Don't worry, we are way ahead of you here. We already have the NOTAM up for pilots.

And the new "Fly Tampa - Tampa" scenery has the updates, along with navigraph airac cycles

Alan,

Perhaps you could talk to Scott about the duties of ATM's and the various staff since you know each other? Might shed some light on why some have to make decisions on where to spend their time.

Richard

What are you trying to say Richard?  Yes, Alan and I are friends, what's that have to do with his questions?

Don't know whether you are talking the ATC side, or the pilot side, as far as my VA, since being the CEO of AvA, I probably have more hours online in the air than 3/4 of my pilots, so, I'm not hiding.  On the ATC side, alot of management, ATM's, and such, on up the line into Division management are like Bryan said, also Supervisors, so they may be online, but you don't see them in their "staff" position necessarily.

Daniel, I hear ya, but look at my previous post.  Plus it's not the serious, generous, dedicated members I am referring to, those aren't the bad apples.

Romano, good question, my only opinion as to why is 1) the controller forgot (been there), and 2) clearing the pilot originally for the ILS approach allows the pilot to capture the localizer, then seeing that the pilot is on the localizer, maybe giving the visual clearance just frees up the pilot to bring himself in the rest of the way visually.  

Maybe I'm way off base, but those are the only two things that pop into my mind.

You can put this in the "for what it's worth" catagory.

The way I see it, you have three different groups on here, 1. the far left, 2. the far right, and 3 the middle.  Sounds to me like typical group dynamics, and btw, yes I did take group dynamics 101.   And alot more.

So is the network going to the dogs... I think not, mainly because the largest group of the 3 is the one in the middle, who are happy to be here, appreciate all the hard work that goes into providing this "free" service, and will continue to stay, and some will contribute, and that's all good.

my .02

Derek VATSIM has existed for long enough that I don't in my opinion feel that this will burn down in flames. I wish you and the others the best in your future plans by the sounds of it.

As Gary said many people have done great work and made strides in the hobby and specifically to the division.

The realism factor has been a problem since day 1 of VATSIM and I in my heart of hearts believe that the founders knew this and have done the best they can while working to keep a balance.

As has been said previous while many have gained a career or grown to be the best darn controller in the virtual world the scale is always sliding. For every person that reaches mastery if you will at controlling there are several in the wings just starting up. The same goes for pilots as we have experienced pilots we have also gained the new and inexperienced.

With due respect to everyone who didn't come into this with real world experience, who the hell are we to suddenly raise the bar higher and push out people who lack the level of skill to be professional. If someone had done that to you 1, 2, 5, 10 years ago when you started my guess is you'd have a different opinion. What we have here people is a disconnection from where we came from and that is not an excuse to push progress and tighter restrictions onto the backs of new and future members of this network.

At the end of the day no matter how well intended a network is designed there will always be someone making a mistake. It happens IRL all the time in the aviation industry or else the NTSB wouldn't have a job. If those demanding ultra realism were actually held to the standard and made a mistake, would they be ok with being fired, in some countries thrown in jail? I'm being extreme here but that's what ultra realism becomes right?

People need to at the end of the day accept VATSIM for what it is, it is a place where people come to enjoy aviation. On a technical scale it's a computer simulation network that provides virtual ATC to virtual pilots.

It was never designed at it's core to be an professional ATC or Pilot training tool. To provide ultra realism for a select few.

It's about sharing the hobby of aviation with anyone who enjoys it using flight simulators and radar clients to facilitate giving a world of ATC to what would be a computer generated voice.

If someone learns a thing or two along the way then that's great, a lot of us are here for the community and that is what separates us from any of the competitors past, present, or future which try to give a niche to an already niche market.

For those that wish to have ultra realism I challenge you to seek out a career in that field, take college courses as some already have and embrace real life for what it is. Take it to the next level.

To that same group I ask this, rather than become jaded towards new members embrace them and teach them. Remember where you came from and don't try to steal what we have made here as a community.

This thread kills me.  This quote from Brian is right on, and Brian and I don't agree on alot of things, but I must say, this was brilliant.  I joined this network as a hobby, I was a real world aviator for over 20 years in the USNavy, and now just enjoy flying and controlling in a hobbylike envirnment.  It was not in the founders intent to create a stepping stone for r/w ATC or pilots, but as Brian said, if some actually learns something along the way.... FANTASTIC..

So quit slinging mud, get out there and fly, and or contol, and don't let the "children"(that try to ruin every good thing that is presented to them) stop you from enjoying yourselves.

Thanks Paul for the response, but it's not the same, and my issue is that it won't recognize my login password in order to change it.  If the site webmaster could please help me, I'd really appreciate it.