Scramble in the South of England
For August 6, 2022
Michael MacKuen

Today we do something different. A Scramble. And we celebrate a delightful event. This week, England won its second major international football championship when the women’s national team won the European Championship over an excellent and determined German squad. The mass psychology of this turn of fortune was wonderful to see. We start at London City [EGLC] with a leg that salutes Wembley Stadium, the site of the 1966 World Cup and the 2022 European Championship. Our final destination is unknown.



The Scramble Setup
The “instigator” takes the lead by announcing the initial departure airport to set the stage before the event begins. On the day of the event, he will write down the names of the arriving participants and then randomly order those names in a sequenced “planner roster”. At departure time, the list will be published on TeamSpeak. Participants who join after the beginning will be added at the end of the list.

Then, at the start time, the instigator will announce the first destination. We shall fly to that airport. When everyone arrives, the next name on the ordered list becomes the next “planner” who will announce the next destination. We repeat the process until the ordered list is exhausted at which time we cycle back to the original planner. And so forth until we are done.

This week will be an experiment. We want to find ways to make this better.

Notes.
- Having the list openly available will allow the next “planner” a little extra time to choose the next leg. As soon as he knows the airport from which to depart, he can begin to think about a suitable subsequent destination. There is no hurry to do this quickly. And this week we might take more time than is necessary while we work on how to do this well.
- Any pilot may “pass” on taking the planner role, either on a particular turn or altogether, as he wishes. (Pilots who have only limited access to a map may find it difficult to pick suitable airports “on the fly”.)
- Legs may follow any pattern. They may move in a single direction or they may veer left or right or may double back to create a jumble of directions.
- For this week, legs should be less than 30-40nm. And we might try to favor airports that are more likely to be in the Garmin Database -- to accommodate those using the TDS GTNXi.
- On this initial Scramble, we shall want to take it easy. Shorter rather than longer flights. No hurry to choose destinations. A light playful touch will make the experience more fun.

Documentation
There is no actual flightplan. I have included a pseudo-plan from EGLC to Wembley Stadium in case it is helpful (available here).

Aircraft
In England, where there are plenty of airports, we concentrate on fairly short legs. My idea here is for light aircraft with a little speed to be held in reserve. (Let us set a common target “fast cruise” of about 150 KTAS. Pilots of planes with more speed should exhibit their ability to control their throttles.) Popular aircraft suitable to this mission include the Piaggio P.149, the normally-aspirated Arrow and the Turbo Arrow, the C182 Skylane, the Vans RV14, the Diamond DA-62, and perhaps (for those with enough self-control) the Beech Bonanza and the Mooney Ovation. I shall fly the Just Flight Turbo Arrow III in the stock G-OBAK (notably British) livery. As ever, please fly what you like.

As we gain experience with this format, we shall have a better idea of which sorts of aircraft make the most sense for different geographic settings.

Additional Scenery
None necessary. We shall limit ourselves to airports already in the default simulator. Feel free to use any addon scenery that you like but understand that others may not have that scenery. Because we do not know where we shall go, there is no way to plan ahead.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 3:00 pm local for August 6, 2022.
We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, August 6, 2022. 1800 UTC
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

 My heart goes out to those plucky German girls who played like professionals. 😉 

 

Sounds like a good idea

 

Edited August 2, 20223 yr by Ron Attwood
Miserable old sod!

In our English Scramble, we do not know where we are going. Even the most dedicated fanatic cannot anticipate our directions. However, here are three freeware sceneries that may be of special interest. (You likely have these already, but perhaps not.) Of course, there is no certainty, or even any likelihood, that these will be come into play on Saturday.

Blackbushe [EGLK]. Gobby.
Stapleford [EGSG]. Olmecslayer.
Chelmsford City. Olmecslayer.

Both Blackbushe and Stapleford are historic airfields. (Each has an excellent payware rendition. For most purposes, the freeware versions are plenty good.) Chelmsford is the site of the legendary Chimney.  

I think that turned out rather well. So the next time it's my turn to do a plan it'll be a Scramble. 😄