Many flight simmers are familiar with the big ticket VATSIM events such as Cross the Pond, which sees thousands of virtual aircraft fly from America to Europe in October and then return in April. This is all facilitated by air traffic coverage from relevant airports, fulfilling tasks such as delivery to Atlantic control and everything in between. Many of the virtual pilots and air traffic controllers involved in Cross the Pond will know the challenges all too well; non-existent slots, rage quitting, an abundance of non-event traffic, randomly spawning aircraft, delays, delays, delays. However, it’s all worth it to experience virtual skies busier than the real world for the 8 to 10 hours sat at the helm of your favourite aircraft.
VATSIM hosts events all over the globe, organised individually by each division. Some are small-scale and may cover a local airport weekly while others, like Cross the Pond, are of massive scale and reputation which have been running for decades. Then there are the events that lie somewhere in the middle, such as Cross the Land, operating across the continental United States.
Cross Africa was organised by VATSSA, the Sub–Sahara Africa division of VATSIM to encourage pilots and controllers to head south and cover the world’s second-largest continent.
Eager to see whether Cross Africa was as fun as Cross the Pond, Jordan and Adriaan from FSElite joined the event to find out.
To start, deciding our routes and bidding for the slot was straightforward. The routes that were on offer were bookable using the usual booking system, which is easy to use and does the job of reserving and editing your booking. For this southbound event, a multitude of route options and slots were made available, both medium hauls and long hauls. The freedom in route choice was welcomed, as it allows you to pick what best fits you (or your aircraft). The booking system is also the one-stop shop for retrieving the flight plan route and viewing pilot briefing for your departure and destination airport, which was very helpful and matched the latest routes from SimBrief. Conscious of having a varied experience, Jordan chose to fly the PMDG 777 from Addis Ababa to Cape Town as Ethiopian ETH847 on Microsoft Flight Simulator, while Adriaan flew the Airbus A340-600 from Algiers to Johannesburg with South African Airways as SAA98P on X-Plane.
By the time we decided to fly the event it was about five days after the slots opened and there was still a range of slots available. No refreshing the page to wait for any slots to go back on the market was a welcome change compared to CTP.
Adriaan: There was an immediate buzz at Algiers Houari Boumediene airport. The pilot briefing was posted the night before so I felt well-prepared for the flight. I did notice not all pilots had taken the time to read through their briefing at Algiers, as many were surprised to learn delivery here does not give out departure clearances.
The ATC provided however was great, friendly, helpful, and professional. Before long I was at the runway, ready to depart. Loaded with (extra) fuel, I departed and was able to enjoy vectors on departure and was smoothly handed over to Algiers Center. For the next whopping 3 hours, I would stay with this controller as Algiers spans a great deal of land and airspace.
Jordan: Similarly, the experience at Addis Ababa was as exciting although not all stations were manned at the time of my departure. It was still great to see a normally quiet airport on VATSIM come alive with event traffic and at least an approach controller on duty to give guidance for the departing traffic. Unlike Algiers, the controllers were giving clearance through radio comms which added an element of realism through the event. When I started my flight and logged on, there was a tower controller on station but just as I was about to request clearance, the tower controller was dealing with an inexperienced pilot and logged off through frustration before I could get my clearance. Luckily, the approach controller took over and thankfully, I obtained my clearance through them. Departure was straightforward with no delays on the event side, although I did spend some time getting familiar with my brand new 777 that I purchased the week of the event, which put me behind my allotted departure time.
Once in the air, I was also handed off to the centre controller for roughly three hours. This wasn’t an issue as there was still lots going on and understandable given the number of aircraft movements and the sheer size of Africa. I hope that over time as the event grows, there will be enough traffic in the skies for multiple controllers to give users a little more to do in the air.
What was noticeable was the variety of controllers that were on duty. Cross Africa relies on controllers from other divisions to supply controllers for the area which I found interesting. I found myself talking to American, British, and European controllers throughout my flight and only once I reached South Africa, I was handed off to a South African-based controller.
Approaching Cape Town as the sun set, traffic became denser. It was thick and fast for Cape Town approach, but the controller managed the traffic well and everything went smoothly, including my fifth 777 landing (with a touchdown of -177 FPM which I was very proud of). Parking up and turning the engines off was an achievement for Cross Africa which was an enjoyable and different VATSIM experience to previous events that are now saturated.
Adriaan: Passing through the en-route control area I could detect no hint of stress on the radios and the atmosphere was rather jovial, adding to the fun. The final step climb request was successfully handled through CPDLC and before long, it was time to set up for the arrival.
Now in “Joburg” area, I arrived slightly at the back of the pack but just in time to catch the controller dealing smoothly with the arrivals. Joining these inbounds I received a shortcut and had a great view of the airport and the arrivals in front. At this stage, I was barely under the maximum landing weight as I anticipated the usual delays and brought extra fuel, compounded by several route shortcuts I received. However, one final check of the numbers thankfully showed that no fuel jettison was required. For traffic sequencing I was taken off the arrival and received headings for a base leg and finally, an intercept heading for the ILS 03R.
Finally, the tower and ground controller guided me safely to the runway and the gate, leaving only a minor dent in the runway with a -310 FPM landing. After shutting down and thanking the controller I collected my thoughts and felt that it all went rather smoothly and without the usual chaos and perceived stress levels by pilots and controllers. Because of this, I think it’s an excellent choice for pilots who enjoy medium or longer-haul flights but maybe don’t have the experience yet of flying busy events.
Cross Africa might not appeal to those who do short hops around Europe or Northern America but for those that fly CTP, Cross Africa offers a little more interaction with controllers, ease of booking, less hassle and delays as well as something to look out the window whilst in cruise. For both of us, it was a very exciting and engaging experience which made the whole trip more enjoyable overall. Minus the hiccup of an overwhelmed controller, everything went without a hitch, and we are excited to see how the event grows over time. Although there is a lot of planning and effort that goes into an event of this size, it would be great to see more frequent events like this around the globe. Our compliments go out to the organization and the many friendly and professional controllers along the way.
