Hi - I tried to keep to the rule of replying to the last baton passing, but I am afraid it might get lost in the shuffle.I have completed my leg, and the baton is free.Redrock

Details to follow.Hawkeyez :-kewl

Will advise more when I know I have it.......and after I dust off the plane again....

Okay...Leaving OAKB (Kabul) for UAAH (Balkhash, Kazakhstan).Cruising at 394 kts TAS, FL270... distance of 783.7 nm... clear weather.Later...Hawkeyez :-kewl

Next time....the airplane goes up the way she is....no more dusting !Go for it Hawkeyez

Oh good! John saw Hawkeyez' post before taking off. Whew!--Tony

Going to wait for Hawkeyez to land before I start the next thread. I suspect that sometime later today, after I've started thread 4, we'll see a new map from Michael.--Tony

Wooohoooo!! We're making progessYep, the map is updated, I think I will wait till the new thread unless you all want 'em now.-------------Michael"If you can read this you're overeducated"

Woohoo...I've never flown this Piaggo P-180 before but it's a sweet flyer. Fuel management and all the other bells & whistles.Left OAKB - Kabul, Afghanistan @ 7:25am local.Arrived UAAH - Balkhash, Kazakhstan @ 9:37am local.Avg Speed: 395 kts TAS @ FL270.Had a lot of thunder & lightning after leaving Kabul and over the mountains but otherwise a clear day for flying.Came in over Lake Balkhash approaching the runway. A fairly busy airport sonsidering it seems to be in the middle of nowhere!Passing the baton off...Hawkeyez :-kewl

I'll take the baton if no one else wants it.(Awaiting to see if I got it...)

Paul...I've got a Saab 340B (mainly by Mike Stone) put together with a nicely-featured panel and sounds to boot... but it's 7.13 MB's in size (that's zip'd max compression).Can you handle something that big via your email...? If I rar'd it the size would be a bit smaller plus I could split it up into smaller pieces if that's preferred...?Lemmie know...Hawkeyez :-kewl

Okay, as soon as I fuel (myself :>) up I'm leaving -- right now I'm not sure where I'm heading but I'll keep everyone posted.

Hawkeyez,Love your Piaggo. Would you mind telling me where you got it? :-wave Ron from behind the Cheddar Curtain. :-wave

Cheesehead...It's a put-together plane and I can't remember where I nabbed all the parts. I can rar up the complete aircraft and send it your way if you wish...?Hawkeyez :-kewl

Good afternoon all, lookie whats been going on here then?Over the last few days, okay, Ive been lying in the sun, surfing in Newquay, Cornwall UK, and riding my motorbike, but you know what? Everyday Ive thought about you guys and really wanted to get back and see how you were getting on.Are you enjoying it? Are you getting to see part of the MS world that perhaps you've never previously been to? Fantastic isnt it. And you know, its just going to keep getting better and better. I wont give you any hints, but as you've probably already guessed there will be parts of this adventure in remote, mountainous and cloud covered parts of the globe, where you'll not be able to grip your stick cos of the sweat ;-)Its nice to see that you have comments and questions regarding improving the rules, thats great to see. What I would like to do is share with you some of the principles that went into their design and in so doing answer some of the points raised.The principles behind the rulesEveryone gets to share the flying. This simple principle meant that a time limit was important and clear precise rules on how to allocate the baton. Similarly the umpire must deliver fairplay by ensuring that no-one either attempts to "prebook the baton" and should come down firm but fair when individuals try to come with a sob story about strong winds so can I have another 10 minutes? In these cases no-one should feel intimidated into not confiscating the baton if they wish to do so, no matter how many others are ganging up on them telling them not to do it :-lol In a real plane, when the time limit is up (fuel) you sit and pray that The Great Umpire in the Sky is not going to deem your flight null and void. Hopefully the 3hr rule gives the flight that same edgy real world feeling and additionally will force everyone to pre-calculate for wind.The clock. There were two questions here, what does it mean to cheat the clock and secondly why not use real time? First off then, the flight should be run as a real world flight would be. No pausing, slewing, timewarping (ask me this one in 20 years :D) or anything that is against the normal rules of physics. Secondly, why not use real time? Excellent idea, as you may well have heard, we're planning a "Pro" race between Flightsim.com and Avsim.com later. Real time, will likely be a feature of that event, however this challenge is a training lesson so lets keep things simple and enforcable for now.San Diego - Yes why San Diego? Firstly you'll notice that no airport is specifically mentioned. In fact the rules do not state that you must land at an airport, only on a runway ;-) Those who fly around San Diego will know what I'm getting at here. I thought that this may be interesting for someone. It could also ensure that the flight doesn't immediately cut a "Great Circle" corner by flying straight across Canada in a mad dash for London. This may give an opportunity for flight into some highly detailed scenery areas (which is throughout USA within MSFS2K2).Finally, Sea Planes - This one has come up before on the "other forum", again watch this space, cos we may have a few surprises in store when it comes to the big race.Good luck all, and thanks Tony for doing an ace job. Keep it up, and I'll check back in to see how you're all doing shortly.