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Lsmc Flyoff


spunkee

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Contest Details : The LSMC Fly-off - A flight for pilots that enjoy working to achive their goals.

A challengeing task to test your skills.

Weather Details : The wind is from the NW, 11 kts at airfield level, increasing with altitude.

Limits : The Tow limit is 6,500 ft. The altitude limit today is 10,000 ft.

Race Details : Tp1 Hdg345 20.5mn. Tp2 Hdg214 39.8nm. Finish Hdg064 30.3nm. The TPs have a 500 meter diameter today.

Start Details : Due to your inability to properly set your alarm clock last nite, you are a little

late in getting into the air this morning. Your race start time is 7 & 1/2 minutes from now. You can either use

the winch ( WinchX - default settings ) or the tow plane - Ctrl Shift Y

The start gate location is indicated by the black lines on the map and the large arrows stuck into the ridge.

The timer on your canopy is the count down to the start of the race timer. Do not

exit the start box before this timer expires! The start of the Race will be called on the radio,

the timer will count thru zero, and the arrows will evaporate. You may then proceed on your way.

Rental Return Details : Apon completion of the race, please return my sailplane anywhere on the airfield.

hodge said we should all struggle thru this alone ......

filename LsmcFlyoff.zip

http://www.box.net/shared/o0ibtoidpu

post-28770-126903181422_thumb.jpg

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Its a blast, a great mission and very testing with the flying due to the heights which are needed at various points to clear topography.

I did a standard tow plane start ditching the tow just below 6500.

TP1 17.30 6500'

TP2 42.21 8800'

Finish 57.03.4

I think this is one of Spud's best missions, there is a lot of ridge flying but also thermals come into play along the way.

Hodge

PS "Hodge said we should do this alone"....what I suggested was that we should all fly the mission at least once before Spud posts everyones simlogger tracks to facilitate b21s concept that its the first flight that is the most realistic without the knowledge of the tracks everyone flew.

Jeff

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Spud is dividing this mission into aerotow and winch launch using default winch X setting. I was changing the winch x cable length for a while to test it and noticed that when I push reset it does not appear to do anything, I was thinking it might restore defaults. Anyway Winch X is working like a charm...good job Peter. All pilots....How about climbing into the cockpit of your glider and giving this mission a go. Would be good to see you up there and makes it more fun for the developer.

Hodge

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Hi Hodge,

reset only repositions the winch in case you have switched the airfield. The settings will be memorized always (as there is not much to damage).

I made 7 attempts so far. The first one was 1:12, second was 1:08, two times scratched the altitude limit, two times I gave up, because time was obviously poor. The last one was at 0:59 :), but forgot to take a photo at finish :( . Your time is almost unbeatable. Are you MRCA pilot in RL, maybe? It's awful how little margin spud gave us to cross the junctions.

BTW, most attempts I made with the winch.

best regards,

Peter

PS: Last attempt 58:51,3

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7 attempts, wow, you really have your race face on, and those junctions; as soon as that altimeter hits 10,000 its all over unlike Ian who at least gave us an overheight buffer to use. I better get myself back into the cockpit and have another go. How do we get that slacker b21 away from his work and into the cockpit Lol :D

Jeff

PS Hang on! I just noticed in your post that you were using a winch launch which starts you off at approx 5200ft rather than the aerotow at 6500. That means you have the current winch launch record for this mission.

Jeff

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current winch record 58:28.6 by ....... me

peter - i started with a 9k limit, and made it around the course in 1:02

hodge wanted me to leave it there, but i changed it to 10k

the margin on the gaps - it's all desciding the speed to fly

do i fly fast and burn altitude, and have extra energy to punch thru the sink

or do i fly slow and get there higher, but be slower going thru the sink

it's all about seat of the pants flying, and eyeing the angle

i never ment this to be an easy course, if you complete the race you shoould

be very happy with your flight

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Congrats, spunkee. Though I'm sure I could beat you now, I have to manage my time a bit different for a while, and prevent my wife from thinking me becoming insane :wub:.

You're right: Easy is boring. Still, wondering how we would have made it with 9k. Does anybody know about the limits in RL? I tend to think they are at least higher in the high mountains. In Germany above FL100 there is always airspace C but in hiogh mountains the limit is raised to FL130.

I'm extremely curious, how the other tracks are. I will upload my first and last IGC when the race is "officially" declared closed.

Hope for next race.

Cheers,

Peter

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Just a hint:

I found a route where I didn't have to go any higher than 8.500ft. My fastest time so far 1h10m, but you know me, I fly like a turtle.

TP1 0:22:00

TP2 0:53:00

Finish 1:10:27

Bert

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Have just done my winch launch run - got a bit exited because I beat my Aerotow time. 'Yay!!!'

:D

TP1 17.15 6500

TP2 42.07 8900

Finish 56.55.2

Flying by the seat of my pants that time, got to 9975' at one stage when I took my eye off the altimeter, nearly ended my mission right there.

Jeff

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  • 1 month later...

Thought I would fly this great mission again by navigating the Northern Route, following the mountain ridge line which runs West from TP1 and North of the big lake.

Managed 1hr 1min 54sec from a winch launch.

My best time for this mission is 55.33.3 and I haven't been able to improve on that time. It sure is great fun flying in this kind of terrain.

Hey Spud, must be time to release the simlogger tracks what do you reckon?

Jeff

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just loaded this mission (ticking mission changes allowed) so that I could view all three competitors flying the mission at once using slew mode.

The combination of Cumulus X, WinchX and Simlogger and using slew mode, results in an absolutely facinating view of the strategy and tactics in a race. It is almost possible to imagine what each pilot is thinking at various stages in the comp.

Being in slew mode of course enables the viewer to zip all over the place at speed and different heights to get the best perspective of the competitors. I usually put the glider into a nose down attitude before hitting the slew key so that I get a really good view of the action.

The first thing I noticed right from the start was that Peter did an amazing winch launch topping out I think at 5600ft. I would appreciate some tips on that because I have never been able to get much over 5300. I pull flaps full on, stick full back and wheel up.

Jeff

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Hi Hodge,

if you notice the glider pumping during winch launch you pull too hard and enter halfway stall conditions. Release until you are at the edge of it.

Another thing, if you are full of water ballast, consider tow at somewhat higher speed.

Full flaps is no good, gives a lot of drag, set for +2 in the DG808S-SOAR.

regards,

Peter

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Thanks for those tips Peter, I will work on improving my winch launches.

One thing I noticed when looking at this mission in slew mode was that all three gliders still had wheel down even though I am pretty sure that all competitors has pulled their wheel up. Does this mean that fsx thinks the wheel is down with the associated aerodynamic penalty or is it just a glitch?

Jeff

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a hint:

I found a route where I didn't have to go any higher than 8.500ft. My fastest time so far 1h10m, but you know me, I fly like a turtle.

TP1 0:22:00

TP2 0:53:00

Finish 1:10:27

Bert

Bert... Would you be able to post your igc simlogger file for this mission, I am interested to have a look at that sub 8500ft track you took and am putting together a post race commentary to wrap up the contest.

Jeff

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all three gliders still had wheel down

nah... the tracklog points in the IGC file that sim_logger is replaying only contain timestamped lat/long/alt entries (the IGC file format wasn't created for FSX - it's a general soaring logging format) so sim_logger replay has no real knowledge of anything else, e.g. whether the wheel is up or down. In 'replay' mode, sim_logger is moving (slewing, actually) a glider model along the path taken by the original user aircraft. Sim_logger is actually guessing an appropriate pitch and bank to go with the path (this is more complicated than it sounds). And FSX doesn't allow 'model animations' in slew mode so the model displays whatever its default appearance is. For some gliders that is 'wheel down'. If I'd done another five hours of programming, I could have moved the glider on a brief parabolic trajectory, flipped it out of slew mode for maybe three seconds, and during that time tell FSX to raise the wheel, waiting for the model wheel-up animation to complete, and then flip it back into slew mode. This still wouldn't represent the real user actions, but would at least have the wheel up while airborn. But I couldn't be arsed.

B21

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I agree, not worth the effort. I was wondering how the hell simlogger was showing the gliders doing these nice smooth banking turns. The ultimate effect is great being able to watch a bunch of pilots racing as if you have an armchair in the sky.

With RL gliding can similar logs be submitted which can be uploaded so that after a comp all pilots can watch the other competitors strategies via computer?

Jeff

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The way the race unfolded:

Apart from minor variations essentially 3 out of 4 competitors used the same route for this race while Bert took a slightly longer route using a lower altitude.

Pre Race: Peter and Spud do a winch launch and Hodge an aerotow

Peter launches like a rocket and gains more height than either Spud or Hodge but then is nearly half a minute late to the start line. Bert veers immediately towards the downwind ridge during his winch launch,(what a thrillseeker), apparently to get into the lift sooner but this results in a lower effective altitude.

Leg1:

Peter and Spud gain height on an earlier ridge with Hodge on the ridge before the lake. Spud makes an early break to the lake followed by Peter and last is Hodge who is still lolling around on the ridge. Bert heads for same ridge as Hodge but is nearly 4 minutes down from his low start (timed as pilots crossed the lake after the start)

Halfway to TP1 all the first group of pilots end up in a similar place in the sky. At this point its Spud – Peter – Hodge - Bert

At 8min 55sec into the mission Peter curves away to get some height on a ridge which basically gives him a height advantage enabling him ultimately to take a short cut to TP1 (7500ft was needed for this). 14.30 Spud and Hodge go the long way but are getting more lift due to the better orientation of the ridge on the way to TP1.

16.20 Peter and Hodge go around TP1 only seconds apart with Spud 15 sec back.

On this first leg Peter has basically outflown everyone especially considering he has made up the 30sec he lost at the start. Bert flew higher than anyone else on this leg and also took the shortcut and has not lost any more time at TP1 than the initial 4 minutes.

Leg 2:

Strategies diverge here with the first group of 3 pilots heading for the ramparts while Bert heads for the mountain range on the South side of the big lake.

17.30 Peter has now powered to the lead with Hodge 20sec back and Spud 20sec behind that. Of course at this stage various strategies have come into play with Hodge trading speed for height. Height for speed Peter and Hodge are probably neck and neck

19.40 Spud has increased speed and all 3 pilots are only 15sec apart

29.00 Peter steps on the gas and is now 1min 06 ahead of Spud and Hodge (has this guy got a motor or something!) who are flying together but Hodge has 900ft in hand over Spud.

30.00 Bert does not have enough height to clear the ridge in front of him and has to make a short detour to the North.

33.00 Peter appears to have the race in the bag being well over a minute ahead.

34.30 Hodge has just enough height to take a short cut over a mountain saddle and wipes out Peters lead. Spud takes the same shortcut shortly after.

35.15 Peter and Hodge are neck and neck with Spud half a minute back.

Bert meanwhile is at 8000ft pruning the treetops as he clears a mountain saddle and turns South towards TP2

37.10 Different route strategies are into play now with Peter and Spud heading South to a ridgeline whereas Hodge continues on SW over another mountain saddle.

40.20 Hodge hits TP2 with Peter 10sec behind and Spud a minute later. Bert is flying very smoothly admiring the scenery and at no stage has to exceed 8500ft. Not like some of the hare-brained routes the others are taking scraping over ridges only 100ft below the 10,000 ft limit. Hodge put his wheel down going over one saddle just to save scraping the fibreglass on the ice; Lol.!

Leg 3 (Final)

42.30 Peter heads off towards an inviting line of thermals but it doesn’t appear to pan out and is now passed by Spud who is over with Hodge on the ridges.

45.00 Peter trades height for speed and rockets past Spud.

47.40 Peter deviates again to the middle of the valley looking for thermal lift, meanwhile Spud is hard down on the ridges behind Hodge. Spud is now steadily gaining time on Peter. The alignment of this section of the ridges to the wind is not ideal however the intermittent thermal lift is obviously not ideal either.

Finish:

Hodge first followed by Spud followed by Peter and then Bert. Peter loses over 3 minutes on the final leg after aceing the first 2 legs while Spud gets into second by some great low flying considering he was over a minute behind at TP2. Bert comes in at 1hr 10min which is a pretty good time considering the extra distance he had to cover.

In this mission because Spud deliberately graduated the wind speeds according to height, this may have slightly favoured pilots who took a high altitude strategy. Virtual gliding races have now reached a new level with the current facilities in place. Many thanks to Peter and Ian for all the software facilities and Spud for all the work he has done on creating missions in the last year or so and Ian before that.

Jeff

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great race reporting!

it's just a shame that the race specs called for a winch launch that day ......

hodge - glad you came along for the ride, but you started with an aerotow ..........

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Yeah well after a while I realised that you could actually get a better start with a winch launch so I thought I'd give myself a handicap by using an aerotow. Lol !

If you start the mission and just sit there instead of calling up a tow plane or winch launch you can watch everybody take off. Check out Peter, boy did he get some serious height and speed from his winch launch, right from takeoff he is away and higher than everyone else and just before the prestart time expires have a look up and you will see Peter way up higher on the ridge.

Jeff

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