Are you looking for a fun event to take part in this Christmas break? On December 27, 2025, we will be holding the Cannonball Down Under, a real time air race between Perth and Hobart. You can take any single engine, piston aircraft (see note), and compete with your fellow pilots. This has become a tradition amongst various flight simmers over the past 5 years, and has proven to be a great time for everyone. With the release of 2024, the race will be open to simmers flying both 2020 and 2024 versions. Please read all of the rules.
The official live stream will be hosted on Twitch: Twitch
Discord: Discord
This is a “come and join” event - no registration required! Late starters are welcome.
Full realism settings in MSFS must be enabled. In the Options Menu, “Piloting” must be set to “Hard” with the exception of “Take-off Auto Rudder” which can be on or off depending on your preference. “Aircraft Systems” and “Failure & Damage” must be set to “Hard”. All “Navigation Aids” must be turned off with the exception of “Taxi Ribbon” which can be on or off depending on your preference.
The procedure for refueling is as follows: land at any airport and come to a complete stop. You can then re-fill your fuel tanks using the in-game menu along the top of the screen. You must wait a minimum of 10 minutes before taking off again for the next leg of your flight. During this 10 minute wait, you are permitted to taxi and reposition your plane, but you must remain on the ground and not exceed 50 knots. It is generally recommended to restart the simulator at these stops to limit CTDs.
Vertical takeoff and landing vehicles may land at any airport or heliport
Any VTOL aircraft may land in parking lots, but must take a 20 minute stop before refueling again; this does not apply to airports or heliports
Live Weather and Live Time must be turned on for the entire duration of the flight.
Everyone (see Note) will take off from YPPH simultaneously at exactly 2AM local time (AWST), 11AM MST, on Dec 27, 2025. We will be on the South East Asia server.
Your race ends as soon as you come to a full stop landing with the parking brake on at YMHB. Your time is measured as a total number of hours and minutes elapsed since 2AM AWST on Dec 27, 2025, not the amount of time you spent flying. For example, if you flew for 10 hours, took an 8 hour break, then flew another 10 hours, your time would be 28 hours and not 20.
You have a total of 120 hours from the race start time to complete the event.
There are no default times. If you do not land at YMHB within the allotted time, you will be considered a DNF.
Pilots are free to pilot their own individual flight plans. Waypoints and cruising altitudes are at each pilots discretion.
You may choose any of the default aircraft included in the Standard, Premium, Premium Deluxe, and aviators edition versions of 2024, including Game of the year or other Asobo/Microsoft addon aircraft. Custom add-on aircraft are now allowed, but must be considered “Realistic” and must not match or exceed the performance of prohibited aircraft such as the SR22. If a custom aircraft closely matches the performance of another plane on the permitted list, it will be allowed. InTheBlueYonder has final say on all custom aircraft allowances. You must choose a single engine piston aircraft. No airliners, turboprops, or multi-engine aircraft. This year, we are also allowing any all-electric aircraft, such as the VTOLs. VTOLs have their own issues that provide a decent balance.
See a complete list of permitted aircraft for 2024 here: 2024 Cannonball Planes - Google Drive
If an aircraft is permitted in 2024, it is permitted in 2020.
Several aircraft, including the P51 Mustang and SR22 are prohibited due to their dramatically increased performance.
All planes must be flown as STOCK. No performance add-ons, or liveries.
You may not switch the plane partway through the run. You must fly the same plane during the entire race.
External software is permitted. Eg, Littlenavmap or Foreflight is explicitly allowed for navigational purposes. However, this software must NOT push commands into the sim, such as slew or fuel flow commands.
Autopilot is ALLOWED, and Encouraged. Please take time for bathroom breaks and stand up.
A successful landing, or touch and go, at any airport creates a “save point”. If you crash your plane, or experience a CTD, you are to start back at your last save point with the same amount of fuel you had while there.
All pilots on PC must track their flight with the GoRace Client https://gorace.net (available on Discord). A new version of the client will become available before race day. This is to validate their time, path, and refueling. Xbox, PS5, or Cloud gaming pilots must provide screenshots of their in-game logbook.
2025-12-27T18:00:00Z
