Working on Budapest. Managed to get a few sub 50 runs (49.390 the best I think) but none clean yet. From the ones I’ve tried, indeed the best times comes from the flat turn 
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Managed a clean sub 50s run! Happy to be 3rd because you guys are clearly in another league 
Lowering the settings helped because previously I was having some micro stutters
Which software do you use to record your attempts? I want to start documenting some myself.
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@ITALynx11 Man, you’re on fire! 
The pace at which we keep pushing each other is absolutely insane - and you know what, this morning you actually made me laugh out loud. 
Your video genuinely made my day! 
I’ve already watched it a couple of times and will definitely watch it again, because it’s a really beautiful flight and a very clean, well-earned win! 
The trajectory looks almost perfect - not a single unnecessary movement! Well… almost. 
I noticed that you slightly changed the line through Gate 4 and the approach to Gate 5, and that’s a very clever and logical refinement. The aircraft really seems to lose less energy that way: the turn after Gate 4 can be done less aggressively than if it’s initiated before the gate, and the entry angle for the vertical turn becomes more optimal for the run through Gate 6.
It looks like the same idea applies to Gate 8 as well - it seems better to finish the turn later but more gently, rather than earlier and more aggressively.
There’s one more difference that immediately caught my eye. I often end up going past 90 degrees of bank, unfortunately, because during the change of turn direction I don’t manage to unload the G enough. As a result, the aircraft tends to pitch up slightly, and thus I need to push it back down by overbanking. This might be related to my FFBeast being set to fairly high force levels: the need to quickly pull hard after the change of turn direction forces me to keep pressure on the stick instead of relaxing it sufficiently during the transition. At least when I recently reduced the roll-axis force coefficient, it allowed me to change the bank angle much more sharply, and I gained a few tenths while flying through the gates because I was able to start the turn quicker.
In your video, though, that extra pitching up during turn direction changes is almost never there - the bank angle usually stays below 90 degrees, and the aircraft really looks like it’s running on rails. The fact that the difference between your runs shown in the video is only 0.003 seconds speaks for itself.
With all these refinements, it honestly feels like it’s hard to imagine a better trajectory. This is top-level flying. 
I’m not even sure whether I want to try matching it - or how many attempts it would cost me if I do. I’ll think about that. 
By the way, I’d honestly love to meet up someday with the RBAR community - Discord is great, but sitting down over a beer feels like a whole different kind of conversation. Is anyone planning to go to FlightSimWeekend maybe? That would be a nice place to catch each other. 
S!
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Hey, @becaspr, congratulations on a great result - keep it up! 
Yes, settings definitely have an impact on visual smoothness. I’m forced to fly on Low settings myself, since I’m flying in VR on a… laptop. 
I record my videos using the built-in Quest 3 recorder. Unfortunately, in those recordings the instruments or the time-board are often not visible - mostly because I move my head a lot (yeah, it’s just my nature), and the edges of the image are noticeably blurred. I’d really like to get a wider FOV in the recordings, but I haven’t found a way to do that - I couldn’t find any settings for it.
There is an option to record in a square 1024x1024 format instead of 1920x1080. The quality is a bit worse, but it might help keep the airspeed indicator in frame more often. The downside is that for YouTube the video would then need to be converted back to 16:9 in the video editor. 
S!
Started recording my attempts, the audio and video quality is not that great for some reason though.
Anyway, not my PB but the best I managed to record for now. Comparing it with @ITALynx11 record run, I noticed that I’ve started to loose a lot of time in the first VTM. The run is also not the smoothest
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@ITALynx11 By the way, I really appreciate your very fair-play attitude and your honest take on the first run, where Gate 9 was crossed a bit high. That kind of mindset definitely deserves respect.
That said, just to be fair, I’ve just noticed that in the second run the finish gate was also crossed slightly higher. Personally, I don’t consider this a “cheat” in this case - it doesn’t actually affect the time, and the entry angle still clearly allows the gate to be crossed at a valid height. So, just like with Gate 9, I don’t think it plays a decisive role here.
A different story would be something like cutting a chicane (I think it was Chiba, wasn’t it?).
In any case, while we may all aim to fly the tracks as cleanly and correctly as possible, we’re still competing within the existing rule set. And if no penalty is given, then the run is valid - and the pilot is the winner. We’re all flying under the same conditions, and that makes it fair competition. So I wouldn’t worry too much about crossing a gate slightly high.
That said, on a personal level, I also try to fly the gates at the correct height - maybe it’s just my inner perfectionist, but I like when it looks clean and beautiful. 
S!
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@becaspr, very good run!
You’re progressing incredibly fast - it honestly has me shifting in my chair already! 
I have a feeling that staying flat a bit longer at Gate 9 before the turn might have cost you a few tenths. Given how great the final time already is, I’m pretty sure you’ve got a very solid chance to challenge all of us at the top.
Smoke on!
Hi @AnPetrovich777,
you’re absolutely right about that, and I also pointed it out in the video on the final screen.
That said, I agree that with the current rules, a run without penalties is a valid run.
Still, I personally try to stick as closely as possible to real RBAR rules when flying, and that’s what I aim for. I guess it’s the perfectionist side… and I know you share that mindset too
@Chewwy94 Hopefully these community findings can help guide future refinements, making the RBAR add-on more complete, accurate, and rewarding for competitive flying.
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Congrats, that’s a great result!! And a clean sub 50 is no small achievement.
This is exactly what the RBAR community on MSFS needs: sharing findings, comparing approaches, and helping each other improve. When techniques and insights are exchanged openly, everyone gets faster and the competition rises to the same level.
Well done, and keep pushing!! this is how a racing community is built!!
Smoke on!
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By the way, there’s another racer who just went sub-50: WiredAphid#2124 
Pilots are getting closer and closer to the limits now, the gaps are shrinking fast.
I don’t think he’s on the forum yet, as I can’t recall seeing his nickname here, but it would be great to have him join the discussion and share his approach.
Just uploaded a split-screen comparison from the RBAR Rio de Janeiro track.
Two pilots, two different trajectories and approaches, yet the exact same final lap time: 1:08.377.
Watching the video side by side, it’s clear that there is still some margin for improvement by combining the best elements of both runs. That alone shows how close we are to the limit and how much the outcome now depends on fine details rather than big changes.
This also highlights how high the competitive level already is, and how engaged the community has become. Pilots are analyzing, sharing, and pushing each other forward — exactly the conditions needed for a more structured competitive format.
From a MSFS2024 RBAR development perspective, this feels like the right moment to build on that momentum. The interest is there, the skill level is there, and the community is clearly ready for the next step.
Looking forward to more runs, analyses, and challenges.
Smoke on!
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Hi racers, 
I took a closer look at my latest Budapest record and realized I wasted about 0.4 seconds between Gate 5 and Gate 6 due to a detour. So here’s my today’s “home work on mistakes”:
(sorry for the bad screen rez, that’s from VR)
Who’s next?
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Hey @ITALynx11 thank you a lot for the video!
Very interesting for comparison indeed - great job!
Awesome video! I watched both and tried to perfect my trajectories… And it worked (except for the positioning for the last 180º turn) 
It’s hard to compare it because the times in your video are not always shown, but from what I gathered, I was neck a neck right until the end, where I lost almost 7 tenths…
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What an amazing time!
I knew there was some margin to go below 49, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that low!
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Thank you @ITALynx11 !
I realized there was at least a 0.4-second margin using the same time-comparison method as above - plotting the charts for our best attempts and looking at the differences.
I think there might be another 0.1 seconds there as well… at least.
Curious to see how it turns out in your next run.
Smoke on!
Great result @becaspr !
I didn’t do a full timing comparison, but I did notice a small pause at the pre-finish gate on the first lap - that might have cost a few tenths of a second. 
I really like how aggressively you guys are able to throw the aircraft into bank. With my full-size floor-mounted FFB joystick, that kind of roll rate is just not achievable. I’m honestly starting to think about switching to a gamepad 
Hopefully that won’t get me kicked out of the club?
S!
I actually have an old BRD not a gamepad
3 milliseconds? You’re kidding!
It doesn’t look as 0.1 s yet 