Evan Reiter

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]

Our ISP has diagnosed tonight's issue as a connectivity problem on their end that affected multiple customers, including us. During the brief outage -- which lasted approximately 5 minutes -- members were unable to connect to FlightDesk and FSX. Service was restored quickly and the server has been stable throughout the night. Over the past several months we've been fortunate to experience few, if any, service outages on our FSX server. It's a great percentage given that we run a 24/7 operation and run an extremely demanding program (FSX). We also appreciate the many comments and messages from members asking about the status of the server. It's not always possible to diagnose a server issue until we have sufficient evidence from multiple users. The information provided by many members during the outage was helpful to the ISP in determining and quickly correcting the issue. Thank you again for your support. We apologize for the inconvenience that the temporary outage caused.

The connectivity issue we were experiencing on our FSX server has been resolved. Members should now be able to access the server normally. We apologize for the inconvenience. More information will be posted here later this evening.

FSX server appears to be back online. We are waiting for confirmation from our ISP. Most members are now able to re-connect to FSX and FlightDesk.

Our FSX server is currently experiencing connectivity issues. FSX, FlightDesk, and Live ATIS are all impacted. We have engaged our ISP to troubleshoot the issue and will post as soon as more information is available.

Boston Virtual ATC apologizes for the circumstances surrounding last night's planned Regional Circuit at KABQ and KROW. Due to an unexpected combination of availability and technical issues, the event was not staffed by air traffic control for the majority of the scheduled time. The controllers that were scheduled to take part in the event (already short of what we would normally provide) both experienced technical issues and were unable to continue to provide ATC services after the beginning of the event. We apologize for this inconvenience. Steps are being taken to ensure that this does not happen again. Our busiest events occur when there are a large number of pilots taking part. Regardless of ATC staffing, a 30+ pilot event tends to be enjoyable all around. We encourage pilots to continue participating in events moving forward, and will make sure that we take steps earlier to cancel or move events if we expect ATC staffing to present a problem. Thank you for your support and understanding. Please let me know if there are any questions.

To better identify the Member Support Team in FlightDesk, an "M" icon has been added beside the BVA Username of members who are part of our official support team. While most of our members are happy to help, the Member Support Team is comprised of members who have specifically volunteered to help with support and flying-related questions. The new icon is a yellow "M" and will be depicted beside anyone who is part of the Member Support Team: As always, we encourage members with questions to post them in FlightDesk's "Chat and Log" tab, or to send a private message to any controller, administrator, or Member Support Team contact.

The audio recording of our session on IFR Departures and Clearances can be accessed on our website. The materials presented during the session are also attached. Our next session will discuss IFR and Visual Holding Patterns two weeks from today.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide feedback! The survey is now closed. Results will be posted on the forums when they become available. We love to hear feedback from members at any time! Please do not hesitate to Contact Us with your questions, comments, and suggestions.

Please click here to access the recording from tonight's VFR Departure and Arrival Procedures Ground School session. The recording includes some good dialogue between the members present regarding different procedures for arriving at untowered airports. The materials are also attached. Our next session takes place two weeks from tonight at 7pm ET.

Please click here to access the recording from our Flight Planning Ground School seminar. The materials from the session are attached. Our next session takes place on September 14 at 7pm ET, and will feature VFR arrival and departure procedures at controlled and uncontrolled airports.

Quick sidebar... In response to some of the messaging earlier on this thread about it being a 'community-driven' event without administrative involvement, I've kept out of this discussion. Please don't let the absence of the A-Team on this thread indicate our preference for our against the event; we're simply doing as asked. Whenever any administrative assistance would be of value, please let us know.