News Archive

Tuesday January 31st
Controllers Needed! Two events this weekend!

Just a reminder to all ZOA controllers that we have two events to staff up for this Saturday, Feb 4.

We're staffing up from 2-5 PST to support ZID's Superbowl 2012 event, and then from 5-8 PST for our Alex Bower Fly-In to SFO.

Any controllers available and willing to help staff up should check the sign-up pages on the forum.

Wednesday January 18th
ZOA's 2-in-1 Friday Night Ops! Featuring SFO and RNO!

Friday nights are always fun and busy in San Francisco, CA and Reno, NV, and on February 17, ZOA invites you to join us for our biggest FNO yet!

Enjoy the entertainment and excellent dining in parts of San Francisco like the Fisherman's Wharf. Perhaps you are looking for a great performing arts show or an exciting sports game. Or do you prefer to enjoy some sightseeing, a tour of the famous Golden Gate Bridge, or take a ride on one of the cable cars? San Francisco has what you are looking for!

Plenty of additional fun awaits you in Reno. Maybe you're looking for a full night of gaming at one of the many casinos in the city. Are you looking to enjoy Reno's own arts and entertainment? Or perhaps you'd just like to enjoy a quiet, relaxing evening at your cabin on Lake Tahoe. Reno is an excellent option for you!

But the best part: you don't have to settle for one or the other. Located a conveniently short distance from each other, you can visit both in the same night!

We'll be staffing up the second busiest airport in California and the second busiest airport in Nevada for this event. Both SFO and RNO offer a variety of airlines with destinations all over the west coast AND to each other. Cargo, corporate, and general aviation services are also available at both airports. So whatever you fly, wherever you go - join us in San Francisco, Reno, or both!

The event will run from 5pm-9pm PST (8pm-12am EST, 0100-0500z) on Friday, February 17.

Pilots: click for San Francisco charts or Reno charts

Controllers: sign up here. We need a lot of controllers to help out!

Wednesday January 18th
Virtual United Airlines Fly-in!

Pilots will depart United Airlines hubs across the country and will arrive at San Francisco. Let's support them and give them great service into SFO!

Sign-ups can be found here.

Wednesday January 18th
ZID Presents Superbowl 2012!

The Indianapolis ARTCC is hosting this year's Superbowl event. They've asked us to staff San Francisco and Oakland to support them. Let's help them out!

Sign-ups located here.

Saturday January 14th
Jonathan

Jonathan will be going for his Oakland Center PV and final certification on January 21st from 1300-1530 pacific.

Further information and signups for controlling positions can be found here.

Friday January 13th
Alex Bower Memorial Event

Each year we have dozens of events for different airports. Once a year, we have a special event to honor one of our former controllers who has moved on to a better place.

Alex Bower was a member of ZOA several years ago. He passed away on January 31, 2007 at his home in San Francisco. The son of an American Airlines pilot, he earned his pilot's license and flew frequently until an injury permanently grounded him from flying solo. But nothing could ground his love for aviation. He was a long time member of VATSIM and ZOA, where he would fly into SFO every night from Tahiti as AAL1028. Alex also loved yachting and cycling, and everyone that knew him would say he was a fantastic person and a great friend.

In memory of Alex, we will be featuring the place he called home - San Francisco. We'll staff up SFO on Saturday, February 4, from 5pm to 8pm Pacific time (8-11pm Eastern, 0100-0400z). All traffic is welcome. We hope you will join us for some casual fun and honor a special person.

More info about Alex can be found here. Pilots: charts for SFO can be found here. Controllers: info and sign-ups located here.

Wednesday January 4th
Happy New Year!

The Oakland ARTCC on VATSIM wishes everyone a Happy New Year 2012. May you be blessed with lots of success and health.

Wednesday January 4th
Wednesday Night Rush returns to San Jose!

San Jose is your top stop for the first Wednesday Night Rush of the new year!

Located just two miles from downtown, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Internation Airport is your gateway to airports across California and over the Pacific to the Hawaiian islands. You can even catch a flight to Mexico from San Jose Int'l. SJC tends to be overshadowed by the two larger airports in the bay, but when it truly shines, it is a real treat to fly into and out of. With interesting departure and arrival procedures, great views of the southern bay area, and accommodations for all types of traffic, San Jose is a great choice for those who want to experience a bit of everything. Not only does San Jose handle more than a dozen commercial airlines, the airport is served by several cargo carriers, and has plenty of facilities for corporate and general aviation traffic. So whatever you fly, wherever you want to head to or fly in from, San Jose is an excellent choice!

Join us on Wednesday, January 11 from 5:30 to 8:30 PST (0130-0430z) at San Jose International!

Pilots: charts and info here

Controllers: sign-ups and info here

Sunday January 1st
Happy New Year!

The Oakland ARTCC on VATSIM wishes everyone a Happy New Year 2012. May you be blessed with lots of success and health.

Thursday December 29th
Craig McGrath - SFO GND Certified!
Craig McGrath passed his PV for SFO GND with flying colors. We look forward to seeing him use his new cert and start tower training!

Wednesday December 28th
David Everhart passes S2 PV!
Let's congratulate David Everhart as ZOA's newest S2 tower controller. Dave demonstrated great skill during his PV yesterday. Congratulations!

Friday December 23rd
Merry Christmas from ZOA!

ZOA wishes everyone a Merry Christmas! Enjoy the time with your loved ones and friends and may Santa bring you many presents!

Wednesday December 7th
Sacramento Scramble

ZOA presents Sacramento Scramble and invites you to join the party in California's capital city!

Sacramento is the capital and sixth largest city in California, and is home to a growing international airport. Sacramento International offers scheduled air service to cities all over northern and southern California, across the states, and even Hawaii and Mexico! The airport just opened a brand new terminal building earlier this fall, providing easier and higher quality service to nearly four and a half million passengers per year. Cargo, military, and corporate/GA services are also available, making SMF a great accommodation for all pilots.

For a swing, we'll also be featuring two smaller class D airports during the event as well. Sacramento Executive Airport is just a short hop from downtown Sacramento. Sacramento Mather Airport is a former Air Force base, just minutes away from the real world Northern California TRACON. Both airports are fantastic options for those who prefer to fly corporate, military, and general aviation planes or who want the luxury of a smaller, less crowded airport!

All three airports, plus Oakland Center and NorCal TRACON, will be open from 0100-0400z. All traffic is welcome - bring in your favorite passenger jet, cargo hauler, luxurious corporate plane, even your military birds, or just a casual, comfortable GA aircraft. Fly in, fly out, fly around - and visit one, two, or all three airports. Whatever you do, Sacramento is your top spot for you and your planes on January 7th!

Thursday December 1st
Wednesday Night Rush: Monterey Escape

ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush series takes a trip to the beautiful Monterey area!

Monterey, California sits right on the Pacific Ocean and is part of California's famous Golden Coast. Rich in history, nature, and marine life, Monterey enjoys a mild, mostly dry climate year round. Monterey is also well known for the beautiful sunsets. Though not a very large city, Monterey has invaluable experiences to offer, including the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, highways along the coast with great views, the Laguna Seca raceway, Cannery Row and the Fisherman's Wharf, lined with fantastic shopping and dining, golfing and water sports at Pebble Beach, and more!

The city is served by the Monterey Peninsula Airport (MRY). With over 40 flights daily, passengers can enjoy quick, easy, and quality service of the airport. Just a short hop to major airports like SFO, LAX, Vegas, Denver, and Phoenix, Monterey is the perfect place to load up and enjoy the view of California's Golden Coast on the climbout. The views of the city, coastline, and mountains are even better on a flight into the airport. Monterey is also the perfect place to bring in a corporate jet or small general aviation prop, with plenty of FBOs and facilities for your personal planes. Fly in, fly out, fly around...Monterey is the place to do it all!

This event will run from 5-8pm Pacific time (0100-0400z) on Wednesday, December 7. All are invited to fly or control! Sign-ups located here.

Wednesday November 30th
Michael Bertolini passes SFO GND PV
Congratulations to Michael Bertolini for successfully completing his PV exam for SFO GND on Wednesday November 30. Nice job!

Sunday November 27th
NorCal Approach sectors capped to FL190!

ATTENTION ALL CONTROLLERS

NorCal and Oakland Center SOPs have changed to introduce the capping of all NorCal Approach sectors to FL190.

These changes are effective Nov 28th, 2011 from 0000Z. More information can be found here.

Thursday November 24th
Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all ZOA members, visiting controllers and your families!

Thursday November 17th
Bobby Simmons passes SFO TWR PV
Congratulations to Bobby for passing his SFO Tower PV this evening. He did an excellent job and we're looking forward to him training on approach!

Thursday November 10th
Wednesday Night Rush at Reno

The party is at Reno this Wednesday evening!

ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush series returns this week to Reno/Tahoe International. The airport serves as a gateway to the city of Reno and Lake Tahoe. Try your hand at poker, blackjack, slots, roulette, and more at one of Reno's prime, luxurious, and wild casinos! While you're at it, head to a restaurant, club, or show and enjoy plenty of the nightlife Reno has to offer. Or escape the crowds and city life and head to the quiet, beautiful Lake Tahoe. Enjoy a variety of winter sports including skiing, snowboarding, and more on mountains overlooking the gorgeous lake.

Either way, Reno/Tahoe is your airport of choice, where several airlines provide service to destinations all over the west coast. Or you can fly in on your choice of luxurious corporate aircraft, one of multiple cargo carriers, or even on your own general aviation plane. All aircraft are welcome to Reno on Wednesday the 16th, from 6pm to 9pm Pacific time. Don't miss out - the biggest little city in the world is your top spot!

Everyone is welcome to join. Controller sign-ups are located here!

Thursday November 3rd
ZOA's newest S1: Craig McGrath
Let's congratulate Craig McGrath for doing a great job on his S1 PV this evening. Congrats on your first certification, Craig!

Saturday October 29th
San Francisco Overload

SFO is your top stop on Saturday evening, November 19!

San Francisco International Airport is located in the bay area of northern California, just 13 miles from downtown San Francisco. The airport is the second busiest in the state of California and the tenth busiest in the nation. With more than 40 different airlines, SFO is your gateway to destinations within California, across the country, and around the globe! But it's not just the air carriers that overload SFO - the airport also caters to plenty of cargo, corporate, and general aviation aircraft. All planes of all types are welcome. Fly in to SFO and experience all that California's fourth largest city has to offer. Fly out and connect to another great airport in the area or around the world. Whatever you do, be sure to join us for an event that's going to be overloaded with traffic, ATC, and fun!

This event will run on Saturday evening, November 19 from 4pm to 8pm PST (Nov. 20 0000-0400z).

We need a lot of controllers for this event. Sign-ups are here.

Friday October 21st
ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush at SFO

ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush returns this week to San Francisco Int'l!

Our continuing series returns to SFO this Wednesday, Oct. 26 from 6pm to 9pm Pacific time (0100-0400z). Serving hundreds of airports from right next door to across the globe, San Francisco is a great option for all pilots. Whether you're flying an airliner, cargo carrier, corporate jet, or your own GA plane, stop by at ZOA's largest airport for some great flying and ATC!

All are invited to fly or control! Sign-ups for controllers are here.

Sunday October 16th
ZOA has a new DATM!
Gentlemen, please congratulate Charan Kumar on his promotion to ZOA DATM. His continuous work as Facility Engineer, Instructor and Controller at ZOA made him the ideal candidate. Congrats CK!

Saturday October 15th
Jonathan Cox scores 2 touch downs!
Jonathan Cox did a great job on his PV and passed with flying colors. We are pleased to count him among our Norcal Certified controllers for our next event and look forward to seeing him on OAK_CTR very soon!

Along with earning his SFO APP certification, Jonathan has also been promoted to the new ZOA Events Coordinator. His help in the past has been invaluable to ZOA and I am glad to welcome him to the senior staff. Congrats!

Saturday October 15th
Dave Everhart: SFO GND certified!
Congrats to Dave for passing his ground PV at SFO this evening. He did an awesome job and we're excited for him to start working on tower!

Friday October 14th
Wednesday Night Ops @ SJC!

ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush continues. Join us in San Jose this week!

The third major bay area airport, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport is conveniently located near downtown San Jose. It is a great option for commerical traffic, where over a dozen airlines connect the airport to destinations across California, the continental US, and even to Mexico and Hawaii. Several cargo carriers also fly in and out San Jose, which also caters to corporate traffic and general aviation. ZOA will be staffing up next Wednesday, so climb aboard your favorite plane and stop by San Jose International for a mid-week blast!

Everyone is invited to fly or control. Sign-ups for controllers are here.

Monday October 10th
ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush: SMF!
WNR

ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush continues this week at Sacramento International Airport!

Sacramento, the capital city of California, is home to one of the state's large commercial airports. SMF handles hundreds of airline flights each day, along with corporate, general aviation, and military flights. Through Sacramento, passengers travel to and from airports all across California, the western United States, and even the east coast and Mexico. The airport also opened a brand new passenger terminal this past week, inviting thousands to fly into and out of SMF. From 6 to 9 PM Pacific time / 0100 to 0400 zulu, ZOA will be staffed to welcome all pilots into California's capital city. Wherever you may be coming from or going to, be sure to visit Sacramento International Airport on your way!

Controller signups are located here.

Sunday October 9th
Ed Callan passes SFO TWR PV!
Ed Callan is moving on through the ranks at ZOA and passed his SFO TWR PV. Well done Ed!

Friday October 7th
Gene Cao passes Norcal Approach Combined PV!
After a grueling 2.5 hours with lots of different types of traffic, Gene Cao was able to capture full certification for Norcal. Look out for Gene at a ZOA event soon!

Monday October 3rd
ZOA's new mentor: Adam White
Adam White is now a ZOA Mentor. Adam, thank you for your continued commitment to ZOA!

Friday September 30th
ZOA's new Wednesday Night Rush!
WNR

ZOA's new Wednesday Night Rush! Join us at Oakland International this coming Wednesday!

Metropolitan Oakland International Airport is the second of three major bay area airports. From Oakland, airlines fly to destinations all over California and the United States, and the airport has a large volume of cargo operations as well. Oakland also caters to general aviation, which accounts for nearly 40% of traffic in and out of the airport! Board your favorite airliner, cargo carrier, corporate jet or small plane and come to Oakland Int'l for all the fun on Wednesday, October 5, 6pm Pacific time/0100 Zulu!

Controllers: sign up here!

Friday September 30th
ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush!
WNR

ZOA's new Wednesday Night Rush! Join us at Oakland International this coming Wednesday!

Controllers sign up here!

Friday September 23rd
ZOA's Wednesday Night Rush!
WNR

ZOA's new Wednesday Night Rush!

Need a mid-week flight? Looking for great controllers? ZOA is the answer!

We proudly present our new series, Wednesday Night Rush! Each Wednesday evening, we'll staff up certain airports and invite everyone to take that much needed flight to relax and have fun after a long day at the grind! Join us this Wednesday, September 28 for the first week at our main airport: San Francisco International. Busy every night of the week, SFO serves hundreds of airports in California, across the United States, and around the globe. Grab a plane and fly in or out with us for the premier of our new mid-week event series!

Signups are posted here.

Wednesday September 21st
Bobby Simmons passes SFO GND PV
Let's congratulate Bobby Simmons who passed his SFO Ground PV this evening. Great job Bobby!

Thursday September 15th
ZOA has a new TA!
Congratulations to Julio Elizalde for being selected as new ZOA Training Administrator. With his previous mentor and instructor experience as well as being a music teacher real world, the ZOA staff is glad to see him lead the training department. Well done mate!

Monday September 12th
More controllers needed for Bay Area Rush Hour Event!

CONTROLLERS NEEDED

There are still many positions that need to be filled for the Bay Area Rush Hour Event on September 17th. Please sign up here!

Sunday September 11th
Moment of Silence for 9/11 victims

In memory of the thousands who died on September 11th, 2001 and thinking of those who have lost loved ones, colleges and friends during the World Trade Center attacks in New York, the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of United flight 93, ZOA is going to hold a moment of silence on the Teamspeak server today, September 11th, 2011 at 11:00 am Pacific Time.

Sunday August 28th
Chris Lowe passes SFO TWR PV
Congrats to Chris Lowe on passing his SFO TWR PV! A variety of traffic and withstanding quite some oral quizzing made him earn his stripes. Well done!

Sunday August 28th
Bay Area Rush Hour - Sept. 17th

On Saturday, September 17th from 1700-2100 PDT (Sep 18th, 0000Z-0400Z), the Oakland ARTCC is hosting the Bay Area Rush Hour event. Fly into the in and out of KSFO, KOAK, or KSJC to experience what real world pilots do every day.With three airports so close together, the complexity of flying this airspace is a thrill for any pilot.

Fly to nearby airports such as Reno (KRNO) or Fresno (KFAT) and back for exciting short commuter hops. Fully staffed from Clearance Delivery to Center, this rush hour type event will keep you on your toes with real world levels of ATC, aircraft and traffic!

Signups can be found here.

Sunday August 28th
Chris Lowe passes SFO TWR PV
Congrats to Chris Lowe on passing his SFO TWR PV! A variety of traffic and withstanding quite some oral quizzing made him earn his stripes. Well done!

Saturday August 27th
Bay Area Rush Hour - Sept. 17th

Signups can be found here.

Wednesday August 17th
Ryan Deslauriers earns S1 rating promotion
Congratulations to Ryan Deslauriers for passing both his S1 written exam and the S1 rating PV exam today, Aug 17. Ryan has been promoted to the S1 rating and is now our newest Ground-certified student! Great job!

Monday August 15th
ZOA's newest Instructor: Julio Elizalde
Julio Elizalde has been promoted to the rank of Instructor (I1). His own rock-solid and expeditious progression at ZOA and his mentor status helped him to attain this rank. Thanks for stepping up Dr. Elizalde!

Thursday August 11th
Visual KSFO - August 19th

On Friday, August 19th from 1600-1900 PDT, we are hosting the "Visual KSFO" event. During this event all arrivals into KSFO should be encouraged to either fly the Quiet Bridge Visual approach to runways 28L or 28R or the Tipp Toe Visual approach to runway 28L, if weather permits.

As there are a few pilots who have not been confronted with charted visual flight procedures, we are going to provide pilots a link to the two charts for the two charted visual flight procedures into KSFO.

Signups can be found here. This event is ZOA sponsored and may be controlled by SMT controllers.

Here are the links to the two charted visual flight procedures (click on name):
Tipp Toe Visual Runway 28L
Quiet Bridge Visual Runways 28L/R

Monday August 1st
Richard Parrish is now a mentor!

The ZOA training staff is extremely pleased to welcome Richard Parrish as a new mentor to the team.

As a former Training Administrator and Instructor, Richard brings along a lot of knowledge, experience and excitement with him.

Thanks for stepping up RR!

Saturday July 23rd
Chris Lowe passes S2 PV
Congrats to Christopher Lowe on passing his S2 PV on Oakland Tower tonight. He worked lots of traffic of all kinds in and out and around the airport, a real nice flow. Good job Chris! Thanks to the training staff helping Chris out too!

Wednesday July 20th
VATSIM / VATUSA 10th Anniversary - August 6th

VATSIM is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with major events covering the entire globe.

The Oakland ARTCC has been kindly asked by the VATUSA Events Coordinator to provide full staffing for 3 individual events, all taking place on August 6th, between 1600 and 2200 pacific time.

In order to celebrate this huge party, lets staff up the Oakland ARTCC until it will burst!

The press release and signups can be found here.

Wednesday July 20th
Richard Parrish passes SFO TWR PV!
Congrats to our DATM Richard "RR" Parrish for passing the SFO TWR PV tonight. Good variety in traffic and proficiency built over years ensured his success.

Saturday July 9th
Julio
Congratulations to Julio for passing a 3 hour long PV on NorCal Approach Combined. Progressively increasing amounts of traffic flying into the Bay made him really earn his stripes!

Friday July 8th
Thank you!
The vZOA staff would like to thank all controllers staffing a position for the extremely busy FNO at San Jose. The workload was very heavy and you all did a great job!

Monday July 4th
Happy 4th of July!

Saturday July 2nd
Friday Night Ops at San Jose Intl

San Jose is located at the south end of the San Franciso Bay, it offers 3 parallel runways with modern terminal facilities. The approach is easy and straight in. Pilots will love the easy approaches and scenic background the bay offers. Come join us in flying in and out of this great airport for our Friday Night Ops.

Signups can be found here.

Saturday July 2nd
Reno Insanity!

Reno has been called the Biggest Little City in the west, and for good reason. This region offers a dynamic change in scenery for pilots, Reno sits in a valley surrounded by mountains, that offer a unique approach and departure. With the beautiful Reno skyline close by, this offers a great mix for everyone.

Signups can be found here.

Saturday July 2nd
Julio goes for SFO APP combined PV!

Up and rising controller and mentor Julio Elizalde will be taking his NorCal Approach Combined PV on Saturday, July 9th 2011 between 1600 and 1830 pacific. All members of the Oakland ARTCC are highly encouraged to control or fly during this time to make Julio earn his stripes.

Signups for positions that are requested to be filled can be found here.

Sunday June 26th
Amrit Ayalur passes SFO GND PV!
Congratulations to Amrit Ayalur for passing his SFO GND PV today. Good job.

Saturday June 25th
Friday Night Ops at San Jose Intl

Signups can be found here.

Saturday June 25th
Friday Night Ops at San Jose Intl

Signups can be found here.

Saturday June 25th
Reno Insanity!

Signups can be found here.

Monday June 20th
Christopher Lowe passes SFO Ground PV
Congratulations on a job well done to Christopher Lowe. He did a great job with his Ground PV at SFO this evening!

Friday June 10th
Upcoming ZLA event

On June 24th, the Los Angeles ARTCC is hosting the "ZLA Live" event live from the ZLA dinner starting at 2300Z.

We are are looking to staff up at least Center and NorCal for this event.

Sign-ups for this event can be found here.

Sunday June 5th
Metropolitan Oakland Event - June 11th 2011

Oakland International Airport is one of three international airports in the San Francisco Bay Area, airlines provide service to numerous destinations in the United States and abroad.

In addition, this airport offers a long runway to handle all classes of aircraft, with two shorter separate runways to handle smaller general aviation.

Pilots will experience great ATC service arriving and departing, the approach is long and easy.

Sign-ups can be found here.

Wednesday June 1st
ZOA has a new DATM and new (old) WM!

Congratulations to Richard Parrish on being selected as new DATM of ZOA.

A huge thank you to Chuck Barlow for doing an excellent job as outgoing DATM. The ZOA staff is very glad to see Chuck remaining as Controller and Instructor at ZOA, as well as filling the position of ZOA Webmaster.

Congrats and thanks to both of you!

Sunday May 22nd
Light Up America 2011 - May 28th

Light Up America is back in action and ready to invade VATUSA airspace once again. This year, the lights are sucked into the central states. One by one, sections of the United States will light up, leading traffic to places like Denver, Dallas, and Chicago! This year's event will better suit pilots wanting to travel from Hawaii and Alaska as west coast controllers will light up first to allow traffic to reach the mainland.

Plan to depart from the oceans and meet in the middle. As each section begins to light up, all of VATUSA will be lit up together for one hour with the United States mainland being lit up for three hours before the lights die down. Or will they?

Sign-ups can be found here.

Friday May 20th
New minimum controller hours effective 06/01/11

Commencing June 1st 2011, new minimum controller hours will be effective.

ZOA home controllers will be expected to staff a minimum 3 hours per 30 day period.
ZOA visiting controllers are expected to staff a minimum of 2 hours per 30 day period.

These new minimum controller hours can also be found in CPS-010.

Wednesday May 18th
SOP amendments

Three amendments have been made to existing SOPs that are effective immediately.

Please take a look at this link for more information.

Tuesday May 17th
High Stakes KRNO: All in! - May 21st 2011

EVENT WILL START AT 1800 PDT

HSPR

Many folks around the country have come to recognize Reno as the place for gambling and fun, but nothing can compare to high energy and challenge of HIGH STAKES poker and all its rewards. Come and join us at RENO this May for our "High Stakes at KRNO" event.

Signups can be found here.

Sunday May 15th
Another huge THANK YOU!

Again, I would like to say thank you to all controllers and all pilots making the "The SFO Experience" event a trumendeous success for the Oakland ARTCC. The traffic only started to get a little less 1,5 hrs after scheduled finishing time of the event.

Everyone worked their position well. You guys rock!

Thursday May 12th
The SFO Experience

SFO

Throughout the year thousands of visitors come to visit SFO to see and experience its unique attractions.

Choose to drive down the twisting Lombard Street, or catch a Cable Car and ride between Fisherman\'s Wharf and Chinatown. Maybe you prefer to take a ferry to Alcatraz Island or just drive or walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. SFO offers many new and exciting attractions.

Come join us!

Sign-ups can be found here.

Thursday May 12th
THE SFO EXPERIENCE

The "The SFO Experience" event is coming up very fast.

To accomodate the high traffic levels expected, I would like to ask controllers available on May 14th, 1700-2100 PDT to staff the remaining open positions.

Sign-ups can be found here.

Thursday May 12th
Christopher Lowe passes S1 PV!
This evening Christopher Lowe did an excellent job on his PV and became our latest S1 controller. Congrats Chris, we are looking forward to your next steps here at ZOA!

Wednesday May 11th
Martin Harriman passes S1 PV!
Today Martin Harriman became the newest S1 here at ZOA. He did a fantastic job with his PV, and we'll be looking forward to him moving on. Congrats Martin!

Monday May 2nd
The SFO Experience

SFO

Throughout the year thousands of visitors come to visit SFO to see and experience its unique attractions.

Choose to drive down the twisting Lombard Street, or catch a Cable Car and ride between Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown.

Maybe you prefer to take a ferry to Alcatraz Island or just drive or walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. SFO offers many new and exciting attractions.

Come join us!

Sign-ups can be found here.

Monday May 2nd
The SFO Experience

SFO

Throughout the year thousands of visitors come to visit SFO to see and experience its unique attractions.

Choose to drive down the twisting Lombard Street, or catch a Cable Car and ride between Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown. Maybe you prefer to take a ferry to Alcatraz Island or just drive or walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. SFO offers many new and exciting attractions.

Come join us!

Sign-ups can be found here.

Sunday May 1st
Thank you!

The ZOA staff would like to thank all pilots and controllers who participated in the ZOA Insane Event on April 30th 2011.

Everyone did a great job, traffic was busy, staffing was great and everyone enjoyed a good time!

Sunday May 1st
Sam Fain passes SFO GND PV
Sam Fain is our newest SFO GND certified controller. Doing a splendid job on his PV today, he really earned his SFO endorsement.

Tuesday April 26th
Riley Heywood passes SFO_GND PV!
Congrats to Riley Heywood as our newest certified SFO Ground controller. We'll look forward to seeing him in the Bay Area Tower Cabs soon!

Saturday April 23rd
Happy Easter everyone!

The ZOA staff wishes all controllers and their families Happy Easter!

Saturday April 23rd
ZOA has a new mentor: Julio
Julio Elizalde is ZOAs newest mentor. He is itching to train students on DEL/GND. Thanks Julio for your dedication and welcome to the training staff!

Friday April 22nd
ZOAs newest S1: Andrew Aubart
Andrew Aubart passed his S1 PV today making him ZOAs newest S1 controller. Congratulations!

Monday April 18th
VFR Saturday at Napa County

The world-class Napa Valley winegrowing region, home to renowned wineries, top-ranked restaurants, luxurious spas and pristine golf links awaits. When you travel, for business or for pleasure, choose Napa County Airport, your Skyport to the Wine Country and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Signups can be found here.

Sunday April 17th
Julio Elizalde passes S3 PV!

Julio Elizalde is our newest S3 controller certified on minor approach facilities. We would like thank him for his dedication towards vZOA.

Congrats and well done Julio!

Saturday April 16th
ZOA INSANE - Apr 30th, 1700-2000 PDT

The Oakland ARTCC proudly presents: ZOA INSANE!

This event will light up the entire ARTCC.

You would like to be part of the heavy airplane traffic at San Francisco? Want a challenging flight using interesting procedures? San Jose is your choice. The Oakland Airport welcomes all kind of traffic, GA, cargo, commercial airliners and more. Maybe fly to the Capitol of California to meet the Governor or go gambling at Reno? Sightseeing Yosemite National Park is also an adventure. The famous Laguna Seca Raceway and well known Pebble Beach Golf Course lie next to the Monterey Peninsula Airport.

We need every single controller available for this event, sign-ups can be found here. Book your slot today!

Saturday April 9th
vZOA presents: Day Of The Deltas
DOTD

vZOA proudly presents its newest event: Day Of The Deltas.

Lighting up three of our most frequently visited class Delta airports - Modesto (KMOD), Santa Rosa (KSTS) and Salinas (KSNS), we invite as all controllers and pilots to join us for this fun event.

These class Delta airports invite pilots to do some General Aviation "hopping" and flying some luxury business jets.

Controller sign ups can be found here.

Tuesday March 29th
Reno Tower wins Iron Mic Week 13
LUA

We got it! Over 94 hours on Reno Tower during week 13 got us the award.

Thank you to everyone helping us accheive this goal!

Wednesday March 23rd
ZOA is currently hiring a new DATM
Please view this post for more details.

Saturday March 19th
California Madness - April 3rd, 1500 PDT
LUA

Press Release

On Sunday, April 3rd from 1500-1900 PDT (2200-0200zulu), the ZLA and ZOA ARTCCs are teaming up to light up all of California for the first annual California Madness event! Airports featured are KLAX, KSAN, KSFO, and KOAK. The enroute area between NorCal and SoCal is sure to be about the busiest it's ever been, so you won't want to miss out. Pilots can expect full ATC services at the featured airports as well as many TRACON and Center controllers along the way.

Signups

We need a lot of controllers, signups can be found here.

Saturday March 19th
Reno Tower Iron Mic Marathon: Mar 20th-Mar 27th
LUA

Press Release

Spotlighting the Biggest Little City in the World, we will give it a shot attempting to win the prestigious Iron Mic award for Tower. The competition runs from March 20th 1700PDT to March 27th 1700PDT.

We need to put in time...

We are reckoning with good and strong competition from other ARTCCs and FIRs on the network, so please staff up Reno Tower if you see it not staffed.

Coordination

Please coordinate staffing hours using this thread.

Friday March 18th
Kyle Ekas Certified on SFO TWR!
Congratulations to Kyle Ekas who passed his SFO TWR PV Exam on Friday night March 18th. Kyle handled all operations very smoothly with a nice level of sustained arrival and departure traffic. Way to go, Kyle!

Tuesday March 15th
Julio Elizalde passed SFO TWR PV!
Congratulations to Julio Elizalde on passing his SFO TWR PV. Moving on through the ranks we thank him for the time and dedication shown towards ZOA!

Saturday March 12th
PWA: 2nd Anniversary Celebration at SFO - Mar 26th 2011
LUA

Pacific West Airways is celebrating 2 successful years of service.

The Pacific West Airways staff has decided to have their party at ZOA and have flights arrive at KSFO between 1300 and 1330 local time departing a variety of airports served by Pacific West Airways and Connect.

Staffing will start at 1200 (noon) pacific, and will be open end.

Signups can be found here.

Friday March 11th
Daylight Saving Time begins March 13th

DST

Gentlemen, please remember that as of March 13th 2011 at 2:00 am pacific local, Daylight Saving Time begins. This means at 2:00 am local clocks are set to 3:00 am.

Tuesday March 8th
California Capitol Event - Mar 12th, 1800PST
SMF FI

Sacramento is home to the California State Capitol, to accommodate this great honor, KSMF offers a full service airport with two parallel runways long enough to handle the largest of aircraft, a world class terminal. No matter what your approach might be, KSMF can handle it all. We at ZOA take pride in offering professional ATC service, and we are proud to invite you to fly in or out of KSMF during this memorable event.

Signups can be found here.

Sunday March 6th
SLC FNO - Mar 11th 1700-2100 PST
SLC FNO

Salt Lake City - nestled between two mountain ranges will offer both the novice and experienced pilot a challenge in flying unlike you've ever seen. All types or terrain, traffic, and weather conditions are possible in the Salt Lake Valley. So come out and bring your friends, and spend a night out with us, FNO night... in Salt Lake City!

Signups can be found here.

Sunday March 6th
ZOAs newest mentor - Jonathan Cox
The training department is pleased to announce Jonathan Cox stepping up and volunteering to help out as a mentor. After a short period of familiarization with training programs, Jonathan will start teaching DEL/GND.

Congratulations Jonathan, thank you for helping out!

Tuesday March 1st
Rank promotion for 2 ZOA controllers!

Congratulations to Kyle Ekas and Jonathan Cox on passing PVs and receiving rank promotions.

Kyle was promoted to an S2 minor Tower controller and Jonathan was promoted to S3 minor Approach controller.

Great job guys. Thanks to the mentors and instructors helping out!

Tuesday March 1st
Rank promotion for 2 ZOA controllers!
Congratulations to Kyle Ekas and Jonathan Cox on passing PVs and receiving a rank promotion. Kyle was promoted to an S2 minor Tower controller and Jonathan was promoted to S3 minor Approach controller. Great job guys. Thanks to the mentors and instructors helpong out!

Sunday February 27th
Monterey Peninsula (KMRY) Fly-In
LUA

For the Monterey Peninsula and the California Central Coast, regular flights are available to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver and Las Vegas where connecting flights can take you anywhere in the world.

Enjoy the ease of flying to and from Monterey (MRY) on more than 40 flights in and out of the Monterey Airport daily.

Just a short drive to Laguna Seca speedway, just fly in, watch a race and fly out!

Signups can be found here.

Friday February 25th
Julio Elizalde passes SFO GND PV!
Congrats to Julio Elizalde on simply rocking SFO GND during his PV. He certainly well deserved certification on SFO GND and I look forward to him starting S2 training.

Sunday February 20th
Jorge Rojas certified SFO TWR
Congratulations to Jorge Rojas (visiting controller from ZNY) for passing his PV Exam on SFO TWR today, Sunday Feb 20. Jorge did a great job. Now he is looking forward to getting started on Norcal Approach!

Friday February 18th
ZLA Oscar Night - Feb 27th 1500-1900 PST
ZLA

Promoting the interest of both ZLA and ZOA, lets staff up for the ZLA Oscar Night 2011 and send some business jets to our southern neighbor!

The signup thread is located here.

Sunday February 6th
Oakland Air Cargo Terminal

NEW ZOA EVENT

24-Hour Operations

Oakland International is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our cargo-friendly airport is the ideal center for all types of cargo services, whether domestic or international, and without the inconvenience of curfews.

Growth in Cargo

Oakland International is among the top 20 airports in the U.S. in the amount of air cargo handled. The airport anticipates air cargo tonnage to grow 10 percent annually through the year 2010.

Signups can be found here. SMT may and is encouraged to control!

Sunday January 30th
Congratulations to Kyle Ekas - SFO GND certified
Congratulations to Kyle Ekas for mastering his SFO GND PV. He sure deserves to hold his new cert and I look forward to him moving on to TWR!

Sunday January 30th
Fly Fresno - Feb 19th, 1700PST

ZOA EVENT

Choose your favorite departing airport and fly to Fresno.

Want Scenery? Fly over the majestic Yosemite valley and take a look at one of California's great wonders.

Fresno airport offers two parallel runways (9227ft and 7205ft in length), an ILS approach, a great passenger terminal, GA and Cargo facilities.

This event is to promote student training on minor facilities. Students are encouraged to ask for a position with mentor or instructor supervision.

Signups can be found here.

Sunday January 30th
ZLA TECtonics - Feb 12th, 1500PST

ZLA

Tower Enroute Control (TEC) routes are the only way to navigate around the busy airspace in Southern California. Join ZLA for an event that utilizes these TEC routes to the max! Visit http://www.laartcc.org/tecroutes.php to look up your short hop TEC route from an airport in SoCal, to another one close by! In order to get the most out of this event, make a short hop by departing one airport in SoCal and arriving at another SoCal airport. Several popular SoCal airports include KLAX, KSAN, KONT, KPSP, KSNA, KLGB, KBUR, and KVNY.

Any SMT can control! pick your favorite spot.

Signups can be found here.

Friday January 21st
ZOA's new FE: Charan Kumar

Charan has stepped up to and is facing the challenge of being ZOA's new Facility Engineer.

Congratulations Charan, we know you will do a great job!

Friday January 21st
Congrats Gene Cao - SFO TWR Certified!
Congratulations to Gene Cao for passing his SFO TWR PV Exam on Friday Jan 21. Gene did a great job and we're looking forward to him staring his training work on Approach! Thanks to all the instructors and mentors who spent time working with Gene.

Wednesday January 19th
SFO TWR PV Exam Friday Night
Attention pilots and controllers: Please come out this Friday night Jan 21 2000-2200 PST to bring some traffic for Gene Cao's PV Exam on SFO TWR. Good luck Gene!

Monday January 17th
Alex Bower memorial event

In memory of Alex Bower we will be hosting a memorial event on Jan, 29th from 0300Z-0500Z.

Please join us at San Jose for this event. The signup post is located here.

Saturday January 15th
Reno Approach changes callsign!

The Reno Approach TRACON has changed callsigns and is now called "Norcal Approach".

Along with introducing the name change at ZOA effectively 01/16/2011, the new KENNO1 RNAV arrival is now included in all relevant SOPs.

The sector file has been updated to depict the KENNO1 RNAV arrival. The sector file can be downloaded here: Version 13b - 01/15/2011

Check here for further information.

Sunday January 9th
Congrats Chris Virgilio - OAK CTR certified!
Congratulations Chris for kicking butt tonight on CTR!

Wednesday January 5th
Congrats Jonathan Cox - SFO TWR certified!
Congratulations to Jonathan Cox for successfully completing his SFO TWR PV Exam tonight January 5th. Great work Jonathan, and good job to all the mentors and instructors who have worked with him!

Sunday January 2nd
ZOAs newest Instructor: Charan Kumar!

Gentlemen, please join me in congratulating Charan Kumar on his promotion to Instructor (I1).

Charan has been a great asset to the training department as a mentor, and will continue to be as an instructor!

Saturday January 1st
2 new events hosted by our neighbors!

On January 9th, the Albuquerque ARTCC is hosting an BCS Fly-In event from 1500-2000 PST.

On January 13th, the Los Angeles ARTCC will continue their Limelight Series, this time around featuring KBUR from 1700-2000 PST.

Lets help our neighbors by staffing up. Please coordinate in the events section of our forum who would like to staff which position.

Friday December 31st
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

FNO

The ZOA staff wishes everyone a happy and successful new year!

Friday December 31st
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

FNO

The ZOA staff wishes everyone a happy new year!

Tuesday December 28th
Las Vegas FNO

ZLA hosting last FNO of the year!

Lets assist our neighbors during the last FNO of the year and let us welcome 2011 together.

It's your last flight of 2010, why not celebrate by flying to Las Vegas! Watch for the fireworks on the Las Vegas strip as you maneuver your way into and out of Las Vegas Int'l Airport. Let's welcome 2011 to ZLA!

Be advised that this FNO has an earlier start time than usual FNOs to better accommodate any pilot or controller's real world holiday plans

Please coordinate which positions you would like to staff using this thread.

Saturday December 25th
SFO @ FNO event

NEW EVENT! SIGNUPS AVAILABLE! FNO

The San Francisco International Airport is the 10th busiest in the United States and the 12th largest airport in the world. Join us in flying in or out of this awesome airport.

Remember: The three most common expressions in aviation are, "Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" and "Oh Crap!"

Signups can be found here.

Friday December 24th
Merry Christmas!

The ZOA staff wishes you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Wednesday December 15th
Delta Virtual Airlines Events

Delta Virtual Airlines is flying from Reno (KRNO) to Denver (KDEN) on friday, Dec 17th starting 1700PST. This event is called "Ski Colorado".

The following sunday, Dec 19th starting 1700PST, Delta Virtual Airlines is flying from Seattle (KSEA) to San Francisco (KSFO). This event is called "Chinatown".

Signups are available for both events. Look here for the KRNO fly-out ATC signup and here for the KSFO fly-in ATC signup threads.

Tuesday December 14th
Matthew Ozarko passes S1 PV!
Congrats to Matthew Ozarko on passing his S1 PV. Looking forward to seeing you on the live network!

Sunday December 5th
Sam Fain passes S1 PV!
Congratulations Sam on passing your S1 PV! He did a great job and is ready to be unleashed on live VATSIM!

Congratulations!

Sunday November 28th
Iron Mic Marathon for NorCal Approach (combined) starting December 5th!

Starting the week of Dec 5, we will be attempting another round of the Iron Mic Award Marathon.

Lets add NORCAL as another FIRST PLACE IRON MIC TROPHY!

Any SMT may control

Please refer to this forum post for coordination.

Friday November 26th
Pacific West Airways - Connect Connection

Pacific West - Connect - Is hosting its first event; the Connect Connection! It will feature a Fly-In gathering at San Francisco International airport (KSFO), then a groupflight together to Mammoth Lakes airport (KMMH).

Any SMT can control! pick your favorite spot.

Signups can be found here.

Wednesday November 24th
Charan Kumar passes Oakland Center PV!

Charan Kumar is our newest fully certified controller. He did a fantastic job during his PV.

Along with earning full controller priviledges at ZOA, Charan is also a mentor now on all approach positions. Congrats, buddy!

Wednesday November 10th
Our newest S1 controller: Riley Heywood!

Congratulations to Riley Heywood on mastering his first PV. He didnt a fantastic job on Sweatbox today and certainly well deserved his new rank!

Sunday November 7th
Back to Pacific Standard Time

A little notification and reminder:

As of November 7th, we are back to Pacific Standard time. All current times for US time zones and Zulu time are located here.

Saturday November 6th
NOVEMBER EXTRAVAGANZA

MORE SIGNUPS NEEDED
LUA

With the holidays approaching and a change in weather, holiday air travel will start to peak!

Choose anyone of our great destinations or departures and enjoy our friendly and prefessional staff of controllers as we celebrate the "NOVEMBER EXTRAVAGANZA"!

Good staffing at all levels is required, signup here for your favorite position!!

Wednesday November 3rd
ZLA Limelight - featuring KCRQ

NEW NEW NEW
LUA

Lets support our neigbors and friends at ZLA during their ZLA Limelight event!

ZLA's popular Limelight Series continues, making a stop at Carlsbad/Palomar Airport (KCRQ).

Palomar Airport is located right off the coast, just 25mi North of San Diego Int'l. KCRQ's 5000ft runway is perfect for any commuter aircraft, or even a medium-sized jet.

Palomar Airport is home to about 15 Skywest flights per day to and from larger destinations around the SoCal area along with many general aviation flights.

If you're in the mood for some VFR, there are plenty of small airports around the area that make for great short hops and sight-seeing trips.

For those pilots wishing to fly IFR, the high terrain off to the East makes for an interesting ILS approach to runway 4.

Date of event is November 11th from 0100Z-0300Z.

Signups can be found here.

Wednesday November 3rd
VATUSA office party - flyin to San Francisco!

TODAY

The event will take place on Sunday, Nov 14th from 2000z-2300z.
They will flyin to KSFO from KSEA, KSLC and KPHX.

SMT may control!

Signups for your favorite spot can be found here.

Wednesday October 20th
ZLA Suicide Ops coming soon!

ZLA's third annual Suicide Ops event!

Lets support our great southern neighbors and remember, all KLAX arrivals get MOOR3 this time, not SADDE6 ;)

Any SMT can control! pick your favorite spot.

Signups can be found here.

Friday October 15th
ZLC FNO: Crossroads of the West

Our eastern neighbor is hosting another great event on October 22nd (2300-0300z)!

Lets staff up, we can expect some traffic in our airspace.

Any SMT can control! pick your favorite spot.

Signups can be found here.

Saturday October 2nd
ZOA's way to celebrate the Oktoberfest

Gentlemen, after our successful winning of the Reno Approach Iron Mic award a few weeks ago, we are going for our next Iron Mic Marathon.

This time we will be really facing a challenge: We will be trying to win the Iron Mic for both SFO TWR and OAK CTR during the same week (Oct 11th – Oct 17th).

All help is needed, SMTs can control! Check here for signups.

Saturday October 2nd
ZLC and ZDV are proud to announce a mountain retreat!

Lets support our neigbors and friends at ZLC and ZDV during their mountain retreat event!

Date of event is Sunday, October 10th from 1800 - 2200 Mountain Time (October 11th from 0000 - 0400 Zulu Time).

Signups can be found here.

Saturday October 2nd
Friday Night Ops at ZLA featuring Las Vegas!

Another bigger event hosted by our southern neighbor ZLA.

Gambling cities are what attracts the pilots in our area!

Lets make this event our fun too, assist ZLA in providing good ATC and traffic levels.

Be ensured this will be alot of fun!

The signup thread is located here.

Friday October 1st
ZOA's Newest Mentor

Please welcome back Mark Dalforno to the training staff as a mentor. Mark has been around ZOA for many years and has served in numerous positions. Welcome back to the training department, Mark!

Friday September 24th
Pacific West Airways' 2nd Annual Saturday Gamble

Pacific West Airways is proud to announce their "2nd Annual Saturday Gamble", featuring the airports of San Francisco, Reno, Las Vegas and Denver.

The event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 25th, 2010 at Noon Pacific (19:00Z).

Additional information for pilots and controllers can be found here.

Friday September 24th
Controllers for staffing

Gentlemen, today we are hosting the "Jewels of the Pacific" event.

We are in urgent need of signups for many positions from Ground upto Center.

Please visit this thread and sign up for a position you would like to staff.

Thursday September 23rd
Delta Airlines' Wild Wednesdays flying into Reno!

Delta Virtual Airlines is hosting their "Wild Wednesdays" next week and they are flying from KLAX to KRNO. They will depart KLAX at ~1900PDT and arrive at KRNO at ~2130PDT on September 29th.

Lets make this a fun event for both the pilots and us controllers and staff up!

Everything from Oakland Center to Reno Ground is needed!

Signups can be found here.

Tuesday September 21st
Iron Mic for Reno Approach!

Gentlemen, we got it! Reno Approach won the iron mic for the week of September 13th through September 19th. Thanks to all the dedicated controllers putting in alot of hours on the scopes to achieve this goal!

Friday September 17th
Staffing for Seattle Insane needed!

Guys, lets support our neighboring ARTCC Seattle by staffing up for their Seattle Insane event on saturday. Please sign up of a position by replying to this forum thread.
Thanks!

Thursday September 16th
ZOA's Newest Mentor

Please welcome Jay McFerdy as ZOA's newest mentor! Congrats Jay, and thanks for helping out!

Sunday September 12th
Jewels of the Pacific

Given most pilots love scenery, what could be better than to fly in two of the most picturesque cities on the west coast?

San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge offer stunning views regardless of what approach you are given.

Equally, who cannot miss Seattle and its awesome views of the Cascades and the beautiful Puget Sound.

Day or night, these cities and the surrounding landscape are incredible.

Sign up today and ensure you are part of the fun!

Sunday September 12th
Congrats to our newest S3 controller: Jay McFerdy!

Join me in congratulating Jay McFerdy on passing his S3 PV on Reno Approach today. Awesome job Jay!

Sunday September 12th
Congrats to our newest S3 controller Jay McFery
Jay McFerdy passed his S3 PV with flying colors today.

Join me in congratulating him.

Monday September 6th
Iron Mic Marathon for Reno Approach!

“The biggest little city in the world” has again opened its doors to controllers and pilots wishing to venture its unique airspace.

Many controllers have worked hard to help generate traffic in our “little Vegas”, let’s try and keep up the momentum and send a message to everyone watching, RNO Approach will be #1!

We will need 24/7 coverage (11 Sept, 5pm PDT to 18 Sept, 5pm PDT).

Join us to help achieve this goal!

Friday September 3rd
VFR saturdays!!

Due to the great response we had doing VFR familiarization flights; we thought this would be a great opportunity to incorporate this idea into a “ZOA gathering”. You can choose to fly or control (SMT’s can control). Some of us will be on TeamSpeak to communicate between each other. Pick your favorite plane or tower and have some fun.

Wednesday September 1st
Congratulations to Charan Kumar - Norcal Certified!

Congratulations to our latest Norcal Approach certified controller, Charan Kumar. Charan had a near-flawless execution of his PV Exam the evening of Sept 1, and many of the pilots were expressing their appreciation of his great service. Way to go Charan! Now on to Center!

Monday August 30th
Charan Kumar PV Exam for Norcal this Wednesday!
Attention pilots and controllers: Please come out and bring some traffic and CTR controller support if possible for Charan who will be taking his Norcal Approach Combined certification PV Exam this Wednesday Sept. 1, 1600-1800 PDT. Good Luck Charan!

Monday August 23rd
Welcome to ZOAs new Events Coordinator Jim Greever!

Gentlemen, join the ZOA staff in welcoming our new Events Coordinator Jim Greever. With his dedication to ZOA, his organizational talent and the many other skills he posseses he will be a great asset to the ZOA staff. Welcome on board Jim!

Monday August 23rd
ZOA forum is undergoing maintenance
The ZOA forum is currently undergoing some maintenance and will temporarily not be accessible. Thank you for your understanding.

Wednesday August 18th
Controller lignup for CalScream XIII posted!
Here is the list of controllers controlling during the CalScream XIII event. Please dont hesitate to join us if your name is not on the list. Every controller is needed and will thoroughly enjoy this event.

Friday August 6th
Welcome to vZOAs new VA Liaison Adam White!
Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Adam White as vZOAs new VA Liaison.

Thursday August 5th
California Screamin XIII

Gentlemen, our biggest event of the year is coming up: CalScream. In collaboration with the ZLA ARTCC on VATSIM, we are planning to break more records in online activity.

While the press release and the signups were released a couple of days ago, we need EVERY controller available. Sign up for any position, also the ones not listed!

Pilots visit www.calscream.com to book your flight!

Thursday August 5th
Test
Test

Saturday July 31st
Friday Night Ops on August 13th in Portland, Oregon!
The Seattle ARTCC on VATSIM will be hosting a Friday Night Ops at Portland Intl (PDX) on August 13th. Lets support them. Signups can be found here.

Monday July 26th
Denver Live 2010 on August 7th

Gentlemen, the Denver ARTCC on VATSIM will be holding its 4th Denver Live event on August 7th from 1700Z-2200Z. Check here for further info and signups!

Sunday July 25th
vZOA is hiring a new Events Coordinator!
After Jonah Zieske resigning as EC, vZOA is accepting applications for the Events Coordinator position. Check here for more information on the position.

Friday July 23rd
Center Controllers Needed
Center controllers are urgently needed for tonight's Friday Night Ops event at Sacramento. For more information, go here.

Wednesday July 21st
Friday Night Ops on July 23rd!

The Oakland ARTCC on VATSIM presents Friday Night Ops in Sacramento, California. ZOA will be lighting up Sacramento Capitol (SMF) and Sacramento Executive (SAC). Come out and fly for what is sure to be a great time!

Information and charts for the Sacramento Capitol airport can be found here.

Information and charts for the Sacramento Executive airport can be found here.

Tuesday July 20th
Jimmy Cresswell passes SFO GND PV!
Congratulations to Jimmy Cresswell for successfully completing his PV Exam and earning his certification on SFO GND. Have fun pushin' that tin!

Monday July 19th
Tom Huben passes SFO GND PV!
Congratulations to Tom Huben for passing his PV exam on SFO GND. Nice job... now it's on to SFO TWR!

Friday July 16th
vZOA is hiring a new VA Liaison
vZOA is accepting applications for the VA Liaison position. Check here for more information on the position. Looking forward to your applications.

Monday July 12th
Welcome to vZOAs new Facility Engineer Mike Fries!
Gentlemen, please welcome vZOAs new Facility Engineer Mike Fries. He has served multiple staff positions at vZOA in the past and with his experiance as real world controller I look forward to his contributions as FE.

Wednesday June 30th
Chris Mauro passes Norcal Approach PV!
Congrats to Chris Mauro for passing his PV Exam. He is now fully certified on Norcal Approach Combined.

Saturday June 12th
Controllers: new VRC sector file available!

A new ZOA sector file for the VRC Client is now available on the downloads page. Please download and begin using this sector file in place of any older versions. Along with other improvements, this file version contains navigational data and procedure updates that are current up thru June 2010 (AIRAC 1006). Read more...

Thursday June 10th
CJ Passes Ground PV!
Jon Cox passed his ground PV this evening. Good to go, Jon!

Monday May 24th
Jonah Zieske passes Norcal Approach PV
Congratulations to our Events Coordinator, Jonah Zieske, who passed his PV Exam on Norcal Approach Combined. Way to go!

Tuesday May 18th
Oakland Tower wins iron mic for week 20, 2010!

Gentlemen, we got it! We won the iron mic for Oakland Tower for week 20 of 2010. Thanks for everyone helping out on the scopes! A new "Focus On The Charlies Week" will be up soon.

Sunday May 16th
Jim Greever passes S3 PV Exam!
Join me in congratulating Jim Greever on passing his S3 PV on Reno Approach! Well done Jim!

Sunday May 9th
ZOA's Newest Instructor
Congratulations to Michael Mund-Hoym on being promoted to the rank of instructor. Michael has been a major help to the training department and now will continue to serve as an instructor. Congrats Michael!

Sunday May 2nd
Michael Mund-Hoym Passes His CTR PV Exam
Michael Mund-Hoym has passed his Oakland Center PV exam. Congratz!

Sunday May 2nd
Charan Kumar Passes S3 PV Exam
Charan Kumar has passed his S3 Approach exam and is now certified to work RNO and FAT APP solo! Great job Charan!

Saturday May 1st
Tayler LiRocchi passes SFO DEL/GND PV!
Congratz to Tayler LiRocchi on passing his SFO DEL/GND PV. Welcome him to the cab!

Saturday April 24th
New Mentor
Please welcome Chris Virgilio to the ZOA training staff! Chris is finishing up the FAA's ATC academy at this time, and will be able to bring a good amount of controlling knowledge to ZOA. Welcome Chris!

Sunday April 11th
Michael Finn passes SFO DEL/GND PV!
Congratz to Michael Finn on passing his SFO DEL/GND PV under the supervision of Jonah Zieske. Thanks to the other mentors helping out!

Saturday April 10th
Adam White passes SFO TWR PV!
Congrats to Adam White for passing his PV exam for SFO TWR. Great job!

Saturday April 3rd
Jesse Eslava passes SFO TWR PV!!
Let's all welcome San Fran's newest fully-certed cab controller, Jesse! Go push Tin!

Friday April 2nd
New Mentor
ZOA's events coordinator Jonah Zieske has elected to take on a second role mentoring with ZOA. Jonah has a large amount of previous teaching experience. Welcome to the training department, Jonah!

Friday March 26th
ZOA's Newest Mentor
Congratulations to Jay McFerdy on becoming ZOA’s newest mentor! Congrats Jay!

Thursday March 18th
Jay McFerdy passes SFO TWR PV!
Congratz to Jay McFerdy on passing his SFO TWR PV! He did an awesome job. Thanks to all mentors & instructors helping out on the way.

Thursday March 18th
Jonah Zieske Passes SFO Tower PV!
Congrats to our new Events Coordinator, Jonah Zieske, who has passed his PV Exam for SFO Tower this evening. Great job! Now we'll move on to get him certified on Approach...

Saturday March 13th
James Jones Passes SFO TWR PV
After a very challenging PV exam James Jones has passed his SFO TWR PV. Congratz James!

Thursday March 11th
ZOA's New Events Coordinator
After a long search ZOA has selected a new Events Coordinator. His name is Jonah Zieske.

Jonah is a C1 who comes to us from ZAU and ZJX. He has a strong background in event planning both on the ATC side and the VA side. The staff and I have every confidence that Jonah will do a great job and we look forward to the fun and exciting events he'll bring to ZOA.

Welcome to the crew Jonah!

Tuesday March 9th
Charan Kumar Passes SFO TWR PV!
Congratz to Charan Kumar for passing his SFO TWR PV exam. Thanks to the training staff for their hard work with Charan.

Sunday February 28th
VATUSA Friday Night Ops - West Coast!

More Information

Tuesday February 23rd
ZOA's Newest Mentor
Congratulations to James Jones on being selected as ZOA’s newest mentor! Congrats James and have fun!

Saturday February 13th
ZOA's Snow Event - Skiing Lake Tahoe!

FNO

Sunday Feb 21 1300-1600 PST / 2100-0000 Zulu

Throw the kids, the bags, and the skis into your aircraft and take the short hop from KSFO to KRNO for a fun week of skiing. After you land at Reno, it's just a short ride over the pass to visit several of America's most beautiful ski resorts. ZOA will be well-staffed to give you great service from start to finish!

More Information

Saturday February 13th
GND Cheat Sheets
with the addition of RNO I finished the fourth and for now last GND Cheat Sheet. Online and downloadable versions are available via the links below. SFO GND Cheat Sheet -------------------------- online version: SFO GND Cheat Sheet OAK GND Cheat Sheet -------------------------- online version: OAK GND Cheat Sheet SJC GND Cheat Sheet -------------------------- online version: SJC GND Cheat Sheet RNO GND Cheat Sheet -------------------------- online version: RNO GND Cheat Sheet all Cheat Sheets are available for download on the Training Download Site here

Saturday February 13th
GND Cheat Sheets

with the addition of RNO I finished the fourth and for now last GND Cheat Sheet. Online and downloadable versions are available via the links below.

SFO GND Cheat Sheet
--------------------------
online version: SFO GND Cheat Sheet

OAK GND Cheat Sheet
--------------------------
online version: OAK GND Cheat Sheet

SJC GND Cheat Sheet
--------------------------
online version: SJC GND Cheat Sheet

RNO GND Cheat Sheet
--------------------------
online version: RNO GND Cheat Sheet

all Cheat Sheets are available for download on the Training Download Site here

Friday February 12th
ZOA's New VA Liaison
I'm happy to announce that ZOA has selected Michael Mund-Hoym as our new VA Liaison. I look forward to seeing the relationships Michael helps us build with the VAs that frequent our airspace. Congratz Michael!

Saturday February 6th
Bob Miller passes SFO DEL/GND PV!
Congratulations to Bob Miller on passing his DEL/GND PV! Thanks to the instructors and mentors helping out.

Friday January 29th
ZOA claims Free Agent OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet

ZOA secures services of OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet!

After months of negotiations, ZOA is proud to announce the signing of highly sought after free agent OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet. ZOA was not the front runner in the pursuit of securing his services, but at the end ZOA was able to convince OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet to choose them over other ARTCC's such as ZLA, ZSE or ZAK.

While both sides agreed to not disclose any terms of the deal, a multi- year contract is more than likely. With that move, OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet joins a high caliber roster at his position that includes established players SJC_GND_Cheat_Sheet and SFO_GND_Cheat_Sheet. OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet will most likely share time in training camp with both, but adding OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet to their backfield, will make ZOA to one of the front runners for the upcoming season.

OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet was not available for an immediate phone call, but his agent released the following statement: "It will be a tough competition, but I am looking forward to compete with the other guys on the team and I am confident that I can find my place in the starting rotation. ZOA certainly wasn't my first choice in the beginning, but as the talks carried on, it became clear to me that ZOA is the place for me to go. The final decision came after I heard of the announcement that Adam Hulse was appointed the new coordinator. While I haven't worked with couch Hulse before, it will be interesting to see, how he will try to implement my strengths into getting ZOA back to the top. Though training camp hasn't started yet, I am already looking for a permanent place to stay so I can start my workout and be ready when I am needed to be."

ZOA has added a detailed player profile to their roster. You can view it here or download a desktop version at this location.

OAK GND Cheat Sheet
--------------------------
online version: OAK GND Cheat Sheet

download: OAK_GND_Cheat_Sheet

::FR
ZOA Facilites Engineer

Thursday January 28th
Chris Virgilio passes NCT combined PV!
Congratulations to Chris Virgilio on passing his NCT combined PV under the supervision of David Carman. We look forward to seeing Chris train on Oakland Center and also hear him on LiveATC once done with ATC training in Oklahoma City!

Sunday January 24th
ZOA Now Hiring Events Coordinator
ZOA is now hiring for the positions of Events Coordinator. Full details on the positions and how to apply can be found HERE.

Sunday January 24th
Charan Kumar takes SFO TWR PV Exam this Saturday
Charan Kumar will be taking his PV Exam for SFO TWR this Saturday Jan 30 during the Saturday Scramble event, scheduled for 1500-1900 PST. Any willing pilots are encouraged to come out and give Charan some traffic, and maybe even a couple of VFR operations!

Saturday January 23rd
SJC GND Cheat Sheet

ZOA would like to welcome it's newest member - SJC_GND Cheat Sheet

He told me that he is very excited to be here and he is looking forward to be working with all of you in the near future. Since he is new to ZOA he would like to ask all of you to bear with him for a bit till he gets acquainted to his new home and if there is anything you can see that he is doing wrong or that is incorrect, please let the Facilities Engineer know and we will set him straight. So without further a due, have fun with our newest member and make good use of him.

I put an online version (there might be slight loading times!) and a zip file to download to your local machine. Which one to use it at your discretion, both have the exact same functionality.

Look forward for the OAK GND Cheat Sheet to be joining us shortly as well, I already received the paper work, getting him approved will be merely a matter of time.

Enjoy!

SJC GND Cheat Sheet
--------------------------
online version: SJC GND Cheat Sheet

download: SJC_GND_Cheat_Sheet

::FR
ZOA Facilites Engineer

Saturday January 23rd
Steffen Franz passes NCT combined PV!
Congratulations to Steffen Franz on passing his NCT combined PV under the supervision of David Carman. Thanks also to the training staff who helped him along the way. We look forward to seeing Steffen on Oakland Center soon!

Saturday January 23rd
..
..

Saturday January 23rd
Steffen Franz Passes NorCal APP PV!
ZOA is proud to report that Steffen Franz passed his NorCal Approach exam today and he's now certified to work NorCal Combined solo! Great job Steffen! Next is Oakland Center!

Wednesday January 13th
ZLC's Sundance Festival Fly In
ZOA would like to support our neighbors to the East for their Sundance Film Festical Fly In Event on Saturday January 23rd. testing for now!!

Wednesday January 13th
ZLC's Sundance Festival Fly In

ZOA would like to support our neighbors to the East for their Sundance Film Festical Fly In Event on Saturday January 23rd.

more info in the Events Forum Link text testing for now!!

Wednesday January 13th
James Jones passes DEL/GND PV!
Congratulations to James Jones on passing his DEL/GND PV! The certification was well diserved. Thanks to all the instructors and mentors helping him out, those being PB, CI, OD, FR and MM.

Sunday January 3rd
ZOA Now Hiring Training Administrator
ZOA is now accepting applications for the position of Training Administrator. For a full job description and application information read here:

Position And Application Information

Sunday January 3rd
Chuck Barlow Passed CTR PV!
Congratulations to Chuck Barlow for passing his center PV this afternoon (1/3/10). His session was superb and the rating was well deserved. Good job!

Saturday January 2nd
Craig Zarmer Passes SFO TWR PV!
Congratulations to Craig Zarmer who completed his PV exam for SFO TWR! Craig has put in lots of effort to get here, and now he is looking forward to starting approach training soon. Special thanks also goes to Steffen (FR), who has been the mentor who really brought Craig along most of the way through TWR training. Great job!

Tuesday December 22nd
Jesse Eslava Passes DEL/GND PV!
Congratulations to Jesse Eslava for passing his DEL/GND PV! Jesse has done a great job progressing through his S1 training at ZOA. Kudos also to the training staff who worked with Jesse, including MM, OD, FR, DC, and CI.

Wednesday December 2nd
Jay McFerdy Passes DEL/GND PV!
Congratulations to Jay McFerdy for passing his DEL/GND PV! We look forward to Jay manning the scopes on ground in the future, and to his tower training.

Saturday November 28th
Group Training Exercise 12/12/09 11AM - 1PM
Sign Ups for the Group Training Exercise are now officially open.

Please see the forum post
Group Training Exercise

or the sign up page
Group Training Sign Ups

for more details

Saturday November 14th
San Jose Overloaded 2pm - 6pm PST, 11/21/09

San Jose Overloaded

Main - Pilots - Controllers

Tuesday November 10th
SFO GND Cheat Sheet
I received a few request for a tool that would help new or current controllers to learn, understand and fine tune the various Ops and Departures at SFO. Well, long last, here it is.

I tried to put as much information as possible while keeping it as simple as I can. I hope this will help all of you guys to get better. There will be no more excuse for a incorrect issued fpl from now on ;)

I put an online version (there might be slight loading times!) and a zip file to download to your local machine. Which one to use it at your discretion, both have the exact same functionality.

I tried to test everything before I published it but if there is a bug in there, please feel free to contact me and I will fix it.

I intend to expand this tool to most if not all of our Charlie airports, but it is somewhat time consuming to make this, so bear with me for now. It is still encouraged to control the Charlies nevertheless!

Hope you guys make good use of this.

SFO GND Cheat Sheet
--------------------------
online version: SFO GND Cheat Sheet

download: SFO GND Cheat Sheet

::FR
ZOA Facilites Engineer

Tuesday November 10th
Michael Mund-Hoym - ZOA's Newest Mentor
Join me on the forum in welcoming another new mentor, Michael Mund-Hoym, to our training team! With his experience as a real world pilot and ground instructor I look forward to his contributions to our training program! Welcome!

Saturday November 7th
Daniel Oordt - ZOA's Newest Mentor!
Please join me on the forum in welcoming Daniel Oordt to the mentor team. I, along with Paul and Chuck are glad to have him on board and look forward to the contributions he can make as a mentor!

Sunday November 1st
San Jose Overloaded 2pm - 6pm PST, 11/21/09

San Jose Overloaded

Main - Pilots - Controllers

Saturday October 24th
Looking for Mentors!
The vZOA staff is currently looking for mentors who are interested in working in this organization to give back to students and share their passion for aviation!!

The ideal candidate is someone who is easy going, patient, and loves helping others learn.

If you are interested see the forum for more information.

Monday October 19th
ZOA's New (old) Training Administrator
Please join me in offering congratz to David Carman, ZOA's new TA! David has served ZOA in the past in this capacity, and we appreciate his desire to take the job on again. I'd also like to thank the other people who applied. We had excellent candidates for the job which made the decision very tough.

While David has served ZOA in the past as TA and ATM, it's not going to be "business as usual" as we'll be working together to take ZOA in new, exciting directions. We're already discussing new ideas for the immediate future.

Thursday October 15th
SFO Active Runway Selection
there seems to be some confusion as of how to select the correct Ops at SFO. I made a Ops Flow Chart for SFO, please feel free to use the tool at your own discretion to select the correct OPS at SFO.

SFO Ops Flow Chart

::FR
ZOA Facilities Engineer

Sunday October 11th
West Coast Saturday Scramble 2pm - 8pm, 10/17/09

Thursday October 8th
Fright Night Ops: Fright Night 5pm - 9pm, PDT 10/30/09

Friday Night Ops: Fright Night

Main - Pilots - Controllers

Sunday October 4th
Daniel Oordt Center PV (10/9/09) 5pm - 9pm PDT
Come give him some hardcore traffic and he takes his last PV!

Friday October 2nd
ZOA Now Hiring Webmaster
ZOA is now accepting applications for the position of Webmaster. For a full job description and application information read here:

Position And Application Information

Thursday October 1st
San Jose Overloaded 2pm - 6pm PST, 11/21/09

San Jose Overloaded

Main - Pilots - Controllers

Monday September 28th
ZOA Now Hiring Training Administrator
ZOA is now accepting applications for the position of Training Administrator. For a full job description and application information read here:

Position And Application Information

Wednesday September 16th
ZOA is hiring for 2 positions!
ZOA is now hiring for the positions of Facilities Engineer & VA Liaison. More information and application instructions can be found here:

Application Information

Saturday September 12th
Hello from the new ATM!
I'm Paul Biderman and I'm proud to have been selected as the new Air Traffic Manager for ZOA ARTCC. I look forward to leading ZOA into the future and guiding it down new, exciting paths.

To read more about me, check out my introduction letter that I posted on the ZOA forum: Welcome from the new ATM

If you see me online, stop by and say hello. I look forward to serving the ZOA crew and helping everyone enjoy this hobby.

Sunday August 23rd
ZOA has a new Instructor
Lucas has been promoted to an instructor. His dedication and service to ZOA has been invaluable and this promotion is well deserved.

Tuesday August 18th
Resignation
I have submitted my resignation as ATM of vZOA effective Aug 20th at 0000 CDT.

I have many reasons for stepping down from the position, but primarily it is due to the amount of time I am able and willing to commit this coming semester at school, and the feeling that VATSIM is becoming a job.

I have had a great time as the ATM here, if it was only for a short time. I've had a blast work with the staff here, but more so the controllers. I've enjoyed watching people progress through the ranks, learn new skills, and find enjoyment out of knowing they are doing it right! I found watching new programs be implemented, updates of some procedures, and tweaks to others very interesting, and I hope they are and will continue to be successful. Mostly, though, I've been amazed at the amount of time, effort and thought everyone here has put in to making ZOA the best it can be. It is truly amazing, thank you all, staff and controllers.

Although I am stepping down as the ATM, I still plan on sticking around as a controller, and instructor if they'll have me!

I'm not 100% sure how it will work after I leave, I imagine Tom Seeley will be temporarily filling in as ATM while a replacement is selected, and in that time the rest of the staff will continue to perform their duties as they have been.

It has been a true pleasure guys, I wish the new leadership, whoever it may be, all the best, and I look forward to watching ZOA prosper in the future.

Sincerely,

David

Monday August 17th
OD Passed Norcal Combined PV
Daniel Oordt passed his Norcal Combined PV during the SWA event on sunday. There was quite a bit of traffic and he handled it well.

Saturday August 15th
SWA OAK Fly In Aug 16, 5pm - 7pm PDT

Saturday August 15th
KRNO NOTAM
RNO 08/091 RNO RWY 16L/34R CLSD 0500-1500 DLY WEF 0908170500-0908201500

Saturday August 15th
KSFO NOTAM
- SFO 04/053 SFO TWY C CNTRLN LGTS BTN TWY P/RWY 28R/10L OTS
- SFO 04/089 SFO NAV RWY 28R ILS CAT 2/3 NA
- SFO 07/138 SFO RWY 19L ALS OTS TIL 0910312359

Saturday August 15th
KOAK NOTAM
OAK 08/184 OAK RWY 11/29 CLSD WEF 0908170830-0908171300

Saturday August 15th
KFAT NOTAM
- FAT 08/013 FAT RWY 11R/29L CLSD TIL 0909160430
- FAT 08/014 FAT RWY 11L/29R CLSD WEF 0908171300-0908190430

Monday July 27th
OD goes for NORCAL PV Friday (July 31st) at 1800 PDT
Everyone this is a big one. In conjunction with ZSE's FNO this friday Daniel Oordt will be going for his NORCAL COMBINED PV. We will start at 1800 PDT so bring lots of planes. We don't really need anything crazy, just traffic. If anyone is able to hop on CTR and tower that would be great.

Sunday July 19th
MT Returns as a ZOA Mentor
Matt Tedesco has returned as a mentor for ZOA. Matt is allowed to mentor on delivery/ ground and tower.

Monday July 13th
Important: New GRP
VATSIM is in the beginning stages of implenting the new GRP that will take effect for VATUSA August, 1st 2009. All controllers should look at the FORUM POST for more information.

Thursday July 9th
MOA Gabbs and Austin Active
Virtual United States Navy (VUSN) will be conducting operations out of NAS Fallon(KNFL) and will be using both the GABBS and AUSTIN MOA’s starting 08JUL through 18JUL between the hours of 2200 – 0300z. All pilots are instructed to request that the MOA be active while online. All procedures will be adhered to as per our current ZOA LOA.

Wednesday July 8th
ZOA's Newest Mentor
Everyone welcome Ed Callan as our newest mentor. Ed is a retired controller from ZOA and ZDV so he brings a lot of experience. He is able to mentor on ground/delivery and tower. Thanks for volunteering Ed.

Saturday June 6th
LAX Real Time 6/20/09 1700z - 2300z

June 20th, 2009, 1700z - 2300z (10:00am - 4:00pm PDT)

More Information: http://www.vavirginamerica.net/index_laxrt.html

Wednesday May 13th
Website and Teamspeak Server
The box that runs the web server and teamspeak server is undergoing some upgrades and maybe be down for periods of time over the next few days. Please excuse this downtime, the upgrades are necessary and afterward everything should be running smoothly!

Thursday April 30th
Light Up America - May 30th

Light Up America

Main - Pilots - Controllers

Thursday April 30th
Saturday Scramble - May 16th

Saturday Scramble

Main - Pilots - Controllers

Monday April 13th
FDX Food and Wine

Main - Pilots - Controllers

Monday April 13th
New Webmaster!
Everyone please congratulate our new webmaster Steffen Franz!

After a lengthy application period, I receive several qualified applications. After reviewing them all I believe that Steffen will be the best fit not only in fulfilling his job as webmaster, but also as serving as a full member of the FAB.

I look forward to working with Steffen to continue improving the website and driving to make ZOA the best place it can be!

Congratulations!!

Monday April 6th
Congratulations!
ZOA would like to officially congratulate Lucas Dziesinski for passing his Center Performance Verification! We can't wait to see you on the scopes!

-ZOA Training Department

Thursday April 2nd
New Deputy Air Traffic Manager
Please join me in congratulating our new Deputy Air Traffic Manager, Chuck Barlow!!

Thank you all for applying, there was a pleasantly large pool of applicants. It was not an easy decision but after reviewing the responsibilities of the DATM, and the qualifications of the candidates it was clear that Chuck was the man for the job.

Chuck, you have many great ideas and a powerful vision about where you want ZOA to go. Additionally, you follow through and work hard to make that vision a reality. You are also a very stable person, in this sometimes unstable community. Although you are already on the FAB, I am very excited to have you taking on this new role, and I feel completely confident in your abilities to fulfill the role above and beyond what is expected. I look forward to working with you in this new role!

Congratulations!

Monday March 30th
ZLA FNO

Please visit the events section for more details!

Thursday March 26th
New Training Administrator!!
Everyone please join me in congratulating vZOA's new Training Administrator Greg Marcoux!

There were several very qualified candidates, and I thank you all for applying, so it was a very difficult decision, but in the end I feel Greg's qualifications and experience are the best fit for ZOA moving forward.

I know both Greg and I have a lot of ideas for the training department here at ZOA, and I expect a lot of cool new things to be happening in the future!

Again, welcome Greg, it is a pleasure to have you back on the FAB, and I believe I can speak for the rest of the FAB when I say we look forward to working with you!

Monday March 23rd
Gambling In Reno

Please visit the events section for more details!

Tuesday March 10th
SFO / OAK REAL TIME BOOKING

Below are the links for booking flights!

SFO Departures Table
SFO Arrivals Table
OAK Departures Table
OAK Arrivals Table

Saturday March 7th
Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Time starts tonight! Don't forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you go to sleep tonight, so you don't show up an hour late to all of your activities tomorrow!

After the time change, ZOA's airspace will all be GMT -7.
Image from blog.rv.net

Wednesday March 4th
Congratulations!
ZOA would like to officially congratulate Michael Mund-Hoym for passing his SFO Delivery/Ground Performance Verification! We can't wait to see you on the scopes!

-ZOA Training Department

Monday March 2nd
American Pacific Group VATSIM Sunday

View the events page for more details!

Thursday February 19th
Resignation
Hey Guys,

It is with my sincere regret that I am choosing to step back and reevaluate my position at ZOA. Effective tonight at midnight I am resigning, and Brian Franklin (DATM) will assume ATM until someone else is chosen. I have spent alot of times discussing different aspects of aviation with you all, but when it comes down to it, I'm not as intrigued as I once was.

Going to Riddle and having classes that are basically sweatbox sessions for an hour at a time, basically make VATSIM seem like a 'chore' to me. That, and I'm afraid I don't have any time to do it. Between working three jobs and trying to pay bills, all while attending Embry Riddle full time for Aeronautics (Minor in ATC, Weather, Homeland Security) its tough.

There is no one that influenced me with doing this, if anything, I've stayed this long because certain people _wanted_ me to go. But, I applaud all of you for what you do and what you will continue to do. And hey, maybe I'll be back as an administrator someday, or maybe I'll be working with VATSIM for research during my PHD and Masters degrees.

Officially, it's been 2 years, 5 months and 17 days, and a complete blast.

You will always fight the tide of people coming and going, and getting burnt out with what they are doing. This is inevitable. You always will have the students who want to learn everything and read nothing, this is inevitable. Finally, you will have the students who want to learn everything and do, becoming the next instructor or staff member in only months. I hope for you all that you have the latter.

But if you all ever need any advice, drop me a line, tflanary@gmail.com . I'm a CTI student, and have a wealth of information. I also have 4 more years left in school( Yay PhD. and Masters!), so I might be back, you never know.

Blue Skies,

Thomas Flanary // Fmr. ZOA ATM
CID 835147.

Monday February 16th
Congratulations!
ZOA would like to officially congratulate Lucas Dziesinski for passing his Nor Cal Combined Approach Performance Verification! We can't wait to see you on the scopes!

-ZOA Training Department

Sunday February 15th
American Pacific Group VATSIM Sunday

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009, 1:30pm - 3:00pm PST. More information available on the events website.

- ZOA Events Department

Tuesday February 10th
SFO / OAK REAL TIME

View the events page for more details!

Thursday January 22nd
Congratulations Dylan!
The Training staff would like to Congratulate Dylan Whitmore on successfully obtaining his GND/DEL Certification!!!

Thursday January 15th
Silicon Valley
An event sponsored by Delta Virtual and Air France Virtual has now been posted on the events page!

Friday January 9th
New Events Page
Check out the New Events pages, located on the menu drop-down lists.

Thursday January 8th
Welcome Brian Fuller as the New ZOA Webmaster
Please join me in welcoming Brian Fuller as the new ZOA webmaster. Brian comes to us with a wide experience of coding PHP and MYSQL.

Welcome Aboard Brian.

Wednesday January 7th
Congratulations!
ZOA would like to officially congratulate Steffen Franz for passing his San Francisco Tower Performance Verification! We can't wait to see you on the scopes!

-ZOA Training Department

Wednesday January 7th
ZMA Friday Night Ops Departures!
Check the brand new Events page for more details!

Wednesday December 31st
Saturday Scramble 1/3

Saturday Scramble time!

The Scramble will be taking place Saturday January 3rd 2009 at San Francisco Intl. Airport from 2300z - 0300z (3pm - 7pm). It is our job begin the New Year with Saturday Scramble and provide high quality air traffic services so lets get out there! If you haven't already please sign up for a position.

Thursday December 25th
Merry Christmas
Good Afternoon,

First let me start off by wishing everybody a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year.

I apologize for the website being down over the past week, as I was out of the country and couldn't fix it.

Just as a reminder, there is a Saturday Scramble January 3rd. Please attend.

Thanks and see you on the boards!

Tom Flanary

Saturday October 18th
TEST NEWS POSTING
This news post is a test of a new news posting system, please disregard it.

Tuesday October 7th
Sunday Earlybird Special Event

Weekly Pilot Orientation Courses continues this Sunday, October 12th, 2008 @ KSMF. Join in the fun, starting at 10am PDT and prepare yourself for the fast paced world of Virtual Air Traffic! Click here for more info.

Thursday September 18th
Instructors Needed!

The Oakland ARTCC is currently looking for qualified individuals to add to its staff of instructors! ZOA is a challenging and exciting airspace to learn, and teach and offers many procedures featured no where else on VATSIM. In addition to teaching some of the most challenging airspace and procedures on the network, you will also be a part of one of the best, most well respected training departments around.

To apply individuals should hold at least a C3 rating, have a minimum of 3 months experience as a mentor, previous instructor experience is desired, be able to speak and write english fluently and effectively, and have excellent communication skills. Also, real world aviation experience (pilots license, student in a CTI or commercial aviation program, etc.) is a huge plus.

Please send all applications to training (at) oakartcc.com. Included should be a history of your teaching experience (on or off vatsim), other qualifications you feel apply, what you think you would bring to our training department, and anything else you want to include.

Wednesday September 17th
Friday Night Ops

The Oakland ARTCC is pleased to announce Friday Night Ops at San Francisco! The event will take place between 0000Z - 0400Z, September 26th. San Francisco will be fully staffed along with two center, three approach controllers, and other local towers. Please be sure to review charts and procedures before attending the event as traffic levels will be high. We hope to see many pilots attend, don't miss a fun night!

Tuesday August 19th
DVA Fly-Out KSJC August 25th 1700-1900PDT
Delta Virtual Airlines is pleased to announce a new Online Event on VATSIM, "Flight 331." Departure will be from San Jose CA (SJC) to Seattle/Tacoma WA (SEA). The event is scheduled between 08/25/2008 00:00 GMT and 08/25/2008 02:00 GMT. Refer to the Online Events Calendar at http://www.deltava.org/eventcalendar.do for schedule updates. Signups close at 08/24/2008 23:00 GMT.

Tuesday July 22nd
New Mentor
I'd like you all to join me in congratulating Lucas Dziesinski on being selected to join our mentoring staff! He is now available to conduct training session on ground and delivery. I am glad to be able to add him to our prestigious team and I know he will bring new insight and skills to the team. His addition will also go a long way in allowing us to keep up with the growing demand presenting by our increasing number of students, without sacrificing quality. Again, congratulations Lucas, and I look forward to seeing you help bring up our next generations of controllers.

Wednesday June 18th
ZOA Host FNO June 27th

Lucas Dziesinski created this image.

Saturday April 26th
Coastal Range Eruption

This image was created by Gerry Hattendorf from ZLA.

Tuesday April 8th
ZOA Solicits Event Ideas
Whether you are a pilot or a controller, ZOA would be more than happy to hear from you should you have any original or tried-and-true ideas for inter- or intra-ARTCC events. Please email our Events Director at events@oakartcc.com.

Thursday April 3rd
ZOA Staff Changes
ZOA is happy to announce the following staff changes!

David Carman is the new TA!
Greg Marcoux is the new EC!
Greg Marcoux is now a staff instructor!
Matthew Hull is now a staff instructor!

Thursday December 13th
New Runway Operations Tool
The FAB at ZOA has released yet another online tool to help make flying in ZOA as realistic as possible to our pilots. The new runway information tool allows pilots to looks up what runways are in use at KSFO at any given time when no controllers online. However, if there is a controller online, it is his responsibility to determine the runways in use, so the page will inform you to contact the controller for current runways in use.

Runway Information Tool

Friday November 2nd
New Event Notification List!
ZOA is proud to release our new event notification list for pilots! If you love flying in ZOA events but never know when they are this is perfect for you. Fill out the form linked below and you will receive e-mail notifications approximately a week before every major event!

http://www.oakartcc.com/pilotemail.php

Friday September 28th
Air Traffic Corridor Signups Open
The Event Signups are open to sign up go here: http://oakartcc.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2683

Thursday September 27th
Air Traffic Corridor
Controllers: ZOA Hosts the Air Traffic Corridor featuring San Francisco Int. and
Oakland - Metropolitan Airport. The event is a FOUR (4) hour long event on Friday
October 5th, 2007 there will be 2 two hour long shifts. Sign Ups will be posted
tomorrow, Friday September 28, 2007. If you think you have what it takes to handle 40+ Aircraft an hour than sign up.

Click here for the Air Traffic Corridor Events Page

Sunday September 2nd
ZOA Staff Changes
Richard Walls is the new TA
Brian Franklin is a new Instructor
David Carman is a new instructor
Greg Marcoux added to the Mentor Team
Adam Hulse returning as a Mentor

Tuesday June 5th
June New Controllers
Please welcome the following new controllers to ZOA

Kent Orthner
Florian Schupp
Steven Mehlhoff
Keith LaFaver
John Mazzoni

Monday May 7th
May New Controllers
Please welcome the following new controllers to ZOA

William Pau
Charles Ridenor
Kyle Rosenquist
Phillip Stevens
Brent Seus
Matthew Tedesco
Rod Christensen
Luis Cortez

Welcome!

Sunday April 15th
Pilot Feedback Form Available
Now available from the Feedback link on our home page; a quick and easy way to let us know your thoughts on our controllers.

Sunday April 8th
April New Controllers
Please welcome the following controllers to ZOA

Rich Lee - Returning to ZOA
Mark Allen - Academy Graduate
Kevin Kelm - Transfer from ZSE
Greg Marcoux - Academy Graduate

Monday February 26th
Controller Promotions
Brian Franklin - C1 Norcal Combined
Darren Latta - San Francisco Tower
Congrats!

Sunday February 25th
February New Controllers
Please welcome the following new controllers to ZOA!
Chuck Barlow - VATUSA Academy
Aaron Wilson - VATUSA Academy
William Lewis - Returning
Justin Ingersoll - Transfer
Joey Vargo - Returning
Michael Meschi - VATUSA Academy

Friday January 5th
MF, VG, Teamspeak Back up!
Mike Fries passed his C3 and Center OTS tonight, making him the newest C3 in ZOA! Congrats! Victor Gomez passed his BAY TWR OTS and is now a student at Reno Approach! Toby Bucsescu and Lance Hutchinson are both up next for BAY TWR and SFO APP respectively. Wish them luck!

Wednesday December 6th
ZOA is hiring Instructors!
Oakland Center is looking for new instructors! Come enjoy the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains to the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland has some of the most diverse and complex airspace in the country. Inside our ARTCC, we have 3 major airports, 2 class Charlies and 1 class Bravo all within 10 miles of each other. With 5 underlying Class Deltas just in this area. As if this doesn't make it tough enough, the weather can change from Severe Clear to Fogged in and Rainy within only a few hours. Turning the inbounds from Published Visual Approaches to Cat III ILS.

Oakland has everything from San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, to Reno, and distinguished terrain features that you don't see in many places. We are looking for active instructors that are willing to dedicate their time to improve the quality and flow of our student controllers. You will be helped by a team of mentors, and a very supportive training system that is one of the most technologically advanced in VATUSA. Our students go through a series of written tests and instruction through our own teamspeak, before they start controlling traffic.

If you're interested, send a brief resume with your reasons on why you wish to be an instructor in Oakland to: Tom Flanary, Oakland's Air Traffic Manager, atm @ oakartcc.com (No spaces). Anyone who hold a Controller Grade of C3 (Sr. Controller) or higher may apply. Applicants must show a strong desire to learn and a strong command of ATC. Applicants will be put through an interview process with the ATM and Training Administrator.

For more information, or to apply, email Tom Flanary at atm@oakartcc.com

Thursday November 30th
New Controller
Please congratulate David Carman on passing his Norcal and C1 OTS last night! Matthew Hull is also Oakland's next C1, being promoted tonight as well!

There was a slight error with Matt's account a few months ago, and he should of been promoted, when he wasn't.

Friday October 13th
Friday Night Ops - Fresno/Reno
Thanks to all the pilots and controllers who came out to support VATUSA's Friday Night Ops at Fresno and Reno. Look for more exciting ZOA events in the future!

Sunday October 1st
New Mentor
Please welcome Brian Franklin (BF) to the Mentor team. Brian is one of the most active controllers at ZOA and his knowledge of real world VFR and IFR opearations and familiarity with the Bay Area will come in handy while teaching new students. Welcome Brian

Sunday September 17th
Tom Flanary New Oakland Air Traffic Manager
VATUSA Staff has selected Tom Flanary (TF) as the new Air Traffic Manager (ATM). Tom has many exciting plans for the Oakland ARTCC on VATSIM and believes that it will thrive and continue to grow under his guidance. Mike Fries will be returning to ZOA to take the position of Deputy Air Traffic Manager with the rest of the staff remaining the same - TA Inigo Markle-Allen, FE Eric Hebert, Webmaster Jim Thompson and Events Coordinator Rey Rey Lopez, undergoing 90 day evaluation.

Sunday August 27th
ZOA and ZLA Announce Nevada Gambler's Run!

Sunday, August 27 at 1100 PDT (1800Z) and ending at 1600 PDT (2300Z)

Come fly the arid skies of the great state of Nevada! ZOA and ZLA are teaming up to bring you the best ATC you'll find along J92. Turboprops and Business Jets are highly recommended!

Monday August 14th
Promotions Galore at ZOA!
Congratulations to the following three controllers on their new Certifications: Richard Anderson for Controller (C1), Chris Waldo for Senior Controller (C3), and Richard Walls for Oakland Center (OAK CTR).

Sunday August 6th
ZOA Forum Upgraded!
As of Sunday morning, August 6th, we have completed a transition from the old forum software to a brand new vBulletin 3.6 installation. All your user settings, posts and private messages should still be intact. Click here to login and check it out. Also be sure to update your forum bookmarks!

Saturday August 5th
Roster Changes and New Features
The ZOA Roster has been setup to include Class C and B Tower certifications, as well as color differentiation for SMT training. Also, a new controller activity log has been setup which tracks all positions worked and the duration of each session. The results can be found on individual user profiles and the Top 10 controllers based on hours and minute plugged-in can be found on the main Roster page.

Friday August 4th
Friday Night Spotlight - Thank You!
ZOA staff would like to thank TGIF for their always spectacular fly-in to KSFO tonight and VATUSA Friday Night Ops for their inaugural event featuring Reno and Sacramento International! Thanks to all pilots, VAs, neighboring ARTCCs and especially the ZOA and visiting controllers who held it all together. Look for more exciting ZOA events this Fall!

Sunday July 30th
New Beacon Allocation Plan
Updated 7/30/06 As per the VATUSA National Beacon Code Allocation Plan put into effect on 11 JULY 2006, please review the changes to SOP-004 Transponder Procedures.

What has basically changed is that we've got a specific allocation of Squawk Codes set aside for us and we've put these INTO the POF file. Both ASRC and VRC will automatically get your Squawk Range from the POF. There is no more Voluntary Beacon Allocation Plan. Just let the POF do all the work.

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY all ZOA Controllers shall use ZOA Position Operations File (POF) v3.2, available on the downloads page.

Monday July 24th
Tom Flanary appointed ZOA_DATM
Congratulations to Tom Flanary, upon his appointment to the post of ZOA Deputy Air Traffic Manager. Tom was chosen from a group of several who applied. All were worthy of the post. Good Luck Tom!

Tom replaces Jim Thompson, who remains with us as a Staff Instructor, our tireless Webmaster and valued member of the Facility Advisory Board.

Mark Dalforno will be handeling the duties of the Event Coordinator on an interim basis until a permanent replacement is selected.

Wednesday April 5th
New CTR and Norcal Sector Maps!
To coincide with recent SOP changes relating to NORCAL Approach airspace, ZOA has published new sector maps created by Eric Hebert.
Available from the Airports/Charts menu

Monday March 27th
Photos from NCT Tour and Dinner
Click here to view a few photos from our last group get together!

Monday March 13th
VATSIM Voice Policy Changes
As of Monday, March 13th, VATSIM controllers will no longer use the "_V_" callsign to designate voice capability. All ATC students are granted voice privileges upon initial training.

Tuesday November 30th

This site is NOT affiliated with the FAA, the real Oakland ARTCC or any of the airlines listed. The information contained in this site should NOT be used for real world navigation.

ZOA Controllers Online
Position	Name
SFO_S_APP	Bobby Simmons

ZOA Pilots Online
Callsign	DEP	ARR
AAL24	KSFO	KJFK
AAL254	KATL	KSFO
ASA1909	KSFO	KPDX
BOE7773	ZSPD	KSFO
COA944	NZAA	KSFO
CXA877	KPDX	KOAK
DAL3794	PHNL	KSFO
DAL8491	KRNO	KDEN
EAL105	KSFO	KDEN
EAL172	KSFO	KDEN
EAL240	KSFO	KPHX
EGA116	KSFO	KLMT
FDX997	PANC	KOAK
GTW398	KSMF	KSTL
KLM281	EHAM	KSFO
N43124	KSFO	KMYV
PAY3550	KSFO	KBUR
SWA2169	KSFO	KDEN
UAL355	KATL	KSFO
VIR19	EGLL	KSFO
VRD961	KSAN	KSFO
WWA1223	KSFO	KLGA
Last Updated: 20:34:02z

Name	Total Time
Mund-Hoym, Michael	10:46 hours
Elizalde, Julio	10:04 hours
Chicoine, Matthew	9:19 hours
McGrath, Craig	8:08 hours
Callan, Ed	7:13 hours
Complete Stats Here

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