An open letter to the 2010 RTW Race Rules Committee

[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.