London to Melbourne Entry Thread

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

In time I hope...

Flying North Realair Siai Marchetti SF260 and Flying South JBK Lockheed Orion 9D both FS9 real weather. Hope to for sure get one done as I am gone for a week in November.

-Ed-

[PRB]

In with plenty of time to spare, Ed. I flew the 9D in the last LM race we held in 2009. I like that plane.

[rwhsim]

Hi all. Whew!!!, just managed to clear my registration onto SOH, and looking forward to getting to know you all.
Just in time to "take the plunge" and register for the race. Ok 5 days to go, but I will need all the time available to squeeze racing into my work schedule.

I would like to register in the Golden Age Class, flying the MAAM-SIM DC3 (in the Springbok Flying Safaris livery of ZS-GPL), using P3D v2.4, Active Sky Next weather engine, FS-GLOBAL Mesh, FTXG textures, and the L-M race scenery by Jaap Van Hees. As a Rookie, my aim is to merely finish in the best time I can, without getting seriously lost and in one piece!

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Brief history of ZS-GPL.

c/n 9581
Delivered to USAAF in May 1945 as Skytrain 42-23719
Located within USA during WWII
Sold after the war to General Airways, Portland Oregon as NC47573
In 1966 went to North American Aviation in Los Angeles, and in 1970 to Ellee Co. also in LA.
In 1971 sold to Grinair in South Africa (Aviation arm of Grinaker, an engineering company), and based at Grand Central in Johannesburg.
In March 1976 sold to Sand River Safaris by United Air services and based at Wonderboom in Pretoria.
In 1980 she was with Air Services Botswana, where she did duty in then Rhodesia, transporting election officials and politicians around during the Independence Elections (some of whom have inherited this DC-3's longevity as politicians!)
Returned to United Air Service later in 1980 under Wonder Air.
In 2001 she was purchased by Capt. Flippie Vermuelen for Springbok Classic Air, and based at Rand Airport, where she was restored to immaculate condition, and flew the Springbok Flying Safaris banner for many years. This is when I often met her at airshows, and would frequently see her out on flights around Johannesburg (always pre-notified of her presence by that unmistakeable Dak sound).
In 2009 she was sold to Indigo Air, Tanzania, and registered 5H-DAK. As of 2010 she still carried the same livery as she wore when ZS-GPL, but with the Tanzanian flag, and a blue circle "a" logo on her tail. Still flying until at least 2010, she was used on a regular tourist route from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar.
She is now listed as being "in storage" at Kiauni airport in Zanzibar.

On Google Earth a lone Dakota sits forlorn outside a hanger in an image taken in early 2014 of Kiauni Airport. It may be her sister ship ZS-LVR, "Memphis Belle" (Now 5H-LVR), the DC-3 famed for being the only DC-3 to operate off an aircraft carrier. ZS-LVR has a distinctive long nose, which the DC-3 in the image appears not to have, so I think this is 5H-DAK, in which case she needs to be rescued!

To honour this amazing "old lady", and keep her alive in people's minds so that hopefully, she will be rescued, and celebrate her 70th birthday come May 2015, in the air, I have picked ZS-GPL as my trusted steed for this race.

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The repaint is my own, done last weekend, as ZS-GPL appeared in 2008, except with the Flying Springbok emblem of the 1930s-1940s SAA added to her normally all-white tail-fin (kind of a mascot for my race, that reveals my nationality to all, and an emblem embedded in my memory as a boy when I dreamed of being a pilot).
Just hope that by adding this emblem and registration I do not fall foul of "patent names", and have a Sir Charles Kingsford Smith experience (please not, Miss Nellie!)

So here is ZS-GPL, all spruced up, over Rand Airport area during my flight training, testing, and brushing up on NDB navigation and ded reckoning. Now stripped of all her modern avionics, she waits at EGUN, ready to race!

Regards, and wishing you all good weather, safe landings, and jolly good fun!
Rob Harris

[MM]

Welcome, Rob.

We'll do what we can to make this a great experience. Lots of help here.

--M

[BendyFlyer]

Hi all, well today is the start of the race, I am therefore a late entrant and a ROOKIE. I will be using the FSX DH-88 Comet "Reine Astrid". I am planning to use REX4 Weather for the flight and have noted the advice and comments re the REX weather engine but I have to say I have not experienced any real issues re realism and correct displays by REX on my system of real time weather (I keep the weather changes to 15 min intervals and or short distances).

My start is currently delayed due to issues with getting the Duenna operative on my WIN 7 system and so as usual some tinkering will be required. Anything else I might need to know please let me know.

[Great Ozzie]

Was hoping we would get a Comet.

Wow Moses... four of a kind - Astrids high. Seems now it is raining Comets.

Someone been rubbing on the Bendit Trophy?

[BendyFlyer]

Wow Moses... four of a kind - Astrids high. Seems now it is raining Comets.

Someone been rubbing on the Bendit Trophy?

Nah just like the girls to keep you safe.

[BendyFlyer]

Sorry but I have to withdraw my entry, unable to get the Duenna program to run on my system. Have a great time everyone.

[Wizard]

I'm going to give it a try... not sure that I will have the time necessary, but I'm willing. I'll be flying the US Navy Lockheed Electra 10A (one of three that was bought for the Secretary of the Navy).

[salt_air]

Sorry but I have to withdraw my entry, unable to get the Duenna program to run on my system. Have a great time everyone.

C'mon mate .... too early to throw in the towel.

Let's get your duenna runnin' Green so you can get going ... probably catch most of these monkeys by next weekend.




Make a post down in the Help Thread with either some screen shots of the duenna, and your sim's settings screens or ...

Give us a bit more detail as to what problem(s) you are experiencing.

Folks will jump all over it including me and you'll be up in no time.



http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...14-Help-Thread



Cheers,

[BendyFlyer]

Ok all installed as per the advice and readme. When I start to run Duenna it comes up with a message that it cannot use or the file:

MSInet.ocx is invalid or cannot be accessed.

I have checked the permissions, directory structure and I have all versions of MS Net available and installed. I also have the lastest copy of FSUIPC installed as well and reinstalled the program severla times but get the same outcome.

Oh yes and this should have gone into the help thread sorry!.

[Dangerousdave26]

See my reply here

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...l=1#post913156

[salt_air]

In 2009 our friend Milton Shupe and his great team were feverishly trying to put the finishing touches on a model of the de Havilland DH 80 Puss Moth so that we could hopely give it a spin in that year's MacRobertson Race.

Near the end .... or maybe it was somewhere in the middle he had several of us beta testing that fine model along the route to Melbourne .... sorta like a team.

Anyone that had the time and could see in the forum thread posts that the plane was on the ground ... would wait a few minutes to see if other folk(s) were maybe posting while they were just then reading and if the way was clear they would post a takeoff and fly a reasonable and considerate distance in case another pilot may be waiting ... usually a hour or so.

We just leap-fogged like that .... seemed like forever ... the majority, if not all, had completed a competitive flight or their own already.

Tons-o-fun and a privilege to work (testing) with what I consider the Master of models for our fine hobby.

The fit and finish that Milton and Team put into everything they do is as good as anything money can buy and so much better than the vast majority of the junk that you are required to buy if you want to fly it.

Top of the list ... the Best.



To honor the effort by Milton and Team and to give this fine aircraft model it's due I am excited to officially make an entry flying solo in the de Havilland DH 80 Puss Moth (Melrose) in the Golden Age Class Handicap Race.

I will be flying in FS9 using default Jeppesen Real World Weather with updates every 15 minutes.


[Note]
Unzipped straight from the Library ... the aircraft cfg file has Tank Options that will allow the plane to be flown for longer distances.

Planning to utilize one of them (the smallest up size) and I have submitted to Miss Nellie and the Committee a request to check and make known any adjustments they deem necessary in the aircraft's Handicap Allowance (Hours) and I will be governed accordingly.



In all of the looking around and research I did to try to choose an aircraft and otherwise prepare for this event I stumbled across some info about the pilot that flew the DH 80 in the 1934 Race ... C.J. "Jimmy" Melrose.

A new hero for me now ... I'll just put a couple of links to sources that you can read if you have the time .... worth it I promise ... and it will save some space here.

Jimmy ... a young Australian (19yrs old) ... had only gotten his "A" license in July of 1933 and after taking delivery of this plane ran a record breaking run ... 16 stops ... around Australia in 5 days and 10 almost 11 hours ... then flew solo to the UK from Australia to participate in the race unofficially breaking Jim Mollison's 1931 record (didn't register it as an attempt) by 10 hours .... then raced back home in the big race finishing second in second place to a DC-2 team effort.

Can't give him enough credit here ... please read the links.

Sadly Jimmy was killed doing what he loved just two years later.

This entry is to commemorate the effort he made in the 1934 MacRobertson Race.

I'll use Milton's model of the aircraft and the account of his actual flight(s) given by the South Australian Aviation Museum as my route.



After this run is complete I'll start the first entry I made in the Vega as a second run ... confusing, eh?

Each pilot is allowed two prize eligible entries .... these are in different aircraft and one will be in the Handicap Race (DH 80) and the other will be in the Speed Race (Vega).

Risk for me would be that if I for any reason can't keep up the criteria set forth in the rules for The Speed Race's Live Clock and Time Pressure, then the Vega's Speed run would automatically become a Handicap run .... hence null or withdrawn due to it being a second entry in the same race ... just as automatically, not prize eligible.



The Pilot:
http://www.saam.org.au/jimmy-melrose/

The Plane:
http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/VH-UQO.html



Best of luck to all,

[robert41]

Sounds like this will be some great and long flying with the Puss Moth. Enjoy.

[Great Ozzie]

After this run is complete I'll start the first entry I made in the Vega as a second run ... confusing, eh?

Not confusing at all.

But you do realize, Austin, that by flying in that order, you are required to set the simulation rate to "Half Speed".

Enjoy!

[Spookster67]

Hi all! Well, I haven't flown since RTWR 2014, but this is too good to miss...

First, I'll fly the Golden Age race in the same aircraft I flew in the 2009 race, a Percival P6 Mew Gull (by Lee Hall). I'm using FSX, and default FSX weather.

Then, I'll hope to still have time left for a trip in the Modern Era GA Class, in which I'll fly the stock FSX Beech King Air 350, again with FSX weather.

Thanks for setting this event up!

[MM]

Welcome Martin! Nice to see another addition to the colony of Mew Gulls.

[SkippyBing]

Welcome Martin! Nice to see another addition to the colony of Mew Gulls.

Amen to that! We should form a club or something.

[srgalahad]

Welcome Martin! Nice to see another addition to the colony of Mew Gulls.

Since it is now officially a 'colony' or 'flock' it would be appropriate to have the correct soundset which can be found here:
http://birds.audubon.org/birds/mew-gull

[rwhsim]

I am going to enter for the Modern Era race as my second entry. If I make it to Melbourne in one piece in The Golden Era race, will have to get home somehow, and leave my old DC-3 for ferry back to RSA.

I will be racing the King Air C90 (Carenado) Melbourne to London in P3D V2.4, with ASN weather. Will not claim Rookie status on this one, as by then I hope not to be considered a Rookie anymore!

Now just hope to squeeze this all into my work schedule.

Rob

[Willy]

If there's enough time after I get the Golden Age flight done, I'm going to do the return trip in the Modern Age in a restored Spartan Executive (Milton's/FS 9/FS Real Wx Lite).

Round Engines R Us

[Moses03]

Hope to run the FSD Cessna 337H in FSX with default weather for the Modern Class.

Don't know if I will have the time (or energy) after my Golden Age attempt, but wanted to submit the paperwork before the Oct 31 deadline.

[JimmyRFR]

I'm tossing a second entry in before the deadline as well.

So long as I still have the energy to do so, I'll be flying back from Melbourne using the RealAir Lancair Legacy in FSX using ASN for the weather engine.

I'm sure by the time I'm finished the route in the Caudron, that it'll be really nice to fly something in which I can actually see the runway while on approach!

[spokes2112]

Throwing my hat into the ring for a second run. In the "Modern Era" class I will "try" to fly the Premier Aircraft Design C414 Chancellor in FSX and using FSRealWX Pro.

[epwatson]

So I was going to put in an entry this year but I am moving house at the end of November so I just do not have the time.

Sorry guys, was looking forward to this one.