welcome to a real thread about Cross the Pond, and not a whinge about release dates of service packs!

 

So the day approaches, Saturday 12th of October 2013.

 

Expect VATSIM to light up with hundreds of pilots, dozens of ATC positions including the non-radar Oceanic procedural airspace and heaps of PMDG 777's!

Although the real world usually sees only westbound traffic in the daylight(UTC) hours, Vatsim will 'flip the clock 12 hours' and push everyone through Eastbound on the previous nights NAT Tracks (or something highly resembling them). This is so the flyin takes place on Saturday, and not in the wee hours of the morning. Why? Because they want AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE to participate in the event, and not a ghost town of night owls.

 

What time? from about 10:00z (UTC) with departures running for about 5 hours, flights taking around 8 hours.

 

Where?

Departure Airports:
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - KATL
Boston Logan International Airport - KBOS
Detroit Metropolitan Airport - KDTW
Washington Dulles International Airport - KIAD

Arrival Airports:
Frankfurt/Main Airport - EDDF
London Heathrow Airport - EGLL
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport - EHAM
Vienna International Airport - LOWW

 

Oceanic Entry Slots (and by extension airport departure slots) have been booked for most of the NAT tracks. These have been booked out. If you don't have a slot you can still participate, however you will likely be directed to plan via a specific NAT track tracking track to track (tautology ahoy!). One hopes the specific "no booking needed" NAT routing will be made available on the website http://ctp.vatsim-uk.co.uk/pilot-area/ but it may turn out only to be buried deep in the Vatsim forum flyin thread. http://forums.vatsim.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=61671 

 

How? Watch this AWESOME documentary from NATS, the Air Traffic Control provider for the UK which provides very detailed information on how Procedural ATC happens in the North Atlantic. See the story from both sides regarding the how, and the why. 

 

The video will answer questions like: Why do you need to receive a Clearance to enter the NAT when you already received clearance before you departed? Why do you need to provide a position report to Air Traffic Control every time you pass a waypoint in the Gander or Shanwick control area? Why won't the controller let me make my step climb at the optimum point? and what should I do if I the predicted crossing time of the next waypoint just changed on my FMS? This and more are answered in the video!

 

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So, are the NATs for tomorrow the standard VATSIM tracks?

The non-slot track has been established as Track Y: 

Y JAROM TALGO 4450N 4640N 4730N 4920N BEDRA NERTU
TMI: 285

If you are flying the non-event track, please place the following in the remarks section of your flightplan: NON-SLOT

Thank you!

what is the best way to listen and not participate?