I see no reason to restrict third-party scenery addons. Participants should feel free to use any mods they like as long as they don’t change the flying time competition vs. someone playing without mods (e.g. a freeware or payware aircraft addon).
i have a few add-ons that slightly changes flight dynamics for a few planes to supposedly make them fly more realistically. i might need to remove those prior to the event
i have a few add-ons that slightly changes flight dynamics for a few planes to supposedly make them fly more realistically. i might need to remove those prior to the event
Yes, please do. We want to ensure everyone is on an even playing field, so I’d like to restrict all pilots to the default planes only with no mods that change the stock flight dynamics.
Love this. Will likely participate.
How will the refueling rules be monitored? Must we stop at a fuel box, or can we refuel anywhere on a field?
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We can track everyone’s fuel state using simair.io to confirm that nobody illicitly added more fuel while mid-air. I don’t know if it’s possible to monitor if someone actually taxied to the fuel box after landing to refuel, but in the spirit of fair competition, let’s all just make an agreement to play honestly. This event is for fun and to help raise money for Shinji Maeda’s round-the-world flight; there’s no need to cheat.
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Gotcha, but there’s going to be try-hards (like myself) who want to win this without cheating. This makes the refuel the most important aspect of the race. Big difference if we have to plan for airports we know MSFS enabled the fuel boxes vs having to call the fuel truck, vs stopping on a taxiway and pulling up the fuel menu.
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A good point, and I’m not sure of a fair way to enforce this. What if we had a rule where we allowed coming to a full stop on the runway and refueling by simply clicking the MSFS fuel menu, but you have to stay on the ground for exactly 10 minutes before taking off again? Does that seem fair? This would also encourage people to stay healthy by getting up, stretching, using the bathroom, etc. on every fuel stop since it’s always a fixed duration 10 minute pitstop anyway.
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Sounds fair to me. Or at least 10 minutes from an initial stop to beginning a takeoff roll, to allow for people to use different runways for TO/LDG
EDIT:
ADDITIONALLY, enforce that all takeoffs and landings must be on a runway. No landing/taking off on a taxiway or a field somewhere
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so you cant “land” (or have an emergency landing) into a field for refuel. i like it
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Brainstorming this a bit further, what if we did allow emergency landings but at a greater time penalty? That way somebody’s run isn’t completely ruined if they have to make a forced approach for whatever reason. Maybe something like this:
- Standard landing on a runway = mandatory 10 minute pitstop before next takeoff
- Emergency landing on a highway/field/etc. = mandatory 30 minute pitstop before next takeoff
So you’ll still want to plan your flight for proper landings at actual airports, but if something unfortunate happens, you can still continue your run but with a penalty of 3x the standard refuel duration. Sound good?
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What would constitute an emergency landing? It’s a game, so running out of fuel? I think that should carry a longer penalty like a game crash-- restart at your last successful landing. That way no one is trying to avoid the flight planning aspect (which is really what makes this challenge interesting… to me anyways).
The only other emergency I can think of is pilots getting iced up and crashing. Especially true if we’re flying out of the northeast in December. I think icing forced ON is a good idea to give us the risk of getting through clouds vs avoiding them, as this is a HUGE part of winter GA flying. It will also prevent pilots from having mathematically perfect routes planned and make the contest really come alive.
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Yeah, that’s a better idea. Any off-runway landings (for any reason) should require a respawn at your last “save point”.
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lol this just got real.
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Happy to participate and support this really cool event!
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I’m looking at the aircraft available and you might want to consider eliminating the Extra 330 as well from the available aircraft. The next fastest aircraft is the Robin Cap10 which MSFS indicates a whole 15KTAS slower. Over the 2150 mile straight line route, that gives the Extra a time advantage of almost 2 hours. Granted, the Extra has a harder time crossing the Rockies, I found a route of KJFK - KLVS - KLAX might be doable with only an 18NM detour
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding is that the Extra 330 has no autopilot. I left it in the pool because I figured having to manually fly for the entire duration of the flight is enough of a drawback to offset the advantage of its 150 knot cruising speed, plus I think it would be really funny if someone actually attempted the Cannonball Run in an Extra (looking at you, @IngoPlane 
).
Of course, if the community wants to exclude the Extra from the competition because they think it’ll give an unfair advantage, I’m willing to change the rules. What say you, MSFS community?
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i know ill probably stick to my autopilot enabled selection of planes for such a long flight
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Same for me 
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although not required, it would be cool for some people to use vatsim for the added layer of realism. if i get comfortable enough with vatsim by then, i might actually do it. only problem would be when atc asks you to go a different way since we would probably be vfr unless you actually planned a full flight