Evan Reiter

Boston Virtual ATC is pleased to announce that the FS Thunderbirds, a demonstration squadron, will be performing for us on Sunday, November 10 at 9pm ET. The show will take place via an online stream (the link will be posted here on the day of). Since the first practice in December 2012, the FS Thunderbirds have worked together to demonstrate the power of the F-16 and develop skilled pilots to demonstrate the abilities of this aircraft. The Flight Simulator Thunderbirds are a group of aviation enthusiasts who share a love of formation flying and working together as a team. One of our primary goals in the flight sim community is to encompass the professionalism and formation flying techniques as demonstrated by the United States Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Squadron. We hope to represent America's "Ambassadors in Blue" to the best of our abilities with our dedication and teamwork and instill our passion in future generations. Precision flying is a skill that takes pride, precision, and professionalism. Nothing will test your precision flying abilities more than flying just inches away from another aircraft while performing aerobatic maneuvers. It is that adrenaline rush that drives us to do what we love, and to do it for the enjoyment of the public. Join us on November 10th 2013 at 2100EST to watch the ultimate demonstration of precision flying performed by the Flight Simulator Thunderbirds.

Boston Virtual ATC’s 7th birthday celebration is less than two weeks away. Beginning at 11am ET on Friday, November 1, Boston Center will be staffed non-stop for 60 hours. Any time you want to fly—day or night—we’ll be there. But better yet, every single flight completed will generate money for our server and for charity! Here’s why you should be blocking off the weekend of November 1-3: There will actually be 61 hours of ATC! Eastern Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00am on Sunday, November 3 and we gain one hour at that time. As a result 11am on Friday to 11pm on Sunday actually works out to 61 hours. Those 61 hours represent a great opportunity to start working on some of our Pilot Ratings Program flights, especially if you haven’t yet tried out the six new flights that were released for both the VFR and IFR aspects of the program. Over 1,000 PRP flights have been approved by controllers to date! Check out our Pilot Ratings Program website and start your studying now to maximize this great opportunity to fly PRP flights at any time of day. You’ll be generating money for charity and helping to fund BVA. This year, we’re excited to have a second anonymous donor helping us sponsor the event, meaning we have the potential to further increase the amount of money we can generate! During the 61 hour period: $1 will be generated for every flight plan that’s filed during the 60 hour ZBW staffing period Every handoff between controllers will earn a further $1 At the end of the event, we’ll add up the total and split that amount between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and BVA’s server expenses. A Regional Circuit and Cape Cod General Aviation Fly-In will take place during the celebration. In addition to a guaranteed 61 hours of Boston Center, we’re hosting what we think will be the biggest Regional Circuit of the year. The 10 controllers staffing Boston and New York airports will be ready to kick off the birthday celebrations during our KBOS & KJFK Regional Circuit from 8-11pm ET on Friday, November 1. On Sunday, November 3, we’ll feature a Cape Cod General Aviation Fly-In. We’ll kick off the event with a flyover demonstration from BVA's military beginning at 1:45pm ET, and then feature ATC at KACK, KEWB, KHYA, and KMVY from 2-5pm ET. BVA is a great community that offers the best online flight simulation experience. For 61 straight hours, you have the unique opportunity to fly online with the best controllers in one of the most interesting airspaces in North America. Wherever in the world you’re connecting from, you’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of aviation like never before. Check out the video below to see exactly what we mean, and then block off the first weekend in November. It’s time for BVA to celebrate 7 Years! [youtube:e81w7j6t] [/youtube:e81w7j6t]

Over the past few weeks we have been asking pilots and controllers about their preferences for our Regional Circuit event. As you know, we've held the Regional Circuit event from 8-11pm ET on Tuesday nights, without much thought as to whether that day and time is best for our members. Controllers and pilots both responded favorably to the concept of the Regional Circuit, but agreed that sometimes availability (e.g., having standing commitments on Tuesday nights or just having a bit more to do these days than previously) can get in the way of attending the event. Please see below for the results of our poll question about the Regional Circuit that pilots responded to. In an effort to try to cater to the flexible and variable schedules of our membership, we'll be trying out a rotational schedule for our Regional Circuit events, starting on Wednesday, October 9 with KACK & KBOS. After that, Rc events will be held on an 8-day rotating schedule on weekday evenings. The schedule has been posted on our Events Calendar up to November 5. The concept and format of the event will change, but members will need to be aware of the dates these events are held. There are three very easy ways you can get a reminder about our events: 1. Join our "Event Reminders" mailing list: if you aren't already receiving a reminder email within 24 hours of the event, send us a note at [email protected] to subscribe 2. Subscribe to our text messaging service by texting 'BVA' to shortcode 75309 3. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter By November 5, we'll take a look at how the Regional Circuit events have worked for members and open up the discussion for how we want to proceed. Until then, Regional Circuits will be displayed as Double Play events to highlight the new dates. Poll Question Results: Should we modify the scheduling of our Regional Circuit event? (NOTE: This question was not accessible to Air Traffic Controllers.) [september 29, 2013] a) No - leave it on Tuesday: 22% b) Yes - move it to a different day: 22% c) Yes - move it to a rotating schedule: 33% d) Unsure / Doesn't Matter: 22% Total Responses: 45

Information about 60 Hours of ATC is now posted! Find the link to our 7 Years: 60 Hours of ATC page under the "Events" tab of the website.

The KBOS Pack The Pattern originally scheduled for this Wednesday has been postponed to allow for additional ATC training in our preferred airspace. The event is now scheduled for Wednesday, October 16. The Tampa Bay General Aviation Fly-In has also been moved. Both of the original dates will now be "regular" evenings to support ATC training.

Cleared for the Cause, BVA’s 7th Birthday Event, will be held from November 1-3, 2013 in support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As with past Cleared for the Cause events, BVA’s 7th Birthday Event will feature 60 hours of non-stop ZBW! From 11am ET on Friday, November 1 until 11pm ET on Sunday, November 3, Boston Center (ZBW) will be staffed continuously, with controllers operating other positions and airports throughout the event. In addition to the continuous ZBW coverage, we’ll be holding a Regional Circuit event on the Friday evening (featuring KBOS and KJFK) as well as a Cape Cod General Aviation Fly-In on Sunday afternoon. In last year’s Cleared for the Cause event, 122 pilots flew 546 flight plans and flew for a combined 338 hours. United Regional flew 33 flights, controllers approved 33 ratings for Pilot Ratings Program pilots, and our top pilot, Chase (‘gochase85’), filed 33 flight plans! On average, we had 18.2 aircraft operations (takeoffs and landings) per hour over the course of the event. Most importantly, we generated $2,088, half of which was donated to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (the other half helped fund BVA’s server expenses). Stay tuned for more information about the biggest event of the year as we approach the date of the event. But for now, clear your schedule and support Cleared for the Cause from 11am ET on Friday, November 1 to 11pm ET on Sunday, November 3.

Don't know of any connection -- strange coincidence though! Looks like AirCharts.org is back online (working fine for me, anyway).

Less than 15 minutes later, ZBW is back online! Why am I not surprised?

We're cleared for takeoff: the server (FSX, FlightDesk, and Live ATIS) is now online! We were able to get things completed much more quickly than we had anticipated. As a result, less than 48 hours after the issue, we've completely re-installed the operating system and our various servers. You should be able to access FSX and FlightDesk normally. There are a large number of settings for us to configure so there's a good chance we've missed something. There may also be some residual effects from the total re-install that will work themselves out. Please let us know if something isn't working the way you expect it to. More to come...

Today has been a good day so far. FSX is installed and running in "test" mode. Work continues on configuring FlightDesk's server. We will post another update with an expected service restoration time in about an hour.

We continue to make progress. FSX installation is underway, with FlightDesk to happen later today. Lots of configuration work to go. Stay tuned.

The server is online and stable. Installation of server files for FSX and FlightDesk is the next step. We expect it to take another 24-48 hours. We will post an update to that timeline when we are more certain of it.

We have access to the server and are working our way through the first step of any fresh OS...WINDOWS UPDATES!

As of around noon ET today, we don't have much more information to share. There are a lot of unknowns at this point. That being said, we'd like to provide what information we have in the interest of transparency. Our ISP has been very helpful and responsive in working the issue and are attempting a fix now that we hope will bring the server back online. There is no timing estimate available; it's detailed work that could be finished in a few minutes, or several hours. We also aren't sure about the outcome: what the ISP is doing could completely restore our server, or it could mean we have to start from a new operating system and re-install FSX. The good news is that we stand to lose very little in either case. The only real impact we've identified so far is the amount of time it will take to get things back up and running. We understand that this is very frustrating and we're working extremely hard to get back up and running as quickly as possible. Depending on the outcome of the ISP's work, "as soon as possible" could be tonight, and it could be at some point this weekend. I'll continue to post status updates here as they become available. I'm truly sorry for this disruption and hope we can get it resolved as soon as possible.

BVA's TeamSpeak servers are hosted on the FSX server location and therefore are offline as well.

Early information, subject to additional investigation, indicates that the server may be offline for several hours, potentially into tomorrow. There are no indications this was anything other than a technical malfunction. As soon as we have an expected resolution time, we will post an update.

Due to the interaction between our website and FSX server, the website will be loading more slowly than usual until the FSX server is back online.

Our FSX server, which includes Live ATIS and FlightDesk, is offline. We are engaging our ISP to determine the extent of the issue and will post additional information as it becomes available.

There is a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) located over Cape Cod from August 10 to 19 for VIP movement. The TFR covers the majority of the Cape TRACON, centered on KMVY but also covering KEWB, KACK, and KHYA. You can view the TFR on http://www.skyvector.com (find KACK, then turn on “Temporary Flight Restrictions” under “Layers”). You can also see a graphical depiction of the TFR as well as the full set of restrictions on the FAA’s TFRs site. For one of the first times on BVA, we’ll be actively simulating the restrictions associated with this TFR while ATC is online. The objective of doing so is to increase awareness of TFRs and other types of Special Use Airspace on our server. While you can try to decode the FAA’s language using the link above, we've explained the TFR in what we hope are friendlier terms below. There are two different parts of this TFR. The “outer core” consists of the airspace within a 30nm radius of KMVY. The “inner cores” consist of two 10nm areas located over the KMVY and KFMH airports. Each have their own restrictions. Both cores extend from the surface to 18,000’ MSL. In the “outer core”, VFR and IFR aircraft are permitted to operate provided: The aircraft has filed and is on an active VFR or IFR flight plan. The aircraft has been assigned and is squawking a discrete squawk code. The aircraft maintains two-way radio communication with ATC. The two “inner cores” will affect flight operations to/from KACK and at KMVY. Flights to/from KACK are not permitted to transit the “inner cores” and our normal preferred routes (V141 or FREDO) do transit this airspace. Thus, until the end of the TFR, aircraft flying to and from Nantucket should use “LFV” as their route. Aircraft departing KMVY must have an active VFR or IFR flight plan and be in contact with ATC. Commercial aircraft wishing to fly to KMVY can do so normally, provided they are in contact with ATC at all times while in the TFR (and on an active flight plan). General aviation aircraft are required to depart one of three “gateway” airports (in real-world, you would have to be screened by the TSA at one of these three locations): Westchester County Airport (KHPN) Barnstable Municipal Airport (KHYA) Providence/Green State Airport (KPVD) For BVA’s purposes, General Aviation aircraft will be permitted to land at KMVY only under the following circumstances: The aircraft has departed from one of the gateway airports listed above The aircraft files a direct VFR or IFR flight plan from a gateway airport to KMVY The aircraft is squawking a discrete, ATC-assigned code The aircraft remains in contact with ATC throughout the flight, and does not stop from the gateway airport to KMVY As mentioned, the purpose of simulating this TFR is to improve awareness of Special Use Airspace and to help all of us learn more about how TFRs work. Pilots that are unfamiliar with, or violate, the TFR won’t be punished, and no TFR restrictions apply when ATC is offline. Our pilots, controllers, and even administrators (read: me) are learning, so please show your patience and understanding at all times while practicing operations around this TFR. Post your questions here and let us know of any issues that may arise (as well as anything about this forum post that may be unclear). For more information on Temporary Flight Restrictions and other types of Special Use Airspace, please click here. As a reminder, the TFR becomes active at 1900 UTC (3pm ET) tomorrow (August 10). Enjoy!

As I recollect, it was a fun and well-attended event but the usual issues associated with splitting traffic (e.g., everyone goes to one airport and meanwhile the others are fairly quiet) happened. I think it's something we could try again though, if there is an interest. It was certainly fun from an ATC perspective!

Due to ongoing website maintenance, we are unable to send an Event Reminder email for this upcoming Pack The Pattern event. Please view details about the event below. Pack The Pattern (KSJC, Wednesday, July 3, 8-10pm ET): Despite San Jose being the largest city in the Bay Area, SJC is the smallest of the three Bay Area airline airports(8.4 million annual passengers in 2011), with less than a quarter of the passengers of San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and fewer passengers than Oakland International Airport (OAK). [Wikipedia] Our Pack The Pattern event features San Jose (KSJC) from 8-10pm ET on Wednesday, July 3. This city airport features neat approaches through a valley and over the city. There are no required scenery updates or preferred routes. Just spawn in your favorite aircraft, fly IFR or VFR circuits at the airport, and enjoy the scenery and busy frequencies.

Hopefully it's obvious that I'm not part of the decision-making on the flight plan or aircraft type. Presumably you can ask the group when we all get together about flying to different airports or different aircraft types but in my opinion the purpose of the event is more about connecting with other flight simulation communities than it is about the flying itself. For that reason, I'm not planning to include "BVA" anywhere in my login name.

Wanted to let everyone here know that one of our fellow multiplayer communities, msFlights.net, is holding its second Cross-Community Flight on Saturday, July 6 at 3pm ET. In this event, members from multiple FSX communities gather on one server for a VFR (uncontrolled) flight across several airports. Thanks to our work with FSX Beyond GameSpy, BVA has been invited to participate. This is BVA's first Cross-Community Flight and as such the A-Team will be checking it out before we make it a part of our official rotation. That being said, I encourage as many BVA members as possible to join me in the event. It will be hosted on the server and TeamSpeak of the Eastern Hops community. As you know, BVA plays an important role in the multiplayer community. Working together with other flight simulation communities helps strengthen the world of multiplayer and lets us (as individuals) make some connections with users we otherwise wouldn't be able to connect with. I strongly encourage you to join in the event with me to see what it's all about! Please view the link below for details: http://msflights.net/forum/showthread.p ... -6-3pm-EDT)

Our maintenance activities are continuing. Most of the website and forum functionality works as it should although we still have several items we are working on. We will update the status of the website within the next few hours. Thank you for your continued patience. We're almost there!

Reminder that website maintenance is expected to begin at approximately 6:00pm ET this evening and continue for several hours. Intermittent outages are possible throughout the maintenance window. We will post again when normal operations resume.