Bring Don Home! [25 FEB 2200-0400z]

[Don Desfosse]

For anyone else interested, I'll be joined by most of my VATUSA HQ teammates tomorrow, and am planning a departure right around the start time of the event. Hope to see many of you there.

If anyone is interested in popping in, on a non-interfering basis, of course (don't get distracted and miss ATC calls!), feel free to drop in the VATUSA HQ Teamspeak tomorrow during the event.

ts.vatusa.net:9989
(no password)

[Krikor Hajian]

ICYMI, FlyTampa Boston Rebooted was released earlier today, just in time for Bring Don Home!, tomorrow! The latest scenery includes the Terminal A, B and E changes that have occurred over the past couple years, as well as multiple runway and taxiway changes. It’s an extremely well done scenery and can be picked up now for around $30. 10/10 would reccomend. Can’t wait to see you all tomorrow!

[Celso Otero]

ICYMI, FlyTampa Boston Rebooted was released earlier today, just in time for Bring Don Home!, tomorrow! The latest scenery includes the Terminal A, B and E changes that have occurred over the past couple years, as well as multiple runway and taxiway changes. It’s an extremely well done scenery and can be picked up now for around $30. 10/10 would reccomend. Can’t wait to see you all tomorrow!

has any one tested  this yet just had a crash on APP today dont want to have another one tomarrow

[Don Desfosse]

Yes, well over a hundred people used it without issue yesterday.

[Krikor Hajian]

ICYMI, FlyTampa Boston Rebooted was released earlier today, just in time for Bring Don Home!, tomorrow! The latest scenery includes the Terminal A, B and E changes that have occurred over the past couple years, as well as multiple runway and taxiway changes. It’s an extremely well done scenery and can be picked up now for around $30. 10/10 would reccomend. Can’t wait to see you all tomorrow!

has any one tested  this yet just had a crash on APP today dont want to have another one tomarrow

It’s been working great for me, and I haven’t heard people complaining about crashes, seems pretty stable.

[Krikor Hajian]

Controllers are up and aircraft are getting ready to depart! Stormy weather into the northeast, should make the approach even more exciting! Hope to see you all there!

[Krikor Hajian]

Tons of arrivals into Boston, including the man Don himself! If you're interested, I'm streaming my tower view and approach radar at https://www.twitch.tv/radarcontactlost. Enjoy!

[Elai Kindler]

What a fun event! Thank you to all the controllers who were online tonight, I enjoyed every second of it.

[Krikor Hajian]

Everyone;

I'd like to personally thank everyone who came out tonight and flew and controlled in this event. I was expecting a relatively low turnout, and was astounded and pleased with the tremendous amount of people who joined in tonight. This was a fitting way to send of Don, and the personnel from ZFW, ZME, ZID, ZDC, ZNY and ZBW were fantastic.

Don, again, thank you for your years of service to this division. I certainly hope that you, as well as the rest of the VATUSA staff, enjoyed this event. It's been a pleasure working with you and the rest of the team, and I look forward to continuing that relationship.

For those who are interested, I streamed my position on Final Vector, as well as a tower view of the arrivals and departures, and have compiled it into a timelapse. It is available here. Enjoy!

Blue skies all,

[Roger Curtiss]

It was a pleasure to fly in this event today.  I taxied out to 17L @ KOKC and was #11 with 7 aircraft eventually behind me.  It took 40 minutes to get rolling on the runway! This was the most impressive traffic queue I have ever experienced.  Traffic was strong throughout the trip east though unfortunately I was unable to make the conclusion in KBOS.  I was running low on fuel midway and had to divert to KIAD.

What I noticed throughout the flight was the remarkable work of all the controllers who kept it calm and sorted out the potential confusion by sending the occasional aircraft on a vector to provide spacing.  Everyone was as professional as could be-the controllers were on top of their game and the pilots were quick to respond with great radio etiquette.

The performance of the participants matched that of the honoree for whom the event was created.  Don was smack dab in the middle of the traffic line as USAIR and I hope he had as good a time as the rest of us.

Kudos to all VATSIM members who were part of this event-you all done the network proud today.

[Toby Rice]

Wish I could have been there.

[Don Desfosse]

Can't thank everyone enough for the event, the turnout, and the kind words and notes I got throughout.  I really appreciate it.  I agree, it was a fantastic event.  I hope the guys at Will Rogers got screen shots of all the traffic there -- that may be the only time they ever see that much traffic there!    As a team, and as a community, we improved and grew VATUSA over the years, with a lot of hard work, support, dedication and effort from many people.  I can't thank everyone enough for that.  I was greatly humbled and honored by this event, and psyched to see how much traffic there was.  Great job to all the ATC, and all the pilots.  I got a lot of "Happy Retirement" comments tonight; interestingly enough I wasn't on the ground at Boston for very long before they put me to work -- I'm on Boston Tower as we speak.  Boston Don is back!  Seriously, though, I've been honored and humbled by this event, and by all the kind words and thoughts from so many folks.  I look forward to seeing you all around!

[Tony Jeppesen]

Really sad I couldn't make this event.  I was having major internet issues, I hope you all got Don home safely!

@ZBW thanks for hosting this!

[Dace Nicmane]

This has to be the best event I've ever participated in. Thanks everyone for the ton of fun!

BAW66, you are number 17 for clearance, but if you ask again, you'll be 27

Are you Air France One or Air Force One?

Priceless! 

[Krikor Hajian]

Really sad I couldn't make this event.  I was having major internet issues, I hope you all got Don home safely!

@ZBW thanks for hosting this!

Thanks, Tony! Sorry you weren’t able to join us. I’d also like to shout out ZFW, ZME, ZID, ZDC and ZNY for their support in hosting this event. It was a group effort and wouldn’t have been possible without every facility just listed.