Western Roundup: Official Rules and NOTAMS

[MM]

This is the 2013 Spring Event "The Western Roundup" Official Rules and NOTAMS thread. Here we post rules and NOTAMS and other official notifications.

Please do not respond directly to this thread. It will be good to minimize clutter.

[MM]

The first order of business is the release of the final "Draft" of the official rules. This Draft (v0.90) is very nearly the final release, but we may need to make tweaks to fix errors or to make clarifications.

The Draft Rules are attached. And they are available for download from a Dropbox server here:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/22163895/Th...up%20v0.90.pdf

[MM]

Berinsky knocked on my door and winked. "Slim" is a short stocky fellow blessed with a touch of genius and a puckish sense of humor. In his quick patter, he indicated that the latest two submissions meet all our requirements. They are quality simulations that fit into the overall parameters of the event. Both planes are of genuine historic interest.

They are:

Meyers 200D
Tim "Piglet" Conrad. Freeware. FSX. Silver Class.
- 6,000 ft: 192 KTAS @ 135 PPH
- 10,000 ft: 190 KTAS @ 119 PPH

Fast and efficient. A good well-rounded competitor. Classic Piglet design – he brings us a fine freeware model of a peculiar and interesting aircraft.

Vans RV-7
Bay Tower Studios. Payware. FSX. Silver Class.
- 6,000 ft: 177 KTAS @ 64 PPH
- 10,000 ft: 175 KTAS @ 56 PPH

Not especially fast, but very fuel efficient. Bay Tower has done an excellent, beautiful, and very thorough model of the famous homebuilt aircraft. (The tricycle and "conventional" gear models are similar in performance and both qualify in the Silver Class.)

[MM]

Update on the permitted weather engines.

The freeware program FSrealWX lite is now allowed. It is available from the German site Hanse-Coders here:
http://www.hanse-coders.net/index.php?page=self&id=1 . Look under the tabs "Software" and "Downloads."

You have an option to use the standard default MSFS Jeppesen weather. Or the payware platforms of Active Sky, or REX, or OpusFSX. Or the freeware FSrealWX lite.

Whatever you choose, please announce your weather engine before you take off from Seattle and then stick to it throughout. (If you must change, you will have to appeal to the redoubtable Ms. Murphy.)

Please remember that in all instances, you want to use realtime downloaded weather. You may not disable turbulence or winds aloft or haze layers or airport visibility/winds or make any other modifications that ease the flight regime. You may smooth the unrealistic rapid windshifts that characterize MSFS weather, especially in FSX. And you may use other options that make things more realistic.

We are keen to learn more about all these weather engines, so please let everyone know what you think of them. The new freeware FSrealWX would be of real interest to everyone. Might those who use it please take notes and let us know how well it works by describing its strengths and weaknesses .

[MM]

Attached here are the Official Rules for the 2013 Western Roundup.

You will find two documents attached.

The first is the "Western Roundup Rules Summary" which is quite similar to the draft released earlier. You will find a description, the essential rules, the routes, and the (revised) White List. This is a compressed version of the rules, one that doesn't go into much detail.

The second document is the "Western Roundup Rules" which is a more extensive version of the first document. It includes the same material but adds some detail and discussion of how the rules will be applied under different circumstances. For rookies, it also adds a few pointers about practical applications.

As a participant, you surely want to read the Rules Summary. And we recommend that you read, or at least skim, the detailed Rules discussion so that you have an idea about what lies beneath the surface.

If you have any questions, please post in the "Discussion" thread so that we may keep this one dedicated to official announcements.

Best wishes from the Spring Event Team.


PS. You can also obtain the documents from a Dropbox server.
Rules Summary:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ry%20v1.00.pdf
Official Rules:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...20%20v1.00.pdf

[MM]

NOTAM: Western Roundup Final Destination Announced
(4-24-13)

The final destination in the San Francisco Bay Area is the busy General Aviation airport San Carlos (KSQL).

[MM]

NOTAM: An Airman's Guide to the Western Roundup
(4-24-13)

The Airman's Guide to the Western Roundup is a set of notes on the various airfields and the scenery along the way. This is a long document that probably exceeds anyone's patience for a straight-through reading. However, it might prove informative and enjoyable for perusal as you go along. It is now available from a Dropbox server here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ns%20Guide.pdf

[MM]

NOTAMS: Prizes and Awards and Additional Aircraft
(4-25-13)

The Blue Ribbon

At the end of the event, all entries will be rank-ordered by their overall Scoring Time (reflecting speed and efficiency). The overall winner, to be awarded the Blue Ribbon, is the pilot with the lowest Scoring Time. In addition, understanding that the capabilities of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze aircraft vary considerably, we shall officially recognize the pilots who achieve the distinction of placing "Best in Class".

Note that the Blue Ribbon will be awarded to the best pilot entry registered by April 27^th. If you register later, then you may nevertheless compete and be rank-ordered in the same way as all the participants.


The LS Award: No Signup Deadline for the LS Award.

The LS Award goes to the pilot with the best combined score for completing both the High and Low courses. Unlike the main event, you may sign up for and compete for this award after the April 27 deadline. For example, you may fly the main event and afterwards decide to go ahead and fly the second circuit. This is a more casual award and we shall not impose any deadline on entry.


Additional Aircraft on White List

Berinsky confirms that the Carenado Baron B58 has been accepted for the Silver Class (197 KTAS) and that the Carenado Cessna 340II has been accepted for the Gold Class (215 KTAS).

[PRB]

NOTAM: An Airman's Guide to the Western Roundup
(4-24-13)

The Airman's Guide to the Western Roundup is a set of notes on the various airfields and the scenery along the way. This is a long document that probably exceeds anyone's patience for a straight-through reading. However, it might prove informative and enjoyable for perusal as you go along. It is now available from a Dropbox server here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ns%20Guide.pdf

Great stuff! All hands should download and read this. Some interesting background to the places we're going to fly to. Thanks Mike!

[Willy]

Yep, it was a good read with my coffee this morning!

[MM]

NOTAM: Opening Weekend Short of Staff
4-26-13

Due to a confluence of real world events, a number of the Spring Event Team are out of action this opening weekend, meaning that the remaining members will be overburdened. We hope pilots will be patient. We may not be able to make rulings or provide help as quickly as we might like.

Further, we are not going to be able to evaluate novel aircraft before Monday. So pilots who wish to submit a new aircraft will need to wait. The consequence is that the entry will not be eligible for the "Blue Ribbon" – if that matters. As an alternative, pilots may choose an aircraft off the official White List and register before the April 27^th deadline.

[Willy]

Gentlemen, it's past 0000Z 27 April. You may start your engines.

And good luck to all!

[MM]

NOTAM: KGCN and the California Classics 1950s Scenery
5-3-13

Pilots who have the California Classics Southwest US scenery will discover that the 1950s period scenery has removed the Grand Canyon National Park Airport (KGCN) which opened in 1965. They may choose to land at Valle (40G) instead – at the cost of a 5 minute penalty. Valle is 18nm south of Grand Canyon National Park Airport, and the new location adds about 12-17nm or about 3-4 minutes to the route. The additional penalty compensates for Goldman's investor having to rent a jeep to drive down to the old airfield. (The Chino collection of the Planes of Fame has moved 40 of their aircraft to Valle due to space limitations in California. So all is not lost for the investor, if he still retains a taste for interesting aircraft by this point in his journey. The Ford Tri-Motor might have special appeal.)

[MM]

NOTAM: New version for FSUIPC (FS2004 and FSX) required
(5-5-13)

Pete Dowson (the legendary author of FSUIPC) has discovered a security leak in the Code Signature system associated with FSUIPC. To avoid the danger, he has eliminated the Code Signing henceforth. To make things work requires the users (us) to download and re-install the latest version of FSUIPC.

See his notice here:
http://forum.simflight.com/topic/743...-user-systems/

You can download the latest versions of FSUIPC here:
http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html

FSUIPC (either freeware or payware) is necessary for the Duenna.

[AussieMan]

G'day Mike,

I got the email this morning and have posted a copy of it on the FSX Forum and putting a note on the FS9 and P3D forums to look at it in the FSX Forum.

That email also has download links as well.

[MM]

NOTAM: Clarification of the Bail Out Rule
(5-17-13)

We have a bail out rule to allow pilots to lead normal lives during the event. We understand that there will be times when the real world unexpectedly intrudes on the flight simulation event and that pilots will have to put first things first.

Thus, if the real world unexpectedly intrudes on your flight you may simply declare a "bail out" and terminate the flight. At your convenience, you may restart the flight and continue on as though nothing had happened. In the Western Roundup, a pilot may use this bail out provision once without penalty. On each subsequent bail out, the cost is a five minute penalty. Rookies may freely use the provision as many times as necessary.

We want to clarify how the rule is meant to be used. A pilot may actively bail out by terminating his flight when he is in control of the aircraft. The rule does not apply to a situation when the pilot has put the aircraft on autopilot and walked away from the computer. The original language was not clear because our own intent was not clear.

(What has always been clear is that the provision addresses a "real world" intrusion – not something in the simulator. If you run out of gas or become lost or find your destination socked-in, you may not declare a "bail out" – that would be inappropriate.)

Elaboration.

We do want pilots to take advantage of this rule because we want pilots to be able to fly in the context of busy lives. If the phone rings and it is a long-distance call from your brother in Namibia, then you will have to concentrate on the call and not on the simulation. You should quickly declare a "bail out" on the forum thread and that will suffice. A longer explanation can come later. If you spouse starts a "meaningful" conversation, or if your kids come into the room and demand your attention, or if the flames of your burning house enter your study, you simply declare a bail out.

The bail-out provision is not intended to apply to occasions when you put the aircraft on autopilot and walk away from your computer. If you choose to fly on unattended autopilot (and everyone will have times to do this), you leave the aircraft at your own risk. You may not return to the computer and declare a bail-out after you discover your plane has crashed! So the decision point is when you decide to put the aircraft on autopilot.

To be sure, there may be ambiguous situations. You may have the aircraft on autopilot when you get that phone call or discover the flames in your kitchen and then be unable to return to the computer to declare the bail-out. Doing so later would be ok – but you certainly want to give a full explanation so that everyone understands that you are not taking advantage of the rule. Normally, the expectation is that you will return to the computer and issue a "bail out" when your routine autopilot break turns into something more serious. So anything else would be a special exemption, one likely to be granted. Ms. Murphy will provide a ruling. (You might send your explanation to the organizers via Personal Message if you want to keep your privacy. No need to say everything in public.)

Note that you might put the aircraft on autopilot so that you can go to the kitchen for a snack – and then linger a moment talking with your spouse or kids. You are doing this at your own risk. Similarly, if you get an interruption and decide to keep flying on autopilot while you handle the interruption, then you do so at your own risk. If something goes wrong, you accept responsibility.

The organizers' goal here is both to accommodate these unexpected intrusions and also to maintain the "pilot in command" nature of the event. Some intrusions are unexpected and unavoidable, others are not. It is the former that we wish to handle.

The bail-out is a conscious decision to terminate a flight made while under control and when it appears danger may become imminent. Encountering a potential situation and letting it run (under human control or while on autopilot) until a crash occurs is a also a decision but should it result in a destructive event it must be recorded as a "crash" and scored as such.

(This rules clarification will apply from this point forward. Previous usage is not affected.)

[Moses03]

NOTAM: Race Finish
(5-26-13)

The published race deadline is tomorrow, May 27th. For those that are still on the course and intend to finish, please let the race committee know so we can extend the deadline a few days as needed. Thanks.

[teson1]

Edit: Response moved to Official entries thread.

[PRB]

Just to add to Moses03's post, the deadline is a "soft" deadline. We will accommodate all pilots who intend to complete the event, within a reasonable period of time, so no worries there. Like Moses03 said, it would be helpful if we knew which of the pilots, not completed by the 27th, intend to complete the event, so we can close out the data collection and post the final results.