[30 - 31 July 0000z - 0000z] ZMP's Northern Migration V

[Matthew Bartels]

[img]http://www.minniecenter.org/images/events/migrationbanner2011.jpg\\\" border=\\\"0\\\" class=\\\"linked-image\\\" /]

ZMP's Annual Live event will be 24 hours of real ops starting with FNO on July 29th at 1900 CDT and officially ending at 1900 CDT on July 30th, but we will be controlling late into the night on the 30th!  

The Pilot Brief and Booking system is now available!

Pilot Self-Briefing Area
Booking System

[Andrew Doubleday]

Just a reminder to everyone, we are three days away from this years Northern Migration!

On a personal note, this year's Migration will be a first for me to attend with this facility but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with these guys. I stand by my comments that ZMP is the most professional, organized and realistic crew I have had the opportunity to work with within VATUSA to date... The momentum the facility has built up over the past couple of years is really something special to have witnessed and I'm proud to be a part of this team! We try hard to provide a "real feel" to flying in the United States...



Below are some notes that us, as controllers, would like pilots to be aware of during your participation in this event to help maintain high situational awareness and improve your experience when navigating and communicating with ATC both for yourselves and for others.

During this event, 20 controllers or so will be working Live, side-by-side from the same location in Minneapolis, MN. As the flights available are pulled directly from the current real world flight schedules, this is truly a LIVE!, Real OPS event for both controllers and pilots alike.

For those of you who wish to fly Regional airline flights such as SkyWest (SKW), Comair (COM), Compass (CPZ), ASA, Mesaba (MES), Pinnacle (Flagship - FLG), etc. using CRJs or ERJs, you can find your flights located next to the appropriate Major airline regional logo (mostly Delta Connection flights). The carrier and aircraft type are provided in the pop-up Dash Board by clicking on a specific flight.

We do ask however that if you book one of the regional flights originating from MSP, please book the return flight back to MSP. These "out and back" flights generally retain the same flight number and callsign. So if you book Mesaba flight 2484 from MSP to Mason City, check to see if there is a return flight using the same number. This will help prevent another pilot from not only booking your return trip, but will prevent the headache of you, or another pilot, from not being able to log onto the network with the correct callsign, in the example above, MES2484.

If however you do experience this problem, we encourage you to log-in by dropping the first digit, and add an alpha character at the end of the flight number. So, using the above example, you would log-in as MES484A.

One other thing we ask, and we highly encourage, is please fly the type of aircraft that is listed for the flight. If unable to do so, and if you wish to substitute one type of aircraft for another, please do so using a comparable aircraft.

An example of this would be flying an A320 instead of a B737. However, we ask that pilots to the greatest extent possible, refrain from substituting a B747/B767/B777 for a smaller aircraft, especially if your flight is operated by a regional jet or prop.

B737s and A320 series would be okay substitutes for CRJs or ERJs. However, when we get 60 B777s and B747s back to back, our spacing requirements go through the roof, and our airport arrival rate decreases dramatically due to the increased spacing requirements. So we respectfully ask that pilots fly the aircraft listed on the booking system to the greatest extent practical, or follow the replacement schedule below:

Regional Jet/Prop = No bigger than A320 / B737 / MD80/90 Series (No B757/B747/B767/B777/MD11/DC10, Basically no Heavies!)

A320 / B737 / MD80/90 Series = May substitute like size aircraft, but no bigger than B757 and no heavies!

B757= No replacement unless smaller.

B747/B767/B777/MD11/DC10 or any other HEAVY = May substitute for another Heavy, or smaller aircraft.

Again, this is a respectful request from all of the controllers who are participating in this event. I think everyone, including the pilots, would really enjoy this event if we run as a real ops, flying the actual type of aircraft and callsign (ie: using SKW rather than DAL on a regional flight, using the actual operator) on their respective routes.

[size=](Regional Flights are HIGHLY encouraged for a special reason... More information will follow in the next day or two regarding why this is!)[/size]

[size=]On that note, we ask, and highly encourage, all pilots to read the Pilot Briefing.[/size] There is tons of information to found, such as where scenery can be located, how runways are assigned, the importance of making the downwind turn as depicted on the STAR charts, terminal parking locations and much much more. We have been very diligent in our preparations for this event and ask that pilot participants do the same. Please come prepared! When or if all else fails, please be sure to know how to fly a heading, altitude and maintain airspeed in accordance with ATC instructions. As we expect a high turnout during this event, please execute and comply with ATC instructions as quickly as possible. Remember, "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate." Do things in that order and all should be well!

[size=]And please, please, please, remember to obtain the ATIS and advise the approach controllers you have the appropriate code on initial contact from the communications transfer from the center! The same goes for calling for a clearance on the ground.[/size] Check in with the ATIS! PLEASE! We train our controllers to pay close attention to this tool as it's been available for a long time on VATSIM and serves a purpose to reduce controller workload on reading weather, runway, NOTAM information to each and every pilot that checks in on the frequency. You do us a huge favor by checking in with it as you'll be able to pre-plan which runway to expect (or at the very least, have a general idea) and maybe even make a request with us for a certain runway on frequency to reduce your taxi time on the ground (if we can accommodate).

[size=]The pilot briefing may be located here:[/size]
http://www.minniecenter.org/node/migration/brief.php

[size=]Finally, the booking system may be located here:[/size]
http://www.minniecenter.org/node/migration/reservation.php

Again, our facility will be staffed for a full 24 hours during the following times:

Friday, 7/29, 19:00 CDT
until
Saturday, 7/30, 19:00 CDT (and quite possibly later into the evening on Saturday night should the traffic levels warrant the coverage and the controllers have not suffered traumatic brain damage by then... )

(19:00= 7:00PM Central Daylight Saving Time)


We look forward to everyone's participation!
See everyone there!

[Matthew Bartels]

9 Hours to go! The ARTCC, TRACON, and Tower Cabs are all being set up. Last thing we need is the pilots! Look forward to seeing you!

[Greg Miller]

9 Hours to go! The ARTCC, TRACON, and Tower Cabs are all being set up. Last thing we need is the pilots! Look forward to seeing you!

Flew this event Friday and it was superb.  There was one ctr controller who was a bit over cautious on spacing and had me ay 280 knts at FL320.  Other than that everyone was awesome on procedure and effectiveness.  

As you know, these were "crowded skies", and I was appalled at the few pilots who had not a clue as to where they were or why they were there.  Your controllers patience was to be applauded.

Job Well Done!

Greg

x737

[Don Desfosse]

I really enjoyed flying FNO -- got two flights booked and flown, and the ATC was excellent.  ORD APP and CHI CTR did a great job getting me out too.  ZMP rocked during FNO -- great job!

[Dhruv Kalra]

There was one ctr controller who was a bit over cautious on spacing and had me ay 280 knts at FL320.

I'd hardly consider adjusting you to 280 for a descent "over-cautious" considering we instituted strict spacing requirements into the Minneapolis TRACON airspace. There may have been some confusion on how the instruction was issued, as most of our enroute controllers were instructed to slow guys only after they were below FL240 (i.e. with the "low" sectors). If he needed it for spacing, though, that's his call - he's got the big picture after all and I'm sure you would have rather been too far away from other airplanes than too close .

I'm glad you enjoyed the event. We certainly did thoroughly, and hopefully we'll see everyone again next year!