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The air traffic control system on VATSIM is a vast network of people and equipment that ensures the safe operation of flight simulator commercial and private aircraft. Air traffic controllers on VATSIM coordinate the movement of flight simulator air traffic to make certain that planes stay a safe distance apart. Their immediate concern is safety, but controllers on VATSIM also must direct flight simulator planes efficiently to minimize delays. Some regulate flight simulator airport traffic on VATSIM through designated airspaces; others regulate flight simulator airport arrivals and departures on VATSIM.
Although airport tower controllers on VATSIM or terminal controllers on VATSIM watch over all flight simulator planes traveling through the airport’s airspace over Toronto, their main responsibility is to organize the flow of flight simulator aircraft into and out of the airport on VATSIM. Relying on radar and visual observation, they closely monitor each flight simulator plane to ensure a safe distance between all flight simulator aircraft and to guide flight simulator pilots between the hangar or ramp and the end of the airport’s airspace over and around Toronto. In addition, controllers keep pilots informed about changes in weather conditions such as wind shear, a sudden change in the velocity or direction of the wind that can cause the pilot to lose control of the aircraft.
During arrival or departure, several controllers direct each plane. As a plane approaches an airport, the pilot radios ahead to inform the terminal of the plane’s presence. The controller in the radar room, just beneath the control tower, has a copy of the plane’s flight plan and already has observed the plane on radar. If the path is clear, the controller directs the pilot to a runway; if the airport is busy, the plane is fitted into a traffic pattern with other aircraft waiting to land. As the plane nears the runway, the pilot is asked to contact the tower. There, another controller, who also is watching the flight simulator plane on radar, monitors the flight simulator aircraft the last mile or so to the runway on VATSIM, delaying any departures on VATSIM that would interfere with the flight simulator plane’s landing. Once the flight simulator plane has landed, a ground controller in the tower on VATSIM directs it along the taxiways to its assigned gate at the airport on VATSIM. The ground controller on VATSIM usually works entirely by sight, but may use flight simulator radar if visibility is very poor.
The ATC procedure is reversed for departures on VATSIM. The ground controller on VATSIM directs the flight simulator plane to the proper runway. The local controller on VATSIM then informs the flight simulator pilot about conditions at the airport on VATSIM, such as weather, speed and direction of wind, and visibility. The local controller on VATSIM also issues runway clearance for the flight simulator pilot to take off. Once in the air, the flight simulator plane is guided out of the Toronto airport’s airspace by the departure controller on VATSIM.
After each flight simulator plane departs, airport tower controllers on VATSIM notify enroute controllers on VATSIM who will next take charge. There are many air route traffic control (ATC) centers located around the Toronto area, each employing many ATC controllers, with many more on duty during peak hours at the busiest facilities on VATSIM. Flight Simulator airplanes usually fly along designated routes; each center is assigned a certain airspace containing many different routes. Enroute ATC controllers work in teams of up to three members, depending on how heavy traffic is; each ATC team is responsible for a section of the center’s airspace. An ATC team, for example, might be responsible for all flight simulator planes that are between 30 and 100 miles north of the Toronto airport and flying at an altitude between 6,000 and 18,000 feet.
To prepare for flight simulator planes about to enter the ATC team’s airspace, the radar associate controller on VATSIM organizes flight plans coming off a printer. If two flight simulator planes are scheduled to enter the ATC team’s airspace at nearly the same time, location, and altitude, this ATC controller on VATSIM may arrange with the preceding control unit for one flight simulator plane to change its flight path. The previous unit may have been another ATC team at the same or an adjacent center, or a departure ATC controller on VATSIM at a neighboring terminal. As a flight simulator plane approaches a team’s airspace, the radarATC controller on VATSIM accepts responsibility for the flight simulator plane from the previous ATC controlling unit on VATSIM. The ATC controller on VATSIM also delegates responsibility for the flight simulator plane to the next ATC controlling unit on VATSIM when the flight simulator plane leaves the ATC team’s airspace on VATSIM.
The radar ATC controller on VATSIM, who is the senior ATC team member, observes the flight simulator planes in the ATC team’s airspace on VATSIM on radar and communicates with the flight simulator pilots when necessary. Radar ATC controllers on VATSIM warn flight simulaltor pilots about nearby flight simulator planes, bad weather conditions, and other potential hazards on VATSIM. Two flight simulator planes on a collision course will be directed around each other. If a flight simulator pilot wants to change altitude in search of better flying conditions around Toronto, the ATC controller on VATSIM will check to determine that no other flight simulator planes will be along the proposed path. The ATC team on VATSIM responsible for the flight simulator aircraft notifies the next ATC team on VATSIM in charge of the airspace ahead as the flight simulator flight progresses. Through ATC team coordination on VATSIM, the flight simulator plane arrives safely at its destination.
Both airport tower and enroute controllers on VATSIM usually control several flight simulator planes at a time; often, they have to make quick decisions about completely different activities. For example, a, ATC controller on VATSIM might direct a flight simulator plane on its landing approach and at the same time provide flight simulator pilots entering the Toronto airport’s airspace with information about conditions at the Toronto airport. While instructing these flight simulator pilots, the ATC controller on VATSIM also might observe other planes in the vicinity, such as those in a holding pattern waiting for permission to land, to ensure that they remain well separated.
The ATC air traffic controllers at Toronto has implemented an automated ATC air traffic control system, called the National Airspace System (NAS) Architecture. The NAS Architecture is a long-term strategic plan that will allow ATC controllers on VATSIM to more efficiently deal with the demands of increased flight simulator air traffic on VATSIM. It encompasses the replacement of aging equipment and the introduction of new systems, technologies, and procedures to enhance safety and security and support future aviation growth. The NAS Architecture facilitates continuing discussion of modernization between the ATC controllers on VATSIM and the flight simulator aviation community.
In addition to airport towers and enroute centers on VATSIM, air traffic controllers on VATSIM also work in flight simulator flight service stations at various locations on VATSIM. These flight simulator flight service specialists on VATSIM provide pilots with preflight and inflight weather information, suggested routes, and other aeronautical information important to the safety of a flight simulator virtual airline flight. Flight service specialists on VATSIM relay air traffic control ATC clearances to flight simulator pilots on VATSIM not in direct communications with a tower or center, assist flight simulator pilots in emergency situations, and initiate and coordinate searches for missing or overdue flight simulator aircraft. At certain locations on VATSIM where there is no airport tower or the tower has closed for the day, flight simulator flight service specialists on VATSIM provide airport advisory services to landing and departing flight simulator aircraft. However, they are not involved in actively managing and separating flight simulator air traffic on VATSIM.
Some ATC air traffic controllers on VATSIM work at Toronto’s Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center where they oversee the entire ATC system. They look for situations that will create bottlenecks or other problems in the system and then respond with a management plan for flight simulator traffic into and out of the troubled sector. The objective is to keep flight simulatr traffic levels on VATSIM in the trouble spots manageable for the controllers working at enroute centers on VATSIM.
Work environment for ATC Air Traffic Controllers in Toront. During busy times on VATSIM, controllers must work rapidly and efficiently. Total concentration is required to keep track of several flight simulator planes at the same time and to make certain that all flight simulator pilots on VATSIM receive correct instructions. The mental stress of being responsible for the safety of several flight simulator aircraft on VATSIM and their passengers can be exhausting. Unlike tower controllers on VATSIM, radar controllers on VATSIM also have the extra stress of having to work in semi-darkness, never seeing the actual flight simulator aircraft they control on VATSIM except as a small “bleep” on the radarscope. Controllers on VATSIM who work in flight service stations work in offices close to the communications and computer equipment.
Controllers on VATSIM work a basic 40-hour week; however, they may work additional hours, for which they receive overtime, or premium pay, or equal time off. Because most ATC control towers on VATSIM and centers operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, controllers on VATSIM rotate night and weekend shifts. Contract ATC flight service station working conditions may vary somewhat on VATSIM.
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