Cross the Ditch 7: Spring 2012
Sunday 09th December 2012 0800-0200 NZDT / 0600-0000 AEDT / Sat 1900-1300 UTC
Cross the Ditch 7: Spring 2012
The Southern Hemisphere spring heralds fiesty weather and spectacular skies. This can only mean it's time once again to Cross the Ditch!
Check out the official Cross the Ditch website
Apply to provide ATC
Book your Flights now!
Check out the Virtual Airline Leaderboard
Grab the recommended add-on scenery for each of the event airports
What's it all about?
For eighteen hours this December, the skies over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand will be filled with aircraft all on a mission to Cross the Ditch.
An example of that typical down-under understatement, this "ditch" is over 1100nm wide. The flight routes all range from two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half hours flight time.
Throughout the event, the Oceania region's two divisions; VATNZ and VATPAC; will be providing full ATC coverage, in the Southern Hemisphere's premiere oceanic event.
This is a great opportunity to experience Oceanic flying without the need to commit to an eight-hour flight! If you're new to Oceanic Flying, our reporting tool makes taking part a breeze.
Event Times
This eighteen hour event is timed to allow pilots from all over the world join the fun:
- UTC: Saturday 8th December 2012 19:00 - Sunday 9th December 2012 13:00
- AEDT: Sunday 9th December 2012 06:00 - Monday 10th December 2012 00:00
- NZDT: Sunday 9th December 2012 08:00 - Monday 10th December 2012 02:00
Waves
This season's event is organised in waves. Each airport will have a three hour departure window, during which time flights will be able to leave for the next destination. As the window closes, the departure window will open at the next destination.
Given each of the flights is 2.5 - 3.5hrs in length, the previous wave's flights will be arriving at the same airport as the next wave departs, maximising the amount of traffic at each airport.
NOTE: in order to ensure that you have ATC coverage throughout your flight, you MUST fly the wave route that is active at the time of your departure.
The individual routes are designed to ensure as much opposing traffic enroute as possible.
Each flight passes from one Oceania division to the other, and the result is six mini-flyins over the course of eighteen hours!
The Waves for Cross the Ditch 7 - Spring 2012 are:
- Code: Select all
Wave Flight UTC AEDT NZDT
1 Auckland (NZAA) to Sydney (YSSY) 1900-2200 0600-0900 0800-1100
2 Sydney (YSSY) to Christchurch (NZCH) 2200-0100 0900-1200 1100-1400
3 Christchurch (NZCH) to Adelaide (YPAD) 0100-0400 1200-1500 1400-1700
4 Adelaide (YPAD) to Wellington (NZWN 0400-0700 1500-1800 1700-2000
5 Wellington (NZWN) to Melbourne (YMML) 0700-1000 1800-2100 2000-2300
Calling all Pilots and Controllers
Flight plans are available from the Flight Plans section.
Book your flights now from the Flight Bookings page. Bookings made on this site help us plan for the event, and will also show up in vroute.
Controllers wanting to get in on the action can also apply now at the event's ATC Applications page.
For more information, including airport and position details, check out the event page.