GAAR 2010, legs 4&5, impossible with FS9

[bwgray]

With the weather presented for legs 4 & 5, ie., "10 miles visibility", then "precipitation", the effective horizontal visibility is "ZERO"! "VFR" which is a GAAR requirement is impossible. What am I doing wrong??? (I am just discussing FS9.)

[Allan_Lowson]

It's meant to be a bit of fun for Pete's sake.

If in doubt, ease off the girdle and live a little.

If I can make it through in an asthmatic 85-yr old Moth, I'm sure anyone can.

[Andrew Godden]

Jan 29, 2010 19:08:55 GMT -5 bwgray said:

With the weather presented for legs 4 & 5, ie., "10 miles visibility", then "precipitation", the effective horizontal visibility is "ZERO"! "VFR" which is a GAAR requirement is impossible. What am I doing wrong??? (I am just discussing FS9.)

It is stated the GAAR is flown under VFR conditions.

It also states in the Event and Flight Briefing document "...For the purposes of the event, all pilots are deemed to hold a command instrument rating or night VFR rating and all aircraft are deemed suitably equipped for such operations."

In accordance with the VFR rules in Australia, pilots can be authorised to fly in conditions below VFR minimums under certain situations. This is why pilots in the GAAR are deemed to hold a command instrument rating.

Finally, the GAAR is designed to be a fun event that also presents some challenges in flying. The organisers are sorry if the "impossible" conditions on Flight Legs 4 and 5 prevent you from achieving this. However, we do hope you enjoy the other eight Flight Legs.

[Tom Goodrick]

I guess I just did the "impossible" twice, in two different aircraft.

I have made some comments about VFR not being useful on several of these legs. Of course if you fly an elderly biplane like Allan you can do all the legs as buzz jobs and have a lot more fun.

But I know how difficult it is to have "interesting weather" and still track down all possible sight lines between ridges. I can't fault Andrew for that. I just flew those legs a little higher than usual (but no higher that 9,000 ft, which was the MEA) using all the facilities available to me (and to you).

(...deleted...)