First, you must be a member of Latvia vACC. If you are not, send an email to VATEUD 4 – Membership director (vateud4@vateud.net ) also include vACC Latvia director in CC ([email protected]\/wp/wp) and ask him to add you to the vACC.
To check your Vatsim status, use this link –https://cert.vatsim.net/vatsimnet/statcheck.html (enter your Vatsim ID in the first box).
Joining the vACC does not automatically imply anything more than just joining it. You must show the courage to do the training. Either send an email to any of ATC instructors or ask vACC director and you’ll get an instructor assigned to you (look at Member roster section of this page).
Bear in mind that at certain times instructors might be busy with other students or their personal life; do not expect things to get rolling the next day. It may take weeks or even months if you are unlucky. Patience is an important quality of an ATC controller, but you can always send a polite reminder if you think it takes too long.
However it is, you will help yourself a lot if you study the Vateud ATC Training department (TD) section in its entirety. It can be found on http://vateud.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=122
Also familiarize yourself with the Euroscope wiki at http://www.euroscope.hu/mediawiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
You will need both those sites a lot during your training, so the better you are prepared before you start, the smoother and quicker the training is going to be!
Also it is recommended that you spend some time in Euroscope, connected to network as observer and watching and listening to traffic. There is no point in observing when there is no ATC online, do it when there is both ATC and some traffic around.
S1 rating (Tower trainee)
For all the ratings description, look at the Rating Progression section of ATC TD.
It is the first rating you are about to get. It is a bit different from all the other ratings as there can be local restrictions.
In Latvia vACC it means that you will be allowed to control on your own Riga Ground, or Ventspils Tower. To be able to control Riga or Liepaja Tower, you must have a mentor online at all times.
To obtain this rating, you will need to pass the Eurotest theoretical test here – http://eurotest.gotdns.com/ . It is of your interest not to fail this test, as there is no automatic retake in case you fail – you will have to thoroughly work through all the problematic issues with your instructor before he can ask VATEUD to allow retake.
This is the only rating in Latvia vACC that does not require a Controller Practical Test (CPT). Instead of that, you will have several sessions with your instructor by using Sweatbox, the Euroscope’s simulator feature which employs instructor-controlled simulated traffic and you as “ATC”.
You will receive your S1 rating as soon as instructor decides that you are ready for the “real world” and as such, number of sessions and length of the entire process will vary depending on your progress.
S2 and higher ratings
The procedure for all the remaining ratings ir basically the same; for detailed description of requirements and procedures, check the link at the top of this page.
First of all, you have to arrange with your instructor a Training Event – that is controlling in the full scale VATSIM event on the position you are going for, with a mentor with you. This event is not a test and you will not receive any rating after that, even if you have performed brilliantly. This event might be omitted for S2 in some special cases, but is mandatory for the higher ratings.
And you have to arrange a CPT, which is pretty much the same as Training Event, just in this case it is a test and you can either pass it or fail it. In case of success, you are eligible for rating upgrade. There is going to be another person examining you for the CPT, not your instructor, for obvious reasons.
Also, you need to take the Eurotest for the appropriate rating. It is not important if you take Eurotest before or after CPT; you will get rating upgrade only when you have successfully done both. Typically people take Eurotest before CPT, just remember that Eurotests expire in 180 days – you will have to retake it if delay is higher.
Have in mind that your instructor is not obliged to push you through your career in VATSIM- it is meant that you are the person who says “OK, I think I am now ready for the Training Event / CPT”. He will then help you with organizing it and all the involved actions, but the initiative must come from yourself!
Have a good luck in your training!