Special event

International Day of Mathematics

Official achievement authored by JimG008.

The sun beat down on Siracusa, a city shimmering like a jewel on the edge of the wine-dark sea. But within its walls, a mind blazed brighter than any sun. Archimedes. A name whispered with awe, a man possessed by numbers, driven by the very essence of the universe.

He wasn't merely a scholar, hunched over dusty scrolls. He was a force of nature, a whirlwind of thought made flesh. He saw the world not as it appeared, but as it truly was, a symphony of shapes and forces, a dance of levers and spirals.

Imagine him, eyes gleaming, brow furrowed, a diagram scratched into the sand. He's wrestling with the elusive circle, chasing the phantom of pi, a number that stretched to infinity, a secret whispered by the cosmos itself. Days blurred into nights as he pushed the boundaries of knowledge, his calculations a testament to the power of human reason.

Then, the bath. A moment of mundane cleansing, transformed into a revelation. The water displaced, the sudden, sharp understanding. "Eureka!" he roared, leaping from the tub, naked and oblivious, the principle of buoyancy burning in his mind. The weight of the water, the lift of the object – a truth so simple, so profound, it shook him to his core.

But Archimedes was not just a dreamer. He was a builder, a defender of his beloved Siracusa. When Rome’s legions threatened, he answered with steel and ingenuity. His machines, born of his brilliant mind, were terrors to behold. Catapults that hurled boulders like thunderbolts, mirrors that focused the sun's wrath into burning beams, and the mighty Claw, a mechanical hand that plucked Roman ships from the sea and shattered them like toys.

The Romans, accustomed to brute force, were baffled, terrified. They spoke of a man who commanded the very elements, a sorcerer who held the fate of Siracusa in his hands.

But even genius is mortal. When the city finally fell, a Roman soldier found him, his mind still lost in a diagram drawn in the sand. "Do not disturb my circles!" Archimedes cried, his voice a last, defiant echo against the tide of conquest. The soldier, a brute, understood nothing. The sword fell.

And so, the light of Archimedes was extinguished. But his legacy? That blazes still. His principles, his inventions, his unwavering pursuit of truth – they remain, a testament to the power of a single mind to illuminate the darkness, to challenge the very fabric of reality. The name Archimedes, a whisper of wonder, a roar of brilliance, will echo through the ages, a beacon of human potential.

March 14th, International Day of Mathematics, is a day to celebrate the contributions of mathematicians like Archimedes, whose brilliance continues to inspire and shape our world.

The city of Catania is the closest city to Siracusa with a large airport. It is 26 nm (48 km) between the two cities. We will fly to Fontanarossa (LICC).

Because pi (3.14) is so entrenched in geometry, the decimal point will be moved to the right 2 places. That will be the minimum distance for our flight.

Criteria

Depart from an airport of your choice, fly to and land at LICC, your flight distance must be further than 314 NM.
This event has finished and the achievement can no longer be obtained.
Date Departure Arrival Pilot Aircraft Landing rate Distance Flight time
28MAR25 1603Z LIRP LICC VAF619 Dante Boeing 737-700 (B737) -477 ft/m 503 nm 01:30 View
28MAR25 1545Z LIEE LICC VAF187 Angelo Boeing 777-200 (B772) -56 ft/m 365 nm 01:01 View
28MAR25 1504Z LIEO LICC Unknown Rafale M Don Tiger Meet -5955 ft/m 348 nm 01:08 View
27MAR25 1639Z EDDF LICC SuperAmadeus Airbus A350-900 (A359) -149 ft/m 1006 nm 02:19 View
27MAR25 1513Z LIRF LICC Fernando Angeles Airbus A320 neo (A20N) -290 ft/m 341 nm 00:58 View
27MAR25 1331Z LIRF LICC Danny Horne Cessna Caravan (C208) -83 ft/m 351 nm 02:17 View
27MAR25 0224Z EDDK LICC Colomo Airbus A320 neo (A20N) -215 ft/m 970 nm 01:10 View
26MAR25 2115Z EDDF LICC Jens W Airbus A321 (A321) -170 ft/m 1359 nm 03:32 View
25MAR25 1615Z KRNO LICC Kramden Boeing 767-400 (B764) -93 ft/m 6041 nm 12:37 View
25MAR25 1553Z LIRF LICC Bruno14 Airbus A319 (A319) -396 ft/m 356 nm 01:08 View
25MAR25 1324Z LIWR LICC Jeanette Zoetendal Cessna Skyhawk (C172) -34 ft/m 325 nm 02:28 View
25MAR25 1313Z LHBP LICC APV077 Airbus A321 (A321) -128 ft/m 679 nm 01:57 View
25MAR25 1038Z LFMN LICC Zargos Airbus A320 (A320) -174 ft/m 611 nm 01:05 View
25MAR25 0416Z HLLT LICC Bat24SS Airbus A320 (A320) -184 ft/m 348 nm 01:03 View
24MAR25 2234Z EDDM LICC Wjat76 Airbus A320 (A320) -324 ft/m 718 nm 01:53 View
24MAR25 2222Z LIRP LICC Pierre Dequack Airbus A320 (A320) -82 ft/m 496 nm 01:32 View
24MAR25 2036Z EYVI LICC Jcfoster Boeing 737-800 (B738) -130 ft/m 1206 nm 03:12 View
24MAR25 1646Z LFKF LICC Dabullair Cessna 525C Citation CJ4 (C25C) -155 ft/m 401 nm 01:06 View
24MAR25 1524Z LIMF LICC VAF113 Bruno Boeing 737-800 (B738) -630 ft/m 603 nm 01:25 View
24MAR25 1037Z LIEA LICC VAF121 Marco Cessna R182 Skylane RG (C82R) -132 ft/m 430 nm 03:11 View