Author Topic: I\'m still flying!!  (Read 112039 times)

EHM-1199 Philip

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« Reply #175 on: November 19, 2006, 04:17:56 pm »
Dropped out along the way...

Sorry to report I had to drop out early on this Pro-Pilot event. Got to Wednesday and ended up at a late evening meeting and having made a flight Tuesday it's always considered a little too much virtual life if I make my only time in the family house a virtual flying experience. For the sake of home harmony I had to miss Wednesday and consequently slip from the schedule :) Always a shame to admit defeat but the tight schedule on this one was too much for this virtual pilot. Thanks to those who took time out to organise the event and sorry to drop out so soon.

EHM-1500 Jim

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« Reply #176 on: November 19, 2006, 09:39:05 pm »
Phil, i know exactly waht you mean - the schedule for this event is just too unfriendly for those with famillys and other things to do with their lives. I wonder if for the next event we should have a start and finish date and it is then up to the individual to complete the flights with in the time??   I must also say though that i have found you can still fly the flights even if you are a day or 2 late on the schedule. Am just managing to keep on schedule with this event but only because i have had a few days off work this week.
Good luck to all still flying this event, Jim

Offline EHM-1703 Philip

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« Reply #177 on: November 19, 2006, 10:32:52 pm »
Well, I must admit guys, I must take the blame for the fast pace somewhat as I voted to "Hurry up" the event to give us enough time to recover and get ready for the next one! ;)

(I am not saying enything else about it so do not ask!!!!)
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Offline EHM-0654 Murray

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« Reply #178 on: November 20, 2006, 07:16:34 pm »
And for anyone else that fecked up the timing, I've extended C888 to today because of real-world stuff yesterday preventing my flying (PhilN, sorry for not replying to your IM, but I didn't see it until quite late in the day...)

[strike]I'm flying it now, and I'm going to fly C889 straight after - offlining to avoid anything getting in the way of me completing.[/strike]

That's it, I'm giving up on the event. I can't get my CDU to run reliably, FS is running like a dog, and to add fuel to the fire, I think one of my 512MB sticks is starting to die. Time to format and reinstall I think.

Best of luck to those of you still in it.
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EHM-1998 Steven

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« Reply #179 on: November 20, 2006, 10:46:05 pm »
Any chance the last day will get extended any? I just found out that I have to go out of town tomorrow and won't be back until the 25th or possibly the 26th at the latest. I can do leg 12 before I head out tomorrow, but I won't have access to FS until Saturday. I'm flying leg 11 now. If it doesn't happen for some reason, I'm sure I will survive but I'll be a bit bummed at getting so close. I've learned a lot from this event and that counts for a lot. I appreciate all the work that went into it.

Offline EHM-0948 Bruno

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« Reply #180 on: November 20, 2006, 11:37:16 pm »
Well,

Unfortunately I can't do anything mate. It's not fair because other pilots also asked me on the past to extend some of the legs date and I denied it.

I am very sorry Steven but I am sure you'll do your best to complete it, even if you have to do the flight at 3am ! :)

I hope you understand it Steven, because it's very hard to me to say "no", but it's to be fair to the others too.

Regards,

EHM-1998 Steven

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« Reply #181 on: November 21, 2006, 01:20:08 am »
No apology required, Bruno. I was just wondering out loud mostly. I would never ask special consideration so I was just curious if it might be extended for other reasons. Of course, I will complete it if at all possible. Even if it requires a 3am flight! If I can't, there will be other events and I will fly them. :)

Hmm..wonder if my father would let me install FS9 on his computer just for a few days? Gotta think outside of the box sometimes. ;D I think I may have found my solution if I can keep his 28.8 connection going for the flight.

EHM-1500 Jim

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« Reply #182 on: November 21, 2006, 05:34:33 pm »
Sorry for the rant that is about to follow but i am a bit pissed off.....have busted my arse to get these event flights done on schedule what with family life, work, friends etc and had been on track until the weekend when i had to work night shifts. Thus am one day late for the leg 9 flight and now have to abandon the tour - what a waste of time me starting it - if next schedules are as tight then i guess i'll not even bother starting it. I note that Murray extended the dead line for one of the legs he was late on - if only we could all do that.
Sorry to rant but just really pissed off.
Jim

Offline EHM-0948 Bruno

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« Reply #183 on: November 21, 2006, 11:49:51 pm »
Well,

Actually he did extended it because he didn't knew that he couldn't do it.
So after he noticed it, the deadline was not extended and he (as you can say in his email) quitted.

Imagine that everyone one of us starts asking the MT to extend dates because our personal problems. Than there wouldn't be no pleasure to get to the end of the event and see that we actually made a strong effort to end it.

I can't do anything here Jim, because the Event rules don't permit, except of MT errors (there was one on this event and I delayed one leg because a pilot stole one airplane due to my mistake) so I would like you to understand our answer about it.

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EHM-1821 Javier

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« Reply #184 on: November 22, 2006, 08:30:06 am »
I have the same problem but at least i was able to do the flight within the time, I did C890 before i left for camp and im gonna do C891 now after coming back from camp(im at home, sweet home;D)

EHM-1500 Jim

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« Reply #185 on: November 22, 2006, 10:06:48 am »
Bruno, i completely under stand that you cant make any exceptions...it's the first time in over 2 years being with Euroharmony that i have felt let down by the VA...why make such a great pro-pilot event that only a select few will be able to complete? Surely the great thing about this VA has been it's appeal to a wide cross section of society and that includes those of us with famillys, work etc I just feel that the schedule of this tour has meant alot of people who would have loved to have done it are not able to which i think is a shame.

Jim

Offline EHM-1883 Matt

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« Reply #186 on: November 22, 2006, 12:19:37 pm »
I am the first person to complete the event, so I have seen how the whole event has gone, how people have reacted with the timings etc. and I can say personally, that this event has been a success, and I'm sure many would agree with me, but I am lucky enough to have the time to do this event. I wouldn't have had the time really, but amazingly, I managed to squeeze in the last leg somehow, and complete it, but, I wouldn't have done that if the times were different for me, so I would've also asked for a little extension. I agree with Jim on this. I understand you can't make any exceptions, and that's fair enough, but the last leg is in the week, and I'd assume people would have trouble with it. I did too, so could you extend it into the weekend? I'd guess we wouldn't complain if we had the weekend on our side.

Offline EHM-0948 Bruno

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« Reply #187 on: November 22, 2006, 01:22:11 pm »
After reading your posts definately it makes more sense now that the final leg could be delayed a bit.

But only because there is a specific reason that can benefict all pilots and not only because someone needs it because of his/her personal problems ok ?

The reason for it is that it's a very long leg and still we have the weekend on our side there. So, I had extended the leg until sunday so everyone can do it with more time and relax ...

Regards and I hope you understand the difference between what I said there. It's not a personal question (although it solves Jim problem) but a problem that will help all pilots.

Jim, regarding the VA has stepped you down, before saying it, please think that we need to manage rules for all pilots, and when we open exceptions it's kind'a complex to justify why we had open it when on the past we didn't opened it for other pilots. That's why rules are for :)
You can always count with us but remember that we cannot benefict ones instead of others.

Offline EHM-1358 Tim

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« Reply #188 on: November 22, 2006, 02:13:37 pm »
Quote
Originally posted by EHM-0948 BrunoJim, regarding the VA has stepped you down, before saying it, please think that we need to manage rules for all pilots, and when we open exceptions it's kind'a complex to justify why we had open it when on the past we didn't opened it for other pilots. That's why rules are for :)
You can always count with us but remember that we cannot benefict ones instead of others.


But Bruno, he's not the only who has had problems fitting in these flights.

Offline EHM-0948 Bruno

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« Reply #189 on: November 22, 2006, 03:19:57 pm »
Of course not and I know that :) ... That's why I got tempted to change the end date ;)

EHM-1199 Philip

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« Reply #190 on: November 22, 2006, 09:07:27 pm »
Ooo ... went to work for a few days and came back to find my post seemed to have started something.

For what its worth here's my synopsis and I speak only for myself:

- I am ever grateful for the hard work that all MT do to keep this VA interesting and exciting.
- I acknowledge that the work involved in bringing the UNHCR event into being is substantial.
- It seems crazy that all this hard work would be done for such a 'small' number of participants and smaller number of completions.
- The VA exists to make the 'hobby' of flight simulation more engaging ... but it is a hobby. Many of us including MT have a life outside of the hobby that places demands on our time whether it be work, family or a combination of both.
- The previous event 'US Airmail Pioneers' had a demanding schedule. There was about three days for each flight to be made. This was demanding but just about possible. This UNHCR event had a schedule that made a daily flight necessary and this is an impossible schedule for many of the VA members.

I don't know what the goal of the events are but I would expect that they include encouraging participation of members and providing an engaging experience. If I'm honest, despite the hardwork in preparation of this event, if the above were part of the goals then it failed to reach these goals. The participation of members was a few diehards with clearly the advantage of being able to put their hobby before other parts of their life. The engaging experience also falls down when (and I know I'm speaking for myself here) the participation becomes stressful and not a relaxing and enjoyable experience. In this case, the flights I did make at the start of the event were poorly planned because with such a tight schedule I didn't have the luxury of making practise flights or of trying to provide a realistic flight plan.

Shame really ... not a rant ... not even a moan, just an observation of how this event looked and felt from my own perspective.

I would be grateful if the voices commenting here could be acknowledged and if future events which must take many hours of organisation would provide a more relaxed time schedule and encourage therefore greater take up and be more successful in making the event an enhancement to our great hobby.

EHM-1671 Ben

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« Reply #191 on: November 22, 2006, 09:15:41 pm »
Indeed, I agree entirely with what Philip says. Although I have the ability (since I'm not exam leave) to fly each event daily, I find that the little voice in the back of my mind saying 'fly the leg today or you'll fall behind' makes the event a little more stressful. I certainly do appreciate the work going into this tour, but I think the US Airmail Pioneers event (which gave us three days to complete each leg before moving on) was a better idea. Although, keeping that in mind, it did take us a couple of months to complete the tour!

I am impartial, I will follow through with what the management decides in the forthcoming events and, if for any reason, I can't complete any future events then I will simply drop out, sometimes that's just the way it goes.

Will there be an avatar badge for this event, just like the Airmail Pioneers Event?

Offline EHM-0654 Murray

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« Reply #192 on: November 22, 2006, 10:01:46 pm »
Quote
Originally posted by EHM-1671 Ben
...Although, keeping that in mind, it did take us a couple of months to complete the tour!

Which was the big problem we had with the timing for this event, there was no way to stage this event and (I'm not about to spill any of the beans)... just like PhilN ;)

Suffice to say, expect news...
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Offline EHM-1703 Philip

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« Reply #193 on: November 22, 2006, 10:35:30 pm »
Well guys,

This is only the third ProPilot event and the previous ones had similar but not as demanding schedules..... Understood.... We take your points and will consider this on future events. This one is done now, we can't change it!

Before we move on, I would like to emphasise here is that this event is a challenge with a reward at the end. (albeit a badge on your avatar!) It is not expected that everybody can/will make it to the end!

Now I know I am adding fuel to the fire by saying this as most are going to say that the challenge was too great for the majority of the Pilots. We will see at the end when the badges are handed out. I think it comes down to a matter of commitment in "most" cases as only 1 or 2 of the flights have been longer than 1 hour and most have been about 45 minutes. For those whose RW lives are too busy to allow you the time to do the event, I am very sorry, we had no choice this time.

The legs have been added at a fast pace on this event, but you still have three days to complete each flight, so you could do as some including myself have done and on days where we do not have time, we store the legs until we are about to run out of time and fly for a couple of hours and complete three legs at once!

Once again, for those who have found the event too much of a burden due to the time constraints, I appologise, you have made your point, we will adress this in future events.

For those that rose to the challenge and have or are about to complete it.... Well done, you get a well deserved pat on the back! There are many people on the continent of Africa that wish you could have done it for real!

Regards
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EHM-1671 Ben

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« Reply #194 on: November 22, 2006, 10:46:56 pm »
This was a great event with a great purpose to it, thank you very much for organizing it ;)

EHM-1617 Iain

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« Reply #195 on: November 22, 2006, 10:49:12 pm »
Amen, and congratulations once again to those who did complete the event, especially to those who didn't need the reserve aeroplane. Myself, I was forced to withdraw for the event due to techincal difficulties. My CPU is running hot and tends to hit the BIOS power off temperature after about forty-five minutes under load. Probably full of dust again, having new windows fitted didn't help with all the brick dust. I will clean the heatsink out properly once the weekend rolls around (might even lap it if i get the time) but it is certainly overdue a cleaning.

I found that the time schedule was alright, although I am a schoolkid and have a couple of hours a day (most of the week) for flying. I can see the point people are making though - three non-overlapping days per leg sounds more reasonable.

I am sure that after the problems we have had with PP events in the beginning are ironed out, they will become a good part of our events portfolio and we will enjoy sucessful events into the future. The key seems to be having plenty of aircraft locked specifically to pilots and a realistic but flexible time schedule (i.e. three consecutive days, non-overlapping).

I hope that these events will become more sucessful into the future - I certainly will be joining in with the next one.

Offline EHM-0471 Peter

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« Reply #196 on: November 22, 2006, 11:46:57 pm »
Finnaly OLBA. Rw 03: C- 17 UNHCR EHM 0471 just landed!!!

My greatest thanks to all our guys who worked very hard I believe, to prepare and get ready for us such a nice, interesting and challenging event as this one was. BRAVISSIMO!!!

And this should also be a serious challenge to all other EHM pilots to join us next time. Come and see, it's simply gorgeous!

Peter ;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D;D

Offline EHM-0948 Bruno

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« Reply #197 on: November 23, 2006, 09:07:24 am »
Hi mates,

Just to add my two cents we understand the point of view that says that we should have given a more delayed date interval to do the flights.
But one strong reason was also related with the fact that the next event starts at 5th January so if we expanded it for, let's say 4 days, the event would end almost on the end of the year.

Also, the date intervals are very connected to the period that the real event happens. For instance, the next event would have a date interval of two days, because if not the event becomes "unreal".

I readt what "EHM-1199 Philip" said, and logically the events were created to give fun, but a special fun that has the stress word on it because that's one of the objectives. For instance, to know that you cannot crash your airplane, to know that you need to fly on those periods of time, to know that if you fullfill all of this you'll be much more happy than if the rules weren't there.

If you still want to have fun like some of you said without some rules (or more soften rules), than you should not do the event and do other "events" that we have like Tours or Missions that doesn't have those strict rules on it :).

I think we need to rememeber the purpose of the Events. And the purpose of them are to provide the most close conditions to real event conditions and to provide you a spectacular adrenalin to do it. Unfortunately we would have to do some sacrificies to end it but that's all part of the game! :)

I can give you me and Philip's (CEO) example: We got some days that we were flying together on IVAO at 2am to end the event. And we have our real life commitments at 8am :) ... That's the kind of the sacrifice that sometimes, if we want to end it we need to do.

Regards and I hope you understand that if we change the rules of the Events, than they will become more like a "Tour" one that a feature that completely differs from all the others that we have.

Regards (again) ;D

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« Reply #198 on: November 23, 2006, 01:48:17 pm »
I agree totally with Phils (Rolt) points.
I didn't want an exception made for me, i was only saying that i thought the schedule was too tight for many of us.
Finally, as for what Phil Nutt said - i am a bit offended that you should suggest we lack commitment - as you will notice i have been an active member of this VA for over 2 years, have done many tours, have many hours and have completed previous PP events so please don't patronise me by implying a lack commitment to the VA.
Does my familly time and work come before my hobby of flight sim?? of course it does and i'm gald it does - does that mean i should be excluded from events - i hope not but if that is the way the Management view things then i am disappointed.....
Any way, i thought the event was great in it's idea and set up and must commend those involved - just shame about the tight schedule.
Jim

Offline EHM-0948 Bruno

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« Reply #199 on: November 23, 2006, 02:37:06 pm »
Hi Jim,

I am not saying you should be excluded. I am saying that the rules for the Event are different from the ones for the other features that we have on our VA.
So, what I mean is that if we don't have time for the deadlines that we give on the flights, than we cannot do the event. Just that.
To see the difference, we don't have deadlines for other features on the site like the tours so we can do them and finish them when we want to.

So, when we start an event we should think if we will get time to finish it or not. Just that. Don't take indirect conclusions from my words (or Philip's CEO words) please.

The commitment that Philip (CEO) said is regarding to the fact that we all should spare and gain some of our occupied time to free time, so we can actually finish the event. If not, you'll actually end like me and Phil that just got free time at 2am ;D

Regarding the too tight schedules, Phil already said that we will take that in count for the next events. But! We will not delay the deadlines if that would apply the event to be unrealistic.

Regards,