An open letter to the 2010 RTW Race Rules Committee

[MaddogK]

Too complex and only two of the three teams are on the rules and judicial ends of things. I have not always felt that the participant judges have fairly represented the interests of all equally.

T

[Haitun]

Well but isn't all that number crunching and route planning and all simply FUN, and makes RTW far more interesting?
Also voted for the variety=)

[Haitun]

Also the average of all the opinions made at RTW forums averages as that as an ideal RTW Race: An aiship flight atop Mt.Everest and a Trans-Pacific propliner flight (and that's very biathloic and in a way interesting))

[MaddogK]

I just flew in from Mexico last night and boy, are my arms tired,

Having spent a week on the beach drinking rum and generally over-indulging myself but away from computers, politics, job headaches, pets, etc I've had time to organize some thoughts I've been planning on throwing out but undoubtedly would've posted them un-PC like and caused arguments. Now newly 'recharged' I'll put them out for consideration.

This being the third event I've been party to, I'm very proud to be a member of team SOH I've always wondered why our team didn't have representation on the ruling body of the event, especially since the other 2 'legacy' teams are run by members who make up the rules of the event. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not accusing anyone of anything but it seems a little suspect that the same body that decided the rules, routes, bonuses and aircraft to be used are the same ones that run the teams that dominate the event and it smells of a conflict of interest, now compound that with the new team comprised of ex-devs of MS who may have inside knowledge of FS quirks and you'll understand why I feel SOH is at a further disadvantage in this. I have seen at least one of our teammates leave to another team stating 'he wanted to win for a change' and that saddened me, but an SOH win is sweeter BECAUSE we don't have any 'inside' thru the loopholes in the rules. All I'm really trying to say is that I feel each team should have a rep on the council OR the ruling body should be 3rd party (NON-Participants) to ensure fair competition.

Next: It was my understanding when I first participated that it was a race, any route was possible as long as certain 'checkpoints' were hit, but last years rules ensured there was one route around the planet (bonus events not included). PLEASE don't do that again, I'm not sure how many liked last years routing but I absolutely hated it.

I'm not sure about last years rule about drop tanks- increasing the allowed size but decreasing the min range of the A/C to 700 miles. Maybe one day I'll figure that one out but that that just sounded weird to me.

I really like the 'cabin class' but last year the B-26K was pulled. Someone really wanted to turn the class into a kingair only class- unless you own some payware. This year a couple other hot payware planes are available in this class, whats going to happen to those who can't afford to 'buy' a competitor in this class ? I also would like the Avanti put back into this class- it's FREE, and it takes some skill to fly so if ye can't afford some primo payware to compete with a kingair ya gotta gain some skills, or get smoked by those with cash to burn.

I'm all for simplification of some of the rules but one day I'd like to see some importance put on fuel usage. The Jug is a rocket and uses ungodly amounts of fuel and IMHO should be penalized for it (as well as a few others), but few can keep up with a Mustang-H.

I guess I'll close now since I'm starting to ramble but one last thought I think we can all agree on, the weather situation is getting out of hand. We need to ALL use a standardized weather scheme, and we need to have Duenna verify it. We have 3 different sims and at least 6 different weather programs available and NO way to ensure that the weather at any one time for any pilot is accurate, and being updated. The weather is one of the biggest influences on the outcome of the race and no way to verify that a pilot is running updating weather other than 'pilot honor'. If nothing else this issue is the ONE that needs to be addressed.

Thanks for listening, and I look forward to this years event.

[RFields]

.......

[jkcook28]

...snip..I'm all for simplification of some of the rules but one day I'd like to see some importance put on fuel usage. The Jug is a rocket and uses ungodly amounts of fuel and IMHO should be penalized for it (as well as a few others), but few can keep up with a Mustang-H.

In defense of the P-47, it uses lots of gas, but it carries lots of gas. In the case of the P-51H comparison, 590gal vs 412gal; a full 33% more. And it does perform accurately speed-wise, unlike the H stang. my .02 cents.

You need to jump in the practice now too MD.

[Spookster67]

now compound that with the new team comprised of ex-devs of MS who may have inside knowledge of FS quirks.

Which team is that then?!

[MaddogK]

Which team is that then?!

I thought some of your guys were some old Aces Studio devs, if not sorry I overestimates ya's.

[Spookster67]

I thought some of your guys were some old Aces Studio devs, if not sorry I overestimates ya's.

No, not us. Just a bunch of flight simmers (and a couple of real life pilots), who are just about capable of installing new skins and understanding config files. We get just as many problems with FSX glitches as the rest of you...

And since we all fly on an FSX server, none of us use the (probably) more reliable FS2004.

Regards,
Martin.

[HaveBlue]

I have been on Flightsims team since 2005. I'm one of the lucky ones that just get told which plane to fly and where to fly it.
The rules are very complex and there are many of them. But because of the changes from year to year it keeps me coming back because I know that no two years are alike.
It's good now all teams have someone on the committee. Saying that I have never seen any biased decisions by them.
They will punish the most simple mistake because if they don't other teams will complain.
The mainstay rules are always the same so we have all year to learn them. We don't have to learn all the rules in 24 hrs, even though it seems that way.
The smaller and newer teams must sure find it overwhelming to get their heads around though.
I was so glad that SOH won in 2008. It meant every team had had at least one win. You guys proved you could do it.
You guys are fast- no doubt about it. Now you have teamspeak comms must be much better.
I sure do hope you guys are there in 2011. Same with ifly.
I would like to see no jets at all but it's said the race would take too long. I think the overall goal is to keep it to as close to 4 days as possible due to real world commitments.
The committee does a great job, I don't envy them one bit. And they do listen. Trying to keep everyone happy must be a real headache.
I do confess though that if it wasn't for my team-mates I would be totally lost.

[MaddogK]

They TELL you which planes to fly ??

...How interesting.

[Henry]

They TELL you which planes to fly ??

...How interesting.

different strokes for different folks
well done to all!
H

[RFields]

They TELL you which planes to fly ??

...How interesting.

The team tells him and all pilots "We need a helicopter leg here" (He is the best helo pilot on the team) or "We need a dh-Hornet or P-51H leg here" or "It doesn't matter which plane is flown - just a fast safe leg".

The plane is always the pilot's choice, but all teams have legs where only certain aircraft are suitable to achieve the team goal. This is especially true on overwater and island hopping legs when any plane which is slower than the Hornet will not meet the range / two hour time limit goal. We had some legs from ZUCK to HADR where winds eliminated many aircraft like the P-38L or M or Bearcat or Tigercat from being able to complete the leg in the time limit.

FlightSim has been supportive of some potential rules changes to lessen the impact of the fastest aircraft for years - which the committee has not implemented - possibly eliminating drop tanks for all aircraft, requiring all aircraft to be multi-seat, multi-engine, possibly requiring half or 25% of the legs be flown in non-military warbird aircraft, etc.

I personally do not like limiting pilot choices, but the proposals from some SOH team members to ban the P-51H, the Do-335, the Alpha-Sim Hornet, the FSD Avanti, the Lionheart Epic LT would make the race more equitable and make a greater choice of aircraft competitive.

Unfortunately banning the P-51H would eliminate any FSX heavy team from being able to win.