Flying was cancelled :(
Posted: December 5, 2011 Filed under: aviation, Vatsim | Tags: ATC, Openskies, vatsim Leave a comment »On Saturday 3rd of December the no2 Welsh Wing of the Air Training Corps were meant to go flying in for Grob Tutors from RAF Woodvale north of Liverpool. However. Due to bad weather the flying event was cancelled and I then had a free day to spend time with family.
In the evening, the day before the flight, I took a few moments to check the Met office website and look at the TAFs (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast). That morning the TAF showed 26022G35KT (Surface wind 260 degrees @ 22 knots Gusting 35 knots) due to this reading this ruled out the idea of flying on the Saturday. The Grob Tutor has a surface wind limit of 25kts so the ATC would be pushing it if they allowed us to go up in the air.
Instead of flying I decided to take part in the Vatsim Openskies Event of 2011. I was rostered originally for Gatwick Air Traffic Control on ground and delivery. As soon as I signed on at 1730Z (17:30 GMT) there were thirty aircraft on the ground Radar so as you can imagine I became very busy in a short space of time. Most of the North Terminal at London Gatwick was taken up so I had to move most of the British Airways to separate piers and sort out the gates for arriving aircraft.
The Vatsim Openskies 2011 was the biggest and coolest event of the year in Vatsim.
Here are the statistics from the event compared to last years and real world.
Also standby for a video on the Openskies.
Kind Regards
Dewi
