ATC bookings in USA

[Patrick WEISSE]

Hello
I am flying in France and would like to know when and where I can get ATC service in the USA.
Do you have some kind of ATC bookings calendar as they have in Vatsim central for Europe ?
Thanks.

[Don Desfosse]

Sorry, Patrick, that does not exist in the US at present.  Many individual ARTCCs have their own booking calendars (as an example, upper left corner of https://forum.bvartcc.com/home) but I don't believe anyone has or is working an initiative to display a centralized calendar for the US (like VATUK does with the VATUK Central Training System, which is what I believe you were referring to). 

There have occasionally been requests by folks in the community for a truly centralized global ATC calendar, but no developers (to the best of my knowledge) have stepped forward to undertake such a project.  There are likely already systems out there that could handle bookings on a global level, but again not enough pull from the community combined with interest from any developer(s) to make it happen.

[Patrick WEISSE]

Thanks Don for your reply
Sadly it is difficult for Europeans to fly with Vatsim in the USA, not only because of the time difference.!

[Don Desfosse]

In my opinion, that's a personal opinion.  If one values rigidity in a plan over spontaneously enjoying whatever ATC is online, then I suppose that could be a valid argument.  However, many thousands of people, including many hundreds of Europeans, fly happily in the US every day.  To each his own.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

The VATUSA Events Calendar is my go-to resource for when I should expect ATC coverage.  Not only will the host facility or facilities be staffed up, but their immediate neighbors usually will as well.

[Brian Price]

In my opinion, that's a personal opinion.  If one values rigidity in a plan over spontaneously enjoying whatever ATC is online, then I suppose that could be a valid argument.  However, many thousands of people, including many hundreds of Europeans, fly happily in the US every day.  To each his own.

I would not describe this as 'rigidity vs spontaneous enjoyment'.  I would describe a schedule as predictable for planning purposes, instead of chasing ATC all over the place, only to have it shut down as you're ready for taxi.  Now that's enjoyment!  And I would not describe it as either/or - you could have some ARTCCs that have a schedule periodically, in addition to the published events.  I do find it frustrating at times when I want to practice and use ATC and it pops up and goes away before you can use it.  Having some degree of predictability would be very helpful to many pilots; Europeans and otherwise.