Special Operations

[Charlie Trewhitt]

As a regular pilot on Vatsim, I am intrigued to see someone finally developing an alternative.

I would like to drop a suggestion and get my foot in the door about military flying, and question if/how it will be implemented into the network realistically. 

Again referring to Vatsim they use a ‘Special Operations Policy’ that restricts all kinds of military flying activities solely to applied organisations. However as apart of one of these organisations it horrify’s me to how often pilots break these guidelines, with little done to stop them. Furthermore when pilots are not specifically breaking these guidelines, they can often be found flying unrealistically and sometimes dangerously - which detracts from the image of highly realistic and compliant organisations available in the community. 

So to further ask my question, how would you aim to combat the above problems and are there plans for anything similar to the special operations policy to be implemented?

[Andrew Heath]

@Charlie Trewhitt 

That actually is a fantastic question. The answer is, if you are not part of the "Military Division" which will encompass all military operations (both ATC and flying), then you will be restricted from connecting with military callsigns, military aircraft, or as a military ATC. We can easily restrict people because callsigns and aircraft types are controlled directly by the server. The process will be automatic, the server will simply not allow you to connect if you do not have the proper certifications.

 

[Rob Shearman Jr]

Hi Charlie -- pardon me for butting into the conversation, LOL.  But I don't think the kind of "flying unrealistically and sometimes dangerously" on VATSIM is limited to military aircraft.  Unfortunately, it seems like there's been an influx of members who don't understand that VATSIM isn't just a general multiplayer server where one comes to chill and goof off.  (And, mark my words, I'm all for chilling and goofing off -- but in the multiplayer servers that are provided for that purpose, not on VATSIM or its analogs!)  In seeing AJ's vision for POSCON and in some limited discussions with him about it, I'm confident that (a) the issue of network members understanding what's expected of them won't be an issue here, and (b) any training/certification burden implemented on POSCON won't be so severe as to deter people who legitimately want to engage in those types of flights from doing so.  I'm looking forward to seeing this vision come to fruition!