So, when I said a week, I really meant a day and a half.
Date: FS Weekend 2014 (TBA)
Time: All weekend Sat 0:00-Sun 23:59
Location: Iberian Peninsula
Event Nexus: Madrid
I know I’ve kept you waiting for the details but the wait is now over! I’ve read and meditated on you suggestions, and I’ve made a few decisions. I like the idea of holding the event in Spain/Portugal. It’s large enough to accommodate everyone and has a wide variety of terrain and airports, including several mountain ranges that would make good, clear boundaries between controlled and uncontrolled airspace. I know there were several votes for the Caribbean, but most of the airports are small and it would exclude pilots wishing to fly large planes. I also liked the idea of using Madrid as a global epicenter for pilots wishing to fly into the area from their respective countries (I'm calling it the event nexus because it sounds cool).
As to the when, I liked the idea of holding the event over a 48hour period during FS Weekend. The exact dates are TBA but it looks like it will be in the fall, giving us tons of time to prepare for the event. Whenever the dates are set, we will schedule a trial run a few weeks beforehand to work out the bugs (fantastic idea elgaton).
Jabberwocky had the idea for a big bird event, and it made me think: what if we had several mini-events within the main one that people could organize? Besides the big bird fly-in there could be races, glider tow events, and other stuff going on to keep things spicy.
Well, now that we have the when and where, the fun part begins. We should figure out which airports will be controlled, who will control them and when. We can organize mini events and figure out the times so they don’t conflict. Modelers can descend upon the Iberian Peninsula updating scenery and airports. There is still the issue of airspace separation, whether to do vertical, horizontal or some combination. Since I'm not really an ATC guy, I'd definitely appreciate suggestions in that department. As for communication, should there be an accepted default method for the event or should we just let people use whatever they have/like? For instance we could establish Mumble or Teamspeak as default voice comm and use the in-sim chatbox as backup? Another thing to consider...
P.S. Rick Ace called out my Shyamalanian plot twist for having an underwater UFO event so I had to change things up...
Two wrongs don't make a right, but two Wrights make an airplane.