1

AVA2022
Spectator Briefing
Version 1.0 (July 4, 2022)

Airport and Airspace Procedures

Note: It is depicted rather poorly in the above diagram but the crossing of 19 at
taxiway A/D will NOT be restricted access.
 2

Note: Further VFR procedures can be found in the following documents:

https://imageserver.fltplan.com/legends/BC_VFR_TERMINAL_PROCEDURES_05-1
9-2022.PDF
https://imageserver.fltplan.com/afd/Canada/19MAY2022/CYXX-2550.PDF

Note: IFR charts/Ground diagrams can be found at https://fltplan.com (free account

required) or on the free “FltPlan Go” mobile app (iOS and Android).

● A class “F” (restricted/advisory) airspace will exist around Abbotsford Int’l

Airport (CYXX) from 1700-2100z. This airspace will be a bubble 6 nautical
miles (nm) in radius. It will extend from the surface to FL180. It will hold one of
2 following status depending on the time.
○ Advisory: General VATSIM traffic is permitted in and out of the airspace
with a clearance from ATC.
○ Restricted: Only aircraft cleared by the air boss will be allowed into the
airspace. Unless otherwise cleared with the air boss prior to the start of
the show, this will likely only be performers who are allowed into the
restricted airspace.
● The airspace will remain “advisory status” during the fly-in and fly-out, as well
as during any breaks during the show that allow for a limited number of
 3
arrivals and/or departures. It will upgrade to a “restricted status” during the
airshow.
● How do you tell if the airspace is restricted or advisory? If the time is between
1800 and 2100 zulu, assume the airspace is restricted unless otherwise
advised by ATC. If you’re unsure, ask.
● Pilots who violate the restricted airspace will be subject to immediate removal
from the network by a VATSIM supervisor.
● Inbound aircraft shall call CYXX Tower on 119.400 and receive a clearance to
enter the zone prior to entering the CYXX “C” control zone, or the class “F”
airshow airspace if at or below 4500’.
● If above 4500’, but below 16000’, inbound aircraft shall call Vancouver
Arrival/Departure (depending on which stations are online) and receive a
clearance to enter the zone prior to entering the class “F” airshow airspace.
● Between 16000’ and FL180, inbound aircraft shall call Vancouver Centre and
receive a clearance to enter the zone prior to entering the class “F” airshow
airspace.
● Pilots who arrive while the the class “F” airshow airspace is considered to be
restricted, should plan to hold at one of five points:
○ Hope NDB - HE (if on flightplan)
○ FIX - OMINO (if on flightplan)
○ Active Pass NDB - AP (all aircraft, even if not on flightplan)
○ Whiterock NDB - WC (all aircraft, even if not on flightplan)
○ Although it’s unlikely, inbound aircraft may also be asked to hold at the
Whatcom VOR - HUH depending on the level of traffic (all aircraft, even
if not on flightplan)
● The holding points above are shown on a Enroute-LOW map below. Note that
CYXX is boxed in red. The holding points are boxed in magenta.
○ OMINO is not shown on this map, however it is roughly 4 miles WEST
of HUH, along the track of the V495 airway.

● Pilots who wish to depart while the class “F” airshow airspace is considered
restricted, will receive their clearance and squawk from the CYXX Ground
 4
controller. You will also receive your sequence in the departure queue and an
estimated take-off time.
○ You must then remain on and monitor the ground controller’s
frequency. The controller will advise you when you are cleared to taxi
out.
● Gate space is limited at CYXX. Arriving traffic, please disconnect or reconnect
as an observer once arriving at your gate and shutting down engines.
Alternatively consider parking in one of the other areas around the airport or in
the spectator area.
● Special note to FSX users (and possibly P3Dv1-3 users too):
○ By default, AI aircraft (or multiplayer aircraft in this case) are removed
from the frame after a certain distance to improve performance. The
default value is quite conservative and many users may wish to
increase the draw distance. If you haven’t already, you can follow this
article to increase the draw distance in your sim. We highly encourage
you to test this out and make sure your sim doesn’t negatively suffer
performance-wise before the airshow.
■ http://c-aviation.net/fsx-tweak/smallpartrejectradius-fix-disappear
ing-traffic-in-fsx-steam/ (note, this applies to boxed and steam
versions of FSX. It may also apply to P3D, so edit the cfg at your
own risk)

Fly-in/Fly-out
● There will be a fly-in one hour prior to the start of the airshow and a fly-out
one hour after the end of the airshow. We highly encourage pilots to fly at
these times as opposed to during the show.
● As gate and ramp space may be limited, ATC may instruct arriving traffic to
park on the grass in what is considered the “viewing” area.

Airshow
● Anyone who attempts to “troll” the event, intentionally or unintentionally, will
be subject to removal from the network. This includes but is not limited to:
○ Violating the class “F” restricted airshow airspace
○ Spawning on the runway or blocking a taxiway when the class “F”
restricted airshow airspace is active
○ Taxiing without clearance when the class “F” restricted airshow
airspace is active
○ Intentionally blocking an airshow related frequency
○ Any other form of interrupting or disturbing the proceedings of the
airshow
● For the duration of the show, viewers are allowed to connect as an observer
without violating rule A9 of the VATSIM CoC as per the team of supervisors
who will be monitoring this event.
 5
● If viewers wish to connect under a regular connection, that is fine too (in fact
this is encouraged). However, move to the viewing area (as indicated by the
ground chart) prior to connecting to VATSIM.
● There will be brief breaks for arrivals and departures during the show,
however, they aren’t very long. Inbound aircraft should plan to carry a
minimum of 3 hours of holding fuel.
● Although emergencies may be accepted at the discretion of the controller,
during the airshow CYXX will not be an emergency-arrival field. There are
plenty of suitable fields within a 30 mile radius of CYXX and should be
planned as fuel/emergency alternates.
● Updates will be published in our Discord server:
○ https://discord.gg/BCCvX5PJHj
● All the music and announcements during the airshow will be held in two
places. The first will be a stage channel in the Discord server with essentially
no latency. The second place will be a YouTube which we expect to have
around a 1 to 2 second latency. This is designed to be a backup to Discord or
for those who don’t have access to Discord. The audio will be on our YouTube
channel here:
○ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXRLbufD85Bctim1ayWp3MA
○ Again, these places will NOT be streaming the airshow itself, but rather
just the music and announcements that one would naturally expect
during an airshow.
● For those who can’t make it to the show on the network, the show will be live
streamed to Twitch. It will be streamed on the below channel:
○ https://www.twitch.tv/abbotsfordvirtualairshow
○ Announcements and music will also be on this stream, so you don’t
have to connect to both the youtube stream above and the twitch
stream.

Model Matching
● Model matching for FSX, P3Dv1-5, MSFS, and XPlane11 can be found here:
Link coming soon
○ To install for FSX/P3D:
■ Extract the relevant zip file to a temporary directory
■ Move the contents of the file to your sim’s root folder
■ Download the applicable vmr file and place it in any location
■ Load the vmr file in your vPilot client. Make sure to place it at the
top of the list
○ To install for MSFS:
■ Extract the relevant zip file to a temporary directory
■ Move the contents of the file to your sim’s community folder
■ Download the applicable vmr file and place it in any location
 6
■ Load the vmr file in your vPilot client. Make sure to place it at the
top of the list
○ To install for XPlane11:
■ Majority of the model matching can be found by downloading
BOTH BlueBell model matching & X-CSL model matching
■ Additional model matching will be updated here shortly
● XPlane 10, FS2004, FS2002, and FlightGear will not be supported sims with
regards to model matching for this event

Recommended Scenery
● FSX/P3Dv1-5 (freeware):
http://stuff4fs.com/newpage.asp?JS=True&Folder=CYXX
● XPlane 11: default scenery is suitable
● MSFS (freeware):
https://flightsim.to/file/30091/cyxx-abbotsford-international-airport