In the past few months I have noticed that during events we have made it a habit of letting our egos get the best of us. Remember we are here to simulate real world operations and to have fun. None of us would be here unless we enjoyed what we are doing, but we need to look at the big picture during events and know when to ask for help. A couple of things to keep in mind:

The most efficient operations have the least amount of radio traffic possible and much earlier handoffs than we are used to. Don't add unnecessary communications on frequency, unnecessary vectors to an aircraft, or veer away from your training. If conditions are visual then dont be afraid to use visual approaches.

If you are so busy that you don't have time to coordinate with other controllers then you have too many aircraft in your control and it is time to ask for assistance. If there are controllers working positions which aren't receiving any traffic or can easily be de-combined they should be brought into help before things get out of control. The goal is not to handle as many aircraft as possible, it is to have fun. I have noticed that in two instances in the past events that controllers could have used help, were offered help and refused it. In the real world controllers often communicate three times as much to other controllers as they do to the aircraft under her control.

Hand off aircraft to the next sector as soon as possible when busy. If that aircraft is not going to conflict with another aircraft they should be handed off to the next sector. We tend to have a problem with wanting to keep aircraft until the absolute last minute before we get them handed off. This is completely unnecessary.

Expect an events policy and some significant changes to how events are run from an operational standpoint in the coming months.

Bruce W. Clingan
vZID Air Traffic Manager