How about a simple Challenge Flight for us Niners?

[jgf]

41 minutes ago, meloscanlon said:

Here is the "almost" complete list of the Compuserve Rally flights

 

Lol, I thought I was the only one who never tossed anything.  I still have data from Red Baron contests on Prodigy.  (I was in the FS98 forums on CServe also.)

[PhrogPhlyer]

5 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

I meant take a month or so off to enjoy the Holidays and such, and also spend that time chatting about the next Event. I didn't have a specific timeframe; just whenever we came to a consensus about it. 

Maybe let us take the rest of December to focus on family, holidays, or whatever floats your boat. Take this time to think of some new options to be offered during the first two weeks of January, with consensus and finalizing during the second two weeks. Next event kick off on February 1st, Then will be fed up with real life to give earnest focus to simmimg. 

[Melo965]

3 hours ago, jgf said:

Lol, I thought I was the only one who never tossed anything.  I still have data from Red Baron contests on Prodigy.  (I was in the FS98 forums on CServe also.)

 

My flight simulation hobby is important so I save stuff related to it. 

I did almost loose that data in a backup hard drive crash a few years ago, but was able to recover it.

[ViperPilot2]

17 minutes ago, meloscanlon said:

 

My flight simulation hobby is important so I save stuff related to it. 

I did almost loose that data in a backup hard drive crash a few years ago, but was able to recover it.

 

I copy the Readme files for Panels and other stuff like Gauges, and save them in a Folder along with Flight Manuals, Scenery Locations and the like. I had an old 150 gig HD that gave up the ghost, so I'm trying to recreate it via Thumb Drives. I'm downloading and archiving anything Sim related that I might even have a passing interest in, just in case Sites get purged or go belly up like Premier Aircraft Design and Hovercontrol.

 

I'm debating whether to pay $$ to access the stuff on that old HD; there's stuff on there from way back when I first started fooling with the Sim seriously around 2008, and isn't in any of the Libraries anymore. 

[jgf]

People used to make light of me for backing up everything i downloaded;  "why bother, you can always download it again".  Well, fifteen years on and consider all the sites, whether flight sim, race sim, rpg, or whatever, that have disappeared.  Taking their files with them. 

 

I actually need to start making backups of the backups, some of those CDs from twenty years ago are already deteriorating.

[ScottishMike]

You worry about CDs deteriorating! I have a box full of floppy discs with backups of early flight sim stuff and no equipment to read them so I don't know if they have deteriorated or not .

[TomPenDragon]

17 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Regarding that... I agree, but have 'reservations'. That's a conversation best held in the confines of the 'back room' at The Astral Dome.

Sorry, I was just trying to make a joke, and realize now that it was in bad taste.  PhrogPhlyer's phlu was bad enough that I think I caught it from him, so my brain's been pretty phoggy the past few days - please chalk it up to that.

 

17 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

My bad... my nickname for an Event is a 'joint', not like a Group (joint) Flight. 

I was pretty sure about this, but again was trying for a bit of a joke.  My apologies.

[TomPenDragon]

17 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Or do you folks think the Group's a nice manageable size right now?

I'd suggest that we keep it small while we're organizing and maybe through the first event of the year.  Before bringing in new members, it would be a good idea to have the format already locked in and tested. 

[TomPenDragon]

17 hours ago, jgf said:

Should then be a destination roughly equidistant from all.

I don't think this is necessary if we leave the choice of equipment up to each pilot.  For example, for a Bathurst (Sydney) fly-in, if I'm heading from Mexico I'll probably use a Citation X (if yours is the Eaglesoft, I've got the same plane) or a B-58 if I'm in a hurry, while someone in Australia who wants to make it challenging might use a Tiger Moth or a Stearman.

[PhrogPhlyer]

1 hour ago, TomPenDragon said:

I'd suggest that we keep it small

I think that we should never actually restrict participation for a specific event. The idea is to expand interest, and this is done through participation. Yes it will become unwieldy at times, but as long as we're having fun, we're doing it right. In reality, as shown with the Rt 66 rally, a certain number will sign up, and even fewer will have the time due to real life issues to participate fully. Even those who did not fly the rally, still offered some great looking aircraft. Which I enjoyed.

[jgf]

4 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

You worry about CDs deteriorating! I have a box full of floppy discs with backups of early flight sim stuff and no equipment to read them so I don't know if they have deteriorated or not .

 

I copied all my floppies to a single CD ages ago, though I still occasionally find a few buried in the wilds of my storage lockers.

 

Manufacturer options are often bewildering;  my main system has four SATA ports and a floppy port, but no IDE ports ...and no space in the cabinet for a floppy drive.  My other system has a floppy drive but the mobo only has two SATA and two IDE ports.

 

A viable option for recovering floppies-

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=usb+floppy+drive

[TomPenDragon]

39 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

I think that we should never actually restrict participation for a specific event. The idea is to expand interest, and this is done through participation. Yes it will become unwieldy at times, but as long as we're having fun, we're doing it right. In reality, as shown with the Rt 66 rally, a certain number will sign up, and even fewer will have the time due to real life issues to participate fully. Even those who did not fly the rally, still offered some great looking aircraft. Which I enjoyed.

 

I agree with all of this.

 

2 hours ago, TomPenDragon said:

I'd suggest that we keep it small while we're organizing and maybe through the first event of the year.

I'm only urging caution for the next month or so, so someone doesn't come in and blow the whole thing up, that's all.  I think you're exactly right when you say that, "the idea is to expand interest," and I'd like to see as many participants as we can get interested in our particular brand of crazy.

 

It might be worthwhile for everyone to state what their vision is for the group, to make sure we're all on the same page and to get an idea of how large and expansive that page actually is.

[taoftedal]

In addition to the last several pages, there are some great ideas and thoughts back on the The Next Challenge... and Vintage flights thread.  Not sure how to capture it but would be nice to have it in one place if possible.

[Melo965]

6 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

I have a box full of floppy discs with backups of early flight sim stuff and no equipment to read them so I don't know if they have deteriorated or not

 

I checked on Amazon and you can buy a 3.5 inch usb diskette reader.  I have a 3.5 inch one around here somewhere.  I was surprised to see that you can even still buy a 5.25 inch version.

 

[ViperPilot2]

2 hours ago, TomPenDragon said:

 

I agree with all of this.

 

I'm only urging caution for the next month or so, so someone doesn't come in and blow the whole thing up, that's all.  I think you're exactly right when you say that, "the idea is to expand interest," and I'd like to see as many participants as we can get interested in our particular brand of crazy.

 

It might be worthwhile for everyone to state what their vision is for the group, to make sure we're all on the same page and to get an idea of how large and expansive that page actually is.

 

When I initially came up with this 'idea' back in September, the Title of this Thread pretty much said it all. It was in Response to a couple comments raised in the Vintage Flights thread about the 'dearth' of Simmers still using FS9, and an attempt to get more Niners interested in having a little fun. Since all of the Press and emphasis here has been centered on the 'new' MSFS, that was also added incentive.

 

Once the Bendix Challenge got under way, I was specifically asked by a few folks who showed interest in participating and were using XPlane if they could come on board. Because I felt the X'ers were kinda like us Niners, I said "Sure".

 

I don't want this to turn into another "us vs. them" debate, or by any means restrict anyone from participating in one of our Joints. However, we should be mindful of the fact that there's a world of structural differences between MSFS New and Nine, and that whomever administers the next Challenge will need to plan based on those differences (Airports, Navaids, Airport Identifiers, etc.).

 

While I'd ideally like to see more participation specifically from Niner Nation, I'm not gonna object if more want to play using other Platforms.

 

We maintain a friendly, welcoming Environment here. That's our "Prime Directive". It's good for everyone, so please use your tact and common sense. 

 

[jgf]

35 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

common sense

 

Common sense?!  I'll have to bow out.

 

My mother always accused me of "having a ton of book learnin' and not an ounce of common sense".  My wife said that was being generous.

[PhrogPhlyer]

6 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

We maintain a friendly, welcoming Environment here. That's our "Prime Directive". It's good for everyone, so please use your tact and common sense. 

Unfortunately common sense is not always a common virtue.

[TomPenDragon]

14 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Unfortunately common sense is not always a common virtue.

One of the ironies of being human - "common" sense seems rarer and rarer every day.

[ViperPilot2]

Maybe some Alaska Bush Flying in a Floatplane/Amphib/Flying Boat?

[defaid]

6 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Maybe some Alaska Bush Flying in a Floatplane/Amphib/Flying Boat?

 

Making deliveries on the "Wensley Round"?

 

Don't deliver late -- your arrival will be met by hunger-crazed climbers wielding ice axes.

Don't collect late -- the salmon will stink.

Don't deliver early -- bears will get to the package you left on the gravel bar before the client.

Don't collect early -- the package won't be ready.

 

[defaid]

On 12/4/2023 at 3:39 PM, TomPenDragon said:

 

It might be worthwhile for everyone to state what their vision is for the group, to make sure we're all on the same page and to get an idea of how large and expansive that page actually is.

 

People will come and go, and participate or not according to resources and their taste for a forthcoming challenge.

 

I worried for a few seconds about an expansion in numbers leading to an expansion in regulation, as is invariably the case in RW events, but I'm not sure it will happen here because not everyone will be here for every challenge and, as Phrog pointed out a couple of days ago, we won't all start and we won't all finish.

 

And there's no membership. It's just a bunch of people doing stuff.

 

Laissez-faire might be the best policy -- let it grow in its own way.

[PhrogPhlyer]

42 minutes ago, defaid said:

And there's no membership. It's just a bunch of people doing stuff.

Truth! If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.

Less "rules", general "idea" or "guidelines", and as defaid said... " let it grow in its own way."

[ViperPilot2]

2 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Truth! If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right.

Less "rules", general "idea" or "guidelines", and as defaid said... " let it grow in its own way."

 

LESS RULES. MORE SYNTHEHOL! 

 

(I don't Drink anymore, so Synthehol might be an acceptable Substitute. On second thought, maybe not...)

[TomPenDragon]

1 hour ago, ViperPilot2 said:

LESS RULES. MORE SYNTHEHOL! 

 

Wow, man, I had to look that one up!  And I used to be a huge Star Trek fan, too.  I'd suspect dementia's starting to set in, but I've been demented all my life.  I raise a Heiny 0.0 to ya!

[ViperPilot2]

In the interests of maintaining a teeny weenie bit of uniformity (), all future Posts regarding ideas for either potential or upcoming Challenge Flights should be Posted here: