The new website for Simfest 2012 is now live at www.simfest.co.uk

Simfest 2012 is a “virtual” round the world flight taking place non stop (24 hours a day) for 7 days, stopping at over 45 airports around the world.

The concept of a virtual, round the world flight for charity was started 10 years ago by a team in the United Kingdom, and has spawned an annual event with participating simulators all over the globe. The UK team has since raised over £16,000 for Dreamflight, Cancer Research UK, Grace For Gulu and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

This year they are raising money for London’s Air Ambulance.

The popularity of conducting a World Flight for charity has grown over the 11 years the event has run for, with teams in Canada, Ireland, Scotland, England and the USA joining the flight over the years. Each team selects their own needy charity, raising funds through donations and corporate sponsorship. The Australian team do an excellent job each year of organising the routing and co-ordinating each team around the world.

15 Pilots and crew previously manned a Boeing 777 built by Gary Oliver in Farnborough, UK.   For the past 2 years they have been using Ralph Watsons 737 Simulator based near Pinner in West London.

The flight will be conducted online on the VATSIM network, providing live Air Traffic Control through most of the countries they visit. A 45-60 minute turn around is allowed at each stop and during that time the incoming crew will be fully briefed as to weather conditions along their route as well as other operational requirements. Interested people will be able to follow the progress via interactive flight tracking, instrument displays and streaming video and audio during the event. You can even fly alongside on any of their legs. More information is available through the web site.

The live cockpit stream is far more interesting than most TV programmes these days. Watch out for the spoof videos like Tenerife turnaround below. Make a note in your diary to drop by and watch and remember, this is all for charity, so donations to the chosen charity links are a great way of saying thanks to the team!