lots of traffic last night (Sun, May 15)

[Keith Smith]

I'm not sure what prompted all the traffic last night, but we were happy to have it! There were a couple of new faces tonight, too, which is always a good thing. Welcome to Ryan and Mel who conducted their first flights on the network.

I made a decision to try a slightly different staffing configuration last night, allowing for an additional approach controller, and the expense of having separate ground/tower controllers.

It was the wrong decision given the traffic load and distribution last night, so my apologies to those who were on the ground, awaiting clearance for longer than usual, and also for hearing a lot of tower related transmissions on the ground freq, and ground transmissions on the tower freqs.

It was a worthwhile test, but I had not anticipated the level and distribution of traffic last night.

Thanks to everyone that flew! If anyone has any feedback on the multi-airport focus flight concept that was used last night in norcal, I'd love to hear it. The 'one hour of free flight, and then a focus flight from A to B' seems a little rigid if you don't feel like flying from A to B. So, last night we tried nominating a larger number of focus airports and suggested pilots hit those, in any order. The result was a mix of inbounds and outbounds at each of the fields, which appeared to make things more interesting for everyone.

[c.b.powell]

I particularly enjoyed last night, including the more free-form format that meant a slew of planes in a designated region, instead of a wagon train from A to B. (To your credit, you've always maintained that the recommended focus route was optional, but last night's format mixed things up nicely.)

The professional demeanor of the controllers always impresses me. I'm one of the pilots who wants that hypothetical 'realism slider' turned all the way up to 10, and I'm very pleased with the controllers' dedication to authenticity.

Chris

[Keith Smith]

Thanks, Chris. The focus flight program was not meeting its goal. It worked well under perfect conditions, but quickly loses its effectiveness under typical conditions.

Last night was an attempt at a new format which is much more flexible, and allows for staggered start times. It's not likely that you'll see quite as many planes at the 'starting' airport as you might have on a good day under the old program, but other than that, it's likely to result in you seeing and hearing more planes throughout the night...and that has always been the goal.

See the beta program status thread for more info.

[Daddy O]

Sorry I missed the last two beta nights. Lotta OT (and Sunday was the Survivor finale.) On the plus side, I am almost finished with KMOD. The new layout includes all signage, accurately placed airport details like hangars, parking lots, fuel, etc. What is really neat though is that you will be able to spawn inside of several hangars before taxiing to your destination.

I should be online Sunday to try out the new beta format.