Image: Screenshot of the Month winner Francesco D.

Boston Virtual ARTCC's Community Newsletter · November 1, 2026

60 Hours of ATC is Thanksgiving Weekend

By: Cameron Peterson

One of our favorite fall traditions is coming up! Beginning Friday, November 27 at 11am ET, join us for 60 continuous hours of Boston Center coverage.

There are no sign-ups or special actions required for pilots to participate: just connect and fly, any time you want, between 11:00am ET on Friday, November 27 through 11:00pm ET on Sunday, November 30. 

This one-of-a-kind marathon ATC event also includes hosting a Thanksgiving-themed Friday Night Operations (FNO) event with ATC coverage in New York, Cleveland, Washington, Montreal, Toronto, and Moncton Centers on Friday night. 

By: Josh Nunn

It is my pleasure to announce that Daniel Goldring (GN) will be joining the BVA Administration Team under the role of Events Coordinator (EC)!

The Events Coordinator is one of the most challenging and impactful Administration Team positions, and has been held by some of our longest-serving administrators over the years. Amongst other responsibilities, the EC schedules events, coordinates controller staffing, works with neighboring facilities to plan routes and traffic management initiatives, and more.

Dan has been a controller at BVA for over 4 years, during which he has built a great foundation of strong relationships within the community. He has been eager to serve the community in various ways, as a Training Staff Instructor, as well as working on the Events Team and Documents Team. Dan will soon be going off to the Academy to pursue a career as a real-world air traffic controller, so we are excited to see what the future holds for his personal life as well.

Dan will be replacing Cameron Peterson (PX) as EC, who has graciously served the community in this role for 5 years. I am grateful that we have so many people who are willing to step up and serve this amazing organization, and I know that the future is bright for the Events Team and for BVA as a whole.

By: Camden Bruno

If you haven’t already, we’re asking all BVA members to take 10-15 minutes to complete a survey about the BVA experience.

Conducted once every two years, the survey helps us identify trends in the community and establish the direction of our organization. 
  
By completing the survey in full, those who choose to enter are eligible to win a prize from BVA!
 
Please complete the survey here.

By: Camden Bruno

The BVA Administration Team plans to host an all members meeting to highlight and review changes and improvements coming to the community. This year, the A-Team is planning to hold the all members meeting on Thursday, December 10 from 8:00pm to 10:00pm ET in the BVA Member TeamSpeak.  

The members meeting is open to both pilot and controller members of the community and will offer a dedicated time for Q&A with the A-Team towards the end of the meeting. We look forward to talking and meeting with all of you.

By: Daniel Goldring

On December 13, join us for the relaunch of our updated BVA WINGS pilot training program! Designed to build safe flying habits within the online air traffic system, our WINGS pilot training program features a series of self-paced challenge flights that give pilots the opportunity to develop their skills while flying in a realistic ATC environment.

The best part about the WINGS program is that it’s 100% free. It’s also a self-study program: read the training material for the associated flight, then fly it normally on the network. Controllers will keep a close eye on your progress and share feedback as you go. 

To get started, visit the Wings Over New England website and read the first few flights. Then, join us on December 13 from 1-5pm ET for guaranteed ATC coverage at Boston Logan (KBOS), Nantucket (KACK), Rhode Island T. F. Green (KPVD), and Quonset State (KOQU). This event is the perfect opportunity to get started on the first few WINGS flights.

Whether you’re discovering the WINGS program for the first time or returning to continue your progress, there’s a new challenge waiting for you! Navigate the busy airspace around Boston, explore the coastal approaches of Nantucket and Rhode Island, and put your skills to the test with a variety of VFR and IFR flights.

Pilot Tip of the Month

Checking On...

On VATSIM, pilots will occasionally encounter a scenario that doesn’t happen in real-world domestic U.S. flying: you’re at FL360 but not speaking to a controller—because that particular facility is “offline” at the moment.

As your flight progresses and you encounter an airspace that is staffed, the way you identify and announce yourself can help simplify radio congestion and make it easy for the “online” controller to find you in a large airspace.

When you enter a controller’s airspace for the first time—and you aren’t being “handed off” (transferred) from another facility—you can help the controller by including the following information in your initial transmission:

• The facility you are calling.
• Your callsign.
• Your location, with respect to a point on your flight plan or prominent VOR or airport.
• Your altitude.

For example:

• “Boston Center, UAL1101, 20 miles east of ALLEX, FL340.”

The same information is helpful on an initial contact if you have a VFR request. For example:

• "Boston Center, N984VW, 15 miles east of Albany, 5,500, VFR request.”

By including your location/position, ATC can “radar contact” you in a single transmission. Omitting your location may require ATC to first issue a squawk code (or have you “ident”) before establishing radar contact, creating another transmission and delaying the ability to provide traffic or control instructions.

When you check on to a new frequency after being “handed off” from the previous controller, ATC has already forwarded your radar track and flight information (i.e., you are already “radar contact”). As a result, you can omit the position information and simply check on with your callsign and relevant altitude information. Examples:

• “Boston Center, DAL218, FL350.”
• "Boston Approach, N425TA, FL190, descending via the ROBUC3 arrival, Runway 4R, information Kilo.”

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