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(Eight or nine years ago I told the staff at www.flightsim.com that I wanted to write a review of all the services they provided. Well, it's taken me quite awhile to get this hammered out but here it is - more or less. I've tried to include lots of links to keep everyone occupied for a few minutes at the very least.)
More than 20 years ago I was a firefighter/EMT (roof photo, left)
and to this day I can go into any firehouse in the world and be
welcomed in like a brother. Because of the training and job that
firefighters do, they share a common bond known as a brotherhood.
Cops have it. Soldiers have it. Guys who ride Harley Davison
Motorcycles have it (not sure why on this account but go with me
here). Schoolteachers, doctors and mill workers do not so much have
that kind of a bond. I live in a city that has been called the most
bike-friendly city in the US. We have nearly three times as many
bicycle commuters on the road than any other city in the country. I
was one of those for many years, logging around 4,000 miles a year
pedaling to and from work. In my town, because there are so many
cyclists sharing the road, we tend to be a friendly lot, waving to
each other, exchanging a friendly greeting or talking about your day
at the red light (traffic lanes in my city have painted GREEN ZONES
that are just for bikes - no cars allowed!) Recently I've upgraded
to a 200cc motor scooter (Kymco photo, right) - allowing me more time in
bed, and I've noticed that other motorcycle riders are not always as
friendly as bicycle riders. (Last week I tried talking to a guy on a
nice Ducati and it was like I wasn't there. So later I tried talking
to a guy on a little People50 and got the same response. Culture
shock! It's my new sociology research project: "How many fellow
motor bike riders will ignore me at red lights?") But my point here
is not to bash motorcyclists but to praise my fellow flightsimmers.
You see, I propose to you that flightsimmers have a sort of bond or
brotherhood as well. E-mail a simmer about some add-on or flight
adventure and you'll probably hear back from him.
Rarely, in my years of communicating with flight sim enthusiasts, have I ever come across one who is rude or haughty or ill-tempered. Sure, we all make fun of the "rivet-counters" and although I don't design aircraft I have had those that are a bit critical of my work - that's fine, knock yourselves out. I also had a guy that I could swear was stalking me for a period but maybe that was during my paranoid years. (You know who you are - leave me alone!) My point is that I owe my hobby to YOU ALL! You all who have been so helpful and friendly and supportive and willing to talk about ... stuff. You all who have treated me like a brother in kindred. My life (not just my simming) has been enriched thanks to all of you on www.flightsim.com.
I remember a fellow named "Curly" whom I met on the flightsim.com forums back in the late 90's who carefully, step-by-step, taught me how to download and unzip files. There may have been some that were saying, "What kind of a dork doesn't know how to unzip a file?" but Curley was there for me. Then there as Captain Bala who I think used to fly for Air India - a very kind and supportive fellow who certainly knew his stuff. Speaking of captains, this web site has afforded me the honor of getting to talk with Tony Vallillo, Chris Heslop, Rik Vyverman, Daniel Neito and others who fly in the real world every day and their willingness to share information and teach has been such a blessing. [ www.flightsim.com/main/feature/argosy1.htm www.flightsim.com/main/feature/75train1.htm www.flightsim.com/main/feature/stories4.htm]
Now, I shouldn't start naming names because someone always gets
left off and then there's another nasty e-mail in my box, but Nels
Anderson who keeps FlightSim.Com running - where would this hobby be
without this web site? And Andrew Herd who years ago started writing
How To's ...
[
www.flightsim.com/main/howto/fsxliv/fsxliv.htm]
Andy's the one who, really, taught me how to be proficient at not
just downloading but at installing planes and panels and sounds AND
getting them flying! Wow, this was a whole new world to me! There
also was Geert Rolf who wrote the "Quick Start Guide for 737 Pilots"
[
www.flightsim.com/main/howto/qsg737.htm]
- This is, still, a great piece of work! I'd be remiss to not thank
Dick Graham from Ohio for performing CPR and reviving
www.toomuchfs.com
- and this includes Geert again for becoming our expert webmaster.
There was Salina Chan who worked up this great video for us
[
www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVXB0ey2HY]
and a guy who writes for PC Pilot named Tony Radmilovich who told me
about taking screen shots
[
www.freedownloadscenter.com/Network_and_Internet/Web_Browsers/MultiGrabber.html]
and got me flying on-line. Speaking of screen shots, there is Brad
Quiring who told me about how to resize a whole batch of screen shots
at once
[
www.axiomx.com/picsizer.htm]
and Alastair Monk who mailed me a video card (nVidia photo, left)
all the way from England so that I could upgrade to FS2002. There is
Peter Stark in Australia who talked me through installing said video
card and on the Aussie theme, I'm reminded of the funniest "Around
the World Flight" written by Bill Smith
[
www.flightsim.com/main/op-ed/ed71.htm]
- still the funniest simmer I know, even when he's being serious.
(Bill, do you still have copies of "Get Real" the flightsim novel
available?) I should mention Hans Linde in Germany and Alejandro in
Venezuela who are willing to share political insights and satire with
me. There is also Luis Arbeleaz in Colombia who let me review the
"Extreme Colombia" and "Extreme Bogota" add-ons! Getting a bit
off-topic, I should thank my dear Muslim friends who are willing to
sit down and talk about our religious differences and also the
similarities between our Christian and Islamic faiths. I have been
truly blessed to share all these things with this fantastic bunch of
caring human beings.
Are you getting the idea here? (Ron is just a sap? No, not that idea ... ) We are all part of something much bigger than a silly computer game. We have formed a sort of brotherhood, supporting and teaching each other, talking, not just about simming but about life. That's what simming and specifically FlightSim.Com has afforded me - a place to network, and the list really is endless: Those pilots who fly our monthly feature flights or fly for our virtual airline, all of the ATC guys at VATSIM [ www.vatsim.net/] and WestCoast ATC [ www.westcoastatc.com/], Mike Stone who designed aircraft for years [ www.pmstone.com/] ... The MAAM Sim team [ www.maam.org/maam_sim.html] ... All are contributors to this great hobby. We all have learned stuff from Bastian Blinten and Cedric de Keyser [ www.flightsim.com/main/feature/visiteur.htm www.flightsim.com/main/feature/atwwhd.htm] who share their world tours on this web site. There is Chip Barber who shares with us his ramblings from "The Corner" [ www.flightsim.com/main/feature/corner2.htm] and the Airliners.net photographers [ www.flightsim.com/main/feature/where17.htm] and others [ www.cedcc.psu.edu/khanjan/photography.htm] who share their photos with us for "Where in the World." I know that there are oh so many more to thank - it's like a book, everything I know I learned on www.flightsim.com!
I suppose there may be those who, at this point, claim that I am some sort of inspiration to them, but I really don't see it that way. I have been so blessed by all of you that it is I that owe the thanks! Thanks for the help, for the acceptance and for including me into this brotherhood of like-minded aircraft enthusiasts. Thanks for the stories. Thanks for the education. Thanks for the advice. Thanks for the connection to others who have connections to others. (quiz: who is that on my right in this photo?) To those who have been here awhile, obviously, "THANKS." To those who are newer and just getting up to speed, take what you know and learn here and by all means, SHARE IT. After all, that's really what FlightSim.Com is all about - sharing our knowledge with others to make their simming (or life) all the better.
For all the enrichment, I'll give www.flightsim.com a five-star rating!
Ron Blehm
pretendpilot@yahoo.com
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