VATSIM Sets New Records In Greek ATC Marathon

(Copy pasted from the AVSIM homepage yesterday)VATSIM Sets New Records In Greek ATC MarathonPosted: Monday, April 22, 2002 - 9:55A jubilant message from Vangelis Hassiotis, VATSIM Supervisor:Athens, Greece -- April 22, 2002 -- The 28-hour ATC Mararathon that was organised by the Hellenic (Greek) vACC last week (April 13 & 14) has managed to set several new all-time records in terms of an all-network, continuous on-line ATC coverage and number of aircraft movements. Never before have there been so many flights recorded in a single event, organised within the boundaries of a single, and relatively small, controlled airspace such as the Athens FIR.Triple filtering and ten-fold cross-checking of records documented a minimum of 617 movements within the FIR but unofficial records indicate that number to well-exceed 670+ movements within the 28-hours of the event, with ATC provided by just 13 overworked, shot-eye HvACC controllers. In comparison, the REAL Athens ACC of Greece recorded close to 1000 movements in the same period, staffed by approximately ...480 proffessional controllers.Parallel approaches at Athens International (LGAV) were brought into play (not actually in practice in the real LGAV) , with nearly 18 a/c waiting for t/o clearances at the holding points of LGAV (as compared to a mere usual 10 in real life) and another 60+ a/c roaming the airways at some stages, proved a handful for the HvACC controllers, with multiple multi-hour shifts; the result was however well-worth it and both ATC and pilots seemed to have enjoyed the setting. In fact, the HvACC staff are in proud possession of dozens of "thank you" and "well done" notes from pilots, some of them proffesional ATPs, a few of whom even went as far as to suggest private tuition to certain real-life controller counterparts... Yes, well... flattery will get you everywhere... (and with no delays) !This event made virtual aviation on-line history. It brought together into a single event pilots and controllers from all different global timezones, in a thumping experience. However, none of this would have been possible without the help of the neighbouring European vACCs, the eager response of individual pilots and VAs from all over the world, the organisational efforts of the European and HvACC staff and controllers - and certainly the support of the AVSIM and SIMFLIGHT sites. And of course, the VATSIM network, which provided a resilient enough platform to hold these loads, with not as much as a tick.For detailed logs, statistics, screenshots and comments, please visit their For the copy :Kyprianos Biris :-cool[link:vatsim-eur.org|VATSIM-EUR][link:avsim.com/greece/hvacc]Hellenic vACChttp://vatsim-eur.org/images/VATSIM-EURs.gif