International Virtual Aviation Organisation
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Abbreviation | IVAO VzW |
---|---|
Formation | December 1998 |
Type | Nonprofit organisation[1] |
Purpose | Provide an environment for a realistic flight and Air Traffic Control simulation via the Internet |
Services | Free - Open to the Public |
Membership | 240,000+ [2] |
President | Craig Tyler |
Vice President | Craig Tyler [3] |
Board of Governors | Jacques Mariens (Treasurer) Craig Tyler (Secretary) Jerome Eichler (Data Protection Officer) Max Schwingenschlögl (Public Relations Officer) Jerome Eichler (IT Officer) |
Main organ | General Assembly, Board of Governors, Executive Council |
Staff | 800 |
Website | https://ivao.aero |
International Virtual Aviation Organisation VZW (IVAO) is a non-profit association which operates a free-of-charge online flight-simulation network.[4] Following free registration users can connect to the IVAO Network (IVAN) either as a virtual air traffic controller or as a virtual pilot and engage and interact with each other in a massively multiplayer environment utilising real-world aviation procedures, phraseology and techniques.[5]
Overview[]
IVAO, with more than 240,000 registered members, is one of the largest online flight simulation networks that allow users to act as either a virtual pilot or air traffic controller.[6] IVAO relies solely on software developed by its own staff of volunteers.[7] Air Traffic Controllers can connect to the IVAO network using IVAO's radar client, or Aurora - The IVAO ATC Client, that emulates the interface of a modern, real-world air traffic control radar scope. Pilots can connect using their flight simulator and the built-in pilot client, IvAp or Altitude - The IVAO Pilot Client. All pilots and ATC thereby interact on a dedicated, one-world server environment that simulates world-wide air traffic on an "as real as it gets" basis. While the largest part of IVAO's active membership is based in Europe, new divisions are continually being created to spread the network coverage world-wide.
IVAO logs all flight and controlling hours and offers its members to obtain virtual pilot and ATC ranks by undergoing training and passing theoretical and practical exams based around real-world aviation regulations and procedures. A fully integrated VA system offers virtual airlines the ability to operate on the IVAO Network even with fictional airline callsigns and liveries. Events and regular gatherings are organised on a daily basis by divisions or members. With approximately 8,000 connections per day and an average weekday peak between 700 and 1,500 simultaneous connections, IVAO reached its current simultaneous connection record during the annual "Crowded Skies" event on December 10, 2016, with 3,004 members flying or controlling at the same time. In the latest event of the same name, however, held in 2021, IVAO was far from reaching that number again followed by severe issues in their servers.
History[]
The first steps for setting up flight simulation in a massively-multiplayer online environment were taken with the creation of and in the mid-1990s. These two programs were connected to , a simple flight simulator multiplayer server, which allowed the evolution from a one-to-one (one ATC and one plane) environment to a many-to-many environment.
Using these programs, SATCO (now VATSIM) was the first large network to create an online air traffic simulation environment. On December 16, 1998 IVAO was founded when a group of people left SATCO to form a new network after management conflicts developed within the organisation.[8] In late 2005, another management conflict, this time within the IVAO organisation, led to a further split. The incumbent president of IVAO continued with IVAO.org, while other members of management continued the organisation under IVAO.aero.[9] In 2007, IVAO was officially registered as a non-profit organisation under Belgian law.[10]
IVAO also has took part in FlightSimCon 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, held in Hartford, Connecticut.[11]
The formal status of IVAO has been changed into advertising bureau on September 1, 2015 and therefore IVAO has to pay VAT since October 1, 2015.[12]
In December 2019, IVAO Launched its Official BETA of 3 new pieces of software; Altitude - The IVAO Pilot Client, Aurora - The IVAO ATC Client, and Artifice - The Connector (Formerly IvAI).[13] IVAO utilized its Virtual Sky media platform for the initial news release.[14]
Security breaches and server issues[]
In February of 2021, a global password reset was issued to all users due to an "unauthorised use of privileged access to IVAO web systems" which led to a security breach that affected its staff members. IVAO claims that this incident did not affect normal users.[15]
As of December 2021, IVAO has been targeted due to the poor quality of their servers, which are currently unable to carry on a large number of connections.[16] In the latest three Crowded Skies Events, where the major aim is to reach a large number of connections,[17][18] in a charitable joint-venture with , several complaints by members[19] were heard regarding severe instabilities of servers, ranging from voice servers to web servers.[20]
The biggest flaw happened in March 2020 in the so-called Global Online Day[21][22] event, designed in a way to make people enjoy the online flying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Servers weren't able to handle the already expected large number of connections, crashing multiple times, creating a very bad image on the network stability.[23]
This issue is also observed in regular activities not boosted by events, like the common spike observed in weekends.[24]
References[]
- ^ "Articles of the Association". IVAO. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ "Member List". ivao.aero.
- ^ Current Board of Governors Website of the Beglish Commercial Court. Retrieved on 9. Januar 2022.
- ^ "IVAO.aero Mission Statement". IVAO. May 28, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ Jeff Van West (2007). Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots: Real World Training. John Wiley and Sons. p. 677. ISBN 978-0-470-18331-1.
- ^
"Bust stress, conquer sky – the virtual way". deccanherald.com. July 20, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
the International Virtual Aviation Organisation, the biggest community of virtual flyers and air traffic controllers
- ^ "IVAO SOFTWARE: WHAT'S COMING NEXT?". Virtual Sky. August 29, 2019. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
- ^ Daniel Terdiman (December 16, 2006). "Into the wild blue virtual yonder". CNET News.com. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
It formed in 2001 when internal politics in a precursor network, SATCO, caused a rupture that resulted in two rival networks
- ^ "Why IVAO.aero". IVAO. December 2, 2005. Archived from the original on August 20, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- ^ "International Virtual Aviation Organisation" (PDF). Belgian National Paper. April 18, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 31, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Ondernemingsgegevens | KBO Public Search". kbopub.economie.fgov.be. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- ^ "Home". IVAO New Software. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ Belkhiria, Fares (December 15, 2019). "IVAO FINALLY ANNOUNCES DATE FOR NEW SOFTWARE BETA RELEASE". Virtual Sky. Archived from the original on January 16, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ "[NOTAM] Password Reset to All IVAO Members". IVAO Forum. February 26, 2021. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ "[STATEMENT] Server issues with Crowded Skies 2021". IVAO Forum. December 5, 2021. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ "[HQ] [7 DEC 00z - 23:59z] Crowded Skies XV". IVAO Forum. November 12, 2019. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
- ^ "[4 DEC 00z - 23:59z] [HQ] Crowded Skies XVI". IVAO Forum. November 12, 2019. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
- ^ "Re: [4 DEC 00z - 23:59z] [HQ] Crowded Skies XVI". IVAO Forum. December 4, 2021. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
- ^ "IVAO Heartbeat". IVAO. December 4, 2021. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
- ^ "IVAO Global Online Day". IVAO Virtual Sky. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
- ^ "IVAO Global Online Day". IVAO Forum. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
- ^ "RE: IVAO Global Online Day". IVAO. March 28, 2020. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ "IVAO Webeye". IVAO. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
External links[]
- Aviation websites
- Microsoft Flight Simulator add-ons
- Massively multiplayer online games
- Flight simulation video games