RTWR 2014 Early News and Discussion

[Willy]

My god what if we were flying to a tiny island in the middle of the ocean and he crashed? Over and over? What would happen then? The answer is of course, you'd lose the race but as with every race you will still have had a great time and will do so the next year as well. Even if you lose again.

We actually did that one year. SOH was in the lead and went to fly a jet leg from Bermuda to the Azores. It was quite the crashfest at Flores. Eventually after several attempts, someone managed to make it in and get the baton moving again. Still we had a great time that year.

[Dangerousdave26]

I think that MD is just a little put off like the rest of us by Hicks statement.

As far as we know he has never flown with us and if he has I would like to know under what name. Certainly not anytime since 2007 on. I also know there has never been anyone since 2008 that practiced with the team that did not fly a leg. We have bent over backwards to accommodate those members who have limited time.

If he would have been a member the last three years I might have been able to sleep rather than staying up all night for days trading baton legs with Moparmike.

[Viper007]

Hello,

I am glad to have an opportunity for some redemption myself, now seeing that some items are a little clearer after them only sinking in after more than once being told; I am a slow learner but a good learner; it took a lot of amps for me to figure out what setting the scenery is supposed to be at; IE as much as your computer can handle without dropping frames; this was always what I thought but it never really sunk in because of being told 'other ways' to set scenery.

Now the part about getting people to fly; it is a LOT of Waiting and possibly not even flying on the server; to me it seems as tho there should be some kind of limits on the number of people on the server that are doing important things; the rest would be offline in the sim practicing, running the same flights, or whatever, and being on teamspeak ready and available; why ready and available: Computer Issues AND a Power outage; who knows what can come up; I think there is a rule of sorts if a pilot crashes and was lead he has to wait out a flight maybe (?); this could cause an interruption in the flight schedule; there are probly more reasons why we have many people on (Teamspeak and flying offline); the main reason is just to be there when we can and give the leaders our availability.

Even tho I have flown before; not quite as much as the die-hards; I havnt flown in a few years so I am rusty; but it can only come back if I practice; I was gonna go on the server a couple nights ago but I am working on getting the right planes I can fly loaded up and ready and am flying offline; I need to make SURE I know my router settings and all that.

I think if we dont think about who is going to fly; lt it be that if you 'CAN' fly and say you are 'READY'; you will know it; I wouldnt dare to do otherwise; even as a wingman; the team is what it is and needs to be what it is.

This is my first time with SOH, and I do need to get my Duenna setup an all; I been really trying to relax and needed it for a few years now; finally I am at ease with things in my life I dont have to worry about; that makes a difference too.

It is because this RTW seems to be the most important race because it is so long and involved, and only 5 or so major blunders can put a team out of any winnings; it's tough, and there 'IS' some pressure; after all, the crash settings are on !

I will be on the server as soon as I can...let's say this...I may be lucky to fly wing a couple times...that would be great...that is how it seems to roll in RTW...because, well, I am 'new' again...sort of.

Viper007

[MaddogK]

Hey All,

Maddog it is a team event but all teams have strong and weak members. If it is fundamentally about Vince Lombardi's philosophy that winning isn't everything - it is the only thing. That is completely different than an approach that embraces "if you are on the team you can grab the baton and fly. It became apparent that the rules were more just 'suggestions' as was 'the spirit of the race', which if I remember correctly was to have fun."

We have all seen the evolution of this event from relatively casual to a highly competitive event in the very fastest planes in which just one crash makes you a loser. I think this is unfortunate as I think it excludes a lot of potential pilots - especially if they can never fly what they like. As for myself flying I think I am relatively capable at least in the planes I know but if someone else wants the leg I will always always let them have it no matter what their skill level. I have nothing to prove in a game - I'm fine with being a wing time to time.

-Ed-

Ed, I think you misunderstand. I have no problem with inexperienced members flying the legs but I start to wonder why we try to set up these practices to train those inexperienced members if they don't bother to show up, then they somehow find the time during the race to show up and aren't ready and whine about nobody letting them fly. Is it really fair to everyone else on the team who've put in many hours of practicing, training and prep work to simply step aside and let 'walk-on' who shows up 5 minutes before a baton transfer to carry the baton while another pilot who'se practiced the leg, has the appropriate aircraft, and has been waiting on the apron spotting for the last 2 hours just watches? I know this is supposed to be fun but how much fun is it to lose because a member decided to take his stock Cessna 180 because he didn't install or practice one of the white list aircraft beforehand, or just likes the Cessna ?

Maybe I'm just too infatuated with the competitiveness of the event, and for that I'm sorry but if you're looking at the biggest event we have every year as just another casual tour of the globe then you've missed the point of it being called a race.

[arrvoo]

I agree 100% with MaddogK. The first year i joined Avsim i practiced and practiced and practiced. And on my very first competitive leg both me and my wingman slammed it into the ground. But only 3 legs later i was allowed another try and i'm sure thats because the team knew i could do it based on my participation in the TEAM in the preceding weeks.
With the limited number of pilots available, especially in recent years its almost a necessity to plan several legs ahead to cover the 24 hour nature of the race. But speaking for Avsim i kno9w that everyone will happily step aside from a planned leg to allow someone else who only has a small window to fly to take a leg. I personally enjoy all the downtime chatting with the guys on teamspeak (my team mates may say otherwise hehe) and this builds the camaraderie.
And as for new guys not getting a chance we had a new guy last year and think he did more legs that anybody and in the Flores leg that willy mentioned above it was rookie who aced the leg for Avsim that probably helped us win it that year. I strongly suspect that if you're struggling the fit in any of the teams or feel your being badly treated i respectfully suggest the problem is with you and not the teams

[Hicks]

The only purpose of my post was to provide feedback on getting more people to participate in the race. Its a cool event and I wouldn't want to see it end.

I did fly with all three teams and for the most part enjoyed the hell out of it.

I'm not interested in starting an argument or anything else. If the forum would like to delete this post and the last one no problem. If what I said is wholly rejected then please pull both of them.

Good luck to all three teams in the race.

[crashaz]

We actually did that one year. SOH was in the lead and went to fly a jet leg from Bermuda to the Azores. It was quite the crashfest at Flores. Eventually after several attempts, someone managed to make it in and get the baton moving again. Still we had a great time that year.

Ahh the F word.....Flores

[fliger747]

Anothe way to make the race a bit interesting would be to allow any racer to use any given legal plane only twice...

T

[MaddogK]

The only purpose of my post was to provide feedback on getting more people to participate in the race. Its a cool event and I wouldn't want to see it end.

I did fly with all three teams and for the most part enjoyed the hell out of it.

I'm not interesting in starting an argument or anything else. If the forum would like to delete this post and the last one no problem. If what I said is wholly rejected then please pull both of them.

Good luck to all three teams in the race.

No harm done, and I appologize for being crass. I'm sure we can make adjustments now that we know there's a problem.

Maybe there's room in the rules for another 'Bonus', based on how many different baton carriers a team uses.