RTWR2013 Questions and Answers

[Bryan Rosier 31]

If you are interested in Taking part in this Upcoming Race and you can not find the answers you are looking for here :http://www.fsrtwrace.net then please feel free to ask any Questions about the race or Team Avsim here in this post and one of the Team will be on hand to assist

[SierraHotel 976]

The link just opens a search page?

[DarkCharizma 10]

Unfortunately it seems something has happened with the domain name.

 

 

The internet way back machine has an old copy of the site here if you want to find out a bit about more general things about the race, not that much has changed since then. If you want to know more you can simply ask us!

[jrowland 0]

Hi, I have a couple of RTWR and Duenna newbie questions. I hope this is the right place to ask.

 

1. What is the purpose of flying in "wingman mode"? Is this person contributing to the team's race advancement, or is that limited to only the person with the baton?

 

2. What checks are in place to ensure people do not "soup up" their aicraft/engines? Is it this line from the validation text? (Ford Tri-Motor):

 Aircraft-Reference:	 Vne=145KIAS, Vcruise=77KTAS, Mmo=M0.000, Empty weight=6600.0 lbs 

-- or, is "souping up" authorized?

 

3. Where at, in the .cfg file, can I find those numbers?

 

4. What do the various numbers mean in the "Errors/Info" section of the .txt file referencing WeatherType? Sometimes I see "WeatherType: 1 (OK)", or sometimes I see "3 (OK)", but other times I see "0 (Not Good)". In every case, I have the same settings for "download rw weather, every 15 min".

 

 

Again, I hope this is an okay place to ask these questions, and I appreciate the time to help out a newbie.

 

Jimmy

[Great Ozzie 101]

1. What is the purpose of flying in "wingman mode"? Is this person contributing to the team's race advancement, or is that limited to only the person with the baton?

 

Baton holder crashes... baton is transferred to the Wingman which incurs a 30 minute penalty... as opposed to someone starting after the crash (say almost 2hrs down the road at destination). Baton holder advances the baton. Wingman is baton advancement insurance.

 

2. What checks are in place to ensure people do not "soup up" their aicraft/engines?

 

Absolutely no boosting of aircraft performance / structure / gear etc. Livery changes are perfectly acceptable and you can add instruments (like autopilot / GPS etc.). Even some "port overs" by known authors where the flight dynamics are altered are not permitted in the RTWR.

 

The Executive Committee (and most certainly other teams) keep a close eye on this kind of stuff (some checks in Duenna). And I know our team pays attention to our own team. It can void the leg (potentially costing the race).

 

A white list of planes allowed to fly in last year's RTWR posted here (post #4): http://forum.avsim.net/topic/392999-new-rtrw-racers-info-2013/

 

3. Where at, in the .cfg file, can I find those numbers?

 

Sections: [Reference Speeds] [WEIGHT_AND_BALANCE]

 

 

4. What do the various numbers mean in the "Errors/Info" section of the .txt file referencing WeatherType?

 

Not sure about all that... I just look for a green box.

 

Btw... if you are planning to join... sign-up will close soon (probably by Monday) as we need time to get new racers squared away w/ Duenna / posting / Teamspeak etc...

 

Hope this answered your questions (the one duenna wx q someone on the team like Mike MacKuen should know).

 

From "RTWR General Rules"

 

Aircraft modifications.

"The only modifications you may make to your aircraft are to its avionics, sounds, and textures. Aircraft may not be equipped with non-certified ferrying tanks or engine tweaks. Single and twin engine prop aircraft available with drop tanks or ferry tanks may not be flown for any leg longer than 800 nm. Autoland capability is prohibited unless it is integrated with the aircraft’s autoflight system and is realistic for the aircraft type being flown. More generally, any special gauges and modifi-cations that produce unrealistic behavior are prohibited."

[jrowland 0]

Thanks for the reply, Rob!

 

Still unclear on Q2: I understand the rules regarding aircraft "performance enhancements" being illegal... I guess what I'm trying to figure out is how the executive committee, or even team captains, would know that the player has not made illegal modifications. Is there something in the .txt file that I'm missing that shows what the "stock" cfg file should be?

 

Btw... if you are planning to join... sign-up will close soon (probably by Monday) as we need time to get new racers squared away w/ Duenna / posting / Teamspeak etc...

Thanks... I'm not sure I can devote the time this year - I'm trying to get familiar with the Duenna client and the processes, and hopefully can make a go at it next year.

[Bryan Rosier 31]

Hi jrowland. Welcome to our little forum. In addition to what Rob has stated a few parameters of the aircraft. cfg are monitored by the duenna tracking software mainly vne and mmo max mach. All of the aircraft used in the race are thoroughly benchtested by all teams and the committee. Experience of these guys can instantly spot irregularities in performance from the flight stats produced by the duenna. Our race is based heavily on trust and honour between fellow racers and irregularities are few and far between. Participation of our race takes different forms. Some racers are available 24/7 and some may only be available for 1 leg. Even involvement in a team flight will be a great help to the team. Dedication of time is not crucial. Any time available is never too little. Best regards and I hope you may wish to help us. Bry

[Eamonn Watson 32]

I can answer your weather question. The duenna (when it comes to FSX only) is unable to read the weather settings directly from the sim and the fsx config file doesn't have the proper data, therefore the program grabs the data from your "Previous Flight.flt" file. 1 = clear weather, 3 = real weather with 15 minute updates (I'm pretty sure about those), these are the only 2 valid options. Now when you fly, sometimes it doesn't save this setting in that file properly and it updates that file each and EVERY time you run FSX so if you sometimes change weather settings or run an external weather app it can alter this setting. I would suggest running fsx, setting the proper weather settings then SAVING your flight, and then exit. It should be correct upon the next restart.

[cbtaylor 15]

Eamonn,

 

Thanks for that detailed explanation about the wx check in FSX. I always wondered why I sometimes got a yellow box for wx in the duenna even though I was running real wx w/ 15 min. updates. I learn something new every day here.

[jrowland 0]

Thanks, again, for the follow up answers.

 

I haven't yet tried to "load rw wx, and then save the flight, and then restart FSX". I'll give that a shot and see what happens. At the moment, all of my previous flights have logged two entries into the text file:

WeatherType: 1 (Not OK)

WeatherType: 3 (OK)

-- both lines are in each file, but I have "all green" on the client.

these are the only 2 valid options

Hunh... it's ok to use "clear weather"? I thought rw wx was the only allowed option.

 

 

Participation of our race takes different forms. Some racers are available 24/7 and some may only be available for 1 leg. Even involvement in a team flight will be a great help to the team. Dedication of time is not crucial. Any time available is never too little. Best regards and I hope you may wish to help us.

How long does the race typically last? From my reading through the forums, I think it's only 3 or 4 days? This year's timing couldn't be worse for me. Starting tonight, I have a ton of family descending on my house. My sister, my two brothers and their families, and my mom and dad are all showing up and my computer room has been converted into a guest room. They are all coming to town early for my other sister's wedding next Sunday, the day after the race starts. The absolute earliest I will even have access to my sim PC will be Monday night, the 18th... and that's only if I can re-convert my computer room back from a guest room. More realistically, that puts me at "flight ready" for the first time on Tuesday night. I assume that the race will be nearing a completion by that point, and I will not even have had time to make any practice runs with the team.

 

So, unless this lasts longer than I am thinking, I am definitely not able to particiapte this year. At the moment, I'm just trying to learn the Duenna (primarily for another racing event), but I'm also interested in participating in next year's RTWR with the Avsim team.

[Eamonn Watson 32]

If the duenna is all green, your good, could be reading your file incorrectly and showing 2 entries, but should be good.

 

Clear weather is okay if your having performance issues really. They encourage real world weather however.

 

Last year the race was won is 76.5 hours total time, so it was done tuesday afternoon. With the advent of our Bonus Bank and not having to sit out penalties it has definitely sped up the race a bit. But the length is directly tied to the routing. If we have to hit odd airports that require criss-crossing continents then it might add some substantial time.

 

So, unless this lasts longer than I am thinking, I am definitely not able to particiapte this year. At the moment, I'm just trying to learn the Duenna (primarily for another racing event), but I'm also interested in participating in next year's RTWR with the Avsim team.

 

Tell you what, come online at some point during the race if you get a few minutes and you can chat with us while we're doing the race, get a feel for it, then we'd be more than happy to have you along next year.

[cbtaylor 15]

Hi jrowland,

 

I think your conclusions about the race's duration is about right, and I deeply sympathize with your situation. There was a period of about 3-4 years where something got in the way for me and I couldn't participate. If you are unable to join us at all this year, we usually start informal practicing around late December or early January so please consider next year.

 

Also, there are other events spaced out during the year that you might be interested in. These are usually themed, individual effort events rather than team-oriented, and allow you to finish over a set time period to accommodate individual schedules. Last year it was a race from Norway's North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope in S. Africa. It featured an historic category as well as a modern GA, so there was something to suit everyone who participated. These events are usually run by someone from one of the other forums (Sim Outhouse or Flightsim), but they're a friendly bunch. These events are announced here when they come around, so if you continue to monitor this forum you should be able to catch it.

[DarkCharizma 10]

Clear weather is okay if your having performance issues really. They encourage real world weather however.

I'm pretty sure you are not allowed to fly with clear weather, ever. I think the rules state that you must use the built in real world weather, either updated at 15 minutes or updated only once. If the real world weather would be unavailable for some reason you should use "Fair weather".

[Eamonn Watson 32]

You are correct Klas, must have been thinking of old rules (hence why the Duenna thinks its valid)

[arrvoo 6]

Some clarification here from the rules and faq's

 

12. Weather.

In 2013, all flights will be conducted using the FS2004 or FSX live weather engine (as supplied by Jeppesen). The appropriate setting is Real Weather with 15 minute updates. Special exceptions will be made for pilots who cannot comply. If the Real Weather system fails for everyone, pilots should switch to the "Fair Weather" (not the "Clear Weather") theme, contact the Duty Officer, and follow any subsequent instructions.

 

12. Weather.

Q. Do we have to use MSFS default weather? I love my Active Sky/REX weather program.

A. Yes. In 2013 we standardize on a single weather engine. We shall all use the default Jeppesen-supplied weather. Each of the different weather programs has many splendid features. But for racing purposes, it is important that all participants compete in identically sourced weather conditions. This is a matter of com-petitive balance. (You may use your Active Sky/REX cloud and sky textures.)

Veterans will understand that the fact that everyone uses the same weather engine does not guarantee identical weather. However, it is import for the competition that pilots and teams give up the ability to choose their weather by choosing their weather engine.

Q. What happens if the MSFS weather engine breaks down?

A. Two things can happen. First, you may have a temporary glitch in your own internet connection. Sometimes this can trigger an error message that MSFS cannot generate the weather. You should simply finish your leg while handling the annoying error messages. (You might want to cut the leg short or abort if you find the problem bothersome.)

Alternatively, the entire system may fail: Jeppesen has occasionally gone down. Check with your team-mates to see if they are all experiencing a failure. Look for an immediate reaction from the Executive Committee. In all likelihood, the entire race will be asked to switch to one of the default weather schemes: Fair Weather. (Not Clear Weather.) When Jeppesen comes back up, teams will quickly switch back to the standard race settings: Real-world weather (updated every 15 minutes).

 

You MUST use Real weather with 15 minute updates at all times. The only time when you would switch to Fair Weather (not Clear) is in the case of an internet failure or the weather server failing.

 

You can't just switch to a better weather just because your system struggles to run with it.