Russell D - 1104622
-
Posts
602 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
10
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Calendar
Posts posted by Russell D - 1104622
-
-
Some additional route options as flown in previous VFR Operations events.
-
Sydney Bankstown return via Wollongong and Camden
-
Sydney Bankstown return via Katoomba and Camden
-
Bankstown North
-
Bankstown North via Sealane
-
Singleton to Bankstown via Richmond VFR Route
-
Singleton to Bankstown via Brooklyn Bridge
For rotary wing aviators, check out Sydney International ERSA for some helicopter action between Sydney and Bankstown. The most obvious being the route via Georges River 4 Inbound and Outbound.
I intend to fly a route or two plus some circuits. May the weather gods be kind
Rusty
-
Sydney Bankstown return via Wollongong and Camden
-
Well done Greg. It is indeed YREN Renmark South Australia. Looks like we have gone full circle. It's Greg's turn onece again...
Rusty
-
Nope...
-
This is mine...
-
That looks suspiciously like Mason Field Southport QLD.
Rusty
-
Hi,
Sorry for getting this event up later than usual. I had a change of plan regarding the operation I had planned within Townsville airspace. I then took a few attempts to include exerpts of the VTC in enough detail to be legible. Those charts are critical to avoid restricted airspace, class C CTA and high terrain.
I am looking forward to the flight myself. Just did a familiarisation flight to get to grips with navigating visually. Highly recommend do this to all participants, however, for those that can't the included flightplan will get you out of Townsville cleanly, however returning not so much
Rusty
-
Hmmm...
Not so certain now. There may be an error with the javascript executing the conversions. I suspect one of the methods is complaining about the formatting of datetime string.
If I get the time I might play with the debugger.
Rusty
-
It does appear to be a Mozilla issue. Chrome is displaying the time stamps where as Firefox is spitting out invalid date. Checking the debugger, it appears server side as Firefox is simply formatting the provided HTML into the CSS. There are no signs of a scripting error at the client.
Rusty
-
Thanks Pete,
I had already checked and confirmed the validity of FIRBoundaries.dat for the incorrect reference.
I have since resolved the problem. It revealed itself to be quite a subtle cause easily over looked. The .dat files are fine. I took a long look at the interface and realised there was a tab referencing YARL and as such there was an entry for this in VATSpyConfig.xml. It would seem starting VATSpy forced it to attempt to restore its interface and abended when it couldn't display the tab for YARL sector as it no longer exists in the data files. I removed the reference and now all is fine.
Sorry if I lead you on a goose chase regarding the dat files. I did think it strange that only my installation was having problems. There was more than just the .dat files at work in this instance.
NOTE to self. Confirm there are no tabs referencing an Australian sector that may have been decommissioned when updating .dat files in VATSpy
Rusty.
-
G'day,
Well, after a process of elimination I have isolated the problem to the line.
YARM|Brisbane (Armidale)|BN-ARM|The version that was being accepted lists as
YARL|Brisbane (Armidale)|BN-ARL|The latter appears to be required in order for VATSpy to accept the data. Is this the correct entry or is the new line intended as an update and other references to YARL need to be changed to YARM?
For the time being I have retained both knowing that YARM is redundant.
Rusty
-
Hmm...
Have uninstalled and reinstalled VATSpy and replaced the data files with the new updates. Sadly, VATSpy abends when opening with these files but is fine with those provided with the install.
So to isolate the problem I only updated the FIRBoundaries.dat and retained VATSpy.dat. Surprisingly VATSpy is opening with the new boundaries. Yeh! Of course as soon as I try to apply the updated VATSpy.dat the abend returns. There is obviously some reference in VATSpy.dat that is not being accepted. At first glance the content looks to conform.
I will try and nut out the problem later. Have to install some scenery now.
Rusty
-
G'day,
Sorry to step on Trent's toes here.
Couple of questions regarding this evening's event
The flight is virtually Nth/Sth. What should be filed as FL going North and South? I intend to adopt NZ of Odd to the North, Even to the South and Flightaware appears to concur.
I was also intending to file a flightplan of "PH H17 GURAK Y35 VETEL Z55 KA" as per ERSA flightplan requirements however I notice the event and QLink flights I have observed in flightaware favour "PH DCT AVNEX DCT ESDEG Y35 VETEL Z55 KA". Does someone have any insights as to the variations? Aversion to flying the convoluted GURAK departure maybe? :-\
An additional bonus. Should pilots to using Registrations instead of Company callsigns? As we know, things are done differently in Perth 8)
Rusty
-
G'day,
I have been using the VATSPY sector update as provide by VATPAC site and noted that BN-MDE in not registered in the map interface as being online despite BN-MDE_CTR listed in the controllers. Can someone review the update and check it is configured to display the sector within VATSPY map? I could probably do it myself if I knew the sectors.
Rusty
-
G'day,
I just looked up the upcoming events on the VATPAC home page. The calendar item for tonight's (Friday) event is not showing on the VATPAC main page. As such the upper most item is Sunday nights VFR event and participants are likely to open the details for the wrong event and find themselves at the wrong starting airport with the wrong flight details. I have only just viewed the calendar and confirmed the Friday night event is available in the calendar itself, just not in the "Upcoming Events" panel on the home page.
I would very much appreciate it if someone with access could take a look at the script that is populating the "Upcoming Events" panel and ensure events on the day are also being included. Maybe a time issue based on variation between local and the posted UTC.
Rusty.
-
G'day.
Along the lines of odd functionality. I have had a couple of reports that the calendar items for events in progress are not showing on the VATPAC main page. On a couple of Friday evening events, pilots have launched the top most VFR calendar event in the belief it is the Friday evening event only to discover they have opened the Sunday evening event and found themselves at the wrong starting airport with the wrong flight details.
I suspect there is a "boundary" issue with the timing of the calendar events being listed on the main page and events where the Start Time precedes the current system time are being omitted. Any chance this could be altered to the end time instead?
Thankfully the Calendar page itself is working fine and those affected have been directed to this in preference to relying on the VATPAC main page.
Rusty
-
Hi Kent,
Seeing how you are interested in the Bankstown flights. I have included the direct links to those that are presently uploaded into the VATPAC Calendar. The calendar is relatively new so only VFR flights since the calendar's introduction are available in this manner. Probably only represents 10% since I have been posting them
-
Bankstown North
-
Bankstown North via Sealane
-
Singleton to Bankstown via Brooklyn Bridge
-
Singleton to Bankstown via Richmond VFR Route
-
Sydney Bankstown return via Katoomba and Camden
-
Sydney Bankstown return via Wollongong and Camden
Hint: If you think there is something in the calendar you might want to refer to again later, just copy the link address from the Browser and store this away safe somewhere or as a Bookmark. The links to each post remain accessible as long as it hasn't been deleted. Typically it will be of the form "http://calendar.vatpac.org/index.php/events/view/XXX" where XXX is an article number.
Note: the links to the ERSA for the referenced airports in the VFR Flight Details will be out of date and unavailable, however all else should be fine.
I hope these get you what you are looking for.
Rusty
-
Bankstown North
-
Hi Howard,
As VFR Operations Coordinator you are welcome and encouraged to participate in the VFR Operations events. Any pilot using any simulation that can log into the VATSIM network is. Everyone simply does the best they can given the limitations of their available technology. There is unanimous agreement that voice CTAF is the desired means to communicate when flying these events. To this end pilots attempt to use voice by whatever means are at their disposal at the time. Text is the absolute however and if you wish to communicate with all pilots in the vicinity of you then you pay the price of being certain your message is received by all with the inconvenience of typing it into a pilot client chat window. The additional price is that you become lesser as a pilot in that your ability to see around you to maintain situational awareness is compromised as is your ability to manually control your aircraft unless you resort to using an autopilot. Many of the GA planes we fly are not equipped with one.
In lieu of VPilot's lack of CTAF capability, P3D participants often opt to log into VATPAC Teamspeak with the other participants and employ this as a surrogate. Typically Teamspeak has been reserved for conversations not necessarily relating to the flight being conducted. As such, Teamspeak is often congested blocking CTAF calls. When this is the case, a convention has been introduced where someone wanting to transmit CTAF simply interrupts ongoing conversation with "BREAK BREAK" at which point any conversation is suspended until the call is finished. At this stage those pilots using the CTAF capable pilot clients continue to use the CTAF capabilities which means those using Teamspeak are not receiving the CTAF of others. One also has to consider that participation in VFR Operations does not mandate that all need to be logged into the VATPAC Teamspeak server. I never participated in the conversations when I first flew VATSIM and VFR Events so I could concentrate better on my flying. I eventually decided I was comfortable enough with the events that I joined the conversation. Many participants do exactly this. The common denominator is that all are online within the VATSIM network and the only solution to this conundrum must be by using the VATSIM network.
As many pilots migrate away from FSX to other sims and pilot clients, the VFR participants that are CTAF capable are gradually adapting and are now also providing relevant CTAF using teamspeak when its advantageous to do so. There is no formal process for using Teamspeak at this time as it is not considered a viable option in the long term. At present there is no nice solution. Joel has proposed a work around for VPilot users as you may have read in the link he provided. I am also aware of an attempt of one member to provide a more in depth set of documents to assist those willing to give the work around a try but I am not aware if it has as yet been published anywhere on the web or VATPAC. A couple of participants have employed this with great success, it does however require some considerable IT knowledge to sort out any glitches.
Despite these challenges, all participating pilots seem to enjoy the experience. Especially so when ATC is available at an aerodrome the flight is being conducted. In this situation, everyone is placed on even communications footing and goes a long way toward recreating real world ops, a goal all VATSIM members aspire to.
I myself propose a question I have often considered but not being controller rated and too lazy to conduct a comprehensive search of the forums I find myself unable to provide a suitable answer. What rules influence "passive" use of ATC coverage of an area? That is, ATC logging in and providing empty ATIS surrogates pilots could use for CTAF operations on suitable frequencies. An enormous sacrifice as I do know that once ATC is logged in the connection must remain attended and yet they would not be required to interact and can not themselves log in and fly on VATSIM. Whilst not ideal it does attempt to work around the issue of conducting CTAF operations by leveraging what VATSIM offers without need to change anything to accommodate it technologically. It is probably all a matter of policy.
-
Welcome back. Yes, VFR is still on. These days VFR is conducted on both Friday and Sunday. This week's flight was posted late due to a longer than expected absence this week. Just returned late Wednesday night and I am still catching up on outstanding tasks.
Hope to see you participating in Friday's flight out of Geraldton WA. Check out the scenery links to ensure there is a destination for you to land
-
I agree with the idea presented here. In fact, I also suggested a variation of this back in 2012 when Trent arranged the "Great Aussie Tour" during the same time frame. Rather than re-write my post, take a look at this thread
Rusty
-
I can see logistics operators cursing expletives if ever assigned the second runway. It's so far a taxi plan would need to be filed! :cool:
-
Hi,
Just tried to access the VFR Operations event for this evening however the calendar does not appear to be available. I read about the outages in the NOTAM and am wondering whether this evening's event is going to be a casualty of this.
-
G'day. I am Russell Diehl, coordinator for VFR Ops. I have in the past and intend to publish an Avalon Airshow specific event to coincide with the up coming airshow. Stay tuned.
-
Getting the word out there is always a good call. It's the return on investment you can expect to receive that determines whether to continue the effort or not. VATNZ SNO being a Sat will pick up US Sat "am" pilots because of the time zones. Most certainly an investment with strong returns. Likewise, I track USA FNO to see if there is something I might participate in the SAT "am". Milk Run is conducted Monday evening in Aust, so US and Euro pilots would need to be available Mon "am". Some might respond, however, the majority is starting a work day and is very unlikely to be flying online. Still, at least if the event is advertised then something might happen. Might be a long weekend!
This applies to pretty much our entire "daily focus" events. All except Sunday VFR is conducted on week day evenings thus corresponding to US and Euro weekday mornings. VFR doesn't appeal to many overseas pilots. Two, and an occasional third that I can think of participate in VFR events. However, rarely is there any participants from US. I can only recall 2 over the entire time I have been flying these events.
Having said that. I have indeed noticed a greater uptake from asian pilots in recent times. That is without any additional advertising. Maybe additional ads in the right places might indeed increase pariticipation further in those sectors.
-
Sure is, Thanks. Should be installed by block off!
Rusty
VFR online Darwin to Tiwi islands
in Regular Events
Posted
Thanks Robert. I've added the link to the scenery section in the calendar event for Friday and Sunday.
Rusty