London-Melbourne 2014: 119 Piccadilly

[manfredc3]

Thanks so much for all the effort. I was already wondering why those gendarmery were laughing at me and raising their wine bottles. Now I know why I only had a few boxes left after returning to the plane.

Kudo's to the french mechanics though, for being able to get my plane airworthy overnight. They told me they only did it because they rarely get to work on such an iconic bird.

The message of my mishap must have travelled fast, as eyes were constantly following me, and the pointing fingers got me nervous. For that, I am glad I made it out of there.

Thanks again for preventing middle aged jail time.

 

[srgalahad]

Crawling over to the Official Tent at Athens, I hoarsely whisper...

"Could you pass a request to Miss Nellie and her wonderful staff to, if possible, see that an appropriate handicap be written for my records... please... "<gasp, cough>

I need Ouzo!

...and sleep <thud>

 

[Moses03]

Submitted to Miss Nellie-

On our flight from OIZJ Jask to VIJO Jodhpur, we momentarily crested the soft ceiling of 12,000' by 13' to reach a max altitude of 12,013'.

From the co-pilot; "I tell ya...I should have stowed the beer kegs near the center but I didn't and they rolled to the back of the plane when we took off causing a slight nose up attitude. Yeah, that's it, nose up". (Think James Cagney voice).

 

[MM]

The Sikorsky pilot Moses03 self-reported an altitude violation. He was recorded at 12,013 which is just above the soft ceiling of 12,000 feet. Miss Nellie took charge and conducted several extended telephone conversations. (Apparently, the pilot has a close cousin on the staff. He excused himself from the considerations.)

Sikorsky pilot Moses03 exceeded the 12,000 soft ceiling by recording a maximum altitude of 12,013 feet. This is a violation because the 12,000 foot ceiling is meant to be observed except in cases of emergency or obstacle-avoidance such as surmounting a mountain range.

The investigation revealed that the pilot was cruising over Persia and India (Iran and Pakistan) at something like 11,800-11,900 feet for four-and-a-half hours of the flight. While this cruising altitude is near the maximum, none of the 10-minute Duenna cycles registered an altitude over 12,000 feet. The 12,013 reading was apparently a brief momentary violation rather than a sustained event.

The Golden Age soft ceiling aims to protect our pilots from dangers due to the consequences of oxygen deprivation. It is enforced as a rule to prevent pilots from taking risks merely in order to seek competitive advantage. Of course, pilots may choose to fly up to 15,000 feet if doing so aims to avoid obstacles and enhances safety. And in addition, we understand that the nature of the weather will sometimes produce sudden shifts in winds and barometric pressure that will "thrust" aircraft upwards and downwards in unavoidable ways. (Apparently, this has something to do with "bugs" in an electronic machine "program" that produces a "computational simulation".)

Thus, brief excursions above the ceiling may be allowed as long as they seem intended to insure safety or reflect momentary surprises.

However, pilots should take care that they do not intentionally or accidentally sustain flight above the ceiling. And when the lead pilot transfers the aircraft to a co-pilot or auto-pilot, he remains responsible for the aircraft's flight.

Accordingly, the prudent pilot should allow for a reasonable margin of error at all times. Even small weather shifts can cause problems when the safety margin is too close. And the command pilot should be especially careful when allowing others to fly his aircraft. (Some unsupervised co-pilots and autopilots will only poorly maintain altitude.) Under these circumstances, a momentary violation is understandable and may be allowed if it is immediately corrected and if it is not part of a pattern of sustained flight.

Ruling. This incident is judged to be a momentary violation of the soft ceiling. The record reveals no sustained flight above the limit. However, the evidence does show that the pilot cut his margin of error very close for a long period of time. He is warned that this carelessness should not happen again. No penalty for this violation. The pilot may proceed.
​

When I got back into the staff room, a brief note lay on my desk. Stick Williams (our chief investigator) wrote:

Miss Nellie cannot say this. But here in the office we are informally adopting a standard that multiple Duenna readings of flight above the ceiling will constitute prima facie evidence of either intent or unacceptable poor practice. Pilots who register multiple violations in the same flight (indicating 10-20 minutes or more in excessive altitude) should expect to re-fly the leg. Of course, extenuating circumstances may alter such a judgment.
​

The hope is that all pilots will take extra care when they allow their unsupervised assistants to fly the aircraft. Miss Nellie seemed more disappointed than upset. But it is never a good thing to cross Miss Nellie.

 

[salt_air]

Well after going over this flight and opening the flight log text file I see something I don't remember ever seeing before ... at least not to this degree.

View attachment 14325

FS unavailable for the whole flight?

Errors:
02.11.2014 14:56:24z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 14:56:40z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:01:28z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:01:49z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:02:36z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:03:26z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:03:39z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:03:55z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:04:09z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:04:27z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:04:54z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:05:07z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:09:13z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:09:34z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:09:51z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:10:01z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:10:23z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:10:28z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 15:10:44z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 16:20:14z Warning: FS unavailable
02.11.2014 18:41:50z Warning: FS unavailable

Info: Looks like FS2004
Info: Configuration-File: C:\Users\Austin\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FS9\FS9.CFG
Info: REALISM/CrashTolerance: '1.000000' (OK)
Info: REALISM/CrashDetection: '1' (OK)
Info: REALISM/StressDamage: 'True' (OK)
Info: REALISM/UnlimitedFuel: 'False' (OK)
Info: Weather/LoadWeather: '1' (OK)
Info: Weather/DownloadWindsAloft: '1' (OK)
Info: Weather/DisableTurbulence: '0' (OK)

Summary:
Direct distance: 568.4 nm
Flight time: 05:14:00
Baton time: 05:14:04
Average GS: 108.6 kts
Valid: VALIDATED

Flight Simulator: FS2004
Crash-Tolerance-Setting: 1.000
FSUIPC: 3.999z
Validation-ID: 382 0F0 D63 (Rev. 1)


New one on me .... any penalty here?

Refly with an adjustment somewhere or setting I neglected?

I can't fly again until Monday afternoon, so I'll chill out until I here back.

 

[MM]

Austin, we'll send this over to Stick and his boffins for closer examination.

At the moment, it appears that "FS was Unavailable" some 21 times during your long flight. That message may arise from many things, some of which we know and probably many that we don't. (I'm guessing that you did not access the FS9 menus 21 times in your flight!)

The Duenna record looks fine. All green. So you might as well go ahead with the next leg unless we hear that Stick sees something that is not obvious.

--M

 

[MM]

rwhsim. Off-airport excursion in search of Jask

Got a buzz and climbed up the circular staircase for news on rwhsim. Apparently Stick Williams and his boffins have examined the record and a ruling is in order. When I entered through the glass door, Miss Nellie merely smiled and, with a hint of approval, gave the verdict.

Pilot rwhsim apparently became disoriented while searching for Jask during an evening sandstorm. He skillfully landed on a nearby beach and obtained directions from the local citizenry. He then flew directly to Jask and crashed on landing, hitting an obstacle in the darkness of night. (Apparently the Jask runway maintenance leaves something to be desired.)

An examination of the timing indicates that the journey's first part (leg one for these purposes) was scored correctly. (Flight Time 5:12:16; and Routine Ground Time 0:45:00 for the work done in Baghdad)

The journey's second part (leg two) should be scored as follows. (Flight Time 0:21:21; Routine Ground Time 0:00:00; Special Ground Time 0:30:00; and Penalty Time: 0:00:00)

The Flight Time is the Duenna recorded time. There is no Routine Ground Time. The Special Ground Time reflects the amount of time spent on the ground while seeking directions. The young man spent more time than this but, because he was acting in good faith, we assess a fixed cap of 30 minutes to limit the damages. (In the event, he spent some three hours on the ground. He restarted the simulator clock to reflect only one hour ground time--and did not improve the conditions from that of a half-hour time frame. He landed in darkness.)

The crash at Jask would normally earn a fifteen minute penalty for the pilot's first crash. However, as he is a designated Rookie, the crash penalty is waived on the first (and second) such instance. Thus, there is no penalty assessed at this time.

Please ask the pilot to wire ahead to his future destinations to be sure that the runways are likely to be clear on his arrival. A bit of preparation can help avoid the occasional unexpected disaster.
​

Apparently all is well. And another note from Stick. Some sort of technical gibberish that rwhsim might be able to decipher:

We do not know the circumstances of the crash. The photograph suggests that there were scenery clashes between the 1934 scenery of Jaap van Hees and the underlying autogen. Those trees and buildings on the airstrip should have been eliminated by an exclude. You might check to see that the Jaap van Hees scenery is at the top of your scenery priority list -- so that his excludes will eliminate the autogen placed by your landclass.
​

 

[rwhsim]

My sincere gratitude to Miss Nellie and her team for this ruling, and for reducing the ground time at the off-field landing site so generously. Rest assured that should such an event occur again (heaven forbid!), the clock and engines shall be kept running while directions are sought post-haste and a rapid onward leg executed.

The photograph suggests that there were scenery clashes between the 1934 scenery of Jaap van Hees and the underlying autogen. Those trees and buildings on the airstrip should have been eliminated by an exclude. You might check to see that the Jaap van Hees scenery is at the top of your scenery priority list -- so that his excludes will eliminate the autogen placed by your landclass.

Stick's coded message understood. I reply in code he shall understand. Confirmed that Jaap van Hees 1934 scenery was top of scenery list. An exclude file existed in the scenery folder of said add-on scenery, but possibly was corrupt or being ignored by the Prepar3D computer machine thingy. Have radioed ahead to all other fields at which stopovers are planned, and no such problems exist with any of these.

Messrs ADE (Ace Demolition and Engineering) arrived yesterday, and co-opted hordes of locals armed with axes, picks and hammers (with a generous day's wage each supplied by my sponsor Lord Goldrich). An absolutely splendid job has converted Jask to a manicured field that should double as a fine golf-course. Note that no re-positioning of the landing strip was done during this process; it was merely watered down and rolled flat and hard, using a roller borrowed from a local cricket club!



Any P3D user still planning to visit Jask is welcome to contact me if they have the same problem, and I shall upload my modified AFCAD file (nothing to do with Africans now!)

Rob

 

[MM]

Dangerousdave26. Early Incidents.

A quick note sent down from upstairs. In Miss Nellie's handwriting.

A clarification for Dangersousdave26 on his first days in Australia.

Post #5. Wrong aircraft. Aborted and restarted. No advantage. No problem. No penalty.

Post #7. The overstress looks to be a mid-air crash, flying at about 7,000 altitude. This occurred almost 3.5 hours into the leg, at 4:07:23 UTC on 10-26-14. The penalty for a mid-air crash is a one hour penalty and a need to re-fly the leg. No Flight Time on the log. Done.

Post #11. Controller abort. This is a "computer problem" and a "non-event" for the race. No penalty.

Please remind the youngster that Accu-Feel is optional. And, when using Accu-Feel, turbulence is optional. A common practice would be to keep Accu-Feel operational for many of the realism and sound effects, but turn down or zero-out the added turbulence.

And please send along our best wishes for a safe and enjoyable journey now that things all systems are in good order.
​

Whew! No need to go up the circular staircase.

 

[srgalahad]

One of the office clerks was just going for tea when he heard "What are these guys doing?" in a fairly loud voice coming through the door of Miss Nellie's office. Knowing it was a sign of another one of 'those messages' he grabbed the tea service and gingerly entered the inner sanctum.

Miss Nellie was waving (or fanning herself with) what appeared to be a facsimile copy which he was directed to read.

3h46m - Arrgghh!!! FSX locks up completely! I get the Windows "waiting" circular icon, but no message to say that FSX is closing...
About 8 minutes later, having closed a whole load of other apps that were running, FSX comes back to life, and I'm still flying. Phew!! But by now, Duenna has lost its connection. I may have lost Duenna tracking, or it may still be running...

Anyway, I'll keep going, cross my fingers for Duenna, and make sure I get other evidence of the flight...

The next directive from her exaltedness was curt: "Get this to the technical staff, have them investigate and get it resolved!"
Cables and calls ensued and when the clerk was summoned back to "The Office" he was handed a note in Miss Nellie's own handwriting:

"Cable this Mr Spookster67 and tell him he may continue but must record the full time shown on his Duenna time-slip. The eight minutes he spent asleep, floating in the ether or visiting the spirit world is a minor penalty he must endure. Further, send a message to all competitors advising them that the technical staff AND I remind pilots that this is dangerous stuff and strongly suggest they avoid partaking of extraneous activities while in flight. No matter whether it is writing love-notes, communicating with the press corps or calculating how they might spend their prize monies, this sort of activity in the midst of a flight is known to have hazardous consequences and we cannot be sure that the next such technical glitch or gap in the continuum might not result in a crash or it's many equivalents. Mr Williams notes that electronic devices used in flight have been reported to have unpleasant effects on aircraft systems and are frowned upon, pending further testing."

The poor, shaken clerk went off to the communications centre to send the messages then wandered about the building closing all open windows. Shortly after, a small note was found taped to the stair baluster.
"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!"

 

[rwhsim]

Springbok Team in Detention at Z13T

Dear Miss Nellie and L-M Race Authorities

We hope you receive this note smuggled out of the Barracks at Z13T airfield, Allahabad.

ZS-GPL mistook the Z13T airfield for VIAL on landing yesterday, again in low visibility fog/smog. It appears the military in charge of this airfield have installed a secret weapon (probably electro-magnetic?) that "detains" planes landing without authorisation (The Royal Air Force may be interested in investigating). Our attempt to escape this "field" was captured on film, also smuggled out for investigators as evidence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_mH_zYRjXUI

Our attempt at escape could hardly go unnoticed, and led to the entire crew being detained and consigned to the airfield barracks. We hope the race authorities will be able to intervene on our behalf, and some solution / decision / judgment acceptable to all can be reached to allow this team to continue onwards.

Sincerely
Capt. Rob

 

[rwhsim]

Coded message for Stick from Z13T

Dear Miss Nellie

This message contains technical code (Simisms) that Stick should understand, and he may be able to explain to you, which may assist in your pending decision Re: the incident at Z13T.

Extensive testing, involving chasing many red herrings like airport flattens and excludes, has finally revealed the problem!

It seems that the Prepar3D engine has either changed, or has a problem with, the modeling of variable-pitch propeller behavior (as per FSX SDK). Since the DC3 in question is an aged plane designed for the FSX engine (similar behavior is experienced with all FSX conversions I have been able to test), it falls foul of this "problem". These planes cannot be moved / taxied downwind or crosswind under their own power (from a standing start) in the Prepar3D engine (if they are kept rolling, e.g. after exiting a runway, they can be made to move downwind/crosswind). From a standing start / stop these planes must have a headwind, component of headwind, or zero-wind to "break away" . If facing even slightly into wind, then no-problem, the props will "bite" and the plane is able to move-off and accelerate.

The landing at Z13T was onto a crosswind runway (shorter of the two). In desiring not to move the plane from the landing position, except slightly back down the runway to allow for some takeoff run, the DC3 Flying Springbok fell foul of this FSX model - P3D engine incompatibility.

Rob

 

[srgalahad]

Stick wandered into the office, bottle of Highland Malt and two glasses in hand and laughed.

"Did you see the note from that Douglas pilot about being stuck in the monsoon muck? Dang old airplanes that should be put out to pasture!"

"Why didn't he offer to pay the Indian Air Force to hook a couple of water buffalos up to the tailwheel of that Gooney Bird and drag it to some place on the airport where he could get better conditions and get his sorry crew over to VIAL? If that won't work we'll have to see if they can organize a training mission for one of their big Rooski helicopters to airlift the Douglas out of there and THAT will probably get expensive!"

"Betcha 'the boss' is not going to be any happier today but I'll try to keep her from going totally ballistic."

With that he got up ( and took the bottle with him) and sauntered back out the door whistling something that sounded like "Fly me to the Moon"

 

[salt_air]

I told myself that I would just fly along no worries and not bother the "staff" or have to have the Good Miss Nellie consulted for any reason regarding my efforts towards Melbourne ... yep, that's uh what I told myself .....


Flight Log text file attached for my flight into Aleppo from Tatoi AB has an issue .... not sure about any effect on scoring .... here now to humbly submit for review as time allows.

View attachment FlightLog_13-41-45.TXT

The duenna never stopped running until it auto stopped after a clean landing at Aleppo Int'l.

Says flight was validated for takeoff and landing, but had an error in flight.

I noticed during the flight that (on the face of the duenna screen) there was mention in red type of overspeed for 0.00 secs.

All fields were green so I continued flying uninterrupted to destination.



Thanks once again,

 

[salt_air]

I told myself that I would just fly along no worries and not bother the "staff" or have to have the Good Miss Nellie consulted for any reason regarding my efforts towards Melbourne ... yep, that's uh what I told myself .....


Flight Log text file attached for my flight into Aleppo from Tatoi AB has an issue .... not sure about any effect on scoring .... here now to humbly submit for review as time allows.

View attachment 14709

The duenna never stopped running until it auto stopped after a clean landing at Aleppo Int'l.

Says flight was validated for takeoff and landing, but had an error in flight.

I noticed during the flight that (on the face of the duenna screen) there was mention in red type of overspeed for 0.00 secs.

All fields were green so I continued flying uninterrupted to destination.



Thanks once again,

========================

After review: (hopefully now this is reduced to a simple question .... what's that you say ... salt_air with a simple question?)

I flew a test flight off line to check for overspeed indication and found it present as written in the config file at blistering 125kts top speed indicated and would continue that way indefinite no crash ... no damage written to air file? .... over my head.

Opened the flight log again and found a log of error for a duration of 12 seconds .... just as info for now citing GS: 127kts.

Further along in the log there are numerous entries where the GS is over 125kts .... mucho plenty ...

I see zero entries in the flight log of indicated speeds at or over 125kts


=== It has to get worse folks before it can get better .... but it does get better .... I think ===


Now .... copied and pasted from the aircraft cfg file paragraph.

[Reference Speeds]
flaps_up_stall_speed=43.000
full_flaps_stall_speed=43.000
cruise_speed=108.000
max_indicated_speed = 128 //Red line (KIAS)


Now with all of this tossed into a crap grinder .... let's see what the simple question is ....



[Is it the Ground Speed or Indicated Speed that is measured for overspeed assessments?]



Hopefully no one will have to make the climb up the infamous spiral stairs ... like they would have enough energy after all this reading.

 

[MM]

A quick call down to Stick Williams indicates prima facie evidence for an unexplained "glitch" in the Duenna coverage. The 12-second failure does not indicate an overspeed. He says that the men will conduct a slightly extended investigation, but that you should not wait. Please fell free to move on now.

We all want to avoid having to bring Miss Nellie into this matter if it is merely a technical failure in the Duenna.

 

[srgalahad]

I woke this morning to find an envelope slid under my door. Fearing something from the hotel management or some 'agent' of the government, I was far from relieved to find it contained a note on the letterhead of 119 Piccadilly. (Oh, why ME?)

"Sir,
After the expense of significant time and following some unusual discussions we feel we can finally put this issue of Springboks, Wallabies, Water Buffalo and DC-3's to rest. It appears that the sticky situation that occurred in Allahabad is somehow related to failure of the crew to obtain and install the latest 'service Bulletins' for the equipment Mr. Williams calls "FSUIPC". Thus, we have determined that the pilot and crew "rwhsim" shall have to record the total flight time of the delayed segment from OIZJ to VIAL via Z13T as shown in his logs, plus the 30 minutes of 'Special Ground Time" that it took to determine he landed at the wrong airport.

Fortunately it arises that there is some familial connection between a member of the Race staff and a certain Brigadier of the Indian Air Force and as a result of carefully-crafted communications it has been ascertained that no charges shall be laid nor costs levied for the housing and feeding of the crew at the barracks and the arrangement for use of certain large animals. We have made a contribution on their behalf to the Indian Air Force Benevolent Fund in consideration of which we have assessed an additional 30 minute charge against the team in lieu of cash payment (which we deem unlikely to be able to collect in light of their loss of sponsorship).

Please communicate this information to the relevant parties forthwith and let us hope that we can enjoy a continued flight with no further interruptions.
We are pleased that there are some willing to be test subjects for this new "P3D" flight system but caution that the cost of the supply of ASA tablets in the office has risen significantly and will have to be considered for the future.

N."

PHEW! It seems the atmosphere at the top of the circular staircase has lightened somewhat. Onward we go!
In summary, "rwhsim" will have their log totals amended as follows: Flight Time OIZJ-Z13T + Z13T-VIAL + the usual 0:45 Routine Ground Time + 0:30 Special Ground time (Z13T) + 0:30 Penalty Time (IAFBF donation) without prejudice.

Is it 5 o'clock somewhere?

 

[MM]

manfredc3. Flight from LIRU-LGTT.

Another ring of the bell and back up the circular staircase. Carefully knocked on the glass door and was beckoned inward. Miss Nellie looked up from her paperwork and muttered something about Stick Williams' clearing up a backlog of paperwork.

Here is a ruling on the flight of manfredc3 from Rome to Athens (LIRU-LGTT). One of the staff forwarded the report several days ago, but it took a while to get a definitive assessment.

It appears that the young man took the beautiful DC-2 to about 13,500 feet and cruised for more than two-and-a-half hours. [The violation markers are 15:30:45-17:50:53 GMT on 1/11/2014.] The pilot declared a need to fly at this altitude "to cross the mountains." For the Golden Age (as here), the rules set a soft ceiling of 12,000 feet. They allow temporary excursions in the 12,000-15,000 range for emergencies or to clear dangerous terrain.

In this case two factors are relevant. On the flight path chosen, there appear to be no mountain ranges of above 11,000 or so. The vigilant pilot can easily avoid the few peaks that threaten the normal altitude levels. Further, the long period above the limit indicates a cruise rather than a brief excursion. Finally, the pilot will note that he is responsible for the aircraft even if it is operated by an unsupervised co-pilot or auto-pilot.

Normally, this sustained flight above the ceiling would constitute a violation of the rules and require a repeat of the leg.

However, there are mitigating circumstances. At the time of the leg, the case of another pilot's temporary excursion over the 12,000 feet ceiling was under review. The clarification was posted on November 1, 2014 just as the manfredc3 event occurred. Further, the pilot is a warmly-welcomed rookie and may reasonably have been unsure about how the rules apply.

Ruling. The sustained flight over the ceiling indicates a violation of the rules. However, the mitigating circumstances suggest leniency. There is no need to re-fly the leg here. The leg stands as flown.

And let the young man know that we are delighted to see pilot and crew continue onward without any evident symptoms of oxygen deprivation. Best wishes on a safe journey in the magnificent Uiver.

​

Well, this is easy news to deliver.

 

[ratty]

Ratty - OPSF to VIAL

Er, excuse me . . . sorry to trouble you, but on my last flight I - er - lost my log. (Gulp)

My machine was acting up towards the end of the flight, so I was a little distracted. I'm sure I put it somewhere, but when the time came to post it I couldn't find it.

Please convey my sincere apologies to Miss Nellie, and my assurance that it won't happen again.

 

[Spookster67]

Er, excuse me . . . sorry to trouble you, but on my last flight I - er - lost my log. (Gulp).

Don't worry - they're also stored online. Here's what you need:
http://fs-duenna.com/flights/logs/WxB9wZG4yKyYE58QqK51zM4NH8.txt