Zac Ploch

The forum maintenance scheduled for today has been postponed. A forum post will be made when the maintenance has been rescheduled.

The BVA forums will be undergoing routine maintenance today, May 27, 2015. The maintenance will consist of the forums being updated to the latest software version. Members can expect the forums to be down intermittently as the updates are being installed. We expect full service to be restored later this afternoon.

With over 80 participants in total the 6th Cross-Community comes to a close. Boston Virtual ATC would like to thank all who participated and helped with the event. Feedback taken from members who attended showed that the event was a true success and that all would attend the next. During the last leg of the event, participants were given the opportunity to fly into KSMF with BVA providing air traffic control. Given the nature of the event and the many different experience levels of pilots, we appreciate the understanding of our members that this was a slightly different style of ATC and event than we would usually have. None the less, even though our controllers were a bit short staffed due to real-world complications at the last minute, they did a fantastic job. All Cross-Community Flights are a wonderful opportunity to understand and get to know all other online aviation communities such as EasternHops, msFlights, FsFlyBoys, FSX-MP, and many more. During every event there are always multiple opportunities for discussion between members of all communities that gives us a chance to relate and get to know one another better than before. BVA is definitely looking forward to the next Cross-Community Flight! While it is undetermined which community will host it next, we will keep you posted. Thank you to all those who attended and we look forward to seeing you at the next one! Pictures from the event are posted below: [sizeimg=900:tu6lwxs0]http://i.imgur.com/ShCGpa0.png[/sizeimg:tu6lwxs0] [sizeimg=900:tu6lwxs0]http://i.imgur.com/cQoytrF.png[/sizeimg:tu6lwxs0] [sizeimg=900:tu6lwxs0]http://i.imgur.com/eymVM34.png[/sizeimg:tu6lwxs0] [sizeimg=900:tu6lwxs0]http://i.imgur.com/lOpiHPs.png[/sizeimg:tu6lwxs0] [sizeimg=900:tu6lwxs0]http://i.imgur.com/oHLFIPm.png[/sizeimg:tu6lwxs0] Additionally one member posted a video that he created of the event itself: [youtube:tu6lwxs0] [/youtube:tu6lwxs0]

The only news is that it is coming up on Saturday! Air Traffic Control details have been sorted out already. If you would like more information on how, feel free to email me or find me in TeamSpeak.

More details for ATC are to come via email within the coming weeks.

[sizeimg=700:28m4muv1]http://www.bostonvirtualatc.com/portals/0/events/CrossCommunityFlight.jpg[/sizeimg:28m4muv1] Boston Virtual ATC is extremely pleased and excited to host the 6th Cross-Community Flight! Below are a few details on event and how it will work. Purpose: The Cross-Community Flight has been designed as an event for communication, collaboration, and networking for the multiplayer communities based around FSX. This will be a great time to share ideas, express opinions, and chat with some of the finest virtual pilots and air traffic controllers on the planet. For about one half of the event, we have set up a flight that everyone is welcome to participate in (details below), along with plenty of time to discuss virtual and real-world aviation with 100+ enthusiasts just like you on TeamSpeak! Date: Saturday, April 11, 2015 Time: 2pm ET (1800Z) Location: Boston Virtual ATC Server and Cross-Community Flight TeamSpeak3 Server (hosted by Boston Virtual ATC) Connection Info : FSX Server: 66.109.25.244 Password: None TeamSpeak Server Address: teamspeak.bostonvirtualatc.com:9991 Password: CCF6! (case sensitive) ** Note: Both locations will available after 1pm ET (1700z) ** Event Style: The event will be held in a classic “VFR Hops” style, with a designated flight plan that everyone will follow (see below). The last leg will also include ATC services as well. Flight Plan: KSBA (Santa Barbara Muni) - KMRY (Monterey Rgnl) - KSMF (Sacramento Intl) Aircraft Requirements: To ensure the stability of the server and for ATC purposes, all participants MUST fly the FSX Default Super King Air 350. If there are any issues, please contact an administrator of your community. Air Traffic Control: The final leg of the event (KMRY to KSMF) will be staffed by controllers from Boston Virtual ATC. During the event, we’ll provide all the information you need to know about Air Traffic Control to ensure you are comfortable with flying the last leg of the event, even if you have never flown with ATC before. We are planning on a fun and enjoyable event for everyone of all communities. If you have any questions feel free to contact your community administrator or me, Zac, via email at [email protected]. Thanks and we hope to see you for the Cross Community Flight on April 11! Participating Communities - Boston Virtual ATC - Confirmed - msFlights.net - Confirmed - FSX-MP - Confirmed - EasternHops - Confirmed - SKY|VAN (formerly Sky Connection) - Confirmed - Elite PremAir Virtual - Confirmed

Thanks Lou. John, to answer your question, BVA is a non-profit organization and all of our expenses get paid off using donations by members like you. We actually migrated the website to a new provider that will cost us less each month -- so all-in-all, it will benefit us both on the financial and customer support side. You can view a .pdf of our yearly budget at all times. Member donations are always welcomed and we are always appreciative of any amount received. Thank you all for the support and understanding during this migration.

Lol, we wish. Nice catch. The maintenance is scheduled to last until Monday, March 2. The original post has been made to reflect that. Thanks!

FSX Beyond GameSpy is now FSX Multiplayer! Thanks to all the support from flight sim communities such as BVA, FSX Beyond GameSpy has reached more than 145,000 users over the past two years. Now, the website is being expanded to talk more about the benefits of multiplayer. In addition to improving the FSX Sessions List, the new website will also include a more logical listing of multiplayer communities. The new website is designed in part to help users in a “single player” setting discover the benefits of flying online, whether through FSX’s multiplayer or another platform. In a recent AVSIM survey, 41% of respondents reported being a member of an online flight organization. We hope FSXMultiplayer.com will help convince part of the 59% of respondents who don’t fly online to give our communities a try. One of the biggest changes made is the different sections for users who wish to join "Casual Aviation Communities" or "Realistic ATC Communities". The dichotomy of “Casual Aviation Communities” and “Realistic ATC Communities” is our attempt to make it as easy and simple as possible for new users to multiplayer. We’ve also tried to categorize some of the communities that were listed on FSX Beyond GameSpy as one of the two. Boston Virtual ATC is proud to be a founding sponsor and developer of FSX Multiplayer. As we said goodbye to GameSpy years ago, we now say hello to the different possibilities the world of flight sim aviation has in store. Feel free to check out the FSX Multiplayer website at http://www.fsxmultiplayer.com.

No issues notated above were observed on my end. Everything looks fantastic. Dan, thank you for all your hard work and efforts!

In addition to the above addition, we have also added a table feature as well. The three new buttons: "CELL", "ROW", and "TABLE" are all used to create a table while replying on the forums. In order to create a table, the "TABLE" code must be placed around the entire code of rows and cells. You can see below an example of the code and then the final product: [table:15743hnt][row:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]1[/cell:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]2[/cell:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]3[/cell:15743hnt][/row:15743hnt][row:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]4[/cell:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]5[/cell:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]6[/cell:15743hnt][/row:15743hnt][row:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]7[/cell:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]8[/cell:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]9[/cell:15743hnt][/row:15743hnt][row:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]10[/cell:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]11[/cell:15743hnt][cell:15743hnt]12[/cell:15743hnt][/row:15743hnt][/table:15743hnt] Feel free to use the buttons "CELL", "ROW", and "TABLE" to insert the code as needed.

Thanks for flying, Mark!

Thanks for pulling this all together, Luke! This thread has been set as a sticky.

You will definitely be missed during our meetings and in our many emails Dan. Thank you for everything you have done over the past couple years as it has not, and will not, go unnoticed. By the way...I haven't controlled with you in over a year. Maybe we can change that soon!

You're pretty much correct. Dovetail made some changes but only to the multiplayer so that it was able to run off of Steam. FSX:SE is pretty much the first ever version of FSX, without the add-on compatibility and GameSpy option. It still has its bugs, glitches, and connectivity issues.

The full article from Pete Dawson (FSUIPC developer) can be found of the simFlight forums.

UPDATE: FSPassengers is now known to not be compatible with FSX:SE.

Today, Dovetail Games re-released FSX Acceleration for sale via Steam and has re-branded the product to FSX: Steam Edition (hereafter referred to as FSX:SE). According to a Dovetail news release, changes in FSX:SE include support for Windows 8.1 and updated multiplayer functionality. The Administration Team purchased a copy of FSX:SE in order to test the platform. The following information is the result of testing we have completed today. The user interface in FSX:SE is identical to FSX. Menus, available aircraft, missions, and settings are all the same. As far as we can tell, there is no new content in FSX:SE. Despite that, FSX:SE installs as a new product, whether or not FSX is installed. Existing add-ons, tweaks, and configuration changes are NOT ported over from an FSX installation. Only one of FSX or FSX:SE can be running at a time, although it is possible to have both installed on the same system. As a result of the multiplayer conversion from GameSpy to Steam, FSX:SE is not compatible with BVA’s network. Users on FSX cannot connect to servers running on FSX:SE, and vice versa. Therefore, multiplayer in FSX:SE is not compatible with Boston Virtual ATC’s server, or any other server that is running FSX. There is no indication as to whether Dovetail will, at some point, support backwards compatibility between FSX:SE and FSX. Unless that happens, BVA will continue to be available to users running FSX and will not be accessible to those on FSX:SE. In our opinion, FSX:SE is a re-branded version of FSX Acceleration with some minor changes. It is not an upgrade to FSX but rather a standalone program that is not compatible with FSX or BVA’s network. Therefore, little to no reason exists for current BVA users to purchase the program. If you wish to see what other users are saying about FSX:SE, you can view the official FSX:SE discussion board. Below are screenshots taken from the Administration Team's licensed copy of FSX:SE. As you can see, nothing except the GameSpy and Steam brands have been changed.

We seemed to have another intermittent connectivity issue this evening with some pilots loosing connection for about 5-10 seconds. We are continuing to engage our ISP to investigate this problem and will post here with any new information we receive.

Boston Virtual ATC is pleased to be participating once again in another Cross-Community Flight (CCF), this time hosted by EasternHops. As you may remember, BVA hosted CCF #3 in which the record for attendance in a multiplayer server was broken! We look forward to seeing our members out in full force once again to represent our community well. As always, Cross Community Flights are not so much about the flight itself, but about the opportunity to come together with fellow aviation simulation enthusiasts who use FSX multiplayer to discuss topics like add-ons, simulation platforms, and different FSX communities. To facilitate conversation, this is a pilot-only event (ATC will not be provided at any of the controlled airports). Connection details are provided in the link below. Date: Saturday, October 18 Time: 3pm ET (Begin connecting at 2pm ET) TeamSpeak Server: ts3.easternhops.com (No password) FSX Server: 72.83.240.65 (No password) More details about the flight are provided in this EasternHops Forum post. We hope to see you there!

Tomorrow is the last day to complete the 2014 Member Satisfaction Survey! If you haven't completed the survey, and would like to provide any feedback to the Administration Team, please do so before 11pm ET tomorrow.

Have you completed our 2014 Member Survey yet? If not, please do so as the last day for all submissions will be Monday, September 15, 2014. The A-Team looks forward to your responses!

Attention all members! BVA's third Training Day Challenge Event is coming up on September 21 from 2-5pm ET and will be located at the home airport of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach International Airport (KDAB). Training Day is an event designed for new or returning members in which controllers slow down and simplify instructions and provide additional spacing to help student pilots get the practice needed to become regular members. Not only is this a great event for new or returning members, it is also great for members who wish to sharpen their teaching skills! We are encouraging all regular, active members to join us on September 21 to help the Member Support Team, Virtual FBO Coaches, Air Traffic Controllers, and Administrators in assisting new/returning members who may need some assistance. More information can be found on the Challenge Event webpage. Hope to see you there!

Yes. You can find the TeamSpeak connection info on our Server Information page.

Last week, HippyHappy Germany announced on the FSX Beyond Gamespy Forums that the community would be closing its doors on Sunday, July 27, 2014. HippyHappy has expressed true regret in not being able to stay up and running to provide a home for all of its members, however, due to financial reasons they could not afford to keep the server up and running to the capacity that it has been doing for many years. Many may recognize HippyHappy Germany as the sole developer of FSCloud and the developer of the FSX Beyond Gamespy Bot which allows FSX Beyond Gamespy to list different online communities. Boston Virtual ATC would like to sincerely thank HippyHappy Germany for all its collaborative efforts in the creation/development of FSX Beyond Gamespy and the Cross-Community Flights. We also would like to wish all at HippyHappy the very best in their future endeavors. (Original FSX Beyond Gamespy Forum post here)