The CTP is very well subscribed, and seems to run pretty smoothly (aside from the near miss at 30W when an A350 overtook me from behind at FL380.) IRL, the flow is somewhat uni-directional (Westbound Day and Eastbound red-eys) but there is traffic going both ways all the time.
Now that one-way has been conquered, maybe consideration sould be given to opening it up to event traffic in both directions.
I guess this will be difficult due to human resources. The current CTP crew has a hard time finding a sufficient number of ATCOs to staff at least essential oceanic control positions. Also, this event usually begins between 1000z and 1100z, which is very, very early morning or even night (think of the North American West Coast) local time for controllers (and pilots) living in North America. Not would they have to get up really early or at night, but they would also be expected to stay on the entire day for traffic arriving from Europe.
The current way of doing things is already straining resources…
Well, I suppose if NASA had said “Too Hard” when Kennedy asked them to go to the moon, we wouldn’t be celebrating that achievement today. When faced with a challenge, thinking this first leads to immediate failure. I’m sure when CTP was first envisioned, some doubted that 500 players could come together at once.
George Bernard Shaw in Man and Superman said —
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
If the Wright brothers had listened to the so-called “experts” who claimed man could not fly, we would be playing bus and truck simulator today.
Sometimes being unreasonable is the only reasonable path forward to make things better — there are no limits; don’t be a stoic.
Sadly, you are missing the point.
So, we just need NASA’s funding from the Apollo program and we’ll make it happen! 
No. I think you might however.
…and I’m not sadly about anything.
No, you need a can-do attitude, not a can’t-do one.
You’re right, and you can absolutely help do something about it. Get involved with ATC training on your facility, help them find and train a few dozen controllers. Do it over again on the other side of the pond.
Now just hope those controllers are available twice a year on a Saturday to volunteer their time and keep both sides of the ocean online for 10-12 hours straight. Done.
Sarcasm apart, as Andreas said, this isn’t some engineering problem that requires a solution. We know the solution, but there’s no actual way to achieve it.
I never used sarcasm; it’s rarely valuable for text communication. But as a 30 years Veteran IRL, I never saw an organization that recoils from a challenge be very successful. It is too easy to settle into a status quo grove and never progress while being in awe of sub-maximal performance and have no concept of how great it could have been.
As the SAS moto says “Who Dares, Wins”
Mark, there is a difference between “recoiling from a challenge” and “recognizing effort that is not worth the reward.” This organization and the volunteers that power it have taken on and overcome plenty of challenges over the years, and your attitude here only serves to diminish those successes. Your exuberance is admirable, though misplaced in this case, coming across only as high-horse preaching.
Let me know when you Dare to achieve the C1 rating, and then we’ll talk about making your event request a reality with you staffing your facility for the entire duration
Nice,side-swipe. No need to be nasty my friend. It interferes with a rational exchange of ideas. Nobody is better than anyone else here. You ought to really know somebody before casting aspersions.
I’d expect that from your “can-do attitude” the answer to be “absolutely, looking forward to achieve that C1 and help”
And absolutely agree, no one is better than anyone else. But only you are dismissing the very valid reasons other members are providing as to why your idea will not be a reality, whilst not putting in the effort to make your idea a reality
NASA and the SAS are professionals. They get paid to do their jobs.
VATSIM controllers are volunteers. They fit this hobby around their day jobs, studying, family life, etc.
The reality is there are simply not enough unpaid volunteer controllers in the right time zones to make CTP bi-directional for 10 hours.
Feel free to recruit another 200 controllers if you want to see it happen.
In terms of start time, I was up by 2 am to get ready & depart. Not to hijack this thread, but, later start times would be nice. We seem to always cater to European time. jmho