For those of you out there that still visit this page I feel its necessary to post this news. As of today FSSport Plane is currently on hold yea you have heard this from me in the past we close down and then open back up again in six months. Well this time I am not so sure but cause I have good news. I have been offered a position with MoTIS Virtual Jet Design and I have graciously accepted. So for those you who like my work you will soon be able to find my own original designs along with the excellent designs of MoTIS on there site.

For more information please visit the following link: http://www.motisvirtualjetdesign.com/M2.htm

And for those of you who I got to see early images of FSSport Plane's first aircraft don't worry it will be ready in no time.

FSSport Plane is under construction!
Getting back to what I enjoy most about flightsim and that building and testing unique and sometimes unusual aircraft. With FSSport Plane I have the opportunity to establish a presence on the net for my creations. Hopefully anyone that has participated in part VARO events as well as anyone interested in sport aviation will give me site a look. I have listed just some of the features that will be going to the site as well as some of the services that will be offered.

Features
1. Scratch built heavily detailed sport aircraft. Currently I am working on 2 fictional sport aircraft as well as a new kitplane that wishes to remain nameless.

2. Cross Country Air Races. What better way to have fun than to do some cross country racing. FSSport Plane will be organizing events that will mirror real world events. The schedule, rules and procedures will be accounced shortly.

3. The VARO Online Museum. VARO may be gone but it will not be forgotten

4. Custom built airport scenery. Being that FSSport Plane is an attempt to be as real to life a possible we have setup shop at KBAK very soon we will have our own custom scenery to help bring our shop to life.

That is just a small portion of what I hope to offer the flight sim community with the FSSport Plane site.

A New beginning.
Well its been a few months and things have gotten better and life is starting to come back to normal. With that being said I have been doing a lot of thinking recently and I have decided to get back to what makes the Flight Sim hobby fun for myself... building and flying sport aircraft. So I have decided to create a new website with an entirely new format that will act as a hub for my aircraft building endeavored as well as other sport events I am planning. For those of you who are sad to see VARO go don't worry there will be a special place in the new site for VARO.

Here are just some of the features I am planning for the new site:
Sport Aircraft Production: I am currently working on a couple of sport aircraft one of which will use my new "kitbuilt" format. All aircraft will be freeware as well.
Cross Country Events: I am hoping to hold a couple of cross country air races using some new freeware tracking software. This events will closely simulate the races run at Air Venture and across the country. These events will be handicapped and will offer pilots a fun way to get other for both online and offline flying.
Sport Aircraft Reviews: When ever I get a chance I will be posting reviews of availably freeware aircraft.
VARO Museum: Exhibits from my personal archives covering the entire lifespan of VARO
Airport Information: Since the site and all our production will be run as real as we can make it visitors will be able to find information about the airport our testing and production facilities are located at. Visitors will also be able to download custom scenery for our complex.

These are the initial features I hope to have in place when the site opens come time in the next two weeks. So for those of you out there that are sad to see VARO go I am happy to say it was a good 3 years and I will be doing a great tribute to VARO and the beginning of serious organized Online Air Racing. For those of you interested in sport aircraft I hope this site fills a niche that seems to be missing in the flight sim community.

Last but certainly not least.
I am looking for anyone interested in working with me in the following areas.
GMax Modeling
Aircraft Painting
Flight Model Design
Test Pilots(only for pilots who are interested in serious testing)
Chase Pilots

Anyone interested in working with me in any of these areas please feel free to contact me. Anyone that chooses to work with me will be under no obligation at all except to respect the work being done. More detailed job descriptions will be given upon request. Basic experience required depending on job. Ex: I am willing to work with someone on the modeling skills however Test Pilots should know how to fly aircraft properly.

Letter to VARO Pilots past and present.

As some of you may have noticed I have been offline or busy a lot in the most recent months. I have been struggling with many things in my real life and have not had the time I wished to dedicate to VARO. I understand if some pilots are fustrated with me and VARO specially with the off again, on again atmosphere that seems to revolved around here. The truth is I have to do what is best for myself and my family so it is with a heavy heart I am ceasing all VARO racing operations. The website will remain open for as long as I can afford to keep it open, however due to time constraints of family,work, college and other interests it may not be updated very often if at all. To all pilots out there that races with VARO and those that provided excellent work I want to thank all of you for making what was once a very small dream into a reality. To Maple One and Jimi you guy have been great friends and have keep me going when interest or problems arrised.

As my free time permits I will be uploading all source material I have used to construct courses and I am going to be releasing the source code for the Transponder as an open source project. I will also be uploading any updates to skin packages and course updates that have been finished.

If anyone has any questions please direct them to the forum and I will do my best to answer them. Any VARO partners who would still like there materials offered on the website please send them to sryth.varo@gmail.com and I will add them to the site.

Anyone that is interested in using VARO materials in there own league of club please feel free to e-mail sryth.varo@gmail.com for more information.

To everyone that has been part of VARO through the years, I thank you. The last few years have been a wild ride or pure fun and enjoyment.

For the last time. Fly Fast turn Left......

I apologize to all VARO pilots waiting for this information. I have been busy trying to straighten out my college situation. I will have the latest pylons for KMSO uploaded soon(they need to be double checked).

VARO KMSO Monthly Points Race Program
Event Schedule for 4/9/05 (all times GMT -5 or US Eastern Standard)
8:00pm: Server Information will be e-mailed and posted the VARO Website. Server Open For qualifying at this time.
8:30pm: Qualifying Deadline for all Classes. Course Closed
8:40pm: Race Official Briefing for all classes.
9:00pm: T-6 Bronze Race(8 laps)
9:10pm: T-6 Silver Race(8 laps)
9:20pm: T-6 Gold Race(8 laps)
9:40pm: F1 Bronze Race(10 laps)
9:50pm: F1 Silver Race(10 laps)
10:00pm: F1 Gold Race (10 laps)
10:20pm: Unlimited Bronze Race(6 laps)
10:30pm: Unlimited Silver Race(6 laps)
10:40pm: Unlimited Gold Race(6 laps)
10:50pm: Victory Photos and race winner interviews

Race start times subject to change. Races will be adjusted based on attendance.

Pilots wishing to have their custom paint scheme need to have them submitted to my email no later than Friday(4/8) at 3pm. I will be releasing a final custom package for the race that afternoon prior to the evenings practice session.If you have already sent me your custom paint scheme once and it has not be added to the current available paint pack send me a e-mail to remind me. I am doing my best to find all the paint schemes that have been sent me way but I have a lot of e-mail to check and I don't want to miss anyone's paint scheme.

For those pilots that plan on attending this weekends race please be advised that this is a a points race but it is also a test race to see if the new format will work. I don't foreseen any problems however I have assembled a list of reminders below for pilots that are new and pilots that haven't been racing in a while.

Important Reminders
1. Make sure that you have installed all scenery and aircraft and that all are visible inside Flight Sim.
2. Be certain that your Transponder is fully functional,run as many laps as you can and not any problems such as skipped laps or odd times.
3. Make sure you have TeamSpeak setup properly and it is functional.
4. Attend a practice session to be certain that you can connect to an online session and that your system can handle the load of all the software running.
5. Report any problems to the forum before race day. Race day is not the time to be troubleshooting. That's what practice sessions are for.
6. Be prepared to have fun.

Planning for May race.
I am already planning for the race in May if anyone has any suggestions I will be pleased to take them. I am also looking forward to the new aircraft from MoXSY.Looks like the team over there had busy couple months. So things a looking good and contrary to popular belief I am still working on a couple of projects and hope to have the Tuono finished up very soon.

On a side note I am going to need a couple of pilots that attend practice session regularly to help with some aircraft testing. If you attend at least once a week please drop me an e-mail or message in the forum I will have some work soon that will need to be tested online.

Attention VARO Pilot's and Partners:
As you may have noticed from my last post in the forum and the last of racing this past Saturday this seem grim. Well to be honest for myself the drive is gone, and that not entirely caused by VARO or lack of participation in the forums or events. My real life has been very hectic lately and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. So where do we go from here. Well I talked to some good friends and VARO pilot's to see how they felt about the issue of course and after some advice and some thinking I have come up with a compromise that I hope will keep everyone happy and put some drive back into myself.

And let me say this before everyone leaves, VARO will not be closing.

Basically here is what the plan comes down to: One, I feel that with a race every week I am running out of time to do quality work which drives the fun from the work. Two, racing every week can make it hard for pilots to participate on a regular basis. So here is the plan, we will be going to a one event per month format. The event will be organized in the forum to provide ample time and input on the scheduling issues. This will also offer more time to prepare scenery,software,aircraft etc. We will run year round with twelve events a year that means we will be visiting more courses regularly during the season. Advertising, since we will only be holding events once a month I can more effectively get the word to FlightSim.com and Avsim.com to get more people involved. We can also hold different kinds of events every month from cross country racing to aerobatic.

For those of you in fear that this change is just a desperate measure before VARO folds for good, rest assured that I still love doing this stuff I just can't keep up my work pace and live a healthily life. So with that said will we still do our best to hold practice sessions as frequently as possible and also fun fly nights.

The future of VARO?
Well once we make this change I think that things will come around, I will feel better and the quality will go up and you never know we may get going and attendance will go up and we might change I might decide a change is necessary again wouldn't be the first time. I just want to do the best work that I can for the VARO Team as well as our partners. I hope that all VARO pilots will understand why this change is being made and will accept it with open arms. For those that are upset over the change I am deeply sorry, however I need to do what is best to keep motivated and going.

Please check the forum later today for initial planning of the April event in which we will run 3 classes that will be chosen by current VARO members. As well as the date and location of the event.

VARO Heads to KMSO
We kicked of the racing week at KMSO with another round of close T-6 racing. The evening started with Skyguy putting together another blistering qualifying session not only setting the fastest lap in the T-6 but also the F-1. So with Skyguy getting the free pass to the silver the remaining pilots lined up for the bronze. The bronze race was pretty uneventful Maple One setup with a comfortable lead and the rest were just trying not to finish last. The race was soon finished with Jimi having a close encounter with the ground moving everyone to the silver. The silver race begin much the same way , Maple One and Salami up front battling for the lead and Sryth, CptSneed and Skyguy in the back battling not to finish last. Again this race was decided with a DNF, very uncharacteristic for Skyguy he met the ground in an uncontrolled manner. With Skyguy out the remaining pilots setup for the gold.

The gold race started with Sryth quickly jumping out to a very slim lead over Maple One. For the next few laps Maple One and Sryth would fly like they were bolted to each other but it wouldn't last for ever. After a minor mistake Maple One passed Sryth and Sryth never recovered. Maple One would go on to win. It was a great race for those involved but even more so for Sryth, this would mark his first Gold Race finish.

After a short break to reload aircraft and in some cases restart Flight Sim the F1 races started much like the T-6 with Skyguy in the silver and the rest in the bronze. The bronze race itself was yet another battle between Maple One and Salami. Things looked bad for the back markers as the front runners pulled away but Jimi again ended his race with a plume of dirt pushing the remaining pilots into the silver.

The silver race....It all came down to the start, Skyguy was forced to drop out after a technical error leaving the remaining pilots to run a meaning less race but its about racing not sitting so the battle was on. Again Maple One and Salami got out to a commanding lead leaving CptSneed and Sryth way back. Due to some power management problems Sryth started almost half a lap down but with a very fast aircraft and a good line he was able to catch and pass Cptsneed and come in a comfortable third. With Skyguy out for the second time of the night the F-1 Gold would be a repeat of the T-6 gold.

The F-1 gold, well the start looked like the silver with the typically excellent flying for Maple One and Salami leading the way. Sryth again had a lousy start and was forced to play catch up all race. At the finish it was Maple One holding off Salami for first and Sryth coming in third with a blistering finish and CptSneed coming in fourth.

The event ran fairly smooth with the occasional flight sim hiccup that caused some pilots trouble but all in all a very good night of racing. Thanks to all pilots that participated and I hope to see everyone for the unlimited on Saturday.

Other News
Motis Fox and Mintaka
The newest aircraft from Motis Aerobatic Designs is online and can be seen here, and the Mintaka should be back at the KMHV hangar for compatibility testing.

VARO Winter Season Race #3 KMSO Program

Event Schedule for 2/19/05 (all times GMT -5 or US Eastern Standard)
8:00pm: Server Information will be e-mailed and posted the VARO Website.
8:30pm: Server Officially open for practice
8:45pm: Race Official Briefing
8:50pm: Course closed for practice, Pilots asked to land for attendance check.
9:00pm: Open Qualification in T-6 and F1 classes begin
9:20pm: Qualification ends. All pilots asked to land.
9:25pm: Pilot briefing, Race assignments and rules changes covered.
9:35pm: T-6 Bronze Race(8 laps)
9:45pm: T-6 Silver Race(8 laps)
9:55pm: T-6 Gold Race (8 laps)
10:05pm: F1 Bronze Race(10 laps)
10:15pm: F1 Silver Race (10 laps)
10:25pm: F1 Gold Race (10 laps)
10:40pm: Victory Photos and race winner interviews

Times are subject to adjustment pending the finish times of the other races and if these races are needed.


Qualification Changes
1. Pilot with the fastest qualification time will be placed at the #1 starting spot in the Silver race bypassing the Bronze Race.

Final Note
pilots who arrive after the Bronze race will not be allowed to participate in the following races for points. They may run laps but there finish will not count. Also make sure all that you have downloaded the latest software and T-6 Paint Pack from the download pages as well as the KMSO scenery update. These files are required for this weekends races.

Event will be run tonight by Jimi and Maple One pending Sryth's arrival

Hope to see everyone there.

VARO wraps up racing at KMHV
The last weekend at KMHV provided for some excellent unlimited and Jet racing. With an average turn out and a modified schedule for the evening things got started with the Bronze race. With the bronze race quickly underway it became very clear that there was going to be some close racing with Skyguy setting up a descent pace up front and some close racing between Roscoe and Maple One for second and third respectively. I myself(Sryth) bought it on the second lap after making a turn to close to the ground and turning my sea fury into a smoking pile of metal. With my DNF that ment that everyone else in the race would move on to face CptSneed, who had the fastest qualifying time, in the Silver.

The Silver race with a slight hitch, Roscoe had some how killed his engine and couldn't get it refired leaving him standing dead on the starting grid as the other racers launched. The race it self quickly took shape as Skyguy jumped out into the lead and held on to it for the remainder of the race. Near the end of the race Roscoe finally got his bearcat, "Bearly Able", refired and proceeded to run his own race. Once everyone was done safely Jimi being the sportsman that he is decided in the interest of a better race to give his spot in the gold to Roscoe. This would prove to be a very interesting development.

The final unlimited race of the night at KMHV began with a bang, or actually maybe a rocket. From the word go Roscoe was on a mission within the first couple of laps he had made up for the lousy silver race and proceeded to pass the front runners Skyguy and MapleOne to take the lead from there he would proceed to take the first unlimited gold of the season. From what I can remember I do believe this is Roscoe's first gold win of his career. On a side note once the results were reviewed Skyguy had his revenge taking the fastest lap award and taking the lead in the unlimited point standings.

On to the Jet races, with an average turn out for the unlimited races I hoped that the Jet races would garner some interest but alas we only put on a four man show. So with the diminished numbers a decision was made to only hold a silver and a gold race. The silver race began with Roscoe having engine problems again which delayed the start. Once Roscoe had his engine problem sorted we began the silver which turned out to be a one man show and the man was Skyguy. At the start of the race Skyguy took what appeared to be a small lead but over the next few laps he would end up putting almost half a lap between him and the field. Jimi and MapleOne had some close racing for a distant second and third but it became a mute point when Roscoe declared a mayday and brought his jet back down to the ground. All pilots with the exception of Roscoe would move to the gold.

The gold race began with Skyguy jumping out to a big lead again and it appeared that Jimi and MapleOne were yet again doomed to simply battle for second and third, but somewhere in the closing laps Jimi and MapleOne began to gain ground, it wasn't rapid by any means but sure enough they were closing in on Skyguy and trading positions the entire time. Unknown to Skyguy he had inadvertently activated his landing gear and they were creating a lot of drag and slowing his aircraft down. On the final lap the inevitable happened Jimi and MapleOne caught Skyguy. All racers streaked across the finish line only tenths separating them. In the end Jimi claimed the Jet Gold win with MapleOne and Skyguy and very close second and third respectively. As expected Skyguy came away with the fastest lap award and five bonus points.

Overall the evening went well we didn't have any noticeable network glitches or problems. I would like to thank all pilots that joined us and I hope to see everybody for the short course races at KMSO this weekend.

Other VARO News
Mintaka
We are still doing some aerodynamic tweaking on the Mintaka with the hopes of fielding it in the next unlimited race. The guys over at MoTIS are doing a great job and we should see an updated prototype on Friday.

VHRO
Some of you may have noticed a new category in the forum labeled VHRO. This will soon house information about Virtual Hydroplane Racing Online. Many of you know I have been experimenting with hydroplane boats for a while and I am very close to having a working model. This group will not necessarily be for racing in the beginning but merely a group working hydroplane boats. Stay posted for news about the VARO spinoff organization.

KMSO
I should have the course update package complete with updated pylons, starting grid and some new boards near the grid ready by Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

VARO Race Day #2: KMHV Long Course

The Voice Communication server is up and running and can be found at the addresses below. Practice will begin in aprox 1/2 hour.

VARO Race Server(Flight Simulator Session)
IP: TBD Connect to TeamSpeak First
Password:

VARO Communication Server(TeamSpeak Server)
IP: offline
Password:

Pilots please use the name you are registered with in the VARO forum to prevent confusion. Pilot please log into the "VARO Lounge" channel on the TeamSpeak server prior to changing channels.

Also all pilots should have the latest version of the TransponderRC3 downloaded and installed.

All Pilots also need to have the KMHV scenery update and the Jet and Unlimited Paint Packs.

VARO Winter Season Race #2 KMHV Program

Event Schedule for 2/12/05 (all times GMT -5 or US Eastern Standard)
8:00pm: Server Information will be e-mailed and posted the VARO Website.
8:30pm: Server Officially open for practice
8:45pm: Race Official Briefing
8:50pm: Course closed for practice, Pilots asked to land for attendance check.
9:00pm: Open Qualification in Unlimited and Jet classes begin
9:20pm: Qualification ends. All pilots asked to land.
9:25pm: Pilot briefing, Race assignments and rules changes covered.
9:35pm: Unlimited Bronze Race(5 laps)
9:45pm: Unlimited Silver Race(5 laps)
9:55pm: Unlimited Gold Race (7 laps)
10:05pm: Jet Bronze Race*(5 laps)
10:15pm: Jet Silver Race (5 laps)
10:25pm: Jet Gold Race (7 laps)
10:40pm: Victory Photos and race winner interviews

Times are subject to adjustment pending the finish times of the other races and if these races are needed.
*Bronze Jet race will only be needed if there are 6 jet pilots on the race server at the start of the race. All times are U.S. Eastern Standard Time

Qualification Changes
1. Pilot with the fastest qualification time will be placed at the #1 starting spot in the Silver race bypassing the Bronze Race.

Final Note
pilots who arrive after the Bronze race will not be allowed to participate in the following races for points. They may run laps but there finish will not count. Also make sure all that you have downloaded the latest software and Unlimited and Jet Paint Packs from the download pages as well as the KMHV scenery update. These files are required for this weekends races.

Hope to see everyone on Saturday

Mintaka at KMHV
The first Mintaka Prototype kit arrived at the KMHV last night. The kit will go through a series of flight and racing test prior to VARO certification. The testing should only take a few days and then suggestions will be sent back to MOXSY for any changes to be made if needed. After any changes are made we will start the testing back up again. At this point I am not sure if we will make the race on Saturday but we will do our best.

Mintaka kit arrives tomorrow!
For those of you who haven't been keeping update to date with your partner MOXSY Aerobatic Designs, the first of 3 aircraft designed for use in the Unlimited class is almost ready and will arrive tomorrow. Now that doesn't mean it ready to race just quite yet, we still have some testing to do on our own to make sure it will be competitve with the other Unlimiteds.

If all goes well and the testing goes smoothly Sryth will be flying the Mintaka in the Unlimited race at KMHV. When this aircraft does fly it will be the first aircraft designed from the ground up for racing to grace a VARO event. We shall see what happens. This could be the begining of many great things to come.

VARO News 020705

VARO Racing again!
Welcome to another season of VARO racing which was kicked off with an excellent display of racing skill and competition in the T-6 Class. The Silver and Gold races in the T-6 class were probably the most competitive races I have ever seen during a VARO event. It was a close competition between Maple One and Salami for the Gold victory but in the end after a slow start Salami edged out Maple One by about a second to take the KMHV Gold. Aside from Salami's first win in his first official race we also had another rookie pilot that made it into the gold Asp. Asp had a rocky start to the evening but he managed to make it into the gold. Another notable pilot racing in the T-6 class for the first time was Roscoe. Roscoe was with VARO in the early days and we are glad to have him back out on the pylons. With all this close racing the T-6 class may shape up to be some of the closest racing ever seen at VARO.

After the T-6 race finished we quickly got started with the F-1 races but unfortunately a file discrepancy was noticed and the race was canceled in order to keep everything fair. The discrepancy was not intentional and the problem has been fixed. Hopefully we will have a successful F-1 race next time. Pilots who participated in the F-1 races will receive participation points.

Overall I felt that the races went very well, we had a pretty good turn out and with only moderate connection problem we raced 4 clean t-6 races and a couple of F-1 Races. For those pilots that were able to participate well done, those who had connection problems preventing them from connecting, I sincerely apologize and I hope the problem does not persist, and for those pilots that didn't make it I hope to see you all racing the unlimiteds and jets this Saturday.

Complete Events scores can be found on the "Winter Series" page.

Other News
Changes to the Event format.
After running a two class event with four races in each class and ending way over the 2-2.5 hour goal, I have decided to remove the heat race from the schedule. Instead all pilots will be positioned in the bronze race. The fastest pilot will still be placed in the silver and we will still use the last place "knock out" format where the last place pilot is eliminated and the remaing pilots move on(note: you still must finish the race in order to move on, in the case where the entire field crashes the pilot who completed the least amount of laps will be eliminated). What does this mean, pilots are guaranteed bronze race points for one. It also should help speed the classes up and help us finish the event in under the 2-2.5 hour goal.

January Pilot of the Month
Jimi has been named pilot of the month. Sometime this week I will be with Jimi and get the name of all he aircraft he flies in order to put is Pilot of the Month Image up in the POM section of the website. So if you see Jimi online congratulate him and maybe talk a little air racing with him because Jimi is an excellent pilot and does a great job helping keep things running here at VARO.

Cross Country Racing
I have started work on the cross country code for the Transponder. Its not that much different from the normal Transponder code so I hope to have it finished in the next week or so for testing very soon. My goal is to have the Cross Country series up and running by the 1st week of March. Along with working on the Transponder code I will also be planning the route across starting somewhere in Florida and eventually finishing at KMHV in California.

Race Reporter Wanted!
VARO is in need of a Race Reporter! What does a race reported due? Well thy provide a recap of all races that will be posted to this news page. Race Reporter's are only limited by their imagination the main goal is to cover the races so that other who weren't there could get a feel for what happened. So we are looking for someone with good writing skills, you don't need to be an English major or journalist, you just need the ability to capture an event with words. Any pilots interested please send me a message through the forum or talk to me online.

VARO Winter Season Race #1 KMHV Program

Event Schedule for (2/5/05)
8:00pm: Server Information will be e-mailed and posted the VARO Website.
8:30pm: Server Officially open for practice
8:45pm: Race Official Briefing
8:50pm: Course closed for practice, Pilots asked to land for attendance check.
9:00pm: Open Qualification in F1 and T-6 begins
9:20pm: Qualification ends. All pilots asked to land.
9:25pm: Pilot briefing, Race assignments and rules changes covered.
9:30pm: T-6 Heat Race 1*(6 laps)
9:40pm: T-6 Bronze Race(6 laps)
9:50pm: T-6 Silver Race(8 laps)
10:00pm: T-6 Gold Race(10 laps)
10:20pm: F-1 Heat Race 1*(6 laps)
10:30pm: F-1 Bronze Race(6 laps)
10:40pm: F-1 Silver Race(8 laps)
10:50pm: F-1 Gold Race(10 laps)
11:00pm: Victory Photos and race winner interviews

*Times are subject to adjustment pending the finish times of the other races and if these races are needed. Heat Races will only be needed if there are 8 pilots on the race server at the start of the race.

Qualification Changes
In order to make things a little more interesting and make qualifying a little more important I have decided to make a couple small changes.

1. Pilot with the fastest qualification time will be placed at the #1 starting spot in the Silver race bypassing the Bronze Race.
2. Pilot with the second fastest time will be places at the #1 starting spot in the bronze race bypassing the Heat Race.

Hopefully these small changes will improve competition and give pilots a change to race in a couple of races.

Final Note
Pilots who arrive after the Heat Race or if the Heat Race is not run the bronze race will not be allowed to participate in the following races for points. They may run laps but there finish will not count.

Also make sure all Pilots download the latest software and T-6 Paint Pack from the download pages. These files are required for this weekends races.

Hope to see everyone on Saturday

VARO News Update!
First I would like to announce a new partnership with MOXSY Aerobatic Designs and MoTIS Xtreme Racing Aircraft. They are currently working on a new twin engine aircraft what will soon be available for air racing. Please visit the link below for more information about MOXSY Aerobatic Designs and MoTIS Xtreme Racing Aircraft. We at VARO hope the partnership/friendship produces some excellent aircraft and many benefits for both organizations.

MOXSY Aerobatic Designs

And in other news,

Scenery:
I hope to have the scenery update for KMHV finalized and uploaded by Thursday. The update will include a starting grid at the end of the runway along some other objects to help lend to the racing atmosphere.

Tuono:
Work continues on Tuono, I am fairly satisfied with the exterior of the aircraft and am currently heading inside the cockpit to finish outfitting the aircraft. Sadly to say however I have hit a snag in the flight model construction and I am having to start from scratch. This will put a minor delay in the release of the aircraft.

Tranponder:
I have looked at the source code and have found pieces that may be causing some adverse effects if the transponder is run for multiple laps over a long period of time. Currently the easiest fix I have come up with is the re-load the course file between long races. This should help reduce the chances of an overflow error until I can get the next release finished.

Custom Paint Schemes:
The deadline has passed to get custom aircraft schemes into the Winter Skin pack for each plane. However there will be a second pack released mid season if there is a need. Expect a skin pack download for aircraft that have custom skins in the next few days.

VARO Open Test Day#3--Final Day

The Voice Communication server is up and running and can be found at the addresses below. Practice will begin in aprox 1 hour.

VARO Race Server(Flight Simulator Session)
IP: TBD Connect to TeamSpeak First
Password:

VARO Communication Server(TeamSpeak Server)
IP: offline
Password:

Pilots please use the name you are registered with in the VARO forum to prevent confusion. Pilot please log into the "Default" channel on the TeamSpeak server prior to changing channels.

Also all pilots should have the latest version of the TransponderRC3 downloaded and installed. If you do know feel comfortable using it that is ok we will conver that tonight.

Scenery Update and Pylon Guide Test.
I have uploaded the initial version of the YMAV course for testing along with new pylon guides that I have placed at the KMHV course. Check out the "Scenery and Utilities" section of "Downloads" for the file and instruction on how to install.

Please leave any feedback in the Pilot Lounge inside the VARO forum.

Attention all pilots!

Any pilot that is planning on racing in the short course events a week from Saturday or any VARO events for that matter must make sure that they are setup correctly for racing. Most importantly you need to test the transponder at all courses we are racing at to make sure that it is working properly. You also need to make sure you are ready to race when the events start to roll around.

This is important, there will not be any troubleshooting done on race night. Any pilot that has not been to an open test please make it to this Saturday's test or contact me to setup a private testing session. I repeat I will not be stopping the races or adjusting the schedule on race night for pilot's who do not come prepared. If a problem crops from someone who arrived prepared we will deal with that the best we can.

The basic thing is that VARO has given ample time for everyone to test there setup and make sure they are ready to go. I don't feel its is fair to punish the group to help some one who did not take the time. So bottom line on Race Days come to race and on Test days bring the problems. If you have a problem in between let Sryth,Jimi or MapleOne know and we will do our best to fix it.

Lastly the Scenery Update should be ready to go by tomorrow, I have to replace the pylons at all courses with some higher visibility pylons but YMAV is done complete with static display and the course will will be ready soon.
Hope to see everyone out on the pylons this Saturday.

VARO Open Test Day #2
The Voice Communication server is up and running and can be found at the addresses below. Practice will begin in aprox 20 minutes.

VARO Race Server(Flight Simulator Session)
IP: TBD Connect to TeamSpeak First
Password:

VARO Communication Server(TeamSpeak Server)
IP: offline
Password:

Pilots please use the name you are registered with in the VARO forum to prevent confusion. Pilot please log into the "Default" channel on the TeamSpeak server prior to changing channels.

Also all pilots should have the latest version of the TransponderRC3 downloaded and installed. If you do know feel comfortable using it that is ok we will conver that tonight.

Impromptu Practice/Chat Session Tonight!
Since I will be working in Flight Sim tonight laying out the YMAV course I decided to invite all VARO pilots to join my on TeamSpeak on in Flight Sim for a little practice. I will post/send out the IPs for both servers when I have them up and running.

This is a open session for anyone to come and practice online, ask questions or in general shoot the breeze. Special not to new pilots that have never raced or have flown online tonight is a good night to get some semi-private instruction. I may even give observer rides around the courses if people need tours.

Expect to here from me about IPs around 6pm EST or before depending on what is going on.

Transponder RC3 Installer problem Fixed!

If you had downloaded and installed the Transponder RC3 prior to this post please uninstall and re download the current version. There was a mix up when I was building the installer and an old version of the Transponder RC3 was uploaded instead of the current version. I apologize for the inconvience. If there are any other problems with the program please get my me(Sryth) directly.

Transponder RC3 v.924 Released!
The latest version of the Transponder is now available on the "Scenery and Utilities" page. Also on that page you will find the latest documentation for the Transponder as well. If you have any prior version of the Transponder please uninstall them because they could cause problems with the installation of the new version. Beta Testers this is a slightly new version for you as well so please uninstall the beta version you have and install the latest full version.

If anyone experiences any problems with the installation or operation please start a thread in the VARO forum in the Transponder Section. Please include the following in your post: Flight Sim Version(2k2 or 2k4), FSUIPC version(if know) and what were you doing when you had the problems.

NOTICE TO ALL PILOTS: Aircraft Selection Deadline: January 31,2005

Aircraft Selections and new Paint Schemes must be posted in the individual class threads in the forum or sent to sryth.varo@gmail.com by midnight in order guarantee aircraft selection.

VARO Open Testing Day #1

Recap Let me be the first to say that Saturday was one of the best opening practice sessions I have ever had the privilege to be a part of. We had a decent turn out with both new an old pilots represented. The night started around 9pm(EST) with a server change that was handled very well by the new pilots some of which were new to TeamSpeak as well as VARO. Once we had everyone rounded up and moved to the new server things went very smoothly. I am not sure if the new reference material helped but the pilots that showed were on the ball and Jimi and I had very little trouble shooting to do. Within probably 15 minutes of arriving on server we had our first of 3 practice t-6 races. I was pleasantly surprised at how easily everyone fell into place for the race start as well as pilots handled themselves during the race and landing. On another positive note we had some Transponder Beta Testers on the server and I am happy to report that the times I received were very competitive and the lap counting bug has been fixed. On a some what low not the unlimited race we attempted to run somewhat fell apart due to pylon visibility but this is entirely my fault and will be fixed.

To sum up if the pilots that attended Test Day#1 are any indication of the quality or pilots we having coming to VARO the next season should be one of if not the best season for VARO ever.

Note:The next Official Test Day#2 is scheduled is a week from this Saturday due to the fact that I will be out of town and unable to setup the servers. However fear not Jimi is going to be holding a session either on Friday or Saturday it depends on the responses he gets from his poll in the forum. SO if you have a preference get in there and take the poll.

VARO Aircraft Updates

MapleOne has fixed some minor bugs in a couple aircraft. Updates can befound in the "aircraft" section inside "downloads". Just follow the simple instructions on the page and the update should go smooth.

Winter Series Flight Files Available

The flight files for the winter series are available in the scenery/utilities section of the downloads area. All you have to do is point the installer to your default Flight Simulator directory and the installer will do the rest.

VARO Event Schedule posted through March

The event schedule has been posted to th Calendar on the forum. Pilots are encouraged to check on the Calendar page from time to time for any changes.

Note: We have typically raced on Saturday nights but if a strong majority of pilots would rather race on another night we can possibly make a switch. The reason we have raced on Saturday nights in the past is because we would have the best turnout on those nights.

Flight Files for scenery coming soon.

Due to a last minute change in the scenery installer the associated flight files where mistakenly left out of the installer. I will be uploading these files this afternoon. I apologize for any inconvenience.

VARO looking for talented template painter

We are currently looking for a talented painter to give our aircraft a little boost in the looks department. Anyone interested should be handy with a paint program and able to add panel lines and shading to a bare template essentially we are looking to make bare metal textures for all the VARO Racer Vol1 aircraft. We will give you the raw skin and the reference images and you do your magic. Anyone intrested please feel free to e-mail Sryth or leave a message for him in the forum

VARO Q and A session open

For all new and old pilots Sryth will be online for the next couple hours on the VARO TeamSpeak Server. Feel free to drop by and ask any questions. Sryth will also have access to FShost if anyone wants to fly some laps or test out there setup

Teamspeak server IP: 68.249.98.214

If you have questions about how to connect to the server please consult the TeamSpeak setup and usage guide in the "Documents" section.

Welcome Back VARO

Well its a New Year and a new VARO. As you may have noticed the scaling back process didn't go quite as planned actually it was more of an improvement process. So take a look around the entire site has been updated. Also anyone interested in joining us for the winter series the schedule will be postes soon, until then register on the forum, read the rules and signup for our racing classes in the forum.

As an added bonus for the New Year I(Sryth) will be running an open Q and A session on your FShost server at 9:00est. Everyone is welcome to come and fly and ask questions.

Hope to see everyone out there.