Join the controllers and frequent pilots of the Boston Virtual ARTCC for an evening in Connecticut. The focus is on the Y90 Bradley TRACON area, including KORH, KHFD, KCEF, and, of course, KBDL. We'll be staffing up the facility from 1900-2300 ET [2300-0300Z]. All types of traffic are welcome across the area and the entire ARTCC, be it your local flying club doing some VFR, your VA operating scheduled flights, or just a fun little jaunt in your Cessna from point A to point B, we'll be turning up the heat for our controllers and shooting for a busy Saturday night. We hope to see you there!

Thanks to all those who participated! The winners of the sceneries have been selected and will be notified within the next few days. For those who are interested, I created a timelapse of my sector, which is available here. We can't wait to see you on September 8th for the return leg to Amsterdam!

Excited to announce that ALL bookings are now filled for this event! Pilots can expect an email tonight (as well as a post here) with the final routes.

Interested in flying but don't have a slot? We'll do our best to get you in. Please bring extra fuel and expect delays however, as we are going to try and keep those who signed up on their slot times. Please also check this post for the finalized routes; flying a random route will make our jobs as controllers much harder and will lead to additional delays for sequencing.

I can't wait to see you all in the skies tomorrow! It's going to be exciting!

One week to go until the Holland America line opens on vatsim! 8 Hours of packed airspace, 2 of the biggest hubs fully staffed & a FlyTampa giveaway!

Book your slot now before it's too late. https://booking.dutchvacc.nl/

Come join the Boston Virtual ARTCC and Dutch VACC for a long-haul, trans-Atlantic, inter-division jamboree! From 1100 till 1400 UTC on Sunday, July 29th, we'll have Amsterdam Airport Schiphol staffed to the gills to accommodate departures, and will have all en route facilities staffed for a flight to Boston Logan Airport, where the Boston Virtual ARTCC will provide a full staff to sequence arrivals and get them onto the ground.

Bring your favorite long haul aircraft, your business jet, or whatever you want, and join us for 7+ hours of packed airspace and professional air traffic control!

All,

We're just a little under two weeks away! Below is the combined briefing; make sure to book your flight ASAP at the link above! See you there.

The Pack The Pattern event seeks to replicate the busy atmosphere of a commercial airport. During this event, ATC fully staffs the focus airfield, and pilots are encouraged to fly VFR or IFR circuits or arrive at the airport during the event.


For more information and event downloads, visit the Pack The Pattern page.

Aharon,

It seems you're not reading through the details on the FAA's TFR page. Because there is a TFR does not mean that no aircraft may operate through that area. In this case, the TFR is valid from 2600'-20000'. The restrictions and requirements state;

No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described).
Except as specified below and/or unless authorized by ATC:

All aircraft entering or exiting the TFR must be on a discrete code assigned by an air traffic control (ATC) facility.

Aircraft must be squawking the discrete code at all times while in the TFR.

All aircraft entering or exiting the TFR must remain in two-way radio communications with ATC.

So, what this means, is if you wish to operate through the area defined in this TFR at 2600'-FL200, you must be talking to ATC and on a discreet transponder code. So if you're on an IFR flight plan, this is accomplished. If you're VFR, all you need to do is pick up flight following. So even if the TFR were being simulated, it would have a relatively minimal impact on pilots and certainly does not warrant avoiding that area of the island entirely.

Hope this helps clear things up.

Come join the Boston Virtual ARTCC and Dutch VACC for a long-haul, trans-Atlantic, inter-division jamboree! From 1200-1500z on Saturday, December 15th, we'll have Boston Logan Airport (IATA: BOS, ICAO: KBOS) staffed to the gills to accommodate departures, and will have all en route facilities staffed for a flight to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM), where the Dutch vACC will provide a full staff to sequence arrivals and get them onto the ground. Bring your favorite long haul aircraft, your business jet, or whatever you want, and join us for 7+ hours of packed airspace and professional air traffic control.

As well, we'll have a detailed pilot briefing released within a couple weeks that will offer details on general procedures that will be useful along the route, as well as specific information on the booking system we'll be using for this event (more information to be released about this later).

This event is part 2 of 2. We previously hosted The Holland-America Line in which pilots flew from Amsterdam to Boston. These events serve as a fantastic time to brush up on both international and American procedures, and prepare for the bi-annual Cross the Pond. We hope you'll join us on December 15th for this event, and look forward to seeing many of you there!