TomPenDragon

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for the 30th of January, 2024. I am a well-rested Elias Pacheco, for Claudine Ullrich and the rest of the Radio Chachapoya crew. Let’s go right to the Leaderboard, shall we? “We have exciting news: Not only has Melo965 started the race; he’s currently in the lead with a CV of -1, in Katanning. Keep it up, Melo! “Hot on his heels are the 2’s. defaid is in second in Adelaide; ViperPilot2 and ScottishMike share third/fourth place in Ceduna, and JSMR is in fifth in Norseman. “The Bosss is in Warnambool, in sixth place with his -5 CV. “MAD1 is in Katanning with Melo, in seventh place with his -8 CV. “And the PhrogPhlyers complete our field, in eighth with their +44 CV. We’ve finally caught up with the PhrogPhlyers’ Captain Dirk Doovalacky of the Australian Army, call sign ‘Double D’, here in Renmark. Captain Doovalacky, how are you today?” DD: "Just right as rain, how can I help you?" EP: “In the interest of full disclosure, I have a closer connection to Team PhrogPhlyers than I have to the other teams – PhrogPhlyer was my first flight instructor. How did you come to pilot for him? How is it to fly for him? DD: "Well, back in the '80s the US Marines were participating in a joint exercise, they flying from a ship and we flying out of Pearce. At the end of the exercise the Officer's Club hosted the US pilots to a debrief, that lasted 3 days and many many kegs of Fosters. Needless to say, we became as close as brothers then. Later in the late '90s I had an opportunity to be an exchange officer to the US, and fate ensured I found myself in PhrogPhlyer's squadron, further cementing our brotherhood. SO when he reached out and suggested I work with him for the AAR, it was with a resounding ‘aye’ that I joined his race team." EP: “You are flying the venerable Bell 206 – the military Sea Ranger variant. You flew here from Caiguna – that was seven hours in the right seat. How’s the 206 to fly, especially for a marathon stint like the one that brought you here?” DD: "Well she was a real pain in the arse, comfort wise. But the JetRanger is a sweetheart to fly. She kicked and screamed at me a few times, but never once flinched on the way." EP: “You had a tail rotor gearbox failure that stranded you at Caiguna for a number of days. Fortunately, you were able to catch it before taking off. How concerned were you about this helicopter’s reliability on your run from YCAG to YREN?” DD: "If I didn't have confidence in a helicopter going the distance, I'd never have started the race. And in the off chance of an engine failure, I'd rather be in a helicopter than a plane, I can land at 0 knots in trees if need be, let's see my stiff-wing friends try that one." EP: “If flying a 206 for seven hours wasn’t hard enough, you ran into weather that forced a diversion from Parafield and that’s left you a total of 44 minutes behind plan. Now, from here you have nine legs to make that up. How are you planning on doing it?” DD: "Well, the sneaky side of me says to plan for 90 knots and fly at 130! But, that wouldn't be proper of an Military Officer now would it? So accuracy in following the course, play the tail winds correctly, and let the cards fall where they may." EP: “Well, I wish you success with that. Hopefully, you left all of the gremlins behind in Caiguna – maybe they ate at the Road Kill and are currently in the hospital. Thank you very much, Double D! Safe flying, mate. “We have one last unfortunate item to cover: Doubtless you are aware of the dicey situation that ScottishMike has found himself in in Ceduna. You should know by now that one of his passengers, who we knew as Professor Platypus Perth, has been found dead. Though never formally charged, Mike had been asked to not leave Ceduna until David Segfield’s – Prof. Perth’s – cause of death could be determined and Mike’s involvement could be ruled out. This happened earlier today; ScottishMike is free to proceed along the course as soon as he’s ready to leave. “The Professor’s partner, Wombat Willie – real name Giorgio Bianchi – is still at large. He is well known to the New South Wales police. He might try to persuade another naive pilot to fly him around the Yalata Reserve, or perhaps out of the country. He may be armed. Fliers are advised to be on the lookout for him. Do not approach him, but instead contact the police immediately should you spot him or notice anything suspicious. “And on this rather somber note, we conclude today’s Update. I’m Elias Pacheco, for Claus Ullrich and Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Keep calm, and be vigilant.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) CU: “Hi, I’m Claus Ullrich, for Eli Pacheco and Radio Chachapoya. Here’s our Daily Update for January 29th, 2024. Eli Pacheco’s taking a down day today after a marathon of races that started, here in Australia, at 7:00 P.M. Saturday evening with the Dubai 24. “I didn’t care for auto racing at all until last year. But a friend from work told me about this car from Antigua and Barbuda that was racing in this series and was not doing so bad. My family’s from Barbuda. So, I accepted his invitation to watch not one day of racing but two, since that weekend’s race was a, ‘split 12,’ with six hours run on Saturday and six on Sunday. I guess that I was hooked from the time I saw the Antiguan flag on the roof of their Audi. I was thrilled when the Number 21 finished Saturday atop the grid. When they won on Sunday, I cried like I hadn’t done in years – even when the podium ceremony was delayed while they found a recording of the Antiguan National Anthem to play as our flag was raised. “I haven’t missed a Creventic race since. We came in eighth overall and third in the Am subclass of GT3 this past weekend. Mugello, which we won last year, is coming up in March. I’m already looking for a reason why a project manager for Piper Performance needs to be in Italy around those dates. “Eli, while he watches the Creventic and most other sportscar endurance series, is an IMSA man. His race, the Daytona 24, started at five in the morning on Sunday. Still, he came to my hotel room on Saturday afternoon with his laptop, an HDMI cable, and more food than we’ll be able to finish before the Gaggle does. He watched the Dubai with me all night, and when the Daytona started, he left his machine with the Dubai race and watched the Daytona on my computer, since mine doesn’t have an HDMI port. Eli’s a gentleman; he wouldn’t sit on the bed with me, but insisted on sitting in a chair all the time. “I tried watching the Daytona 24 with him; I really did. But I was asleep by 8:00 Sunday evening, and didn’t wake up until just before sunrise the next day – just in time to watch an epic battle for the lead which ended with the Porsche finishing ahead of the Cadillac by two seconds. Eli was still in the chair, still awake. He went back to his room for a shower, and then we watched the AFC and NFC Championship games. “He was starting to nod off before the end of the Lions-49ers game, and when he finally left, he left the Saratoga’s keys on the table and asked me to do the Daily Update today. “And here we are. Let’s run down the Leaderboard: “defaid is now in front, with a CV of 2 and 7 legs completed. “ViperPilot2 has recorded reaching Ceduna with a -3, which drops him into second place with a -2 after 5 legs. “ScottishMike is also in Ceduna with a CV of 2. Let’s hope that his legal woes won’t keep him from the course for very long. “JSMR’s CV of -2 and his 2 completed legs places him in fourth place. “The Bosss, meanwhile, has completed 10 legs and has a CV of -5. He’s in fifth. “MAD1’s sent us a weather warning – heavy rains and the aftereffects of Cyclone Kirrily are affecting the Eastern route. He’s in Katanning, with a CV of -8, in sixth place. “Dirk Doovalacky rounds out the field for the PhrogPhlyers in seventh, with a CV of 44 after 8 legs. I sense a recovery run is coming. “And a little bird told me that Melo965 is getting his Chippie ready for his first timed run. “Well, that does it for our Daily Update. I’m Claus Ullrich, for Elias Pacheco and Radio Chachapoya, signing off until tomorrow. Good day and good flying, everyone.”

I'm so sorry to hear this, Michael. You're one of us now, and we're all with you. Besides, what's a race without a cheering section? Best wishes for your wife and you!

I'm confused, Basil. Are you referencing the wrong comment here? On Page 3, on 18 January you said (as referenced above): Next time I suggest not to open such many threads for one and the same thing… just leave the basic thread open and post in there all the things… To be honest, with that many threads opened at one time, i've been loosing the overview, and with that, the interest to read all threads. Largely in response to this, 5 hours later I posted: Uhhh guys? It's been done! Everything from Stories has been copied over here with its original timestamps, so everything's in sequence and the Stories thread is no more (as far as I can tell). I was just asking if it was possible, but now it's done and we've got our old "Thread about everything" back. Thank you Adrian K!!!!! All the best, Tom The issue that you cite in your post was resolved within a few hours. Please clarify.

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to a very brief Update for the 28th of January, 2024. I’m an exhausted Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya. Let’s go straight to the Leaderboard: “Just the facts: Bosss got to Warnambool. Melo got to Jandakot. Mike got arrested. See you tomorrow.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Update for the 27th of January, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya. Let’s go straight to the Leaderboard: “At Forrest, ViperPilot2 retains his lead with a CV of +1. “defaid is in second in Adelaide with a CV of +2. “ScottishMike also has a +2 CV and is in third, two legs behind defaid. His Mooney has lost some weight, as his passengers prefer to walk the rest of the way to Sydney. “JSMR also has a 2 – in this case, a -2 – currently in Norseman. He is in fourth. “Bossspecops is here with us in Renmark, in fifth place with a -6. “MAD1 is now officially on the Board! He and his Cessna 182RG are in Katanning with a -8, in sixth. “The PhrogPhlyers drop into seventh, with a CV of +44. Double D and his Bell 206 are here in Renmark. “Our apologies for neglecting the Free Fliers in our past few Updates. Fuel valve issues have forced Melo965 to change Chipmunks. But the good news for him is that he has now reached Perth, with a stop at RAAF Base Pearce before a short hop to Jandakot to start the race. taoftedal and his Twin Comanche had a gorgeous, full moon night flight to Adelaide. And yesterday afternoon at Renmark, we all looked up at the sound of jgf’s Staggerwing on approach – it’s always a treat to see that plane in the air! “And last but certainly not least, Chachapoya Chronicle’s Aussie Correspondent has been hard at work keeping us posted about the tropical cyclone Kirrily and helping us get to know this spectacular country in which we are flying. His love for and pride in his native land shines through every single word. “And this concludes today’s Update. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, on behalf of Claudine Ullrich, signing off. If like us you are taking a down day or two to watch the Dubai and Daytona 24-hour races, enjoy – the running has been fantastic so far. Whatever you’re doing this weekend, have fun, and stay safe. Bye, bye.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) CU: “It’s time for our Daily Update. We are Claus Ullrich and Eli Pacheco, here for Radio Chachapoya. I’m in the right seat talking; Eli’s flying today. Last night the Porsche people made a minor adjustment to the turbo and we swapped out the 21-gallon auxiliary fuel bladders for 41-gallon ones. We’re back on the route, with only the mains full.. Eli’s kicking along at 7,500’ and 155 knots. Leaned to 62° after peak, Sara’s sipping fuel like an evening’s Chardonnay at 11.8 gallons per hour, with 300° CHTs. The Low Fuel warning came on a little before Adelaide. “So let’s run down the Leaderboard: “ViperPilot2’s CV of 1 has him still in the lead, at Forrest. “Next, we have three CVs of 2. defaid is in second at Adelaide. “ScottishMike made a run to Ceduna, arriving on fumes. He’s moved up into third, having shaved 7 minutes off of his CV. We’ve arrived in Renmark with a gallon and a half in each of the mains. There’s an award for pilots who land with the least amount of fuel in their aircraft: The Darwin Award. “JSMR is still showing in Katanning, in fourth. “Bossspecops is here in Renmark, in fifth. “The PhrogPhlyers round out the field in sixth, with a +44, also here in Renmark. Perhaps we can get a hold of Dirk Doovalacky for an interview, now that he’s showered. “One final word before we go: The Daily Update may look a little abridged this weekend. This is because we are going to be watching not one but two 24-hour races – one in Dubai and the other in Daytona. Those interested in hearing the inspiration for Radio Chachapoya can listen in to some of the commentary on www.radiolemans.co , and can watch the Dubai 24 on either www.24hseries.com or on www.radiolemans.co . For details on where and how to watch the Daytona 24, go to www.imsa.com . If you are in an area in which you can view the Daytona 24, you can always mute the sound and listen to Radio LeMans’ commentary – it’s how Eli and I both watch it. “This concludes our Daily Update for today. We’re Claudine Ullrich and Elias Pacheco, for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Have a great flying weekend, everybody!”

Shall I update the Spotters' Guide to reflect the Mooney's weight reduction of 300 lbs of ugly fat?

Certainly. What help do you need?

Quick note: The Spotters' Guide has been updated in the Official thread to reflect Melo's change of aircraft.

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to our Update for the 25th of January, 2024. We are Elias Pacheco and Claudine Ullrich for Radio Chachapoya. I am in the right seat today. So, where are we flying, Claus?” CU: “We’re an hour out from Perth, Eli. Last night I asked you how the M992 was on a long cruise, and you said, ‘Let’s find out.’ We planned a literal cross-country – Cairns to Perth, at 24,000’. 1,900 miles, via Mt. Isa, Alice Springs, Uluru, and Kalgoorlie. We both wanted to see if she’d make it that far without a stop – which would give you some peace of mind about whether she could make it from Japan to the Aleutians. We’ve also been debating the best way to lean the engine.” EP: “I’m an old guy – I’m going to be 70 this year. I took my first flying lesson 47 years ago. What I learned back then was to lean the engine to around 50°F rich of peak EGT, and I’ve always stuck with that. It was the best balance between optimum power – peak fuel flow, around 120°F rich of peak – and fuel economy – Sara here’ll drink 18 gallons per hour at peak power and 16 at 50°F ROP." CU: “And along comes this Millennial to upset your apple cart.” EP: “A Millennial with a Doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic, who happens to be the leader of the team that built Sara. So I figured it was best to at least give her the opportunity to prove her point, which is what we’re doing heading back to Jandakot, her point being…” CU: “The exact same point Mike Busch of SavvyAviation made at the 2021 AirVenture – I sent you the slide show.Savvy-EAA Webinar - 2021-07-27 1000 F7 Leaning the Right Way.pdf Leaning an aircraft engine isn’t about mixture management; it’s about heat management. The people who wrote the POHs of the aircraft that you learned to fly in didn’t have the information that we have today. The sensors are a lot better, and there are a lot more of them. “In a nutshell, if fuel – either buying it or having enough of it in the tanks to get where you’re going – is no object, you can fly a little faster and burn a lot more avgas by using a true Best Power setting – the EGT will be down maybe 100°F or more from peak and fuel flow will be at its maximum for your power setting. If you don’t mind losing a few knots of airspeed but want to go a lot farther, a lot cleaner, maybe even save the planet a little, you want to be somewhat lean-of-peak, maybe 30°F to 70°F. “The net is, you want to keep the CHT below 380°F – the PFM420 in Sara here uses different materials, but for the sake of safety, let’s treat it like a new Lycoming…” EP: “We don’t know the engine’s temperature range? And PFM420? I mean, I like the number, but I thought it was a PFM400.” CU: “It’s a new engine. Porsche’s number is the rated horsepower, rounded to something the marketing people can live with. You’ve flown a Porsche-built Mooney; you know its PFM400 is a four-banger. Sara’s got a six. Porsche was trying to build a six-cylinder engine with 400 bhp, so their preliminary designation reflected that. With the current turbocharging system, it’s putting out about 423. 425 – something like that. So, PFM420.” EP: “So we’re testing Porsche’s engine for them.” CU: “Porsche’s testing the engine, too – they just haven’t found a way to break it yet. They put it on the test rig, punish the crap out of it for a couple of weeks, tear it apart, and it looks like new. So they put it back together, punish the crap out of it for another couple of weeks, tear it down, and it still looks like new. The block, crank, cylinders, and pistons all have more than 20,000 hours now, and they can’t tell the parts from the new ones in the boxes. We can ask them when we get to Jandakot, but last I checked, they were running it around 50” of manifold pressure and putting out more than 600 horses. They’ve run it full throttle blasting hot air – 66°C, then cut it to idle and blown carbon dioxide over it at minus 70°C, and the only casualty was a researcher who suffered hypercapnia from breathing in the CO2. The CHTs dropped below 0° in seconds and the cylinder walls just laughed at the humans trying to crack them.” EP: “So the engine’s basically indestructible?” CU: “Unless you want to find out halfway between Chitose and Eareckson, let’s treat it like a Lycoming, okay? But I’d say that we can have the same degree of confidence in it that we would a carefully broken-in, factory-new Lycoming with 150 hours on it.” EP: “I like that. And now for today’s Leaderboard: “ViperPilot2 retains his lead, now at Forrest with a CV of 1. “defaid’s CV of 2 after 7 legs completed is good enough to keep him in second place. “JSMR remains in Katanning with a CV of 2, in third. “Bossspecops is now in fourth, with a CV of -6 after 8 legs. “ScottishMike is in fifth and in Forrest, with a CV of 9. “And Double D… Nearly a thousand miles. More than 7 hours. Rain and low ceilings that forced him to divert to RAAF Edinburgh while coming into Parafield. He’s made it safely to Renmark, though his 44-minute CV has dropped him into sixth place. “And Dr. Ullrich is throttling back and starting to descend into YPJT. We made it without having to refuel. Nine hours in the air. 1,900 miles. Fuel burn a little under 14 gallons per hour. Lean of peak – I think I’m becoming a believer. “This concludes our Daily Update. We are Dr. Claudine Ullrich and Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Happy Australia Day!!”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) CU: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for the 24th of January, 2024. I’m Claudine Ullrich for Radio Chachapoya. Elias is in the left seat today as we go storm hunting.” EP: “We’ve just passed Rockhampton and are headed to Mackay, flying at 4,500’. So far, the weather’s been pretty nice. We’re seeing some scattered, high cirrus, but little else. What we do have is a 40-knot tailwind, courtesy of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily, the storm formerly known as 05U. “The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has Kirrily listed as a Category 1 cyclone currently, with winds of 75 kph, gusting to 100. It is tracking west-southwest at 16 kph, and is expected to reach Cat 2 status by 10:00 local time on the 25th. METARs for Townsville and Cairns are both reporting no clouds and light winds right now, but their TAFs predict that the rains will start shortly. The storm itself is showing cloud tops above 34,000’. Pilots are advised to visit www.bom.gov.au/aviation for further details and to track Kirrily as it makes landfall and moves inland. Landfall is expected on Thursday, near Townsville, after which it is expected to weaken, slow, and disperse, bringing intense rains to Queensland throughout the weekend and into next week. High seas and rapidly-shifting surface winds make ocean floatplane operations unadvisable along the northeastern Australian coast until Kirrily’s effects have fully dissipated – at least throughout next week, I reckon.” CU: “So everyone be safe out there. How’s our Leaderboard today:” EP: “ViperPilot2 is still showing in the lead, at Caiguna.” CU: “defaid is in Adelaide, now solidly in second with his CV of 2.” EP: “We have a new racer on the course: JSMR, for Team Nuns of Fun and sponsored by Bundaberg Rum, has jumped into third in his Cessna Centurion, with a CV of 2 at Katanning.” CU: “Still enjoying the wonderful cuisine and urban atmosphere of Caiguna, Double D is in fourth with a -3. What is it with Caiguna and helicopter pilots, anyway?” EP: “And The Bosss has made it to Renmark. He’s currently the head of the pack, course-wise, but an 8-minute early arrival yesterday has dropped him into fifth place with a -6 CV.” CU: “ScottishMike rounds out the field with a CV of 9 at Forrest, for sixth place.” EP: “And this concludes our Daily Update. We are Elias Pacheco…” CU: “...and Claudine Ullrich…” EP: “...for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Have a great flying day…” CU: “...and spare a thought for those in Cyclone Kirrily’s path. Bye, bye.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for the 23rd of January, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, with Claudine Ullrich, who is again flying. This is taking me back to, well, around when I started flying. I had just bought an MGB, and I made the mistake of letting my girlfriend at the time drive it. I never saw the driver’s seat again. Then she took off, and I never saw my MGB again.” CU: “I’d never do that to you, Eli. Hello, listeners! I’m Claudine Ullrich, once again in the left seat of Sara – the M992. This morning, I read the Chachapoya Chronicle’s report on the tropical depression off of the northeast coast of the continent and wanted to fly over there and investigate it.” EP: “I suggested we follow the 1976 racecourse so that you could see the rest of it. I haven’t flown the Eastern route at all, so this will be a way for the both of us to get to know it. And how’s the flying so far?” CU: “We’re kicking along at 11,500’ and 168 knots, with a manifold pressure of 25”, 2241 RPM’s on the tach, and burning 16 gallons an hour. For our first couple of hours, we had a tailwind that was pushing our groundspeed over 250. That was fun. Passing Warrnambool, the air has become rather unsettled.” EP: “I’ll say. We’ve both got both shoulder belts pulled tight.” CU: “That had nothing to do with the flick roll you talked me into and talked me through coming out of Adelaide.” EP: “Flick roll? What flick roll? That surely couldn’t have been us. We’re responsible aviators, after all. It must’ve been another Mexican-registered Saratoga in brown ‘70’s striping, that just happened to be in Australia at the same time as us.” CU: “With a very similar registration number, too. Let’s go to the Leaderboard...” EP: “...Before we get ourselves into trouble:” CU: “ViperPilot retains his accumulated Variance lead with 0, showing at Caiguna.” EP: “We left defaid and Bossspecops in Adelaide this morning, both with CV’s of 2, in second and third respectively.” CU: “Dirk Doovalacky is in phourth for the PhrogPhlyers, with a variance of -3 after 3 legs.” EP: “ScottishMike has advanced to Forrest. His +1 to Caiguna and +7 to Forrest has dropped him into fifth position with a CV of 9.” CU: “And Melo965 has made it to Newman, YNWN.” EP: “And we have made it to Brisbane, with a beautiful, unassisted landing from our good Doctor.” CU: “I’m starting to get a feel for the Saratoga, although with such a long runway, anyone would have been able to.” EP: “Don’t sell yourself short. You handled the wake turbulence from that 737 that Air Traffic Control brought in right on top of us with no problem at all, and still greased her right onto the piano keys. I doubt I could’ve done better. I’m relieved to hear you say you’d never take this plane from me.” CU: “When I said I’d never do that to you, I meant I’d never be your girlfriend. You’re not getting this plane back." EP: “And on that not, we are Claudine Ullrich, and the now-planeless Elias Pacheco, for Radio Chachapoya, bringing this Daily Update to a close with a warning: Do not leave your ignition keys anywhere near this woman.” CU: “Bye bye.”

Actually, I'd suggest that it is. I've thought of several possible explanations, like unexpected winds, a miscalibrated ASI, Microsoft calculating miles differently this far south, etc., but the answers all boil down to one thing: you need to plan for the aircraft you have, not the one "the book" describes. If the plan needs a little more time to reflect what your plane can actually do, throw in a little more time (this also applies to project management).

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for the 22nd of January, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, here in the cockpit again with Dr. Claudine Ullrich, who is flying. Let’s run down our Leaderboard for the start of our second week of racing: “ViperPilot2 is still showing in the lead with a CV of 0 as of Caiguna. “ScottishMike has spent a couple of days in Norseman having enlightening conversations with Native Australians. You can fly any time, mate. Moments like that come along once. When they do, listen. He is in second with a CV of 1. “We have now learned what defaid has been doing in Forrest: He has been scouting and practicing. He has just completed a run to Parafield, which places him furthest along the course now. He is still in third place, with a CV of 2. “Bossspecops has also reached Adelaide, and is tied with defaid with a CV of 2 after 7 legs completed. Austral Rose must be a happy camper; she got her feet wet in Port Augusta. “The PhrogPhlyers are still showing in Caiguna, rounding out the field in fifth with a -3 CV. Their Bell 206 needed the help of the RNZAF to get it going. Captain Doovalacky may need the help of the RFDS to get him going, after a couple of days eating at the Road Kill. This morning’s breakfast special was wombat pancakes, but their blue plate special is off the menu now because a fumble-fingered busboy dropped and broke the blue plate yesterday. Perhaps it seems as if I’m disparaging the establishment, but last year Sal Monella’s Restaurant Guide took away one of their stars. They even managed to get Chipped Beef on Toast, that old military staple, wrong by adding staples. But, what can one expect from an eatery whose farmers’ market is the world’s longest stretch of straight road? “And we are also in Adelaide. Claudine, why don’t you tell us about today’s run?” CU: “Let’s start with yesterday’s, Eli. Before yesterday, I had only flown the M992 – you mentioned the name once on the air and the team loves it – once, and she scared the crap out of me. Yesterday, you taught me how to fly her.” EP: “She does like more airspeed than you’re used to.” CU: “And to be flown onto the runway instead of just flaring her and letting her settle.” EP: “More like a warbird than a Warrior.” CU: “For sure. She gets sloppy slow, but above 140 she stiffens up really nicely, and with 160 on the ASI, in the mid-teens to the low 20’s altitude, she rides even nicer than a King Air.” EP: “You and your team should be proud.” CU: “Thanks. Now… Today, I wanted to see how the racers were doing their timed routes. You told me how Thomas PenDragon told you that he did it for the Route 66.” EP: “Take us through it.” CU: “The most important thing you told me was that the race is run one leg at a time, and each leg is won or lost on the ground in planning, not in the air. The key is having a flight plan you can fly accurately. “We used two websites this morning: www.skyvector.com and www.e6bx.com/e6b . I went to SkyVector first and entered YFRT – Forrest’s ICAO – in the search field at the top left of the page. Forrest has a weather station, so I checked the METAR. A fine, cloudless day. Just to the right of that is the Flight Plan option, so I clicked on that and entered YFRT in the Departure window and YCDU as my destination. In the large window below this, I could have started to enter en-route waypoints, but there were none to be found on the map. The distance given was 297.2 miles. I opted to fly this at 5,500’ – maybe a little low, but it shortened the climb and descent phases of the flight. I plugged the Flight Level – in this case, 055, into the Planner’s Alt window. “Now, I’ve got a line on the map and a distance, but I need a critical piece of information: my true airspeed. And this begs the most critical question of the whole process: what is my Goldilocks airspeed? It’s not Max. Cruise; it’s not Econ. Cruise; it’s a speed I can fly at that will let me speed up a little if the headwinds are stronger than expected and slow down if I’ve got a better tailwind than forecast. “Time for the E6B. I’m not taking my written now, so I don’t need to regurgitate the formula for calculating True Airspeed. I can just scroll down the E6B page until I find the True Air Speed Calculator and plug in the numbers. Here, we know the Pressure Altitude – 5,500’. The Saratoga likes 160 IAS – she’ll cruise at 170 with one hand tied behind her back, and can be flown comfortably down to 150 or below, so 160’s my Goldilocks. I plug this into the Ind. Air Speed slot. And you helped me with the last bit: the Outside Air Temperature.” EP: “Since I’ve been flying here, there seems to be a thermal inversion everywhere I’ve flown. The temperature on the ground has been 13°C every single time I’ve started up, no matter where I’ve been, but at 5,500’ it’s been around 20°C. So I suggested you use 20°C, which you did…” CU: “...which gave me a True Airspeed of 179. I rounded this up to 180 knots, which I plugged into the Spd slot of SkyVector’s planner. SkyVector calculates the current winds into the plan; I didn’t have to. So, we were looking at a 1 hour, 39 minute flight. I pressed the Navlog button at the lower right-hand side of the Flight Plan window to generate a .pdf with the forecast winds and everything. “The rest was just flying the plan. The Takeoff-Climb phase was given an ETE of 4 minutes, so I got us up to 5,500’ in about 4 and a half. For the bulk of the flight, I used the panel-mounted Garmin 500 to verify my groundspeed.” EP: “Tom told me that he used his DME, but because there are no usable VOR’s listed between Forrest and Ceduna, you had to rely on the GPS.” CU: “Forrest and Ceduna both have NDB’s, but they’re not very helpful when judging groundspeed. I guess someone trying to fly by hand could keep a handheld GPS on the right seat and check it every half-hour or so and fly NDB to NDB. Like Tom told you, I tried to keep the groundspeed a couple of knots faster than the plan’s groundspeed, since I might have to hunt for the airport. “I waited a little too long to start my descent, and the Saratoga refuses to be pushed down. I had to do a 360 to burn off the last 1,500’, but I was wheels-down at… EP: “1:39 exact. Had you been timing, you would have scored a 0. Beginner’s luck. Then what happened?” CU: “I didn’t restart the Flight Timer after I reset it, and we only noticed when we were halfway to Port Augusta already. So we free-flew the rest of the way to Parafield.” EP: “And what do you think?” CU: “Doing the timing is definitely a challenge. It’s not easy, but hitting that zero sure felt good. Still, to me, just flying around and writing about it’s more, ‘me,’ than doing the timing. If I want a challenge, I’ll focus on mastering the M992. Which I’ll do.” EP: “You brought another one?” CU: “Noooo… I think I’ll be flying with you for the rest of the Gaggle.” EP: “Oh. Well, in that case, why don’t you do the sign-off?” CU: “This concludes our Daily Update. I’m Claudine Ullrich, for Piper’s Performance Planes and Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Say good night, Gracie.” EP: “Good night, Gracie.”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for the 21st of January, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya. Let’s get right to the Leaderboard: “If the Post-It on the door of the shack that some of the Rally participants built at Caiguna is to be believed, ViperPilot2 has taken the lead, his 2-minute early arrival giving him a perfect CV of 0 after 3 legs completed. “This drops ScottishMike down into second, still at Norseman with a CV of 1. “defaid in now in third, still in Forrest and still with a CV of -2. He has, however, presented a flight plan to Adelaide, so I believe that we’ll be seeing him and dj further along the course in short order. “Bossspecops is now the furthest along the course, having made it to Ceduna, however his +2 for the flight from Forrest has dropped him into fourth place with a +3 CV. “And Double D rounds out the field of those who have reported times with a -3 CV, in Caiguna. He had been planning on a long run to Renmark, which would have put him out in front on the course, but discovered that his tail rotor gearbox had gone south – fortunately just as he was powering up to lift off; I would have hated to see what would have happened had it failed in the middle of nowhere. He was fortunate as well to have had the New Zea… uh, some friends who were never there, deliver, install, and flight test a replacement. He’s planning on spending the night there – I guess he can’t get enough of the fine cuisine of the RoadKill Roadhouse. Perhaps he’ll run into ViperPilot2. “We have two other participants on the course: MAD1 is still in Katanning and jgf has arrived in Forrest; however neither of the two has informed us of their times. Gentlemen, I can’t report it if you don’t report it. “And it’s Curtin for Melo – don’t worry; I said, ‘CurtIN,’ not, ‘CurtAINS’ – two and a half hours have gotten him to YCIN, on his way to Perth. “I am sure that you can hear the roar of the mighty Porsche powerplant of this very special Saratoga. We are in the air again, having just rounded Katanning and heading toward Norseman on our way to Forrest. And by, ‘we,’ for once I do not mean the plane and me. Today, I’m in the right seat. Doctor Claudine Ullrich, who is head of the team that built the Saratoga is flying. I hope to persuade her to talk to us at some moment, but for now she is having too much fun. “So this concludes this Daily Update. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Fly safely, everyone!”

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for the 20th of January, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, and we’re watching the weather today. MAD1 reported that a tropical low, 05U, has formed in the waters between Queensland and the Solomon Islands. This will affect the Eastern route between now and the end of the month, possibly beyond. I’ll keep you posted. “Let’s look at the Leaderboard today, shall we: “The Bosss is still in the lead with 4 legs completed and a CV of 1. Hopefully, that storm won’t affect his plans. You might want to take it a little slow, Bosss. Enjoy the whales. “ScottishMike also has a CV of 1, and is second, still in beautiful downtown Norseman. He is apparently spending a couple of days in the big city. “defaid leads the CV2’s, still at Forrest. I hear he’s looking for a house. “The mystery of ViperPilot2 deepens. The woman who lives in the house closest to the Norseman strip reported hearing the sound of a wolf’s howl and looking out to see a black helicopter touch down. She says she was terrified as the pilot exited the 222A and walked up to her door. She heard a single thump. The helicopter flew off. When she finally found the courage to open her door, there was a blue Post-It on it, on which was written, ‘YNSM -2.’ We believe this was his timing, which would put him in fourth with a CV 2. “And we have another pilot on the course. Captain Dirk Doovalacky of the Australian Army flew the PhrogPhlyers’ Bell 206 to Caiguna, finishing his run with a CV of -3. He reported that the prawns at the nearest roadhouse had a distinct plastic taste and gives the eatery one star. I would surmise that there isn’t much of a Barbie queue for them. You know, for me the most disturbing aspect of his photo of the kitchen wasn’t the diminutive grillman or the lack of clothes of the shrimp pan, it’s the whole Christmas bondage aspect of the red and green twist ties holding the pan in place. “A busy and concerned MAD1 briefly reported that he has completed his first run to Katanning, yet has not reported his times. The old Boy Scout motto applies: ‘Be Prepared.’ We’re all with you, my friend. “This just in: Melo and his Chipmunk have departed Darwin and have reached Kununurra, on their way to Perth. And Bossspecops is closing in on Ceduna, debating whether to make a time or a water landing. “And this brings us to the end of another Daily Update. This is Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off with a warning: You might want to stay away from Barbie; she’s a little moody. Just ask Ken. Bye, bye."

A bad thing? I thought it was a prerequisite.

I was taking a look at that... Looks like sailing weather to me (never lend me a boat). From what I can see, there's a persistent, semi-stationary high between AUS and NZ that looks like it's going to hold 05U between Queensland and the Solomons. It's going to strengthen and get wet throughout next week, although right now its center pressure isn't projected to get particularly low. It's going to be small and tight, and looks like it's going to make landfall somewhere around Rockhampton toward the end of the month (projecting storm tracks beyond a few days is a fool's errand, like when my wife asks me to go to the store). Unless someone is planning on completing the '76 and starting the Eastern before the end of January, it shouldn't be much of a problem. Hopefully, MAD1, it will do you a favor and suck some of the moisture out of the air around Ballina so your catchments can dry out a bit. You might get a bit of a soak when it makes landfall, but unless it jigs south, you should miss most of it (hopefully). The good news is, it looks like you've got time to get prepared, move things to higher ground, put pool floaties on the Mazda, etc. Congratulations on your first run. Would you mind posting your V here so I can get it into the Daily Update, while you develop your story? Thanks!

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for the 19th of January, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, and we have race results to report. So let’s get right to the Leaderboard: “Bossspecops is busy preparing - rather gleefully, I suspect – his PIREP for today’s run to Forrest. He shaved a further 3 minutes off of his aggregate V, and has taken the lead with a time of 1 and 4 legs completed. “ScottishMike arrived in Norseman 8 minutes ahead of schedule, to cement himself in second place with an aggregate V of 1, after 2 legs completed. Some rather non-complementary comments have been heard regarding his passengers. Make sure your passengers don’t wander into the lake, Mike. Although, taping a note to an aircraft fuselage – barbarians! Might want to disregard that last bit. “defaid and dj are still showing in Forrest, now in third. Hope the Sealand hasn’t scared the whales off. “And in fourth... we have a mystery. Last we heard from ViperPilot2, he was in Katanning. Some of the locals said that he went out for some meat pies, but he and The Lady have disappeared. Would anyone who spots them - or anyone who hears the howl of a wolf and helicopter blades - please report it to us. And if you happen to talk to them, please ask them to call in. I hate to think this but you might want to start prepping your Citation for some SAR, AirBasil. “As far as our Free Fliers go, taoftedal has been following a slightly abridged 1976 route and has also arrived in Forrest. I haven’t heard anything about a party, have you? “MAD1 is getting ready for his first timed run in the 182RG. Be sure to catch his interview with the Aussie Correspondent in the Chachapoya Chronicle. “jgf likewise is getting his Staggerwing ready for their first timed crack at the track. Hopefully, the timer malfunction has been sorted out. Although, any excuse to see that plane in the air… I’ll bet he messed it up on purpose, just to spend some more time in her left seat. Completely understandable. “I’m back in Jandakot again, as the Porsche people want to go over the engine this afternoon. I was nearly to Sydney, too, when they called me back. jgf isn’t the only one who’ll use any excuse to spend time in his aircraft. “We’re still waiting for news from the others. “Nothing much else going on. It’s been a rather quiet, rather dull day since the last Update… What am I saying? In the business news of the millennium, The FBO has conducted a lightning-fast hostile takeover of The Stories. Good news for the stories, though: your present seniority will be respected by the new organization. The Stories thread itself has, however, sadly been obliterated. “And on that note, this concludes our Daily Update. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Fly safely, everyone! And keep an eye out for ViperPilot2.”

Quick update: I hope you don't mind, jgf, but I copied and pasted (the Quote function was not working) your ICAO-Names correlation into the Route post in the Official thread (right on top).

Thank you so much, MAD1! I've puzzled for years for something appropriate to put on my tombstone, and you nailed it (and if you ever figure out the answer, please tell me; I'm dying to know). The "what" from yesterday, though, was just to ask a question, with the intent of bringing the answer to the group and letting us all decide whether to merge the Stories and FBO threads or not. I'm pretty sure that Adrian K took my, "How feasable(sic) would it be..."(along with detailed instructions for the operation to let him assess the scope of work) as a coy request for action (if you've ever worked Tech Support, especially for a multinational constituency, you're familiar with these) instead of for information, and acted accordingly and with a swiftness that, had he been a member of one of my old teams, would have earned him my recognition and a round of applause from his peers at our next Huddle. The net of this is: All the Stories have been folded into the FBO, The Stories have all been placed in their correct chronological order vis a vis the posts in the FBO, and, The Stories thread has been deleted; any links or bookmarks to it should automatically redirect to the FBO. So, the FBO's our same old Seinfeld thread about everything, and that's where the stories will go from now on. The Official thread is still there, still serves its original purpose, and has been updated to reflect yesterday's changes.

Summary of changes to the event made on 18 Jan.: Variances may now be reported by PM or posted to the FBO as described in Rules, IV.3 inclusive. Posts from the Stories thread have been merged into the FBO in correct chronological sequence by Adrian K, the flightsim.com webmaster. The Stories thread has been eliminated. Bookmarks for the Stories thread should redirect to the FBO.

Uhhh guys? It's been done! Everything from Stories has been copied over here with its original timestamps, so everything's in sequence and the Stories thread is no more (as far as I can tell). I was just asking if it was possible, but now it's done and we've got our old "Thread about everything" back. Thank you Adrian K!!!!! All the best, Tom

The Daily Update (Cue “She Sells Sanctuary”) EP: “Hello and welcome to the Daily Update for today, 18 January, 2024. I’m Elias Pacheco for Radio Chachapoya, on a rather quiet race day. Let’s run down today’s Leaderboard, shall we: “defaid is still in the lead both in Cum.V – heh heh – at -2, and on the course, at last report still at Forrest whale-watching. “Bossspecops had an outstanding run to Caiguna, shaving four minutes off of his previous 8 and moving into second place. As we always do, we await his PIREP with baited breath. “ViperPilot2 and ScottishMike round out the field of starters in third and fourth respectively, both still at last report in Katanning. “Today saw a major change in the Rules, which have been updated on the Official thread. To summarize, participants now have three ways to report their times: via PM, as originally outlined, in the FBO thread, or at the beginning of a story. You can find the detail in the Rules post in the Official thread, section IV.3, complete. “There is currently a discussion going on about the appropriate thread structure. I’m just a reporter; I don’t get a vote. But if I had anything to say in the matter, I’d say let’s leave it the way it is, be a little flexible in the Stories thread for limited comments but keep most of it in the FBO. “And on that note – I hope I still have a job tomorrow – this concludes today’s Daily Update. Elias Pacheco, at the moment for Radio Chachapoya, signing off. Adiós."