How to support controller trainings & exams

[Susanne Flach]

Are you a VFR pilot (or would like to become one) and would like to support training sessions and exams on TWR and APP? We are looking for you!

The relative rarity of VFR means that it can be hard for trainees to get sufficient experience in handling VFR traffic, phraseology and/or procedures. We want to increase our controllers’ appreciation of, and comfort with, VFR traffic. This should also increase their willingness to staff our many GA fields more often - to our pilots’ benefit. Thus, consider supporting our next generation of controllers - all the while having fun and picking up the odd trick yourself!

If you are an ATC trainee, consider learning how to fly VFR yourself. This will not only support your fellow controllers in their path, but will also help with your own training, especially ahead of and during your S2 rating training. Knowing procedures & phraseology and experiencing the other side is highly beneficial. Our PTD trainers are more than happy to show you the ropes.

Background

Controllers require ratings and endorsements to staff specific positions: S1 (GND), S2 (TWR), S3 (APP) and C1 (CTR), and endorsements in LSZH. To achieve those, controllers are trained and then examined on these positions. The names for sessions indicate a trainee’s experience on the station: Introduction (no prior experience), Training/Mentoring (little/some experience), and Controller Practical Test [CPT] or Checkout (exams on a station). You can identify ongoing trainings or exams when you see several controllers on the same frequency (mentors/examiners usually have M, X, Y or Z in their callsign).

We advertise trainings or exams on our forum and Discord; exams are also announced on the website. Trainings are announced in the forum 2 days in advance and on Discord on the day of the training. You can subscribe to this announcement forum post and get notified via email. If you want to be pinged on Discord when controllers or mentors are looking for traffic, head to #user-roles and react with the aircraft emote to get access to the #traffic-ping channel.

Training support

The goal is not to overwhelm the trainee or examinee, but to give them adequate traffic levels and reasonably complex situations to learn from and practice standard procedures:

• GND controllers: ground movements.
• TWR trainee: circuit management, traffic information, CTR entries and exits, helicopter ops.
• APP trainee: TMA crossings & IFR pickups.

Rules & expectations

• Respect and live Vatsim’s “Learning Environment” philosophy
• No “showing off”, no deliberate and/or malicious “confusing/stressing the trainee”
• Use aircraft designed for slow flight (e.g., C152/172, PA28, DA-42/-50/-62, PC-12, TBM-850, helicopters). Avoid jets.
• Situational awareness: If there are already 4+ VFR aircraft in the CTR, consider landing or exiting the CTR.
• As a general rule, do not perform abnormal procedures, especially during a CPT - if mentors/examiners would like to see the candidate perform a particular procedure, they will contact pilots as they see fit, contingent on the progression of a training or exam. If mentors/examiners contact you via DMs for whatever reason, we expect you to be cooperative and follow their advice.
• Since VFR depends on the weather, and the CoC requires you to fly with current winds, QNH, and temperature, it can be difficult to fly VFR. That said, the provision allows flying on preset weather/CAVOK, provided (at least) the QNH & winds are real-world.
• Of course, any situation that gives our controllers more to practice with outside of mentored sessions is always welcome.

See you in the skies!