Awesome Daniel!  Someone has been very busy lately!

Quote from: Don Desfosse on June 27, 2017, 04:32:42 PM

I'll be away on vacation, celebrating both summer and the freedoms of our country, with my family from 01 - 09 Jul.  Ira will be handling what comes across my desk during that time.  Be good to him!  All the best for a safe, healthy and happy Independence Day!  Please remember those that have served, and continue to serve, to protect the freedoms that we and our loved ones enjoy.

Does Ira not deserve vacations?!

Actually, no.  The benefit package for VATUSA employees requires that you be employed for one year before you are eligible for any of the many(?) benefits the job offers.  The accrual period begins at the end of your 13th month on the job. That's a little known fact, and I can probably get in trouble for telling you this, but this is why they keep it a secret until after you have accepted a position here. Otherwise they probably wouldn't be able to attract any quality applicants, only those who just want to hold a title.   

Good Luck Jagard!  Looking forward to seeing great things from you!

Hello Bob.  Your question is going to receive different replies, many of which will make perfect sense and some that may not.  For example, I might suggest that joining an east coast ARTCC doesn't address your time zone problem so much as it puts you another three hours behind the eight ball. For each training session you wish to have in the morning, someone needs to be available during the day, not in school, not at work. 

Granted, that is an over-simplified answer.  But by posting this you have essentially put up a job application which, I hope, will receive a response from someone saying, 'join us here at ..." because we can help you.  Until then, I suggest you visit some of the web sites of the various ARTCC's that you think will interest you, look through them, maybe send an email to the Training Administrator and then select an ARTCC that you feel fits your personality; someplace where you think you can be comfortable.

And I wouldn't rule out going back to Denver.  Schedules change.  You never know.  Anyway, good luck!

I am amazed at the buzz-kill going on here.  A VA plans a small Monday night event, goes to the trouble of preplanning flight routes in an attempt to control work flow, and then shows up to the even to find more than twice as many aircraft as expected.  So what happened?  A few calls were made, some controllers were rounded up, and what started out as a small VA sponsored fly-in turned into a significant event with over 100 pilots taking part.

The VA then write a letter thanking everyone for participating and for the time energy and efforts put into making their little fly-in more fun than they could have anticipated.

It’s what happens next that just kills me.  A complaint, an observation and a proposed solution. For what started out as a small fly-in.
We start by hearing from a pilot who was unhappy.  It doesn’t matter why they are unhappy, if it isn’t them for one reason it will be another pilot for another reason.

The next comment isn’t even about the event, but about the fact that it wasn’t publicized properly in order to attract more pilots.  Even though the intent all along was for this to be a VA sponsored small fly-in. It was never meant to attract FNO type traffic.

Let’s see, next we have an idea put forth on what would be a better idea for an event that wouldn’t put such pressure on ATC.  Actually Dhruv, I think this would be a great idea if we could guarantee that 100 plus aircraft will show up.  It’s a no brainer for an FNO in my mind but, quite frankly, all this “event” was about was a VA doing some flying on what is usually a quiet Monday night.  Now if you want to start this discussion in another thread it would certainly be worth discussing.

So let’s see if I have this right.  A VA hosts a fly-in that turns into a FNO like event on a Monday night when no one expects it.  Local ATC across three ARTCC’s respond as best they can with a limited Monday night crew of controllers.  The VA sends a thank you note. The Division responds by posting  that thank  you note for all to see.  Calls it service with a smile and pats everyone on the back for a job well done.  And then what usually happens, happens. 

Three senior staff members from three different ARTCC’s find ways to cut this down to size.  To use it to find fault or make a point regarding something entirely apart from all the good things that happened.  All from a simple “thank you”.   You know, I’ve worked with this VA before at the local ARTCC level , and they have a bad habit of attracting many more aircraft  than expected when they decide to fly somewhere. And when they say thank you they mean it.  Not because there may not have been any problems; there’s always a few for whatever the reason, but because they seriously mean just that; Thank You.  You came. You played with us. We all had fun. 

This pickety shiiit just piiises me off and I find it disrespectful to both those controllers who busted their butts during the event, and to the VA for putting it together and appreciating what it is you do. How’s that now. For appreciating what it is that YOU do.

I’m going to put my soapbox away now.  I’m sure many of your will be happy about that because I do get into lecture mode pretty easily lately. I’m also going to close this thread.  I probably should have made it read only in the first place. But before I do, and as someone who is sure that many of you will simply not understand what where and who this comes from, I can only make to me what is an obvious observation.
 
We have seen the enemy, and he is us.

Congrats and Good luck!

Those are some great ideas!

I'm a little worried about the .pilothelp command.  There is a huge potential for abuse and/or misuse (even unintentionally).
Perhaps it should be restricted to C1 or higher ratings?
I plan to make internal policy at ZOB that a controller must try a .wallop at least twice before going with a .pilothelp.
And even then, I'll caution against it unless absolutely necessary to prevent conflict.
I'll likely also require ZOB controllers to email me and our DATM with an official write-up any time the command is used.

Multicom is just a fantastic idea.  Can't wait to see how it works out!

CM

Don't get too excited Charles.  What Don neglected to mention was that at the end of the 15 minutes the aircraft automatically pops back up on your scope in its original position back when the .pilothelp command was issued.  As I understand it, the thought process was that since the controller has the option to remove the aircraft in the first place, he now has 15 minutes to make a plan to handle the aircraft and help guide the pilot through it.

After all, we are here to create a learning environment.

Congrats Mark.  Good luck!