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« on: July 07, 2021, 12:26:13 AM »
Hey everyone,
I wanted to just overall share my experience and idea on the pilots that I experience daily. I am a controller from VATCAR and I control the ZSU (San Juan CERAP) in Puerto Rico, outside of VATCAR I control the ZLC ARTCC with Kyle as well so we have both works with each other quite a bit. I'm very happy that this issue is attempting to be addressed to VATSIM managers/governors as this has been an issue even starting as a basic S1. The first time I dealt with inexperienced pilots was at Jacksonville, I had never encountered a pilot who had no real flight experience because I had been so used to just decent pilots at the time. I was originally an S2 at Jacksonville and I couldn't handle why this guy didn't know what an IFR clearance was or anything, he didn't know he needed some sort of allowance to fly via an IFR clearance. I was very frustrated when I got bad feedback for attempting to help him by providing constructive feedback to get better, it took me about a month to get back to controlling after that situation. The core values of VATSIM are "Aviate, Educate, Communicate" something like that. The problem with pilots is that VATSIM provides the "educate" part in there but really doesn't do much to maintain that "educate" part for pilots. VATSIM should implement a system like said by Kaylan Fullerton a feedback system much like ours. This would help benefit pilots by providing constructive criticism to improve as pilots and also give them a chance to fix their mistakes the next time they fly. Let me list some things I have seen so far for the past few weeks.
* Pilot fails to contact me in a timely manner.
* Pilot has a language barrier and is unable to contact me in English when the language of the air is English.
* Pilot fails to turn in a timely manner after requested to turn by a controller.
* Pilot fails to understand what "Hold for Release" means
* Pilot doesn't understand that PDC commands via PMs are NOT CPDLC systems and attempts to contact me via telex and uplink messages.
These are just some of the things that I see on a daily basis, some may be strange things that you don't see on a daily basis however some mistakes can be simply just failing to maintain a simple, heading, or altitude. Another situation I had was actually Gander and if you are certified in an oceanic position you would totally understand how I feel about this. Pilots do not know how to really cross the pond properly all the time and they can miss key information that you need for an oceanic clearance or just go AFK and not contact you because the flight is long. Gander has been one of the most frustrating positions to work in only because the pilots who decide to cross the pond poorly understand how oceanic control works. Pilots will call me from La Guardia for a taxi for a VFR departure to the west out of the New York class bravo or I will get a pilot calling me for oceanic clearance from the other side of the pond. At a certain point I got stir crazy from just the boredom and fury I experience trying to focus on like 10-20 planes at once during events and contacted by everyone who is not supposed to contact me or I am not getting concise information. I ended up just quitting Gander because of that specific reason. I hope my feedback or stories helps provide an inside into the things along with many other C1+ rated controllers experience when controlling a center or flight service station position.
Thanks,
Daniel Kormendy