PIC RACE ACROSS THE POND Date - TBAPIC on Vatsim Like No Other. A race between EGLL and CYYZ.The Rules1. Each Pilot is responsible for planning their own route from EGLL - CYYZ. Emphasis should be placed on using Standard Routeings from EGLL - Oceanic Entry Point. Daily NAT Tracks, Vatsim NAT Tracks or Radnom Routeing Across the Atlantic. Standard Routeing from the Oceanic Exit Point to CYYZ. Attention should be given to the forecast Winds Aloft and to finding the route with the lightest Head Winds.The event will take place after the release of FSBUILD v2, which will greatly assist everyone in their planning2. Standard PIC ZFW to be used. ( 245000lbs or 111000kgs )3. ETOPS, RVSM and MNPS procedures to be followed. A short document will be released giving brief details of these procedures.4. Failures - OFF. We all want to get to CYYZ. Procedure for Diversion to Alternate will be shown in the Procedures document, if needed.5. Determining the Winner. Once Take Off Clearance has been received, Start the Chronometer on the clock and take a screen shot. Upon Touchdown in CYYZ, Take another screenshot. The difference in time on the chronometer between the 2 screenshots is your flighttime. A thread will be setup to allow posting of the screenshots along with your flighttime. By using this method to determine the winner, we are not just rewarding the person who was able to get airborne first out of EGLL, or arrive first in CYYZ. 6. All Flights to be Flown in Real Time. Further Details including a Date and Start Time will be announced in Due Course. We are probably looking at starting around 1400 UK time, 1300Z or 0900 EST, to give us the largest possible number of pilots taking part.

Fantastic Mark!Ahhh, lets see, cost index around 5000 and hope for a straight in arrival. Weather, FSMeteo or ActiveSky, that is the only question. The winds aloft will be the biggest factor. This sounds like fun Mark.Show start time as 0900 EDT when you kick this off, assuming we do this within the next 6 months. Come on Ernie, get FSB 2.0 out the door and quit adding more features.

will be there IF the event does not take place the week of April 30th, as i'm in Barcelona then...hoping ;)would love to enter the challenge though :)Realtime weather should be used?(if so, would it only be FSMeteo or ActiveSky?)Cheers

Lenny,Probably not that soon.Both FSMeteo and ActiveSky will be allowed.

>Come on Ernie, get FSB 2.0 out the door and quit adding more >features. Roger. Regards. Ernie.

Ahhhhh!!! I hate flying east to west :)

Well, this sounds like a grand idea and I am looking forward to it. However I wish to make a suggestion to this idea. Most of us now use either FSMeteo or Activesky wxre. Some however use default MSFS weather or none at all. For this to be a fair and balanced race, there should be a stipulation on the weather programs. If some of us use FS Meteo or Activesky, we will be encountering (more than likely) headwinds all the way across the pond as we are going east to west. If someone enters the race and does not use any weather program, they obviously will not have any headwinds and therefore will have a distinct advantage over everyone who is. Thanks.

...and to add to the confusion...Meteo 5.1 and Meteo 5.2 will give different weather data quite often.Activesky will often be different from both of the above.There are various settings in Meteo/Activesky that allow the user to limit the wind speeds, thereby gaining advanytage...how can we tell who is 'cheating'? Some people even forget they have these limits set.The 767 may cruise anywhere from Mach .78 (LRC) to Mach .82+ ...over the pond, that would account for 15-25+ minutes advantage.So many variables, my head just exploded.Rob.

It seems silly to have a contest where people can choose from at least three different weather sources (VATSIM, FSMeteo, ActiveSky).Lee Hetherington (KBED)

oh yes, I forgot VATSIM weather as well :-)Hmm...maybe VATSIM weather is the way to go...even if it is wrong/dated, at least we can all use the same weather...ahh, but....VATSIM weather is not as accurate generally as Meteo/Activeskky and therefore is less likely to reflect the weather charts for the day of the event...which I would be relying on to show me where the 'friendlier' winds are.Oh boy, what to do?

btw, does VATSIM weather provide winds/aloft data?i always had the impression only local aerodrome data was processed...And about the 'cheating'... well i'd say we'll have to go by each person's fairness and honesty but well...you know...Cheers

Don't Worry.I will be posting a full set of rules nearer to the time of the event.I have some plans in mind that will make the race fairer. Mark

For another Iron in fire (or however that one goes)I often use Weather Center 1.32 Expert while I fly.Why do I use this program no one has ever heard of?Great weather transitions.Nice Clouds.Awesome visibility modelling.Easy interface.The more competition in this area - the better our wx programs will be.http://www.simulationwidgets.com

To bad that FS Build 2 will not support Weather Center.

>To bad that FS Build 2 will not support Weather Center.Weather Center was considered, but at the time, it was not clear how popular it was or would be. At the time ActiveSky, and FSMeteo were getting the most attention and the most chatter on the forumsso those two were selected.Regards.Ernie.