MM

Well, that is excellent.

Just a small tidbit to add to the scenery. Not useful but instead delightful. Solent Forts. Three of the 19th century armor-plated island forts in the middle of the Solent. (Portrayed are the two outer defenses, Horse Sand and No Man's Land, and the backup Spitbank nearer Portsmouth. But not St Helens Fort near Bembridge.) These models are a fine marker for an intriguing footnote in British history. For many years the artificial-island forts kept the French invasion in check – starting a decade after the real threat had passed. "Life on the sites was grim; those serving were deliberately chosen for their inability to sim, to avoid any attempt to escape.[Wiki]" In the last decade, two of the three were restored as hotels. Now for sale.

Thanks Nick. For barbarians, it is a wonderful thing to learn more about this area.

Hooray!!! This could be a giant step forward.

*** Good to hear that.

😎

Vertigo Update Norm points out that on Tuesday, May 4th, GotGravel published a Vertigo v1.0.2 update here. The Changelog indicates two new liveries and a tweaked dynamics model that produces better behavior on the ground and in the air. A quick test confirms that these efforts work well. However, GotGravel warns that the prop wash from the 850hp-driven blades will have their effect so some caution remains indicated. He recommends "take-off with 25-30% torque" for smoothness. [BTW. You can also play with your prop pitch to improve taxi-speed management.] Performance and Memory We might be thoughtful about performance and memory. We are flying multiplayer very low and very fast over a lot of different scenery. You might turn off photogrammetry for this event. (On my system, this matters a lot in the Denver/Boulder area.) Taking It Easy I'd like to be sure that we take this event as a spot of fun rather than a serious racing event. Please turn off crashes and damage in the simulator and fly with High Level Clouds. You should fly as low as you like to please the crowds and television audience and yourself. But you should also take a breather on the straight bits, perhaps on autopilot, so we don't make work of the circuits. The two canyon runs are a challenge but not a requirement. Not everyone will have time to practice these tricky blind turns. Of course, the canyons are calling "Why not give us a try?" (As the old guys say, "If you don't crash, you aren't pushing hard enough." ... 😉)

NOTAM on Rocky Mountain Racing Flightplans The GPS and tracking the flightplans The G3X GPS and Asobo don't like a complete circuit – as we have in the race course. (On takeoff, it can think that the starting airport/finishing airport is the next waypoint. KASE-KASE in our case. And thus never start keeping track.) I produced a kludgy fix. For each flight plan, I designated a nearby airport CO03 at the final destination (rather than KASE). In each case, I inserted a user waypoint, labeled [FF] for False Finish, that is near our true final destination KASE. So when on your final leg, go toward the [FF] waypoint and land at KASE. Ignore CO03 which is there merely to please the GPS tracker. If you downloaded the flightplan before now (Monday 1800 UTC), please download again. The kludge-fixed flightplans are labeled something like: W_RMR_North Counter-Clockwise_MFS_FIXED.pln so you know what is happening. Why four different flightplans? Sorry for any confusion about "South" and "North" and "Clockwise" and "Counter-clockwise" flightplans. - We shall have two teams: a Clockwise team and a Counter-clockwise team. If we have a small enough group, we shall all fly on the Counter-clockwise team. - Everyone chosen for the Counter-clockwise team flies the South & North Counter-clockwise flightplans. Similarly, the Clockwise team flies the Clockwise flightplans. - Everyone will depart KASE to fly the South loop first using the appropriate South flightplan. Then, on arriving back at KASE, everyone will pause to reboot/restart the simulator and load the North flightplan. And fly the North loop. Hope this helps.

For fun, one can compare the traffic, from the back-seat view of a motorcycle, in Bangkok and Saigon (start at 2:00 and not the whole thing). Fascinating in many ways to see the cities, the people, and the difference in car v. motorcycle density.

Just excellent. Interesting twisting disappearing ribbons on the vertical stabilizer to finish off the swirling horizontal stripes on the fuselage. This particular aircraft won EAA AirVenture awards (2009, 2011) for "best in type". My goodness. A new favorite. Again. 😎

Danger in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison An Asobo scenery anomaly poses a danger to those running the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Just east of waypoint [BC2] you will pass what is in real life the Morrow Point Dam, a 468-foot-tall double-arch concrete dam on the Gunnison River. An impressive sight. Missing in MFS. When flying east-to-west (on the counter-clockwise route) the water level will irregularly sink down just before you approach the dam location. You'll wonder why, and now you know. No danger. However, when flying west-to-east (on the clockwise route), you will be twisting and turning through the canyon walls just above the water level when, suddenly, you will see what appears to be a high "bridge" mirage ahead. Climb immediately to get above the next water level. This is where the real Morrow Point Dam would be visible and indicate the need to climb. Without the visual clue, you might fly "under" the next level and thus crash. Danger. (For safety's sake, you might start your immediate climb at about the waypoint [BC2].)

Just a quick note to potential purchasers to find the desired Asobo Top Rudder 103 from the Marketplace. (Not accidentally get to the Nemeth Designs Aerolite 103.) You can probably guess why I'm aware of the possible confusion. 🙄

Rocky Mountain Racing For Wednesday, May 5, 2021 Outrageous! Unbelievable! Ridiculous! Fun! Everyone has their own opinions about the Got Gravel Vertigo. Watch Bob Patey shoehorn a PT6A into an ultralight JMB VL3 and you have tremendous power that simply overwhelms the little airframe. Not so good for delicate flying. Great for raw racing. Today we fly from Aspen Colorado (KASE) and enjoy a few hours meandering around the nearby mountains to enjoy the view...all at about 380kts. The idea is to capture some of the thrills of early cross-country racing. A Mille Miglia of the air. We start at, and return to, Aspen to complete the southern circuit. Then pause for maintenance. And then take on the northern circuit. Each loop includes a couple of full stops and plenty more touch-and-goes that serve as racing pylons. The flying is all below mountain top level and with an emphasis on speed. If we have enough pilots, we'll set up two teams. The winners will be the pilots who have the most fun. Southern Circuit. Aspen [KASE] to Buckhorn Ranch [0CO2] – Gunnison Crested Bute [KGUC] – Black Canyon of the Gunnison (BC1-BC5) – Crawford [99V] – Telluride [KTEX] – Castle Lakes [CD32] – Mineral Co [C24] – Del Norte [KRCV] – Saguache (04V) – Salida Alexander [KANK] – Central Colorado [KAEJ] – Aspen [KASE]. Bold entries are full-stop-and-gather airports. Castle Lakes [CD32] is a low pass because the airstrip is underwater. The remaining airports are touch-and-go events. The waypoints for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison loosely mark the canyon route. Here, pilots should fly as low as they like, but keep below the surface of the canyon throughout (or, if not, get back down). Northern Circuit. Aspen [KASE] – Lake Co [KLSV] – Boulder [KBDU] – Elk Park Ranch [34CD] – Granby-Grand Co [KGNB] – Mc Elroy [20V] – Eagle County [KEGE] – Glenwood Canyon of the Colorado (GC1-GC4) – Rifle Garland [KRIL] – Meeker [KEEO] – Flying Dog Ranch [41CO] – Glenwood Springs [KGWS] – Aspen [KASE]. Bold entries are full-stop-and-gather airports. Elk Park Ranch [34CD] and Flying Dog Ranch [41CO] are low-pass due to terrain. The remaining airports are touch-and-go events. The waypoints for Glenwood Canyon of the Colorado loosely mark the canyon route. Here, pilots should fly as low as they like, but keep below the surface of the canyon throughout (or, if not, get back down). The eastern part of Glenwood Canyon could be interesting. If we have plenty of pilots, we shall form two teams: Team One and Team Alpha. Team One will fly the circuits in Counter-Clockwise fashion. Team Alpha will fly the circuits in Clockwise fashion. Or vice-versa. A coin flip will determine the assignment. Some Racing Rules. These shall not be enforced. - Fly below 14,000 feet unless safety requires a temporary excursion. - Fly low over terrain and through valleys whenever it seems appropriate. Flying at high altitude to avoid terrain will cause teammates to follow you around in a yellow chicken suit. - If you are unable to do a touch-and-go, then do a low-pass. If you miss the waypoint entirely, continue on the circuit but feel bad about it. - At full-stop airports, teams will wait for all their members to arrive. Unless they feel especially mean-spirited. - If you crash or MFS takes you out, then restart the simulator wherever it seems reasonable to allow you to fully catch up with your teammates. - At the Aspen [KASE] maintenance midpoint, in between the loops, pilots should restart the simulator and load in the appropriate second flight plan for the second circuit. (Depending on the coin-flip assignment, Clockwise or Counter-Clockwise.) They might consider rebooting the computer. All pilots will commence the second loop taking off together when everyone is ready. - If you are faster than the wind, can climb effortlessly to master imposing peaks, can roll instantly to twist through canyons, and can descend and stop on a dime... you will give credit to the wizardry of Bob Patey, JMB, Got Gravel, and our friends at Asobo and Microsoft. If you crash and burn, you will take full responsibility. Documentation The flightplans can be found here. Aircraft Required for MFS. This event is designed for the delightful Got Gravel Vertigo. Get the latest version here. And you almost surely want the Working Title Garmin G3X. The latest version is here. I'll pick the handsome #53 "Blade" livery. Required for MFS: Additional Paints. Please install the following paints so that we have a wider set to suit our pilots' unfathomable taste. Ryan Butterworth's excellent Matte Blue and Matte Red, Dibraze's steely Red Bull Airpower, and AIRPAC1's Sun-Glasses-Required Three-Pack. (These are required installations so that everyone has the livery for all other pilots. Necessary for MFS multiplayer at the moment. See your email for a quick install.) You may fly other MFS aircraft, but it won't be the same! Optional for FSX-P3D. A late-model warbird such as a Hornet, Fury, Bearcat or Mustang will do nicely. Additional Scenery None Time and Weather For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator at 3:00pm local. Set the simulator weather to "High Level Clouds". We shall fly racing weather. Multiplayer Particulars Date and time: Wednesday, May 5, 2021. 1800 UTC Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com Cross-Platform Multiplayer: JoinFS. Latest version is here. (FSX, FSX-SE, and P3D and MSFS2020) Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: North America East server. If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (use the Wednesday sheet here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

Wondering if people would like to announce their aircraft choices in the Google Sheet. (The page for Wednesday Flights is here.) If everyone is in an original default paint, then no problem. But it would be good to confirm this. Sometimes a pilot thinks that his paint is "stock" when it is merely a frequently-flown popular Attwood paint. (!)

I think that all of us would also recommend Ron Attwood's paints D-EMPI, D-EARY, D-EOBU, 91-02, and N148JZ. All at our AVSIM library.