:hesaid:
From personal knowledge from my helping out on OFSS II, even having the missions planned out ahead of time, there is still a good bit of work involved. Even with all the scenarios pre-written there are always final tweaks needed before the next flight.
For the project to be a success, it takes a massive amount of dedication on the part of the (for lack of a better title) Mission Director. For the original OFSS it took three people to make it through to completion (AstroSammy, Woo and Tex). The second station was Kyle, with me helping out midway through. And Tex is heading up number three here.
I think with each iteration we learn what we could have done better. And with OFSS it seems the focus is on fun and flyability. Plus, it's wide open, meaning once the scenarios are posted anyone can fly without being a "member". VSA projects seem to be a little more closed off. And as far as I can tell, both types can have problems with pilots not being available (it's called real life), things happen and that's just the way it goes.
There are precious few successful VSA projects going, but it seems they are all private. This helps because there is no in-fighting between directors, no arguments on how realistic to make the missions or which craft to use, and if you've got to suspend ops due to home renovations, newborn baby, angry wife, etc. then there's nobody hounding you for updates/missions etc.
IMHO, the best laid out VSA would be GaryW's. Mine is moving from the back burner to the front (but under low simmer due to vacation soon).
In short, what is OFSS doing right? Get the right overseer, and it appears easy. Jump in blind, find out how hard it is, and your looking to fail.
