State of the Club - December 2022
Hello, folks! It’s been another great year for the flightsim community and TPC. As we close out 2022, I’d like to let you know about the state of the Club. If you prefer to listen to this message, click HERE.
First, I’d like to thank all members who contributed their time and energy to TPC. You make it a great place for flightsim enthusiasts! I appreciate and value what you bring to the Club.
In April we celebrated TPC’s one year birthday. As we continue to grow, our primary mission remains the same: to provide a supportive environment for flightsim enthusiasts to thrive, fly, and make new friends. Because our mission resonates with so many people in the flightsim community, we continue to see substantial growth. In 2022, we grew from 800 Members to 2400 Members.
It’s great to see more folks join the Club! I’m also excited to report that we continue to grow our ATC and IRL Pilots base, and having that integrated environment brings a lot of value to the Club! Additionally, TPC continues to operate as an official partner of VATSIM, which brings the VATSIM stamp of approval, publicity, and better coordination with the Network. Speaking of publicity - did you know that our group flights are now being posted on VATSIM assets such as Twitter, Discord, Facebook, and website? Winning!
In 2022, the Club conducted over 200 scheduled group flights, that’s 40+ more than last year!
Our General Aviation program has been thriving with the help of GA Tuesdays host Marc | TPC444. We have conducted 49 weekly general aviation flights this year - an amazing achievement! We also would like to thank Paul | TPC25, who had laid a solid foundation for the GA program.
In the fall of 2022 we added Bush Wednesdays to our flights lineup, hosted by Willy | TPC306. Those flights have been an exciting adventure in remote areas of the world.
Fly-In Thursday flights hosted by Greg | TPC810 have gained tremendous traction and success. The fly-in format proved to be popular, so we will continue these flights together with our partner and Club friend Sky Blue Radio.
TPC/VATSIM FNOs, hosted by Ethan | TPC558 provide a unique experience for members to fly in a very busy airspace (via VATSIM). Ethan provides great routes for us to fly, and I hope you get to experience the magic of an FNO.
Our Sunday-Funday group flights continue to be very popular, thanks to the hard work by Andrew | TPC826, who’s been hosting these flights since the Club opened. Earlier this year Nathaniel | TPC217 has joined the Flight OPs Team and now helps with preflight briefings!
Our monthly World Tour flights, held on the first Saturday of the month, have been an awesome long-term adventure for the Club. Lucas | TPC11 has put in a lot of work into planning and executing these flights.
Unfortunately, our Challenge Flight, hosted by Micah | TPC15, will be on hold until further notice.
Our Discovery Flights have been gaining popularity, with host Mike | TPC1079 planning and hosting these flights for Pilots unfamiliar with VATSIM.
On the training side of the house, in June we launched TPC Flight School, after receiving an ATO (VATSIM Authorized Training Organization) certification, thanks to hard work by Elliot | TPC24 and the Training Team. Now we have the pleasure of training flightsim Pilots and are able to award VATSIM P-ratings right inside the Club environment.²
Currently, there are 722 Members enrolled in TPC Flight School, an 11% increase from the end of November. 106 Members attempted the P1/PPL written exam, with an average grade of 79%. 172 Members attempted the pre-solo exam. By the way, congratulations to Bob | TPC43 for recently passing his checkride and getting the P1/PPL rating. Well-done!
TPC Training Team also rolled out The Flying Essentials Course, geared towards Members who would like to improve their flightsim skills or touch up on the fundamentals. This course doesn’t require enrollment in TPC Flight School and is open to non-Club Members as well.
Our Discovery Flights have been gaining popularity, with TPC Flight Instructor Mike | TPC1079 planning and hosting these flights. Keep an eye on the Training NOTAMS channel in the server to stay up to date on future training-related events.
The Training Department has big plans for 2023, including the launch of our P2 Course, so stay tuned for that!
Big thank you goes out to our Training Team: Elliot J, David E, Michael D, Maguire M, Leo P, Blake N, Aaron G, and Fred P. You guys rock!
Next, let’s talk about our in-house Virtual Airline - TPC Charters. Our first Charters CEO David (The Dude) has laid a solid foundation for the airline to move forward, and in late 2022, after David stepped down, James | TPC36 has been appointed new CEO. The company has seen strong financial growth and is currently valued at over $200,000,000 USD.
In August TPC Charters management instituted a monthly TOP GUN Award to recognize the contributions of our Charters Pilots. The names of the recipients of this prestigious award can be found in the Charters Hall of Fame.
The management team at the company has brought 2 terrific special events for Charters Pilots: the Alaska Gold Rush and the South American Summer. Those adventurous and engaging events have helped TPC Charters to gain momentum in a competitive virtual airline market, thanks to Tyler |TPC426. Also, a shout-out is in order to Brendan | TPC19 for helping set up the very first Charters event.
Thanks to Rob | TPC328, the airline has been growing its infrastructure as well, with many new Charters FBOs opening up throughout North America and in Europe.
We also went from the shared airliners management model to individual airliners management, due to the diligent and meticulous work by our airliner operations managers Chris | TPC215, Lucas | TPC11, and Casey | TPC731; so those who want to fly airliners for TPC Charters now have an easy way to do that.
If you are looking for a small airline feel, with strong management support, where the Pilots are treated the right way - look no further! No wonder why top Pilots fly for Charters! Join now!
Our Admin/Dev Team led by Eric | TPC76, has been making solid moves behind the scenes, making sure our day-to-day server operations run smoothly.
We would not be where we are today without their passion, knowledge, and drive to make this place even better! They implemented many new features in the server to make your experience at TPC a great one: new channels, custom bot integrations, moderation features, and many other things that allow us to have a welcoming and friendly environment TPC is known for.
Eric implemented many automation features to make it easier for Staff to run the Club, and Jesus | TPC105 implemented quality of life features, such as TPC callsign assignment. Great job!
Our partnerships with several VATSIM ARTCCs continue to develop, allowing us to have better planning and ATC coordination with VATSIM for our group flights, with several exciting events planned for 2023. We appreciate our VATSIM partners for their continued support and feedback they provide to the Club.
Speaking of feedback, I’d like to hear about your experiences in the Club. We’ve held several townhall-style meetings, where we discussed Club business and solicited your feedback. We will continue to do so, starting with our first Townhall of 2023, on 28 January. Hope to see you all there!
In 2022 we continued with our monthly giveaways. Throughout the year we have given away aircraft, scenery, gift cards, flightsim hardware, and Club merch. This is our way of saying thank you for flying with TPC. Our first giveaway of 2023 will be courtesy of The Corporate Pilot Dad, who is a great friend of the Club. Stay tuned on the blog for this giveaway announcement! In 2023 we will be working on more sponsorships, to help bring new giveaways and special deals to the Club. Have you seen an awesome discount offer we brought to TPC Members earlier this year? Check it out HERE.
Our Explorer Missions continue to provide an opportunity for Members to explore new places and earn TPC Points. These are curated by Alexander | TPC4145. Stay tuned for more exciting and challenging destinations in 2023.
One of the neat little features we have in the server is our daily aviation quiz. I wanted to give a shout-out to Bobby | Raven 11 for running the quiz manually for a part of the year. The quiz is now fully automated by our Dev Team with a bank of over 500 questions and growing. It’s a great feature to test your aviation knowledge!
Our livery designers have been hard at work in the paint hangar. Currently we have almost 40 TPC liveries for various aircraft with more in development. We are also releasing an updated TPC model matching VMR file soon, courtesy of Steve | TPC314. Thank you Fred TPC9154, Christopher TPC2136, Rob TPC328, Tyler | TPC426, Jacob TPC117, Micah TPC15, and Javi for making awesome liveries and sceneries for TPC!
Speaking of things looking pretty, in 2022 we have held 12 Screenshot Contests. It’s a great way for TPC Members to share their epic flightsim pics with the rest of the community. Thank you to all who participated and congratulations to the winners! You can see a showcase of Members’ pics HERE.
In addition to the Screenshot Contests, we have launched our first Video Contest. We look forward to checking out your epic flightsim vids in 2023!
In April our Media Team has launched a video podcast (TPC Hangar), now hosted by Greg | TPC810. This is a great way for our Members to stay in the loop about our weekly group flights, and Club developments. The vid comes out on Sundays.
As promised, we’ve launched our Merch Store thanks to Tommy | TPC69, where you can pick up a set of TPC stickers or a TPC t-shirt. We’ve done some TPC merch giveaways this year and may do some next year as well.
Our Staff has been absolutely amazing leading the Club! From me personally - thank you for what you do! I am proud to be a part of this organization. If any Club Member would like to take a more active role in Club operations, like being a Developer, Flight Instructor, or Flight Host, please take a look at our Staff Vacancies page. We are always looking for new Members to lead the fastest growing flightsim community!
Last, but not least, I’d like to thank our donors and supporters. Without you the Club would not be what it is today. Your monetary donations help with prizes for giveaways and paying for Club infrastructure. That’s huge!
As we say goodbye to 2022, I want to thank you all for being here. Our Members, Partners, Donors, and Staff makes TPC a great flightsim community! Together, we will continue to make this Club a great place for flightsim enthusiasts to thrive, make new friends, and fly together. The future of the Club looks bright.
Happy New Year!
