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| VATSIM Europe Region (VATEUR) Policy and Administrative Information |
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1. Divisions & VACCs within
Europe Region
"VATSIM Europe Region" is divided into three Divisions which
are directly affected by this Regional Policy, but act individually in
terms of internal regulations governing online activities of their members:
Each Division is referred to as VATSIM-XXX, where XXX is the Division code
assigned by VATSIM Europe Region.
Each Division usually consists of separate VACCs ("Virtual
Area Control Centres") which coordinate local ATC & Flight procedures.
- Each VACC is usually named after its Country (contrary to real ACCs named
after FIRs), and may be also referred to, for text shortcuts, as ACCXXX or ACCXX,
where XXX or XX is the international country code decided to be used by the respective
VACC staff members.
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2. Individual Policies
Divisions are responsible for setting their Policy that is not included
in this (Regional Policy) section.
Members who connects to the VATSIM Network have to abide by the contents of:
- VATSIM Code of Conduct
- VATSIM Code of Regulations
- Region Policy
- Division Policy
- VACC Local Regulations
!!! By connecting to our network, it is taken for granted that a member agrees
to all of the above !!!
Each VACC belongs to a Division, which in turn belongs to one of the seven VATSIM Regions.
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3. Staff Callsigns
Within "VATSIM Europe Region", staff members may sign public
statements or connect to the network as:
- VATEUR# if they are "VATSIM Europe Region" staff, where # is
their assigned number as displayed on the Region's staff page.
- VATXXX## if they are official staff of one of the VATSIM Europe
Region's Divisions (non VACC), where XXX is the Division code (i.e.
EUD, UK or RUS) and ## is their staff number, as displayed on the Division's staff
pages.
- ACCxxx## or ACCxx## if they are authorised VACC staff (non Division
or Region), where xxx is the VACC country ID code (e.g. FR, IT, FIN, GR),
and ## the VACC authorised staff number as displayed in each VACC's staff
pages.
These callsigns are not to be used while providing ATC on the network.
They may be used for Administrative, Event Co-ordination and Training purposes,
and care should be taken to restrict the range of the BRITE (radarscope)
in ASRC so as to avoid unnecessary
lag to other users.
It is forbidden for acting Pilots or ATCs to use Staff callsigns on the network.
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4. NOTAM emails - Announcements
to members
"VATSIM Europe Region" will send NOTAMs (Notice To AirMen) to
all its members from time to time based on the email they have submitted for their
ID in VATSIM. A member of "VATSIM Europe Region" must be able to
receive and read these NOTAMs via email. It is our only official and direct way
of communication with the members. The emails used are the emails submitted to VATSIM
Database upon the initial VATSIM ID request or changed later on the ID
Maintenance page.
Please make sure that the email in the VATSIM database is your current email.
Repeated email bounces (invalid emails) will lead to the suspension of a member until
the member comes back to clarify the situation with the VATSIM membership department.
Only important information is sent to members via NOTAM, and not very often
(every 1~3 months).
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5. Use of GUARD frequency (121.50)
The use of [GUARD] frequency for announcements within VATSIM Europe is forbidden.
This is a VATSIM policy defined in the "Code
of Conduct", and it applies to any guard transmission, including announcements
of position openings and closures.
This restriction is the result of misuse and excessive transmissions heard by
all pilots and ATCs. Guard frequency 121.50 has commonly been used as a way to make
announcements in the past, and it has been determined by VATSIM that other resources
are available which make such announcements unwarranted. When necessary, broadcasts
will be made by supervisory personnel using the privileged BROADCAST function
for Supervisors only.
If you cannot reach a pilot by the use of a private message, it is neither likely
that Guard will work (it probably is a network problem). If a user does not
respond in any way, contact a Supervisor (.wallop text).
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6. Broadcast messages
[BROADCAST] messages by VATSIM Europe Region members who are Division or VACC
staff, who hold a rating of Supervisor or above, are only allowed for:
- Network related messages towards connected members
- "Special Event" promotional messages to a maximum of two broadcasts
per hour
A "Special Event" is a Pre-organized large group of ATC and/or
Pilots event, also known as a "Fly In", which is scheduled in advance.
This policy is effective for Europe Region's Division or VACC Staff only,
and is not related to their rating. Rating is mentioned as only SUPervisors or above
can transmit network Broadcasts.
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7. Europe Region Staff
At present "VATSIM Europe Region" (VATEUR) has one member of staff,
Region Director VATEUR1.
VATEUR1 is also one of seven members of the VATSIM
Executive Committee voting for approval of operational changes in VATSIM Regions.
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8. Controller Downgrades
The Division's Training Department staff have the freedom to decide on internal
policy regarding Controller Downgrades. If each Division's Training Department establish
the procedure they decide is the right one, they are free to downgrade controller
IDs based on prerequisites they will have clearly published on their websites.
Controller upgrades proceed as usual via the Training Department of Each Division.
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9. Region Transfer & ATC provision
by other Division / Region members
A member from one Division is not allowed to connect and provide ATC in
Airspace belonging to another Division (EUD, RUS, UK) within VATSIM Europe Region.
Each Division have their own Training & Upgrade procedures in effect. A special
procedure has to be followed for the rare case of Controllers needing to control
in more than one Division within EUR Region. For such cases, the member must contact
both Division's Training Departments for further instructions.
The only exception to cross Division ATC provision is when a member has been accepted
as a "Visiting Controller" with a specific Division's VACC / FIR, which
in turn is in charge of overlooking the Controller's performance, and/or needed training.
If a Controller plans to permanently change Division (not a Visiting Controller),
then he/she must communicate with the Division Director of the new Division, who
in turn will coordinate the process further.
A member from another Region (not VATSIM Europe Region) is not allowed
to provide ATC within Europe Region's airspace, unless the member has been formally
accepted (and published) as a "Visiting Controller" by a specific VACC
/ FIR within a Division. If a Controller occasionally plans to provide such ATC,
then a"Visiting Controller" status is what he/she needs. If a Controller
from another Region needs to provide ATC more frequently, then he/she needs to process
a Region Transfer.
Region transfers are initiated by a member's request via the ID
Maintenance page on the VATSIM website. Unless the member asks VATEUR1 to
cancel the transfer, it will automatically take place within 3 days from the request.
In case of a Region Transfer as a Pilot / OBS, the member proceeds
the conventional way towards the ATC upgrade procedure of the Division he/she selects
to join within VATEUR Region.
In case of a Region Transfer with an ATC rating already granted, the
member has to follow the procedure which VATSIM
Executive Committee introduced as a Global Policy on 26 Jan 2004.
Please read the Region Transfer policy document found on the VATSIM
EC webpage to find out more about the procedure.
The Region Transfer takes place in two steps:
- Processing the request via the ID
Maintenance page (step 2 not needed if member is Pilot/OBS).
- If the member holds an ATC rating (above Pilot/OBS): Contact both VATEUR1 and Membership in
the same e-mail to initiate the Division & VACC selection procedure, according
to VATSIM EC Policy.
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10. Unmanned flights and ATC
positions
It is not permitted to remain connected to the VATSIM network within "VATSIM
Europe Region" Airspace and not be physically present at the flight simulator,
or behind the ASRC screen. According
to VATSIM Global policy (CoC
and CoR), it is not permitted to be out of contact for more than 30 minutes.
At any given time, a pilot or ATC must be able to respond to text
messages from another ATCs or Pilots. If member needs to leave his position, then:
- ATC must notify pilots under their control about short absence (they must
come back in short time period)
- Pilots must get permission from ATC to "leave cockpit", and
only if granted, they may do so for the period granted
Generally, in any case, members must disconnect while not available.
NOTE: SquawkBox users
must have FSUIPC.DLL installed
in order to be able communicate via text with ATC.
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