Hello & Going Forward

 

Greetings Captains! 

Let me start off by thanking Gary for his many years leading Virtual United.  He’s set a very high bar for me to live up to.  I’ll do my best to measure up.

Like many of you I have virtual flying for many years.  For those of you who might be asking if they had Flight Simulator back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, you are probably correct.  I got my start with this hobby back when it was known as Bruce Artwick / Sub Logic flight simulator, on first generation PC with a green monochrome screen. 

Along with the various iterations of flight simulator came virtual online flying and then virtual airlines.   The first VA I joined was Virtual Hughes Air West flying an Iron Knuckles DC-9.  So there you have it, I am old as dirt!  Along the way I met many others who share this hobby, or passion, perhaps obsession might be the best description.  Many of these pilots have become my friends over the years, it was through some of those friendships that brought me here to Virtual United.

I don’t want to get too wordy here but please bear with me for a little bit longer.

My philosophy (mirroring the VA) is that this is a hobby.  We want you to have fun and enjoy so we try to keep the rules to a minimum.  (we are flexible on the enforcement as well)

I know everyone has been frustrated by our recent problems with the website going down.  I can’t thank you enough for all of your patience with this issue.  These shortages may occur intermittently for a short while longer, please bear with us.  We will always work as quickly as possible to minimize any disruptions in service.

Justin Austin, our VP of IT / Technology, has resigned due to real world commitments that require more of his time.  I would like to thank him for all the work he has done here.  With than being said, we are currently seeking one or two individuals with Webtech experience to take over the IT duties for the VA.

We will be prioritizing getting to the root of the problem and fixing it.  Some of the causes are a result of past hacks and spamming, along with some outdated source coding.  Some of this has been the cause of the recent problems with our company email.

If the site does go down, we encourage you to keep flying.  You can file those flights manually.  We do ask that you provide a Vatsim or IVAO link if you are flying online or use a program like Volanta (its free) to track your flight.  These are methods that we use for verification. 

After that then we can begin planning some long-needed upgrades to our website.   This would most likely include a new ACARS system other than smartCars V3.

Please visit the Discord channels regularly for more information.  I would also like to encourage your use of the Discord voice channels when flying to get to know your fellow pilots.  It’s a great way to make new friends.

Lastly, on behalf of the staff here I want to thank all of you for your past and continued support, we could not continue without it.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me via email or Discord PM with any questions, concerns or comments.

Thank you for all of your support!

Eric Elia