Shlomo Hakim
was
born in Tel Aviv in 1965. My fascination with aircraft, dating back
to nearly as early, took over my life and influenced it considerably.
As a child I used to save my weekly allowance and instead of heading
to the movies, spend it on plastic aircraft models. The next step was
folded cardboard models (compared to which, AF5 models are a piece of
cake...). Then came what I consider the ultimate aviation experience
- powered Radio Controlled models (real pilots, please excuse this
bizzare opinion of mine).I have been flying and instructing R/C flight for the past 16 years and have flown nearly any flyable fixed wing configuration. In parallel, I studied aeronautics in high school and later on joined the Israeli Airforce as a light aircraft mechanic. Once the military duty was over (obligatory in Israel), I went on to study Economics and MBA, which put a dark stain on an otherwise perfect aviation buff's CV...
Naturally, as soon as the PC entered the picture, playing around with all sorts of sims was the thing to do. In mid '97 I finally went online and soon stumbled upon FlightSim.Com. Little did I know how powerfully this incident would effect me. I was instantly hooked on the ability to create virtual models. A sort of art which brought to full use my passion for aircraft, flight and modelling and coupled it with the ability to share and communicate with anthusiasts the world over. All the known limitations of AF5 just served to spice-up the challange! (Don't get me wrong, I truely adore this program.) The first repaint left my desktop a few days after first discovering FlightSim.Com - and I was both excited and terrified to find out it was actually being downloaded!
I'd like to believe I grew better since...
Choosing a new subject for a model is always hard. Some of them just jump up and grab me while others are a result of a clear headed decision. In any case, as the project draws to an end, I get into a real rush to finish and upload it. This is the only excuse for some silly bugs I missed in the past. One of my considerations is creating in all aircraft categories and not focusing on any specific one. This familiarizes me with the inherent problems of each of those and helps in keeping my interest level up (yours too, I hope!).
Furthermore, serving in the Airforce has placed a soft spot in my heart for military aircraft. Therefore, an ideal project, for me, would be an aircraft which could be made in both civil and military versions. Unfortunately, I can not find the same enthusiasm in creating aircraft panels - black Abonite and guages just don't turn me on! Finally, my involvement with aircraft creation and distribution has brought me a lot of joy and many new acquaintances. I sincerly hope to be able to provide the FS community with as many models I can make - it's really a pleasure!
Shlomo "Slo Mo" Hakim
E-Mail:
hakimltd@internet-zahav.net