SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER
21:00 - 00:30 ZULU/GMT (22:00 BST)
History
This is a re-run of a similar flyin from five years ago.
The phrase "Gordon Bennett" is attributed to a Mr James Gordon Bennett originally born in Scotland, but after emigrating to Canada he took up journalism in the USA. A number of "powered" races were organised by him before his death in 1918. These include road races with both cars and motor cycles, sailing races, but also air races. This flyin is organised in the spirit of Mr Gordon Bennett's Air Races. It will be a race from London to Paris.
Scenario
This Flyin will be a pursuit race from London City Airport to Le Pin, a small grass airfield South of Paris. There will be two marks of the course. Tower Bridge in London and The Eiffel Tower in Paris. Aircraft will be timed by the Race Marshall from take-off to landing. The winner will be the pilot who completes the flight in the shortest time. See below for more details.
Run cursor over picture for the Eiffel Tower
Aircraft
As this is a race to avoid handicapping all pilots fly in Tiger Moths - there is a really excellent set of freeware aircraft available for both FS9 and FSX. These aircraft have been created by John Woodside who was the third CEO of Noble Air in those very early days of the VA. He has kindly allowed us to download and install these aircraft for our Flyin. Please use the link below to get to the aircraft page which includes links to the downloads.
Link to Aircraft information and download page
Scenery
The FS9 and FSX default scenery for London City (EGLC) and Le Pin (LFPH) is perfectly adequate. However John McKeon has designed some small scenery files that will add a little extra realism and ensure that the scenery looks the same in FS9 & FSX. These are simple to install. Please use the Link below to get to the scenery page which includes the downloads.
Link to Scenery information and download page
Weather
Weather will be "real". You may use any weather generator. FS's own on-line weather or Active Sky etc. will be perfectly OK. It may be sensible to ensure that this is updating during the flight. The weather on the day will determine the takeoff and landing runways.
Procedures
Formal ATC will not be necessary. TeamSpeak will be used for directions from the Race Marshal as "London City Tower". Standard ATC phrasing will be used during marshalling and departure. As there will only be a short time between each departure we request that TS is only used for marshalling until all planes are in the air, then informal chat may be used between pilots. Arrival at Le Pin will be addressed as "Traffic Noblexxxx" on Teamspeak.
The Marshall on the day will provide takeoff instructions and will "materialise" at Le Pin to take the finish times - we would recommend you also keep your own time with e.g. a stop watch, Flight Tracker etc.
Pilots may use the autoPIREP for recording their flight. The small scenery add-ons will not affect the PIREP position monitoring. A number of appropriate aircraft will be available at London City for pilots to book.
Navigation
The route is from London City to Le Pin via Tower Bridge and the Eiffel Tower.
Marks of the Course:
(1) Aircraft must pass between the towers of TOWER BRIDGE below the upper gantry and above the roadway
(2) Aircraft must pass under the main arches of the EIFFEL TOWER - an approach at 200ft on a course of 135 degrees is recommended.
If you fail to pass a mark of the course correctly you may take a 360 degree turn and try again.
Apart from the marks of the course pilots may choose their own routes, but this is a STRICTLY VFR flyin and radio navigation etc is not acceptible. You may use FSNavigator etc. to plan the route, and as a map, but they must NOT be used "On-Line" or on auto-pilot.
For your information:- Tower Bridge position is:- N 51 30.18 - W 00 04.41 -------- Eiffel Tower position is N 48 51.43 - E 02 17.72
Refuelling
Testing shows that, with still air, the flight cannot be safely completed on one tank of fuel. Refuelling must ONLY take place at any default FS9/FSX airfield. Pilots should inform the Race Marshal their intention of landing to refuel. They must stop the engine, and wait for FIVE full minutes before restarting. If an out of fuel aircraft lands in open ground then it may negotiate with the locals for a rcan of juice, and may continue to fly on to Le Pin, but will be disqualified from the race. The race will be followed by the Race Marshal on FSNavigator and any infringement will result in disqualification.
Communications
The FSHost will be available for FS2004 and FSX. The IP address will be available on the London Hub webpage and also on the Teamspeak Page. The password will be in force. Email John Barron at barron.john@sky.com or Roger Eve at roger_eve@btinternet.com if you need the password. If you are new to FSHost then please ensure that you have disabled your virus checker as this may block other pilots from joining the Host.
Teamspeak will be available for communications on IP 217.163.10.72:8795 - If you haven't registered with this TS then please contact John or Mr Busy (mr.busy@btinternet.com) and we can register you in advance and provide the necessary password and username. The password will be disabled for the flyin which will save time for unregistered pilots. If you are new to TS then please try and connect a few hours or even days before the event. You should contact John Barron by email in advance to arrange a time so he can be available to help.
Please note that the Multiplay Chatbox should also be used very sparingly as its use does reduce the framerates for pilots with slower computers.
FSNavigator or it's equivalent is NOT to be connected to multiplayer during the flight. It may be used for flight planning, autopilot etc.
Summary
Summary of Flight Instructions:
1) Assemble in good time on the grass beside the runway at EGLC ( first aircraft to T/O at 2100 Zulu/GMT)
2) Aircraft will be cleared for T/O at 3minute intervals
3) All aircraft will pass between the the towers of Tower Bridge below the upper gantry.
4) All aircraft may then choose their own route to Paris using VFR navigation ( use of FSNav is permitted for flight planning only) Use Maps, (AA or otherwise!) to identify ground features.
5) All aircraft must pass under the Eiffel Tower on a recommended course of 135 degrees before turning for Le Pin.
6) Refuelling if required MUST take place on the ground at a FSX/FS9 airfield. Inflight refuelling is NOT permitted. The aircraft must remain stationary for 5 minutes!
7) Race time is from T/O clearance at EGLC to touchdown at Le Pin.
8) The Marshal will be able to use FSNavigator to check that aircraft are passing the marks of the course etc. correctly.
9) Clear the runway asap, and assemble at the apron at end of 22.
Prizes
"Gordon Bennett!!" this is Noble Air you really cannot expect prizes, but there is a bar open at the landing field. Come and join in and have a bit of fun
Thanks
Special thanks to John Woodside for allowing us to use his really excellent Tiger Moths.
Our grateful thanks go to John Mckeon who originally conceived this Flyin. He has put a lot of work into producing the scenery files and testing the route etc.
Please print these instructions for your convenience
September 2009