Image: Screenshot of the Month winner Francesco D.

Boston Virtual ARTCC's Community Newsletter · May 1, 2025

2024 Member Survey Results

By: Camden Bruno

Over 150 members (approximately 5% of our membership) took part in our 2025 Member Survey, which was available between February 1 and March 5, 2025. The Administration Team is grateful to those who took the time to provide feedback on the community and ideas for how we can continue to offer great service to our members.

Consistent with previous years, members are pleased with the community experience, with 95% of members rating their experience as a 4 or 5, out of 5. 72% of you rated the overall experience as a 5, which is an 8% increase from the 2022 survey:

We're pleased to provide more survey results on our forums.

By: Evan Reiter

The Westbound edition of Cross the Pond took place on Saturday, April 26. As an official arrival facility, we had Boston (KBOS) and nearby airports staffed starting just after noon for domestic and international arrivals. Additionally, our Center controllers handled traffic inbound to CYL, CYYZ, KDTW, KIAD, KORD, KMCO, KMIA, and KPHX!

Despite challenging weather, we landed an average of 28 arrivals per hour on Runway 22L during the peak of the event. Here’s a top-down look at the event in 3 minutes that offers great perspective on how much work our Center and Approach controllers put into setting up arrivals during events like these.

We are grateful to the pilots who flew into the airspace, whether you flew a short, local hop or flew in from overseas! Thanks for making the event a great experience for us. 

Cross the Pond is the network’s largest and longest-running event. Departing from some of the biggest airports in Europe and Africa, pilots will enjoy full ATC coverage across the Atlantic Ocean until they arrive in the Americas hours in the afternoon.

By: Josh Nunn

It is with pleasure that I announce the appointment of Braden Kearney to the position of ZBW Training Administrator. Braden has been a part of our community since 2020 and has been serving as our Facility Engineer. Braden replaces Justin Blakey as TA; we thank Justin for his service and leadership over the past year and a half.

By: Evan Reiter

The results of Navigraph’s 2024 FlightSim Community Survey are out! Completed by more than 20,000 flight simmers, the survey explored how preferred sim platforms, habits, and spending have changed in the past year.

You can explore the full survey report and get access to the raw data on the Navigraph website.

By: Camden Bruno

Boston Virtual ARTCC is pleased to be representing our community and the VATSIM network at FlightSimExpo on June 27-29, 2025 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in downtown Providence.

At the show, we’ll be providing ATC live from the event floor for a special FNO on Friday, June 27. Then, during exhibit hall hours, we’re powering an interactive display to demonstrate the capabilities of the VATSIM network for simmers of all experience levels. In partnership with VATUSA and VATSIM, FSExpo attendees will have the chance to try a WINGS Over New England flight live from the show floor—while sitting next to the controllers working the airspace!

If you’re attending the show, be sure to stop by our booth on Saturday and Sunday. You can get tickets for FlightSimExpo at flightsimexpo.com, with single-day options starting at just $40. 

If you won’t be attending the show in-person, we hope to see you flying on the network, keeping our controllers busy all weekend long. Planned ATC coverage for FSExpo weekend includes: 

• Friday, June 27 from 1900-0000: FNO featuring KPVD, KBOS, KDCA, KEWR, KIAD, KJFK, and KLGA.
• Saturday, June 28 from 0900-1800: ATC staffing at KBOS, KPVD, and KOQU. 
• Sunday, June 29 from 0900-1500: ATC staffing at KBOS, KPVD, and KOQU.

FlightSimExpo is a three-day flight sim celebration featuring developer announcements, hands-on workshops, panel discussions, and community-inspired seminars. Boston Virtual ARTCC has been a proud partner of the show since the beginning, and many of our members are part of the team that puts the show together. Learn more about our planned presence at the show here.

Cape Air Virtual is the official virtual airline of Boston Virtual ARTCC. It is based on the real-world Cape Air serving passengers in New England and beyond. CAV also offers pilots an expanded schedule of virtual routes plus a business-class division called Cape Air Executive.

By: Aaron Louison, Cape Air Virtual Events Coordinator

In May, Cape Air Virtual plans to hold organized group flights during BVARTCC's two events this month.

On Wednesday May 7, for the KBTV facility showcase, CAV will have a group departure from Burlington with pilots choosing to fly to any of CAV's official destinations from there. Good options include KPWM, KBGR, KBOS, KBDL, KAUG, KBED, KPQI, to remain within ZBW and for a 40-60 minute flight.

On May 29, BVA is holding Escape to the Cape featuring KACK, KMVY, KHYA and KFMH. CAV will hold a challenge for its members to land at as many airports on the Cape and Islands as possible during the event. Consider adding flights to Katama (1B2), Chatham (KCQX), Block Island (KBID), Falmouth Airpark (5B6). 

CAV Operations Manager Mark R. analyzed Cape Air Virtual's daily operations and notes that Sunday remains for the second year in a row the most popular day to fly with nearly 21% of weekly flights occurring then and evenings as the most popular time. If you are looking to fly at the same time as other CAV pilots, you are sure to see someone else in the sky if you choose a Sunday evening.

We encourage any and all members of BVARTCC to join Cape Air Virtual for an enjoyable virtual airline experience flying twin engine propeller aircraft across the northeast United States, Caribbean, and a few fun destinations in Montana. Membership in CAV is only open to those who are also members of BVARTCC, so this is a great way to meet pilots with similar interests. See you in the skies!

CAV event information can be found on CAV's website and on the BVA forums.

Pilot Tip of the Month

Flying in Congested Airspace

During events and busy nights, you might find yourself flying in airspace that has very congested frequencies. Here are some of tips for effectively managing communications with air traffic control!

Be sure to listen before transmitting. When you are handed off to another frequency, wait some time to gain situational awareness and understand the status of the frequency before transmitting. This ensures ongoing dialogues and/or required readbacks are not interrupted. (Sometimes, you might only hear the controller but not the pilot's readback; in this case, try to "time out" the pilot's response before making your own transmission.)

Along similar lines, if your transmission isn't immediately answered, wait some time before repeating. It's possible your controller heard you, but was busy coordinating with other controllers ("on the landline"). It's also possible the controller is operating multiple frequencies or across a large area, in which case you may not hear every other pilot's readbacks.

If asked to "stand by", do not acknowledge such an instruction. "Stand by" is a request for silence: either the controller has to coordinate your request, transmit to another aircraft, or find a way to accommodate your request. As stated in the FAA Pilot/Controller Glossary, "'stand by" means the controller or pilot must pause for a few seconds, usually to attend to other duties of a higher priority and is not an approval or denial.

If we all follow these tips in these busy days of VATSIM, we will all be highly satisfied with the results!

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