The Silk Road Endurance Challenge is a grueling test of skill, endurance and determination. Participants will have to fly an airliner from the iconic Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong all the way to London, England. This challenge is not for the faint of heart and will push pilots to their limits. With over 6,000 nautical miles to cover and a flight time of over 16 hours, this challenge will truly test the mettle of even the most seasoned pilots. Get ready for an unforgettable experience that will take you across the world and back.
During this event, we are raising money for Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Donations should be made directly via the Tiltify website, and not to myself. https://tiltify.com/@intheblueyonder/the-silk-road-endurance-race
The live stream will be available on both my Twitch, as well as TikTok.
Please sign up before April 12, 2023, 2359Z. https://forms.gle/BCZrAEWQkiCNf9zK8
You are free to discuss the event here or on the discord: https://discord.gg/ujn5XQ4PTg
During the event, participants are encouraged to join the discord and discord voice chat.
Prizes will be awarded for competing via a weighted draw, but will be announced in the coming weeks.
This endurance race takes on a similar format to the races before it. However, this race focuses on airliner flying, and the control of large aircraft. As such, any subsonic aircraft that is commonly considered an airliner may be used. The rules are different for this race, so please read them carefully!
Rules:
- 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.
- Flight times will be adjusted based on the published cruise speeds of each aircraft. The Boeing 747 will be considered the baseline, and other aircraft performance will be evaluated against it. This multiplier includes ground stop times. Eg, the 747-8 cruises at Mach 0.855. The 737 -600 cruises at Mach 0.785. Therefor, it would be assigned a multiple of 0.92 (0.785/0.855). If it takes the 737 18 hours, it will be scored as taking 16.56 hours.
- An additional 5% BONUS will be given to pilots who chose to fly a “realism” plane. Eg, the Fenix A320, PMDG DC6, PMDG 737. (see the list below for pre-approved aircraft)
- Non-airliners are not permitted. However, as “airliner”, or “commercial aircraft” is a nebulous target, some aircraft may be considered airliners in some cases but not in others.
- Eg, an airline may operate Cessna Citation jets, but those are generally considered to be Business jets, and are therefor not permitted.
- The PMDG 737 has a few variants, including the BBJ. Since the BBJ is more of a business jet variant, it will not be allowed, but the standard 737 variants will be.
- No supersonic aircraft are allowed. Eg, no Concorde.
- Live weather and Live Time must be turned on for the duration of the flight.
- Everyone will take off at Kai Tak, VHHX, at 0800 Local time, 0000Z April 16, 2023, or, 1700 PST, April 15, 2023. We will be on the South-East Asia Servers.
- Your race ends as soon as you come to a full stop landing, and taxi to a gate, in London England, EGLL. Your time is measured as the total number of hours and minutes elapsed since 0000 UTC, and not the time you spent flying. Eg, 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 96 hours to complete the race.
- There are no default times. Failure to complete the race in the allotted time will result in a DNF.
- Pilots are free to fly their own individual routes. Waypoints and cruising altitudes are at each pilots discretion.
- This race has 3 MANDATORY stops. VQPR (Paro), OMDB (Dubai), LTAF (Adana Turkey).
- As live weather is ON. An airport may be skipped if it does not meet the IFR minimums for the plane you are flying. However, you must perform a 10 minute hold over the airport. Eg, paro has a DA of 10290’, so if it is overcast at 9000’, you may overfly it.
- All stops, including the first takeoff require a complete turnaround. That means the participant MUST taxi to the gate, and shut down the engines.
- Takeoffs require a cold and dark start. However, INS/IRS may be set to instant, and fuel loadings may be set to instant as well.
- After arriving at a gate, you must shut down the plane. However, you may do a quick turnaround without turning off the APU, or shutting off the IRS/INS.
- You must load the maximum passenger and cargo that your weight and balance will allow.
- Stops require you to wait for 10 minutes at the gate. This is to simulate passenger loading times.
- Refuelling adds an additional 10 minutes and must be performed at the gate. This encourages advanced fuel planning, as you may pre-load the plane with more fuel requiring less additional stop time at subsequent airports.
- You may chose any of the default aircraft in the sim, including any editions or addons.
- You may chose a third party add on airliner, assuming it is designed to be realistic. Check the approved list below, or message me on Discord to request additional aircraft be added to the list.
- Planes MUST be flown stock, or with realism mods enabled.
- You may not switch planes during the event. Eg, if you take off with the 787, you must fly the 787 to completion. However, if you wish to change planes, you may re-start the event, but note that you will be at a disadvantage.
- External navigation software is permitted, and encouraged. Foreflight, Littlenavmap, or Navigraph are great tools for IFR flying.
- Pushback tools, like GSX, etc, are permitted.
- IFR flying is recommended but not required. You may hand fly, or fly completely outside of airways or air routes. You may fly within any airline SOP you feel necessary, but you are not policed on this. Speedrunning is therefor your best option.
- Any pilot induced crashes require the participant to return to the last airport they landed at, or performed a touch and go. This includes as the result of fuel exhaustion.
- A CTD is exempt from this rule. However, you must perform a takeoff from an airport nearby, but not ahead of you. This is not a test of your IT skills.
- You must set fuel levels back to what they were at that location before taking off again. You can check fuel levels on GoRace. If you do not have enough fuel, you may turn the stop into a fuel stop by waiting 10 minutes at the gate and performing a full or hot start.
- All pilots on PC must track their flight with the GoRace client, available on the GoRace.net website. Note, this has received an update since the last event, and will require the updated client version.
- The deadline to register is April 12, 2023, 2359Z.
This list is an INCOMPLETE list of aircraft. If your choice of aircraft is not included, you are encouraged to send me a message on Discord and ask to have it listed.
| Airplane | Category | Speed Multiplier | Total Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asobo 747-8 | Standard | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| PMDG 737 (all variants) | Realism | 0.92 | 0.87 |
| Fenix A320 | Realism | 0.91 | 0.86 |
| PMDG DC6 | Realism | 0.55 | 0.50 |
| FlyByWire A320 | Realism | 0.91 | 0.86 |
| Mad Dog X MD82 | Realism | 0.94 | 0.89 |
| Asobo 787 | Standard | 0.99 | 0.99 |
| Aerosoft CRJ 1000 | Realism | 0.96 | 0.91 |
| Asobo A310 | Realism | 0.94 | 0.89 |
