I was attempting to join the Dubai event today and was waiting for clearance on the Clearance Delivery frequency. As expected for an event this large the radios were pretty busy. The clearance delivery controller kept telling pilots to please wait and he would get back to them and NOT to call otherwise it would further delay clearances.
I understand the need for this, but he was also getting upset at pilots who just tuned into frequency and did not hear his original messages about waiting and he will call them. Is there some way or is it already in place to have remarks when you tune to a frequency so pilots know not to call during events of this size.
I felt bad for the pilots getting scolded for simply connecting and following procedures unaware that they needed to wait. I don’t fault the controller due to the traffic but I don’t fault the pilots either for not knowing.
Not sure what you mean by remarks? You could look at the controller remarks by double-clicking on that specific controller in your pilot client, but they usually won’t have that kind of situation-specific information. Unless there is a procedure like that published in the AIP (not the case for OMDB), the place one would expect to find such information is the ATIS.
However, I feel it necessary to point out two things: datalink clearance and frequency discipline.
At pretty much every airport that offers datalink clearances IRL, the majority of enroute clearances are not given by voice anymore, but unfortunately many pilots on VATSIM don’t utilize that feature even if the controllers offer it (I know there aren’t that many aircraft that have an implemented Hoppie functionality, but there are third party programs that allow pilots to utilize it regardless of aircraft implementation), making Delivery frequencies significantly busier than they would be IRL with comparable traffic levels.
As for frequency discipline, that is seemingly getting worse by the day. Though I obviously haven’t been there in your specific situations, but I have seen a number of clips from Dubai these last few days, as well as being a controller on the network myself, and many pilots don’t seem to have the faintest clue of basic radio discipline that you would be taught in one of your first lessons IRL… When a pilot finishes their readback, wait 2-3 seconds before you talk to avoid stepping on ATC (they will talk immediately after the finished readback if they have something else to say, so by waiting 2-3 seconds, you give them time to start their transmission if they have any) and if you just tuned into a new frequency, wait at least 5-10 seconds before starting to talk to avoid stepping on a readback (that gives pilots time to start any potential readback, even if you switched to the new frequency just as the controller finished giving their instruction as well as giving ATC time to reiterate their instruction if the pilot doesn’t appear to be responding - and on VATSIM, it also gives your client the time to actually fully switch the frequency as AfV tends to get a bit sluggish with that under heavy load); and apart from the very first contact each flight, ATC will generally know that you are/should be on their frequency and will call you up when/if they need you if the frequency is too busy for pilots to get in their initial call.
It’s on both the controller and the pilots to manage this situation as best they can. Pilots can do their part by simply listening on the frequency for a little bit to “read the room,” and gauge just how busy the controller is. Controllers can do their part by remaining as calm as they can and remembering that their audience changes by the second and the next pilot who calls didn’t hear you just tell the previous pilot to standby.
In the end, people sometimes get scolded. I’ve been scolded. You have to simply move on and enjoy playing the game.
Dustin came close to answering my question. I agree pilots should do better about listening up before there first transmission. My original post was not a complaint. It was just a simple question to see if there was or is a system that displays controller remarks like it does when we click on ATIS in the client.
1627359, I get what your saying also. I’ve been around long enough to know, it is what it is and we deal with it. I also know this event was not the norm. Just throwing out some ideas to make things a little bit easier for all.
What 7359 posted above is about the only way I know to see controller-specific remarks, just like the good ol’ days of ASRC and RW. But, as they mentioned, I would imagine if the controller is already that busy, they’re not likely going to go through the trouble of updating those remarks since it takes time away from their workload with little chance of success. I mean, it’s kinda tough enough to get many folks to read an ATIS, let alone go out of their way to check controller remarks, but it has been known to happen.