[25 March 2017] Cross the Pond Westbound 2017

[Camden Bruno]

 

On March 25th, 2017, VATSIM hosts Cross The Pond Westbound, the annual flight across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to North America. The departure and arrival airports are not yet selected, so we won’t know whether BOS will be an official airport or not. However, in any case, BVA will have a major presence in this annual event. We encourage our pilots to fly local, or—for the guys who like the tubeliners—to join the fun and reserve a departure slot.

 

Please keep an eye on this thread for more information as the event draws closer.

[Camden Bruno]

 

Voting for Cross the Pond (CTP) Westbound 2017 airfields is now open! Be sure to vote for Boston Logan (BOS). Login at http://ctp.vatsim.net and click 'Airfield Voting' to do so. You are only allowed to select one departure field and one arrival field, so choose wisely!

 

We have been selected for many years in the past as a CTP Westbound arrival field, so hopefully that will be the case this year. Take a look at what CTP Westbound brought us a couple years ago (see image above)!

 

Voting closes on February 27 at 2359z.

 

Thank you for voting BOS!

[Camden Bruno]

Voting is now closed. Expect an announcement of the fields in a few days.

[Camden Bruno]

UPDATE! Boston has been selected as one of the featured arrival airports for Cross the Pond Westbound 2017 event! VATSIM's biggest and most challenging event takes place on Saturday, March 25.

 

More information at: http://ctp.vatsim.net/. This is a serious event and pilots who are planning to book or fly transatlantic should be flying an add-on jetliner with FMS/routing capability as well as familiarity with oceanic procedures.

 

Pilots flying the event book departure slots for Cross The Pond. Slots are limited, and they typically book very quickly. An announcement will be posted on this thread when bookings will open. The same as last time, bookings made will be estimated slot times (+/- 15 minutes) and estimated flight levels (+/- 1000ft). Actual slot time and flight level will be confirmed (via email and via login on the CTP website) along with your full route on the day of the event.

 

Updates regarding the event will be posted in this thread as well as available on the CTP website. We hope you enjoy the event!

 

Departure Airports:

Manchester (EGCC)

Amsterdam (EHAM)

Munich (EDDM)

Stockholm (ESSA)

 

Arrival Airports:

Boston Logan (KBOS)

JFK Int'l (KJFK)

Toronto (CYYZ)

Orlando McCoy (KMCO)

[Camden Bruno]

Pilots planning on arriving at Boston for Cross the Pond Westbound 2017 - Get a head start and view our Pilot Briefing here.

[Chris Raabe]

Bookings will open this Saturday, March 18th, at 10am ET (1400z).

[Camden Bruno]

All 480 Cross the Pond bookings were taken within 15 minutes, a new record. Didn't get a booking? Check out some of our tips below:

 

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We're sorry that you didn't get the booking of your choice for this years Cross the Pond Westbound! However, there are alternatives.

 

Our first suggestion is to continue to monitor the Cross the Pond website (http://ctp.vatsim.net) as well as the forum thread, as people occasionally drop their booking which opens it up to other pilots.

 

If that doesn't work, you can always choose to fly as a "non-event" aircraft. You won't have a slot, which means you don't have a designated departure/arrival time. With that said, you may experience significant delays on the ground and in the air. However, if you don't mind waiting, staying patient, and taking along some extra fuel this may be your solution.

 

Lastly, keep in mind that although the event is intended for aircraft to cross the atlantic and embark on an oceanic journey, you can always fly regional, bizjet, or general aviation flights if you enjoy those more! Air Traffic Control will be fully staffed and although you may experience some delay, it's better than not flying at all!

 

--

 

We hope these tips and tricks help. Regardless of if you got a slot or not, we look forward to seeing you on the 25th.

 

Blue skies and happy landings!

 

Boston Virtual ARTCC (BVA) Events Team

[Camden Bruno]

Pilots: Preparing for Cross the Pond Westbound 2017? We suggest watching last years Ground School on Oceanic Procedures!

[Camden Bruno]

An update from the Cross the Pond Planning Team.

[Camden Bruno]

As Cross the Pond arrivals begin to diminish, the controllers, staff, and administration of Boston Virtual ARTCC would like to take this time to thank all of those involved with Cross the Pond.

 

The Cross the Pond Planning Team made this years Westbound crossing a swift and enjoyable process. Additionally, our controllers did a phenomenal job preparing and executing the event.

 

Please take the time to send our controllers feedback so that we know how we did. Feedback can be sent via www.bvartcc.com/feedback

 

We were extremely proud of our performance, as we never had an official hold or delay program into Boston for Cross the Pond traffic. Although there were some holds into the New York area, this was simply due to traffic congestion (looking at the statistics, we all handled far more than the real-world controllers did during the same amount of time) and complex airspace. Thank you to all pilots for their patience, professionalism, and an overall job well done. Remember, without you, events like these would not be possible.

 

Also please be sure to follow us on Twitter (@BVARTCC) and check out some of our tweets, pictures, and screenshots from the event today.

 

We look forward to Cross the Pond Eastbound in October and wish you blue skies and happy landings until then.

 

Hope to see you in our airspace soon.

[Camden Bruno]

Stats are in! We handled 123 arrivals and 48 departures during Cross the Pond. This obviously means strictly into and out of Boston Logan (BOS) and does not account for all of the non-event traffic (regional, GA, etc.) throughout the ARTCC along with overflights.

 

Check out our Facebook and Twitter for pictures, time lapses, and more.