NOTAM 10-25-14. Last minute clarifications.
Here are a few matters that might need either emphasis or clarification.
1. A reminder about altitude ceilings.
The London-Melbourne rules sets two ceilings for altitude.
For the Modern Era, pilots must abide by a 18,000 foot hard ceiling. Any violation of the hard ceiling means that the pilot must re-fly the leg. This is true altitude ASL, not pressure altitude, so please leave a margin for error if you select a high cruise altitude.
For the Golden Age aircraft, the normally expected limit is the soft ceiling at 12,000 feet. Again, pilots looking to fly high might cruise at no more than 11,500 feet so as to leave a margin of error due to shifting barometric pressure. Pilots may intentionally fly above 12,000 only when they are crossing the high mountains of the Swiss Alps and the mountain ranges of Persia/Iran or other physical obstacles. (The hard ceiling is 15,000 feet. Again, this hard ceiling is not to be exceeded at penalty of having to re-fly the leg.) The expectation is that you fly at below 12,000 (maximum) unless you are crossing the mountains in which case you may climb to a safe altitude and then, once past the danger, descend to normal altitudes. If you exceed the 12,000' soft ceiling, you must justify your temporary action and put yourself at the mercy of Miss Nellie and her staff. (Flying, especially night-flying, through mountain peaks over 11,000 feet is deemed an acceptable reason for temporarily climbing over 12,000.)
Note that there is no racing penalty for registering a ceiling-breaking flight: you merely go back to the departure airport and re-fly the leg. (Of course, the prospect of re-flying a long leg may be painful enough.)
Special allowances might be made. (For example, if you fly through a typhoon that momentarily thrusts you thousands of feet over the ceiling, you will want to ask for leniency. You must submit a full report that explains the nature of the specific event and also evidence that your cruise altitude had allowed a decent margin of error.) Observers believe that Miss Nellie has been rather strict in scrutinizing such potential violations.
2. Entry into the Handicap Race or the Speed Race.
You need not declare your "race" until after finishing the event. (If you wish, you may declare a "Handicap" or "Speed" at the beginning…but you may change your mind later.) At the end, the rank-ordered finishers (in terms of the Speed Race) sequentially declare either Speed or Handicap until the top three positions in each race are filled and the prizes are allocated. For the record, we shall list all the finishers in both categories, regardless of declaration. We all will understand that many of the "Handicap Race" pilots are using aircraft that simply are not fast enough to compete on equal terms in the Speed Race and thus, inevitably, will be low on that list.
3. The Speed Race Time Pressure.
Remember that there is special time pressure on the Speed Race in both the Modern Era and the Golden Age. This provision means you want to push yourself along if you are planning to finish in the Speed Race. See the details in the Rules. Please pay attention to the timing restrictions involved as the staff may not be able to remind you in a meaningful way.
4. Golden Age Aerodromes, Modern Era Airports, and Ground Time.
In the Golden Age, most pilots will concentrate on the aerodromes designated by the Royal Aero Club: the Control Points (required) and the Checking Points (optional). The cost of landing at these fields is 0:45:00 Routine Ground Time. The second set of listed airports may be useful for aircraft that are either trying a shortcut or are range-challenged in some way. And they serve as useful emergency airfields for pilots who encounter problems. Stopping at these fields costs 1:30:00 in Special Ground Time. Other airfields, those on neither list, are only for true emergencies: they cost 2:30:00 in Special Ground Time. In the Modern Era, pilots may refuel at any airport at a cost of 0:45:00 Routine Ground Time. For both eras, the Handicap Race ignores the Routine Ground Time and counts only the Special Ground Time.
5. Optional Weather Engines.
Pilots are welcome to use any of the optional weather engines (including, now, FS Global Real Weather). You will note on startup that the Duenna will mark the weather indicator as yellow. (Everyone who uses an optional weather program will encounter this feature.) Ignore the yellow. You should declare your weather engine at the start, and stick with the same weather engine throughout the race. (If you have trouble with the weather engine, you may wish to switch back to the default system. Please contact the organizers.)
6. Two posts per leg: Departure and Arrival.
Please be sure to post your departure and then your landing. The departure post commits you to flying the leg. The landing post marks the success and carries the Duenna authentication.
7. Posting Your Racing Times.
When you post your Duenna, please also enter the critical components of your leg's timing.
Flight Time: a:aa:aa
Routine Ground Time: b:bb:bb
Special Ground Time: c:cc:cc
Penalty Time: d:dd:dd
While we can probably figure this one out, it would be good to follow a convention of posting Ground Time that has already been expended. Thus, on the very first leg, you will not have spend any Routine Ground Time (the refueling at Mildenhall/Essendon was free). On the second leg (and thereafter) you will have either Routine Ground Time or Special Ground Time to report and note on your post.
(If you have already posted "Ground Time" for the first leg, just note this and go ahead in subsequent legs and post the time that you have expended before the takeoff. Miss Nellie can fix this.
8. Using the Duenna.
You should use the Duenna to authenticate your legs. (Please test to be sure that you have set things up properly.) If you take off and then discover that you forgot to start the Duenna, then stop. Post your error. And then restart properly. No penalty…other than the minor embarrassment. Forgetful types may want to "auto arm" the baton pickup/release.
9. P3D pilots.
Pilots using P3D are very welcome. For the first time in these events, we now have a way for you to authenticate your legs. You will have to do a couple of extra things to make sure that the Duenna works reasonably well for you. (The program was finished before P3D existed.) Please read the relevant portions of Appendix B.
10. Landing at Melbourne.
If you are using Orbx Australia (the full fat region), you will want to take care on final approach into or departure from Melbourne. The urban area of Melbourne, with its many buildings, is a frame rate/memory hog. Please feel encouraged to turn your scenery settings down: Autogen and Scenery Detail to Normal (or lower if necessary). We do not want the race finale to end on a Blue Screen of Death.
