On a photo recon mission in the Avro VulcanBig Delta Wing and no Flaps makes for a "Concorde-like" nose-up FlareGlamourous old reconditioned VulcanEamonn enroute to SENL in a AA 767

Today we had to do some last minute plan changes due to very rough winds aloft. Arvvo had the baton at Marseille for a run to London. We tested many aircraft all the way up to the time of departure wondering whether a cabin class would be better for this run. In any case I didn't have an aircraft that could really do the job at altitude so I took the p-51H and tried to keep it as low as possible for semi-favorable winds. Arvoo had a great flight in the Dynasty, I had a decent flight, ( 17 minutes later ) but it sure was fun hand flying it across the countryside trying not to hit farm animals and such. Here are some shots.Roman

Today's lottery draw was a Pony run from EGTO (Rochester) to LKKU (Kunovice) in the Czech Republic.Sven chose to accompany in the Avanti hoping to get above the forecast headwinds. I beat into the winds for the first hour and a quarter of the flight and then decided I'd had enough and headed down below 9000 where much lighter winds were forecast. Screen shot is looking out over the Czech countryside at dusk about 15 minutes out of LKKU.

My flight in the Mid-East:VIJO - VIGR - In the DEFAULT Vega flown by for about the 5th time, in total white-out FOGG; ZERO-VIS the entire trip; 1/4 nm vis at the RWY; then had to go around due to people taking off; no biggy; just went around but, they didnt have GPS those days so I flew according to plan and tracked the NDB to off the end of RWY-6 at 5nm out; NO VIS (!) at 3000' give or take; then of course with labels at the end of the runway was kind of a giveaway, but I could barely see the end of the RWY; had to 'SLIP-IN and SLIP-OUT (!) as they say to lose altitude.Landed half-way down the RWY but landed safe and sound as Wingman for 'Viscious' - Veloskey.For me it was a challenge flight, and the VEGA has lived up to her name, bringing me in slowly, quietly, effortlessly, safe, and sound.It is a flight for me that has gone down in history, and I was glad to be a part of it as a WINGMAN.As it turned out, I was 49 minutes out when BUZZ-Bee computer crashed; they decided to restart - well my heart sank - I, as a 'pilot' have no option to 'turn back and start over'; I felt cheated.My flight time was 39 minutes actually, and my 2nd success was 105 min; I was 49 min out.Getting the baton and continuing, would have meant a 30 min penalty; a total of probly for me of, let's see; 105 + 30 = 135 min; the actual flight was 105 min; adding the abort-reset time of about 40min (the length of the first attempted flight) to 105 (my actual SUCCESSFUL second flight (!!) =>> a total of 145 min (!!!): so we (as a team) lost 10 minutes in this 'ABORT-RESET Start-Over' deal for this leg.In real life a Wingman doesnt abort mid-air and start over ! In combat sims we are given 10 minutes to ready weps; after that, computer crashes or not, that's it.This 'abort rule' should be abolished, or completely revised to allow WINGMAN to finish their flights.A wise man once said, "It is not for the good of the many, or the few, but for the one"; for without the "ONE", there is no team.Even if we had lost 10 min, I would still have continued on...this isnt about the numbers; it's about the brave and dedicated pilots of yester-year; they didnt have the luxury of GPS either; they had to time their legs an such. I will probly never fly to that level of ability, but I learned much more about how they flew by flying in this race (Using FS9 - FS2004) was a major improvement in the flight dynamics of the tail-draggers too, without which I would never have been able to fly them.(EDIT: BTW I forgot to mention that visibility was very poor; racewise I can see starting over, but I was really into the spirit of the race in these old planes, and when our leg was re-started, I felt like my challenge had been taken away from me. But it's a lesson learned - Loook at "Lucky Lindy" !; you talk about Spirit ! I was allowed to restart of course; things happen, and when Buzz's computer crashed on our leg (he was our baton pilot) I know how he felt, so my question was if computers crash and we all know it can the leg be restarted without penalty giving that person a chance to try again - even if the Wingman's computer crashesSo being a part of these old race challenges has made me much more appreciative of the pilots who flew these planes, especially that Comet and Tri-Motor !)Thank you MSoft and AVSIM and all the other teams; fair winds to you all.Captain Gray ! :(

Engine over IndiaAn interesting flight, perhaps more interesting than one would like.All in the Karachi-Allahabad MacRobertson Challenge. First a brilliantly fast leg in the Comets by Harvey and Norman. Then, suddenly, Buzz had his FS CTD in the middle of a perfect flight. After the team

Thanks Buzz (in the Vega) for circling overhead until the townfolk arrived to check on our welfare, later cheering us with food and ale, for which paid with tours of the aircraft and pictures of the pilot next to his feathered prop "the man who needs only one engine to fly a two engine'd plane."

MacRobertson race... It was the Bangkok to Singapore leg,, split up with a stop at Samui. In Bangkok there was a problem at the FBO where the AV petrol was running low because of so much race traffic. So, in a pinch I requested, as wing man, to have the baton holder to get all the AV fuel while I topped off my tanks with rice wine. The run was very fast getting 10-15 knots more groundspeed than Mike. The engines started to make noises because of burning valves and valve seals leaking the wine into the oil. It was for not anyway - With the smell of Tai noodles so close making my stomach gurgle and the thought of a nice dinner after a long flight flooding my brain..... I groundlooped it at 20 knots! The only surviving thing was myself and the camera. No need to rebuild the engines now. Roman

Cabin Classing across North AustraliaThis shot taken shortly after take off from Tyndal flying as Bry's wingman.The AVSIM race team initially did not appreciate the importance of the Cabin Class rule. Duiring the night flights from northern Canada across the US Vicious performed test comparisons against the P-51H and we soon realized that the rule made these aircraft highly competitive. We decided to begin introducing them into our flight plans when the opportunity presented.

Last Leg to Essendon YMEN in the P51-H.Great turnout by the team for a group flight in support of the baton holder buzzbee and StoneC0ld. Some sreen shots of my arrival to MelbourneLast LegEnd in sightThe end of another RTWR

Incident at DFOOHere is a story depicting a typical racing incident.HighMike is flying a Cabin Class King Air into Bobo-Dioulasso DFOO while StoneC0ld and Buzz await on the tarmac, ready to make a high-speed run to Niamey

A selection of some of my favourite screenshots

A selection of some of my favourite screenshots

Nice pics, Harv!

Some of my screenshots:From our DC-3 team flight right at the start.Flying around a bit at sunset before my first wingman leg.Basten making an amazing landing with the 747 on a short and narrow runway, he stopped just at the end of the runway!

Hi guysJust a few screenies as promised. 747 landing and the next leg taking off.Enjoy, BRGDSSven