our best to post updates on the forums, our social media pages, and in FlightDesk/Live ATIS whenever an outage occurs. We appreciate our members' support, understanding, and patience, particularly given the number of recent incidents. I will post another update when I receive more information from our ISP.

The issue has been resolved and members are once again able to connect to the FSX server. We sincerely apologize for the issue. This is the second connectivity issue that has been caused by an internet problem at our ISP in less than a month. We will be working with them to identify the reason for the recent issues and will provide an update as soon as more information is available.

We are currently experiencing an intermittent connectivity issue with our FSX server. Our ISP has been engaged to help resolve the issue, and additional information will be posted here as it becomes available. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to restore normal service shortly.

Server connectivity and access appears to be stable. Please let us know if you are continuing to have any issues connecting to the server.

Our FSX server is now back online. We apologize for the inconvenience of the outage and look forward to resuming normal operations. We are currently testing server connectivity to ensure that no issues remain. Additional updates will be posted here later tonight. Please visit the Server Information page for the new session password.

We have diagnosed the issue and expect the server to be back online within the next 10 minutes.

Correct -- TeamSpeak is also affected. I've updated the note to include that.

We are currently experiencing a complete FSX server outage, affecting FlightDesk, FSX, Live ATIS, and TeamSpeak. Our ISP has been engaged to troubleshoot the problem and is working with us directly to attempt to find a resolution. There is no timeline for a resolution at this time. Additional updates will be posted here and on our Facebook page as they become available.

The "Approach Plates - Part 2" and "RNAV Procedures" Ground School session dates have been modified for the Caribbean Getaway Fly Back. Each session has been moved back two weeks, with the new dates as follows: November 23: Approach Plates – Part 2 December 7: RNAV (Area Navigation): Departures, Arrivals, and Approaches These new dates are reflected in the schedule above.

The materials from Part 1 of the Instrument Approach Procedures Ground School are attached. Additionally, videos are available from both sessions. Part 1: [youtube:3tp9p64o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38dfmHJhYHM[/youtube:3tp9p64o] Part 2: [youtube:3tp9p64o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qtniC_X7LQ[/youtube:3tp9p64o]

We've just posted audio from tonight's Holds Ground School session online. Additionally, I'm attaching the .pdf copy of materials from the session below. Unfortunately they don't include the animations that were used during the session, so the "answers" to each of the "Determine the Entry" slides are immediately visible. In addition to the materials posted here, we have a recording of the live presentation available on YouTube: [youtube:1qtqsey5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eHEbeJvl7o[/youtube:1qtqsey5]