It's official, VATPAC is now an ATO!

[Jackson H - 820457]

VATPAC IS NOW AN AUTHORISED TRAINING ORGANISATION (ATO) FOR PILOT TRAINING.

 

I am pleased to announce that after considerable effort and applying to be recognised as an ATO for Pilot Training in early October last year and completing the application in two phases, VATPAC has received formal notification that our training structure, and the initial P1 package is now approved as meeting the VATSIM guidelines for Pilot Training.

 

We are now an approved VATSIM ATO for Pilot Training.

 

This ATO approval will enable VATPAC to deliver a pilot training program mapped to the VATSIM guidelines and importantly to meet our VATPAC Pilot Development objectives. This means that we can now roll out the P1 Rating Program in our Division and our Pilots will be able to gain the P1 pilot rating and be therefore recognised in VATSIM.

 

The VATPAC Board recognised that the VATSIM Pilot Rating program will enhance pilot skills and subsequently build further pilot skills to a standard which will benefit the wider VATSIM community and ensure a more enjoyable experience for all of our community being both our ATC staff and Pilots. The P1 rating will be the forerunner to P2 and the other ratings that will become available to us as an ATO.

 

The P1 Pilot Training like our unique ATC training will be Moodle Based with a practical on line assessment for novice pilots.

 

The Director Pilot Training and his Pilot training team will now roll out the program and in a short time, pilots both Novice and Experienced will be able to apply for and then start the training and become rated.

 

VATPAC is approved to offer two streams for P1 rating training and assessment.

Stream 1 for the novice pilot with little or no experience. The Novice Pilot will be required to complete both the Moodle course and a practical and theory assessment.

Stream 2 for experience pilots who have Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) in either VATSIM or in RL (Expedited Approach) and a minimum of 100 hours online experience The experienced pilot will do the Moodle course and a theory assessment.

 

This is an very exciting time for VATPAC and I commend all pilots to embrace the program and become P1 pilot rated. Details of the program and how you apply for the training will be published on the website and forums shortly as a Pilot News article. The final stages of getting the launch ready are now taking place behind the scenes.

 

I also announce that this achievement will be launched with a “fly in” to celebrate our ATO accreditation and the VATPAC Pilot Training program…Details will also be notified on the website later…

 

Finally I wish to thank both Luke Bruce-Smith who started things rolling and in particular Don Collins who picked up where Luke left off. Don and his team have put in an extraordinary number of man-hours to get the program up and running from the ground up. The feedback the Board have received from VATSIM is exceedingly complimentary and they have made it apparent that ours is one of the best approaches they have yet seen. All in all this is yet another fantastic development that should see us able to provide first class training to our pilots as well as our controllers.

 

Jackson Harding