TomPenDragon

I'm really sorry to hear that, Kit. If there's anything we can do to help you restore your system, we're all in (I'm certain I speak for everyone here when I say that). I know nothing about FSX installation, but with FS9, I have the installation DVD's copied to the hard disk and I run fresh installs from there. It's quicker and you don't have to babysit the drive. Might this work with Acceleration, or must it be installed from a DVD?

Thank you all so much for your words and thoughts of condolence. The thing that sucks worst about getting old is having friends who don't.

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Update for the 27th of February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya. It’s been a quiet day on the race course as our Gaggle winds down. Most people are already in Cairns, one notable exception being Bossspecops, who equipment failures have stranded in Rockhampton. With now three days left in the Gaggle, he doubts that he can reach Cairns in time for the finish. Perhaps one of our pilots who has a little extra time on their hands can give him a lift so that he can join us for the party. So sad to hear about this, Bosss. “In other news, Melo has posted his PIREP for the completion of the 1976 Australian Air Race. The Aussie Correspondent published a very nice interview with his friend, MAD1. And jgf packed his Staggerwing aboard a C-5A for the long flight home. “As far as the Spirit of the Race Award goes, we have the following nominees: Bossspecops Melo965 TomPenDragon PhrogPhlyer Voting is tomorrow. One vote per club member. Would you please post your vote separately from any other commentary or pictures, please? “The Leaderboard is… “...unchanged from yesterday. “I’d like to take the rest of today’s Update to tell you about a friend named Ilan Papini. The Ilan I knew loved three things: Flying, sailing, and making computers do impossible things to simulate the first two. In 1998, he released Hang Sim, which still has the best modeling of thermals of any flight simulator I’ve seen. He followed this in 1999 with Virtual Sailor, the first open world nautical simulator, which came complete with a set of tools for developing boats and scenery for the program. “Ilan wrote exquisite code, but was not very good with words, at least not in English, as his native language was Hebrew. I received Virtual Sailor as a gift in 2000 and, although I enjoyed it thoroughly, I grew frustrated by the lack of documentation. I contacted him with a question, and found him to be the most accessible and customer-focused developer who I have personally known. I was so impressed that I offered to write the documentation for him, just for the price of a single license of each new product he released. “I developed a couple of sample chapters for him. He liked them, but asked me to hold off on any more work because he had something else in the pipeline that would change everything that I was writing. That. ‘something else,’ was Vehicle Simulator, which is what I’d call an Omni sim, since it simulated everything – I could literally drive from my home to the airport, fly to the marina, sail for the afternoon, fly back, and drive home, all in the same sim session. In fact, I wrote this into a sample intro for the Vehicle Simulator manual, that Ilan loved. But, more changes were coming, so why don’t I hold off on the manual until they’re done, so everything’s right. “He asked me to be a beta tester for a couple of other sims that he was developing. Rocket Simulator was about designing missiles to down terrorist rockets before they destroy your city. Ilan was a Haifa resident, and this was more than a simulator; it was a mitzvah – never did I feel what it’s like to live under constant threat until I played Rocket Simulator. “Fire Flight was also inspired by events around Haifa, in its case the annual forest fires that menaced the city and outlying towns. You pilot a water bomber with the same flight and atmospheric physics as in Vehicle Simulator, drop your load on a fire, then swing around to a body of water and pick up some more. I suggested that he develop a California scenery to go with his Haifa area, but he was more focused on the water modeling. The water in Fire Flight is head-and-shoulders ahead of Vehicle Simulator’s “That water became the basis for Virtual Sailor Next Generation. Although it still contains the flying and driving physics modules from Vehicle Simulator, it is intended as a dedicated marine simulator. Since it came out in 2021, Ilan had been improving it constantly, including re-releasing it as 64-bit native. He never lost his dedication to his customers, sometimes turning out extensive revisions to correct what seemed like a little problem in a week or less. “The last time I wrote to him was on 8 October, 2023, to ask if he and his loved ones were okay after the attack by Hamas. He answered: “‘Thank you very much for your kind thoughts and words, it is indeed a very difficult time here, me and my loved ones are OK, but my heart is aching from the brutal and senseless massacre of 600 civilians and kidnapping of a 100 more. “‘I feel it will get worse before it gets better.’ “Ilan was the sole guy working on Virtual Sailor NG and his other products. He did other work, too, because sales from his www.hangsim.com website weren’t enough to pay the bills and build a nest egg for retirement. Like all Israelis, I was certain that he was called on to help the war effort in any way he could. Besides, all of the action was down toward the south of Israel; Haifa was relatively unscathed. I figured I’d avoid contacting him again until things settled down – I figured the last thing he had time for was to answer best wishes. “On the 9th of February, Ilan was doing what he loved. He took an ICP Savannah LSA up around Meggido – the Armageddon place. An eagle hit the plane, sending it to the ground. Ilan actually survived the wreck, but succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. “I only found out about it this morning. At first, I didn’t believe the news, and spent an hour verifying it. Every second since then I’ve spent wishing that I had been a better friend. I found a tribute to him over at AvSim, and finally found his obituary in Haipo. It said that he was buried on the 11th, and that he leaves behind a wife and two children - I didn’t even know that he was married or had a family. They will be sitting in his brother’s house at 41 Einstein Street, Haifa. I wonder what the rules are for sitting Shiva in a Saratoga. “Ilan Papini, father, husband, friend, sim developer, sailor, pilot, gone from us at age 60. “Killed by the only thing in the skies that knew the thermals better than he did. “And on this very sad note, I’ll conclude our Daily Update. I’m Elias Pacheco, for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. For God’s sake, be careful in the air.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Update for the 26th of February, 2024. There are four days left now in the race, for those of us whose watches are still set to a time zone west of Australia. In Australia, there are, as of now, only three days left. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya. Let’s look at the Leaderboard: “With a +1 to Townsville and a perfect run to Cairns, ViperPilot2 has completed the 3,500-mile Combined run with a +3. This time will also count for the Eastern Route, which he finishes with a +2 CV. He is solidly in second place in both the Eastern and the Combined. That was some very solid flying. VP2! “He is joined in Cairns by ScottishMike and Suzanne, who have completed their Free Flight of the Eastern Route in their Aerostar. Are they up for a Timed run in the waning days of the Gaggle, or will they spend the rest of the week sightseeing in the great hot north? “Bosss has been having fun in a Beriev, one of the few jet-powered amphibians to ever see production. I’m sure his run to Rockhampton was a little quicker than it would have been in an S-38. “Melo caught up on some of his PIREPs, and officially took his name off of the Combined. He has already won the 1976 Australian Air Race already, and is in first place among the finishers of the Eastern Route so far. “And, after a marathon day yesterday that saw Sara complete the ‘76 nonstop, I’m taking a day in Sydney to recover before taking a run at the Eastern Route. “Two brief administrative bits before I go: First, Spirit of the Race Award nominations, for whoever cares to make one, must be posted to the FBO no later than end-of-day, 27 February. Voting will take place on the 28th of February if we have more than the current one nominee: Bossspecops. “Second, racers may set times up until 23:59:59 on 29 February, however to be included on the final Leaderboard, the Timing and Scoring Official must receive at least a PM report of your times by 06:30 A.M. CST – same time as Chicago – on the 1st of March. “And this concludes our Daily Update. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Have a great flying day.”

I've just got the original chocolate ones; they were all out of the rats...

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to a brief Daily Update for the 25th of February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, and we are at the last Sunday of the Gaggle. Including today, there are only five more days left. Let’s look at the Leaderboard: “ViperPilot2 ran a couple more legs in The Lady, arriving a minute late on the long run to Rockhampton, then setting a 0 into Mackay. He is now leading the Eastern Route with a CV of 1 and 2 legs left to run. In the Combined, his +1 to Coff’s Harbour after a perfect ‘76 run now leaves him with a +2. The Leaderboard shows him in second place. “The fact that only he and PhrogPhlyer have recorded times past the 17-leg mark – in other words, past Bankstown – begs the question: How many participants intend to set times for the Combined Route, in the same aircraft as they ran the ‘76, or the Eastern Route, in a different plane, in the next five days? The Timing and Scoring staff have been asking this so that they can clean up the Leaderboard. State your intentions, racers. “Melo965 and JSMR have been catching up on their PIREPs from the ‘76, which have made for interesting reading. Speaking of which, the Aussie Correspondent is back, this time with a description of Australia’s east coast that has me checking real estate prices and residency requirements. Cairns does remind me an awful lot of home. “MAD1 did our literary Stig the favor of taking him up in a Cessna Caravan floatplane around Ballina and Cape Byron, ending up in Coolangatta. From the gaggle of gorgeous pictures that he posted to the FBO, it certainly looked like great fun! “The Bosss, our other pilot with a salamander streak, has been having less fun, with issues with the amphibian that he’s planning on flying for the long run to Rockhampton. He now has the problem narrowed down to a lack of apple juice, and should be back in the air shortly. In the meantime, he can enjoy PhrogPhlyer’s 2024 Australian Air Race collage, amphibious edition, which certainly puts the Splash in Splash Screen. “Meanwhile, over on the other side of the continent, Sara and I have set out on the ‘76 one last time. I flew yesterday’s run to Jandakot at a high altitude; today I’m doing some sightseeing at 5,500’. A good deal of that choice has to do with a severe icing zone from FL140 to FL250 that extends just east of Katanning to east of Caiguna. I’m coming up on Norseman now and have just spent a half-hour in clouds and heavy rain. I’ve got a full thermos of coffee, an empty wide-mouthed bottle of juice, and all the leftover munchies from Claus’ and my stay in Sydney, including most of a case of Tim Tams bought in a big-box store – those things are soooo good! Let’s see how far I can make it today. “And this concludes our Daily Update. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off with a final reminder: Please make your nominations for Spirit of the Race as soon as possible, so that we can vote. We have one nominee so far: Bossspecops. Also, please state your intentions for the Eastern and the Combined. Well, I guess that’s two final reminders. Have a great flying day, everybody!”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to our Daily Update for the 24th of February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya. Let’s look at the Leaderboard: “ViperPilot2 has made an impressive start to his Eastern run, chalking up triple goose eggs to Ballina, Coolangatta, and Brisbaine. Can he knock Melo off of the top step of the podium? Will someone else take a crack at the Eastern, or set a time for the Combined, and surprise us all? Let’s see what today brings, as this is the last weekend of the Great Australian Air Gaggle. Counting today, there are only six days left to fly. “Meanwhile, ScottishMike and Suzanne are continuing their fun run up the coast in that beautiful Aerostar. I’ve always loved the type – it’s what an airplane is supposed to look like. Eschewing the urban bustle of Brisbaine – as a New Yorker, I can’t help but say that tongue-in-cheek – they continued up the coast to lunch at Rockhampton, and then made the hop to Mackay for dinner. I don’t know the current price of a hamburger in an Aerostar, but it’s worth every dime. “The Bosss, meanwhile, chose something that doesn’t look like it could fly at all: A nice, 36-passenger boat, with wings, booms to twin tails, and four radial engines, strapped to the hull with some sticks and wires. At first glance, one might not think it was an aeroplane at all, and if so, then maybe something off of the set of, ‘Flight of the Phoenix.’ “But to those who know aviation history, and especially when that knowledge veers toward the amphibious side of the subject, the aircraft is a Sikorsky S-40. And it does fly, rather well in fact for an aircraft of its era. It flies in style, too, with a passenger cabin more akin to the first-class cars of the Orient Express than a commercial aircraft. Aside from being watertight, it is not a very good boat, however, as Bosss reports a turning radius on the water that is just a little wider than a supertanker’s. “Distance-wise, he had a rather short run from Gold Coast to Brisbaine. Time-wise, I’m sure that he wasn’t warned about excessive speed by the tower. If we were awarding prizes for the most fun instead of for Cumulative Variance, he’d be in the gold, no question about it. “And then there’s us. I could see it in her face as soon as we landed the UPF-7 for the first time, Claudine was going to go for her sportsplane rating and wouldn’t stop until she had her Mustang. If she builds a multi-plane hangar, I know one of her other aircraft will be a biplane. “After we got back to Sydney yesterday, we had a nice, long lunch – you know, one of those that ends up turning into dinner. We talked about a lot of things, but the subject always came back to flying. Her ambitions are clear, but when she asked me what I wanted to do in the air, I was at a loss. What did I want to do that I hadn’t already done? Go into space? I’ve been pretty close in the XB-70. Fly my dream aircraft? I’ve flown all of them. Many of them are in the community hangar back in Cuernavaca. I wake up with an urge to fly something and, by the time I get to the FBO, it’s already sitting on the ramp for me, all ready to go. Maybe my only dream remaining was to have a Saratoga again, and now I have that. “But coming as close to being grounded as I did during this trip was a bucket of ice water poured over my psyche. I’m 70. I don’t have all that much time left. “I told her, I want to finish one last circumnavigation. I’m more than halfway there. Sara’s got the range now to get me to the Aleutians, or even to make the hop from Hawai’i to the mainland. She once briefly pointed out that I had flown from Lock Haven to Perth solo and had done most of the Combined Route solo as well. I hadn’t thought about that, and before I could bring it up, we were going on and on about the Aerostar. “We splurged on dinner, talked about everything under the sun, laughed. Nothing ever happened between the two of us – it was more like we were father and daughter, or as Claus likes to point out, grandfather and granddaughter. You know, she started calling herself, ‘Claus,’ because folks in the industry wouldn’t give the time of day to a 28-year-old Black chick from Harlem, but they’d open the doors wide to a German engineer. Sara, the love of her life, suggested that – no, as she corrected me, it wasn’t an unimaginative derivative of, ‘Saratoga;’ it was a tribute to a love that the two of them were just a bit too young and immature to hold onto. “Nothing ever happened between the two of us, but last night’s dinner sure felt like a date. Claus likes guys, too – she’s fluid in a way that’s hard for me to understand. When I grew up, there were only two sexes. Nowadays, it seems like everyone’s their own gender. What I don’t understand I accept, though, because to reject that is to reject a person themself. I’ve always had a great big red light on my wingtip, but I felt that in an intellectual way. Knowing Claus has made it real for me. I’m wrong – something did happen between us: We formed one of those unique, intense friendships that seem to come along when you least expect it. “We joked and laughed all the way back to our FurBo rental. Claus popped a couple of bags of popcorn into the microwave and I turned the TV on. ‘Asteroid City’ had just been released to streaming, so we watched that. ‘Don’t understand, accept,’ applies to that film as well. We then watched, ‘The Nun II,’ and as she so often did, Claus settled into the crook of my arm, jabbing my ribs every time something scary came along. I can’t remember the third movie we put on; I fell asleep during the producers’ credits at the beginning. I’d done that a lot during our stay here – I’d say more than half of the nights, I fell asleep in front of the TV. “I always wake up early, but this morning I woke up around 07:00. Claus is also an early riser, which probably is how we could share a house without killing each other. She had gotten up, as she often did when we fell asleep together on the couch. Her bedroom door was open, which was unusual, so I stuck my head inside. Her clothes and luggage were gone. Her toiletries as well, as I found when I went to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and saw a kiss-print on my forehead. “Yesterday Claus said that, since I wasn’t sure if I had flown from Perth to Cairns solo, I was going to have to do the Combined Route again by myself. This morning, that sounded like a plan. The Saratoga M992 was filled and waiting for me when I got to Sydney Exotics’ ramp, looking rather incongruous amid the Thunderbolts and Mustangs. I plotted a straight course for Jandakot, bent ever so slightly for the few VOR’s along the route. “I kept listening for her to read me the checklist challenges, but save for the wind and the other aircraft moving about Bankstown, I heard nothing, and felt the absence with an ache. While I was taxiing the short distance to 11L, I spotted the Piglets’ Howard 500 in front of the hangar that they’ve been using here in Sydney. It looked like they were loading it for the run to Cairns. They had the look of a pit crew that had just taken care of their car’s last stop of a 24-hour race – tired, methodically packing up their gear and emptying their garage. But I didn’t see Claudine. “Now, I’m up at 24,000’, fighting a quartering headwind and making around 200 knots over land, just about to cross Mount Hope and cut across the Great Australian Bight. The silence over the headset is oppressive; the empty right seat looms as large as a widebody’s cabin. I always have this great big grin when I’m flying. Just for once, before running the Combined Route one last time, I can be a bit maudlin, can’t I? “And this concludes today’s Update. I’m Elias Pacheco – not the Lone Eagle, just a lonesome old pilot – for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Have a great flying day. Oh, and one last piece of business that I keep forgetting to mention: As always, there will be a awards banquet at the terminus of the race – Cairns, in this case. It will begin at 00:00 AEST on the 1st of March, 2024 – in other words, just after the Gaggle ends for the Australians - and will run until 23:59 PST on the 1st of March, or midnight, Pacific Time. Or until the last person passes out, whichever comes sooner. See you there. Bye, bye.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) CU: “Hi everybody, I’m Claus Ullrich, for Piper’s Performance Planes, Elias Pacheco, and Radio Chachapoya, here with the Daily Update for today, February 24th, 2024. What can I say? We now have a winner of the Combined Route: “Captain Dirk Doovalacky ran the 1976 Australian Air Race for Team PhrogPhlyers. Due to three bad sectors, primarily due to weather, and despite a heroic recovery flight to Sydney, he left the team 7 minutes behind. “Those of you who joined us, either in person or over the airwaves, for the Bathurst 12 Hours, heard a lot about driver classifications. If we apply this to pilots, Capt. Doovalacky would be a Silver, while PhrogPhlyer, the team principal, would be a Platinum. “PhrogPhlyer, after a fun but not particularly low-scoring run at the Eastern Route in a DeHavilland Vampire, took over the sticks of the Bell 206 for a crack at the Combined. And what a cracking run it was, too! Yesterday, I told you how he took that +7 down to a +2 by Brisbaine. Getting those last two minutes is always the hardest, though. “PhrogPhlyer had fun with it. First, he went up another minute to Rockhampton. That was only so that he could go down 1 to Mackay, down another 1 to Townsville, and down a final 1 to Cairns to finish with a 0 CV for the win. Congratulations, sir, for doing it in style! “Congratulations are also due Melo965. With a 0 to start at Brisbaine, he maintained 0’s through Rockhampton, Mackay, and Townsville, and finishing in Cairns with a -2 for the Eastern Route – no mean feat in a Canberra. I wonder what he would have done in a Spitfire? I hear he has a little more time in the type than he has in the bomber. “Speaking of Supermarine, Bosss chose a Walrus for his run to Gold Coast. I’m starting to get an appreciation for how much fun biplanes are. I’m rated for high-performance complex singles, twins, and instruments, and I had been planning to stay that way. After the run to Cairns in the B-58, we took a Hawker Hunter T7 to pick up the Tomcat in Perth, and I flew left seat. The Tomcat was also dual-control, so he let me take the front seat for the run back. Over the Australian Bight, I had her up to 55,000’ and Mach 2.4. There’s nothing like that feeling. “But my real dream is to fly a Mustang. The first thing I need is a taildragger endorsement. Eli thought it might be fun to start getting the feel of a tailwheel in what the guys who flew the Mustang originally did. And it just so happened that Sydney Exotics had a WACO UPF-7 that needed to be brought to the shop in Canberra for paint, and another one in RAAF colors that they’d comp him for a few days for all the money he’d already spent on the Tomcat, the Hustler, and the Hunter – sounds like the title of an action comedy. “After dropping the first plane off, picking up the second, and having a nice breakfast, we flew the WACO down to Melbourne and then up to Wagga Wagga, where we landed on fumes. We overnighted there, and then had some fun with a low run through the mountains back to Bankstown. Okay, I’m hooked. “And with that, I’ll conclude this Daily Update. I’m Claus Ullrich, for PPP, Elias Pacheco, and Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Safe flying, everybody.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) CU: “Hi everybody, this is Claus Ullrich, for Elias Pacheco, Radio Chachapoya, and Piper’s Performance Planes, here with the Update for today, February 22nd, 2024. Here’s the Leaderboard and the news: “It was actually pretty quiet on the race course for the first part of the morning. Sirrus sold his Cessna and recouped his original investment. Bosss changed his Goose for a Sikorsky S-38 that automobile enthusiasts everywhere have to thank for shiny finishes. “Then we heard the rhythmic thumping of large rotor blades and watched an army-green Bell 206 lift off, point towards Coff’s Harbour, and head out, low and on a tear. PhrogPhlyer has taken over the controls of the helicopter, and is trying to salvage a Combined run after Captain Dirk Doovalacky’s last-place finish in the Combined. He had an excellent run, too, taking a minute out of his +7 to Coff’s Harbour, 2 minutes into Ballina, a perfect run to Coolangatta, and another -2 to Brisbaine. He has moved up into fifth in the Combined, with a CV of +2 and 4 more legs in which to whittle that down to a 0. “Not long ago, the sharp whine of a couple of old turbojets was heard in Sydney. Melo, opting to give someone else a chance to win something this month, switched to a Canberra PR9 for the Eastern Route. He’s getting the aircraft, wet, and is getting paid to fly it, too – it’s nice to have friends! He ran a +1 to Ballina, a -1 to Coolangatta, and a 0 to Brisbaine. He now leads the Eastern Route with a perfect CV and 4 legs to go.” EP: “And now it’s time to talk about money. No, not the money that the Aussie Correspondent wants to talk about. Prize money. “It took a while, but we have finally secured the funds to pay our podium finishers. For either the 1976 Australian Air Race or the Eastern Route, first place pays $25,000*, second pays $12,500, and third pays $6,250. Should more than one person finish on a given step of the podium, the prize for that position will be split evenly. Thus, for the 1976, Melo will receive $25,000 for first, VP2 and Bosss will split the $12,500 for second, and JSMR will take home $6,250 for third, as we stand now. Should any of these finish on the podiums of the Eastern or Combined Routes, the prize money for those races will be added to what they have already won. “The prizes for the Combined Route are $40,000 for first place, $20,000 for second, and $10,000 for third. We have a week to go, and plenty more cash to award. Oh, and let me add that if a podium for a race is not filled, say in the case of only one person finishing the Combined, those who are on the podium will split the unclaimed prize money evenly. Thus, if PhrogPhlyer is the only one to complete the Combined, he’ll walk away with $70,000. If PhrogPhlyer finishes first and ViperPilot2, who is warming up the engines of The Lady as we speak, finishes second, Phrog will win $45,000 and VP2, $25,000. “All questions regarding prize money will be answered as they arrive.” CU: “In the meantime, let’s bring this edition of the Daily Update to a close. I’m Claus Ullrich, for Piper’s Performance Planes, here with Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Safe flying, everyone!” [* - All monetary amounts in this Update are in Simbucks, which only exist in the virtual world, are only payable to and spendable by our virtual characters, and in any case are worth the final decimal place of PI preceded by zeroes up to the decimal point percent of a US Dollar]

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to a very special Daily Update for the 21st of February. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya…” CU: “And I’m Claus Ullrich for Piper’s Performance Planes…” Both: “And the 1976 Australian Air Race is over!” CU: “The top two steps of the podium have been resolved for a couple of days already, with Melo965 in sole possession of first place, and ViperPilot2 and Bossspecops sharing second.” EP: “JSMR, who had been in Renmark long enough to get a job, get a house, get married, start a family, and run for mayor – and as of the last poll was 16 points up on his opponent – has left all of that in pursuit of the perfect CV. He started with a +7 and a Centurion. He took a minute off of that to Naracoorte, and had the bit between his teeth. A -3 to Warrnambool, and another -3 to Moorabbin, and he was there. “Just before heading out on this Oz odyssey, I talked with Tom PenDragon regarding the timing system. He said that one of the hardest parts of flying a plan-versus-actual race was the temptation to overcompensate or chase a timing – he likened it to pilot-induced oscillation when learning instrument approaches. JSMR may have encountered something similar. Having flown faster than plan during the previous three legs in order to get a 0 CV, he continued to do so, scoring a -2 to Mangalore. He corrected a little on the next couple of legs, scoring a -1 into Tocumwal and also into Narrandera. At this point, he had a -4 CV. “So, JSMR slowed down. His next run, to Parkes, was a +1. He scored a +2 into Bathurst, leaving him with a -1 CV and one more leg to fly. His run to Bankstown: Another +2. He may have overshot perfect, but no matter – his final +1 CV was good enough for the Bronze.” CU: “defaid, then drops to fourth, ScottishMike to fifth, and the PhrogPhlyers round out the field in sixth. The final result of the 1976 Australian Air Race is: Melo in first, VP2 and the Bosss in second, JSMR in third, defaid fourth, Mike fifth, and Dirk sixth. “We have big news from the Bosss as well. He has decided to circumnavigate – not Australia, the world. Just as we did with Eli’s Saratoga, Bossspecops is having extra fuel tankage installed in his Sealand to be able to cross the longest open stretch of the Pacific. He dropped his Short’s – sorry, that didn’t come out right – he delivered his aircraft to a seaplane shop on the water in Sydney. Not one to let grass grow under his feet – or in his case, I guess it’s barnacles grow on his hull – he rented a Grumman Goose to run the Eastern Route in, and has made the untimed run to Coff’s Harbour.” EP: “And ScottishMike and Suzanne had a blast in their Aerostar. They made the run to Ballina and then the short hop to Coolangatta. When you see him, ask him about his Piper Cub hat – no, not the one on his head; the Cubby that landed on the roof of his Aerostar. “And with this, we shall bring this edition of the Daily Update to a close with a hearty congratulations to all of the finishers of the 1976 Australian Air Race, especially those who are on the podium. There is plenty more racing to come before midnight on the 29th of February, and two more races, the Eastern and the Combined, to be decided.” CU: “I’m Claus Ullrich for Piper’s Performance Planes…” EP: “And I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Have a great flying day, everybody.”

Absolutely - the sooner the better! I'm looking forward to seeing what web-footed friend you're going to be flying next.

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Update for the 19th of February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco in the right seat, with Claus Ullrich in the left, for Radio Chachapoya. Let’s get straight to the Leaderboard: “Melo is in sole possession of first place. Yesterday, prior to our show, VP2 shored up second place. He is no longer alone on the second step of the podium, however. Bossspecops took full advantage of Bankstown’s rather elaborate STAR to finish his 1976 Australian Air Race with a -1, which gave him a perfect CV for the race. This puts defaid, with his -2 CV for the race and his finish on the 11th of February, in third. ScottishMike is in fourth, also with a -2 but a two-day-later finish. Dirk Doovalacky moves up into fifth for the PhrogPhlyers, with a CV of +7 and a finish on the 1st of February. This makes JSMR the lone entrant in the ‘76 still on the course, with 9 legs left to run and a +7 CV. “So far, the PhrogPhlyers are the only team to have set a time for the Eastern Route, coming in with a -20 CV. No one so far has chosen to stay in their ‘76 aircraft to set a Combined time. There is prize money to be won yet, and nothing saying that a pilot cannot take a break from their race plane for a few days, return to Bankstown to pick up their plane, and continue the Combined course with a run to Coff’s Harbour. I’m looking at you, defaid, and you, ScottishMike, and if JSMR can put in a few days’ worth of hard running, I’m looking at you, too. For that matter, I cannot find anything in the Rules that would prohibit someone from running the Eastern Route in a different aircraft, then doubling back to pick up their helicopter from YSBK and setting a Combined time – hint, hint, PhrogPhlyer. “We are nine days out from the finish of the Gaggle. It’s time to start to consider the Spirit of the Race award. The award will go to the person, team, or organization involved in the Gaggle that exemplifies the best of what we would like Club Chachapoya to be. Each team, whether participant, Free Flier, or support staff, may make one nomination. Once the nominations are in, each team gets one vote. The nominations are now open. “And this concludes our Daily Update. I’m Elias Pacheco, for Claus Ullrich and the Radio Chachapoya team, signing off. Have a great flying day, everybody.”

A four-piper, actually.

Elias here with a few screenshots of our run of the Eastern Route: Sydney Exotics' lot at YSBK When the big dog walks by, the little dogs sit One of SEx's (Sydney Exotics' preferred acronym - given the types of aircraft in their inventory, I think it's completely appropriate) Thunderbolts taking off A low, slow turn around the city to get a feel for her - it's been a while since I've flown a B-58 Bankstown again Sydney's down there somewhere Cruise locked in: FL135, Mach 0.84, okay? I'm not supersonic; I just look that way Leaving Sydney behind And the Australian Alps Coff's Harbour Gold Coast Turning over Rockhampton Bringing her down into Cairns, firing up the SALS Turning for 15 On final Chronometer's showing 3:21, which is what I reported in the Update. I forgot that there's a time change between Sydney and Cairns, so flight time was actually 2:21. Fun run!

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Update for the 19th of February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco, for Claus Ullrich and the Radio Chachapoya team. We have ten more days to go. And we have news, so let’s go to the Leaderboard: “ViperPilot2 had a really nice, 3-leg run to finish his race. With a 0 to Parkes, a +1 to Bathurst, and a -1 into Bankstown, he has finished the 1976 Australian Air Rally with a perfect CV, which locks in his position on the second step of the podium. Congratulations, VP2! “And there’s been some interesting free flying going on as well. While we were on air yesterday, taoftedal was having himself a delightful jaunt to Alice Springs. His Twin Comanche runs on 100LL, while he is apparently fueled by Tim Tams. ScottishMike and his new flying companion, a woman named Suzanne, took his Piper Aerostar to Coff’s Harbour. And jgf, obeying one of those wild hairs that make life so much more interesting when they’re heeded, took an XB-70 to Tokyo. “Claus said that that was just ridiculous, with a distinct note of envy to her voice, so I rented us a B-58, with which we ran the Eastern Route in 3:28. Why so long? Well, the Australian authorities were not especially amused by my going supersonic running the Eastern Route in the Tomcat and then that rather spirited hop to Perth. They warned me of dire consequences to come if I went supersonic again in Australian airspace. So, we ran the Eastern Route at 12,500’ – 13,500’ and Mach 0.88. I’ve opted for a straight run back to Sydney, Mach 0.88 and 31,000’. Oh, well… No afterburner flames, but the Hustler’s a really sweet cruiser at Citation X speeds. “And with that, I’ll bring this edition of the Daily Update to a close. I’m Elias Pacheco, with Claus Ullrich behind me physically and Radio Chachapoya behind me figuratively, signing off. Have a great flying day, everyone.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Update for the 18th of February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco, for Claus Ullrich and the Radio Chachapoya team, on this the day after the Bathurst 12 Hours. It’s just me today, as Claus is a little busy at the moment. First, our Leaderboard: “The only one who recorded a time since yesterday’s Update has been the Bosss, who put in a +2 to Bathurst. He’s solidly in second, with a +1 CV and only the short jaunt to Sydney ahead of him to complete the ‘76. “As far as the race on the ground, what can I say? Twelve hours, decided by two seconds. Matt Campbell, fresh off of winning the Daytona 24H in a Porsche prototype, won the Bathurst 12H in a Manthey Porsche 992, sharing the victory with Laurens Vanthoor – his first win after many, many tries – and Turkish newcomer Ayhancan Güven. And their sister car won the Pro-Am class, making it a very good day for Olaf Manthey and his team. “I’m going to bring the Daily Update to a close here, as it’s been a wild weekend and I’m tired. I’m Elias Pacheco, for Claus Ullrich and the Radio Chachapoya team, signing off. Have a great flying day!”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Update for 17 February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, here in Bathurst with Claus Ullrich, and we are counting down to the start of the 12-Hour.” CU: “I just hope it can hold a candle to yesterday’s action. For a Mustang lover, it was heaven. The day started with Race 2 for the Combined Sedans. I’m crazy about this series. MARC Cars Australia have evolved the 2024 Mustang into something spectacular. Angus Fogg did the same thing with a ‘70’s-era Fastback. Geoff Taunton’s green MARC II won the first race yesterday. Angus Fogg mounted an amazing run from down in the field to battle Taunton for the win during the last few laps of the race. In the almost-end, it came down to the last turn. Both were pushing their cars as fast as they could go, and beyond. Fogg in the Fastback was in the lead, with Taunton on his tail. Taunton locked up the left front wheel of the MARC, which probably gave him the space for one final hole shot. He did; the back end of Fogg’s Mustang got a little loose, and Taunton took the win by 0.2 seconds. “This wasn’t the end, though. At Bathurst, the cars are limited to a minimum of 2 minutes and nine seconds’ lap time. Taunton went slightly under 2:09, so he received a 5-second penalty for his last lap. Fogg won. But really, racing fans won – they got to see an epic race – if an endurance racing fan like myself can call a 25-minute sprint race, ‘epic,’ - two talented amateurs driving to the limits of their abilities. “Taunton went on to win the third race easily, as Fogg pushed his car or himself a little too hard and ended up taking out the front end of his Fastback. “The classic Group S races were beautiful if less competitive. Terry Lawlor and his Shelby 350 were the class of the field and won the second and third races easily. “It was qualifying day for the competitors in the Bathurst 12H. Sheldon van der Linde took pole position in his BMW.” EP: “Which brings us to a higher form of racing, or at least one where the altitudes are hopefully a little further above ground level: “The only person running since yesterday’s Update has been Bossspecops. He scored a -1 for his run to Parkes. He’s holding onto second place with two legs left to go, one of which he is planning to run in time to watch the race. We look forward to seeing you here, Bosss – your parking space has already been set aside. “And we are approaching the start of the Bathurst 12 Hours, so we’ll bring this edition of the Daily Update to a close.” CU: “I’m Claus Ullrich of Piper’s Performance Planes…” EP: “And I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Have a great race day, folks!”

That wouldn't be Forrest, would it?

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to a brief Update for the 16th of February, 2024. I am Elias Pacheco, for Claus Ullrich and the Radio Chachapoya team, and first off, I need to make an urgent correction for the Bathurst Fly-In Challenge that I issued two days ago. Now that I’m here, I realize that the time that I had listed for the start of the race was my local time back in Mexico. The actual start of the race is at 05:45 AEDT on Sunday, the 18th. My apologies for this misunderstanding. CU: “Hi, everybody! If you were here yesterday afternoon, or if you decided to check out one of the YouTube channels we mentioned in yesterday’s Update, you would have seen some fabulous driving. The GT3’s, GT4’s, and the rest of the field for the 12-Hour lit up the track in several practice sessions, approaching the two-minute mark for the lap at the front end of the field. Perhaps even better were the support races. I’m a Mustang fan, and the new Australian MARC II in the Duggans Family Hotels Combined Sedans race is not only absolutely gorgeous, it won the first race. “If you like classic cars, the other support race is Group S. The first race was won by Geoff Morgan in a Porsche Carrera, who snatched victory from Terry Lawlor’s Shelby 350 on the last lap. Both started on the fifth row of the grid. It was a standing start, too, which is rare these days. Don’t tell me that a bunch of hobbyists in old equipment can’t put on a good race. If you’d like to see it, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xGmOdQhNzA .” EP: “I totally agree, even though the race wasn’t kind to my MGB’s. It started raining toward the end, which favored the Porsche over the Shelby and also showed that the MG’s still have their original Lucas electrics. Really nice to see them out there running around Mount Panorama, though. So, let’s quickly run down the news: “The Leaderboard’s unchanged in terms of positions. Bossspecops had a sweet run to Narrandera, scoring a -1 to give him a perfect CV. JSMR, who’s been rather quiet on the course lately, is planning a multi-leg run to try to eat into his +7. And Sirrus is back, although not flying as he’s recovering from a hip replacement. It’s great to hear from you, mate! “And we’ve got a busy day ahead of us, so we’ll bring this edition of the Daily Update to a close.” CU: “I’m Claus Ullrich, for Piper’s Performance Planes, especially the crew on the ground here who tore the Saratoga down and put her back together in record time…” EP: “And I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Have a great flying day, everybody! Catch some of the ground racing action if you can.”

EP: "We have an update to the Update. While I was trying to balance flying and talking, Bossspecops was busy setting a -1 into Narrandera. This puts his CV at a perfect 0, which cements him in second place with just 3 more legs to go. I hear he's planning to reach Bathurst by the start of the race, too. Great stuff, Bosss!"

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for the 15th of February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco, here in the left seat of the newly-reassembled Saratoga M992. Claus Ullrich is in the right seat, which is usually the Radio Chachapoya broadcast seat. She is occupying the right seat because she will likely sleep for most of our run from Jandakot to Bathurst. She and the Piglets pulled an all-nighter to get Sara ready to fly. Claus herself test-flew the M992 for four hours last night, likely to the annoyance of those who live around the airport. We’ve just passed Kalgoorlie and are now on a very long leg to Broken Hill, cruising at 15,5 at 155 knots indicated and 225 over ground. The Saratoga feels great – a little stiffer than she was before, and she was pretty solid when I picked her up at Lock Haven. What happened, Claus? What did you feel that caused you to want to tear the wings off this plane?” CU: “We were on the Half Circle – that part of Australia’s coastline that isn’t part of either the 1976 or the Eastern Routes. We flew that part of our Australian circumnavigation at 22,000’ and 24,000’, so we were at our maximum true airspeed. I first felt it when we started to get knocked around by that thunderstorm line that made us turn back to Cairns the first time we tried the run to Darwin. It was one of those things in an airplane that, once you feel it, you keep feeling it until you’re down. “I checked the plane over in Darwin and decided to push on to Perth. I felt the same thing when we hit turbulence a couple of times, but not to the point where I felt it necessary to abort the flight. Once in Jandakot, the team took the wings apart and found nothing abnormal. We ran some simulations, though, and discovered that, with the 41-gallon auxiliary bladders in the wings and full, the main spar was a little too flexible – it made for a more comfortable ride in turbulance with just the 51-gallon mains and even with the 21-gallon auxiliary bladders, but that extra 20 gallons toward the tips of the wings had them flapping like a bird’s when trying to punch through Charlie Bravos. We brought a carbon spinner from Pennsylvania, so we spun a denser, stiffer spar, put the wings back together and back on the airplane, and here we are. Thank God for flight simulators!” EP: “Indeed. I don’t know where we’d be without them – probably unemployed in some madman’s mind. We haven’t hit any real turbulence yet, and the lumps we’ve hit so far, Sara’s taken them easily, although yeah, she’s stiffer than before so the lumps are less like low, gradual speed bumps and more like potholes.” CU: “ She’s edgier now. We designed her to mimic the original, metal Saratoga’s ‘Flying Limousine” feel. Now she’s a lot closer to the feel of a 992 GT3 race car.” EP: “I wouldn’t go that far. She’s still a sweet ride, quite easy to fly as long as you stay on top of the power and the speed. She’s too much of a cruiser to be a sportplane, though. That’s a good thing. You saw what I flew into Perth in. If I want to go fast, pull some G’s, make her dance in the air, there are Tomcats and Sabres, Lightnings, and Spitfires. When I want to fly far, reasonably fast, pack five more people in the airplane than I could in a single-seater, spend all day in something as comfortable as my favorite lounger in my living room, I’ll go for something like Sara here. The last thing the general aviation industry needs right now is another Doctor-in-a-Bonanza situation.” CU: “I’ve rarely heard Doctor-in-a-Saratoga stories, Eli.” EP: “JFK Jr., but that was spatial disorientation. About fifteen years ago, one crashed with a helicopter over the Hudson. That’s about it, though. And that’s what I’m talking about. A Saratoga is a plane for a responsible pilot who wants to get somewhere in a reasonable amount of time for a piston single. It’s not for aerobatics, high-G maneuvers, or fools who’d try such things in a utility-category aircraft. I’m precisely that kind of fool, too. You’ve seen me pull some rather aggressive turns. I’ve barrel-rolled Sara, took her through an Immelmann, and haven’t broken her tail off yet. Given how she’s constructed, I don’t think it’s possible to break the airframe with anything you could do to her in the air. But she’s just as susceptible to accelerated stalls as the next airplane, and even if the cabin protective cell might allow a pilot to walk away from a crash, she’s every bit as dangerous to people on the ground as any other aircraft.” CU: “She’s a high-performing flying living room for responsible pilots – that’s what you’re saying. That’s exactly what we designed her to be. This broadcast, however, is going in a direction that it was not designed to, so why don’t we take a brief look at the Leaderboard:” EP: “Brief because it’s exactly the same as yesterday’s. Melo is in first, Bosss is in second with a 1 and 4 legs left to go, defaid, ScottishMike and ViperPilot2 are in third, fourth, and fifth respectively with 2’s, VP2 having six legs to go, and the PhrogPhlyers and JSMR are in sixth and seventh with 7’s, JSMR having nine legs to go and the PhrogPhlyers currently leading the Eastern Route with a -20. “And jgf has reached Jandakot to complete his Australian circumnavigation – well done, jgf! “After yesterday’s Update, the Aussie Correspondent over at our sister print publication got a little ahead of me by posting viewing instructions for the Bathurst 12H. Our listeners in every part of the world except Australia and New Zealand can indeed follow the race on YouTube, whether on the Repco Bathurst 12Hr Channel ( https://www.youtube.com/@B12HR ), on SRO’s GT World channel ( https://www.youtube.com/@GTWorld ), or on radiolemans.co . What is less clear is how our Australian audience can watch the race – it seems to be a combination of social media, Kayo Sports, Foxtel, and The Seven Network. I was waiting for clarification before announcing it, but with the practice sessions about to start, I do not believe that any is forthcoming. “So what is the Mt. Panorama race course? To me, it’s like someone tossed the Nurburgring into the wash and it shrunk. Formula 1 driver Mark Webber has made a similar observation. Its straights are straight only in the horizontal sense; they rise and fall like the Döttiger Höhe. The Esses are legendary – drive as fast as you can, down a hill that in most parts of the world would be a cliffside, and turn on a track that’s barely wide enough for two bicycles, with no runoff, through a canyon of concrete barriers. And it’s also like Circuit de la Sarthe in the sense that a large portion of it’s public roads. In a nutshell, it’s insane – or simply Australian, take your pick. “The primary, A class running this weekend is GT3, which while based on production models, are thoroughbred racers with sufficient performance to attract top-level professional drivers, yet able to be driven by talented amateurs. The class is broken into three subclasses: Pro, which are FIA Platinum and Gold-rated drivers, Pro-Am, which are Platinum, Gold, and Bronze, and Silver, which are Silver and Bronze. Class C is GT4, which I’ve heard best described as GT3 Light – less aero, less edgy, and a lot less expensive. And then there is the Invitational class, which is basically anything the organizers think will help to make an interesting race. “I hope you can tune in, at least for a short time, so that you can you can see what modern sports car endurance racing is all about. And as Claus has fallen asleep, I’ll bring this edition of our Daily Update to a close. This is Elias Pacheco, for an angelic-looking Claus Ullrich and the Radio Chachapoya team, signing off. Have a great flying day everybody, and if that flying takes you to Bathurst, see you there.”

EP: Okay, so I wanted to see how the Tomcat would fare on the Eastern Route. I decided to stop and taxi back to the active for each leg, and get the timing from the M803 that I had them install yesterday afternoon. I used Flight Time as recorded by the chronometer and reset the flight timer at each stop. The only exception to this was Townsville, which was a T&G with no timer reset. Parked at Sydney Exotics. The guy in the Archer wants to cut me off. My kingdom for a Sidewinder... A lot of Pipers heading up this morning (I'm still behind that blue Warrior). YSBK's really busy! A rather leisurely, sedate, 7,500 fpm climb-out at 240 knots Setting a time This time: 21 minutes to Coff's Harbour Speed brakes still extended as I turn to head back to the active An easier, subsonic run to Ballina (don't want to break MAD1's windows) Down at Ballina, 13 minutes 6 minutes to Coolangatta Coming into Brisbaine 9 minutes to YBBN Rockin' it to Rockhampton 279 miles in 18 minutes Low and fast time 18 minutes to Mackay (crossed a time zone) Okay, back to high and fast Kicking out a contrail Coming into Townsville Oh really? 16 minutes into Townsville (+1 scorched Cessna) A rather aggressive climbout Descending into Cairns Slowing into YBCS Down in Cairns. Chronometer shows 31 minutes, which minus the 16 to Townsville gives 15 minutes for the run Niiiice pussycat! I just love making Learjet owners envious.

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, and the Piper team who’s working so hard to get Sara back in the air. Let’s get to it: “Yesterday, Melo965 won the 1976 Australian Air Race. “Bossspecops had a perfect run to Tocumwal – congratulations, Bosss! He’s in second place with a +1, with only 4 more legs to go. “defaid, who finished on the 11th of February, moves up into third place with his -2, and ScottishMike, who finished on the 13th of February, moves up into fourth with a +2. “ViperPilot2 made a run to Moorabbin yesterday, arriving a minute early at Warrnambool and setting a perfect time into Melbourne. He has a -2 CV with 6 legs remaining, and is currently sitting in fifth position. “The PhrogPhlyers and JSMR both have 7’s for the ‘76, Capt. Doovalacky having finished on the 1st of February and in sixth; JSMR still with 9 legs to run and in seventh. “PhrogPhlyer is the first and only runner of the Eastern Route so far in a Vampire, having made the entire run in a single stint on the 10th of February for a -20. “Meanwhile, I’ve been having a bit of fun in my new ride. I’m currently on my way back to Sydney from Cairns, after taking a crack at the Eastern Route. The Tomcat’s cruising at Mach 0.9 at 31,000’, which is rather sedate for this aircraft. I did not fly the way up sedately. So, I’m going to wrap this up in a second so that I can tell you about it. “First, however, is a Radio Chachapoya Challenge for all you rev-heads, gear-heads, petrol-heads, motor-heads, and anyone else who happens to have a head. This weekend is the Repco Bathurst 12-Hour Race. The Challenge is a fly-in to YBTH, arriving before the start of the race at 12:45 P.M. AEDT on Saturday, 17 February. All fly-in participants who arrive ahead of race start and leave after the finish will receive all-access passes for the race, meals and hotel, landing and tie-down fees, and a free fill-up of whatever your bird likes to drink. If you have a need for speed – sorry, I promised myself that I wouldn’t use that phrase while in the Tomcat – I’ll see you there. “And this has been the Daily Update for the 14th of February, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Have a great flying day!”

I didn't time it , but I'd guess around 490 - 500. I was holding a steady 445 kts. IAS at 13,500' and around 550 over ground. Climb-out took a couple of minutes; Descent was, after I took the inverted shot, I cut the throttles and pulled back on the stick. Time of descent was the time it took for my brain to reach my knees. I leveled out of the half-loop at 2,500 (I think; everything was black), dodged departing traffic over YSSY, and finally had her down to 180 on downwind for YSBK. I've made the decision to not replace my flightsim machine, a 10-year-old Alienware, when it gives up the ghost. I might replace the graphics card if I can, but if not, that's it. The failure yesterday reminded me that the machine won't last forever. So I figured, why not go out in style?

Real world translation: I was able to get my computer back up and running. While it's up, I decided to take a quick run to Sydney: Tomcat on the ramp at Jandakot Getting ready to take the active Climbing out over YPJT Turning past Katanning, 13,500', Mach 0.81 Rounding Adelaide Warrnambool Melbourne Parkes Bathurst Sydney This isn't how you're supposed to fly Down Under? A busy Bankstown Down and parked.