I wonder why people are so reluctant to use file names?

I run into this quite frequently in my role as file librarian. Someone will ask for some change or other and tell me to do it to "their file" or some such vague description. Or they will tell me the FID number, which is not very useful; check our search pages and you'll see there is no way to search on FID. Or they'll give me the URL of a search result they did; again not useful since that search result only works for the person who did the search and not for anyone else.

There's such a simple solution: just tell me the file name.

I see the same sort of trouble in the forums and in file docs. Someone will say "go find so-and-so's such-and-such airplane..." which may (or may not) allow you to do a search and find it (but can you really be sure you found the right file?).

There's such a simple solution: just tell people the file name.

This works in our file library too. If you write a description for a file that requires another file, just include the file name of that file; the library software will automatically create the complete link, making it easy for people to find the correct file.

We may have some 170,000 files in our library but each and every one has a unique file name so it's quite easy to uniquely identify which file you want to refer people to. Our basic search form lets people just plug in that file name and then be sure that the file found really is the one intended.

So please: use the file name.

I truly like to think of the flightsim hobby as a community, people who work with each other to make things better, at least within the hobby itself and who are willing to help each other when necessary. Help usually means tips on tweaking FSX, inside info on an aircraft.cfg setting, ideas on new scenery or aircraft liveries, etc. but sometimes it extends into the real world. This is one of those cases.

Tony Radmilovich has been around the flightsim hobby for as long as I can remember. We have files he uploaded to the FlightSim.Com file library dating back into the 1990's. He has written for many publications and even occasionally for us:

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/conten...-In-A-King-Air

Most recently you may have read about him in one of Bill Smith's feature stories:

http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/conten...st-FS-Fanatics

Anyway, Tony has recently suffered medical and financial problems worse than anyone should have to bear and this is an opportunity to show that the flightsim community really is a community and help out. For more, view this video from one of his fellow PC Pilot writers:



Now, if you can help, finally visit Tony's site here and do what you can:

http://www.indiegogo.com/p/119134

I've been to many air shows and other aviation events over the years. Frankly, I got a bit tired of the "big" shows as they have in recent years become too commercialized...VIP seating, loud music, announcers who just won't shut up (I want to hear airplane noise!), etc. Shows in the past that were more about the planes were more fun.



So, I generally only go to smaller events, the kind of back to basics fly-ins that are held by EAA chapters and local flying clubs. My own EAA chapter held just such an event this past weekend. Oddly, it's not held at our home airport but at a grass strip some distance away that itself is a real throwback to the earlier days of aviation. We have always just called the event "Myricks" because that's the name of the field it's held on.



It's kind of funny how little effort we put into this. We basically just show up with a grill and some hamburgs and hot dogs to cook, light the fires and start serving when people get hungry. There's not a lot of advertising done either, but somehow people still know about it and show up. We usually get a motorcycle club, an antique car club or two (this year it was old Porsches) in addition to all the planes.



The planes that fly in are interesting too. Our local field is mostly run of the mill Pipers and Cessnas, though we do have more Grummans than most. But nothing homebuilt or really unusual. Myricks, though, seems to attract that sort of thing. There's always a Stearman or two, ex-mil planes like a de Havilland Chipmunk and this year for the first time an SNJ, plus various homebuilts, ultralights, helicopters and of course the Cessnas and Piper, though here it includes things like a Piper Tri-Pacer and Cessna 170.



There's no big schedule of events but planes are going up and down all day. A couple of the locals hop rides informally and those planes are really busy. The red Stearman usually puts on a little smoke show and the Chipmunk will do a pass or two. For the kids, there's a candy drop from one of the old time planes. Meanwhile the grills are cooking, cameras are snapping photos and pilots and aviation fans are chatting up a storm.



It's just simple, relaxing fun, spending a day at an old time airfield watching the planes and talking flying to like-minded enthusiasts. When it's all over, just hop in the plane and fly home--no miles of traffic jams to deal with like you see at the big shows.

Maybe it's not as exciting as watching the Blue Angels or a top aerobatic act, but still what a great way to enjoy a day of aviation.

This past weekend I actually had the chance to get away for a few days. Most people go to a resort or some such for a vacation. I went to Dayton, Ohio.

Dayton may be a bit down on its luck right now but it does have some points of interest. Amateur radio ops reading this surely know why I was there. Dayton is of course also the home of the Wright Brothers and even though Kitty Hawk was where their first flights took place it was in Dayton that they actually invented the airplane. Dayton is the home of the USAF museum and its impressive displays, but that is the subject for another article.

On the way home I ran into a friend who was taking the same route back to Logan. Interesting couple...the wife is a pilot, the husband one of those unfortunates who gets queasy in a light plane. The wife had flown to Dayton with an instructor as part of her IFR training and she and the instructor had just been dropped off to start their flight back. This is interesting, we had a race here to see who gets home first.

Since their Cessna 172 was on an IFR flight plan we could track them all the way. While waiting for our flight at KDAY we could see the C172 had just started and was a few miles east. Our flight to KLGA was on time and off we went.

The C172 would be stopping in State College, Pennsylvania to refuel both the plane and pilots. We jet travelers would have an hour on the ground in New York.

We were off from La Guardia on time and back at KBOS on time too. After grabbing our bags and heading to ground transportation to wait for the Logan Express bus it was time to check the flight of the 172. Well, what's this? It's well into Massachusetts and in fact not all that far from its destination at 6B6. It took about 15 minutes for a bus to arrive, then some 30+ minutes for the bus ride and then it would be 20 to 30 minutes to get home for the airline passenger. The GA pilots would need to tie down and drive 20 minutes home. Now while I was not actually there for the reunion at their home it looks like the GA travelers won this race! Who would have thought.

As much time as I spend with flightsimming, and also real GA flying, I rarely have the chance to fly in an airliner. The need just doesn't seem to come up much.

This week, though, I'm on a trip to Redmond, WA. Yesterday was a long day of flying, in a United Boeing 757-200 first to Denver and then to Seattle. Overall a pretty pleasant flight and favorable conditions. We got to Denver 45 minutes early so I had more time to walk around and stretch after 4 hours on the plane. In Seattle, we landed 20 minutes early but our gate was still in use so we sat on the taxiway for 20 minutes.

Not a bad travel experience but frustrating in a way for an aviation enthusiast. I did not have window seat and the person there kept shutting the shade to work on their laptop. I really wanted to see outside! I got so see some of the departure and landing but so frustrating not to be able to see more.

Of course, I really wanted to be up front, left seat. I'm used to that great view in my Piper Archer and even airliner flying with FSX and FS2004. It's really a shame there's no way to do that. At least they should build airliners with bigger side windows.

What goes around comes around...

We all know the cliche about flightsimming being "as real as can be". And surely this has become more and more true with each advance in flight simulator versions. But now it's turned around as flightsimming is coming to real aviation.

This week Garmin announced the new Aera 796 GPS unit. It's "hand held" in that it does not mount in a plane's panel though it's kind of big. But what struck me on seeing this is its latest feature, what Garmin calls "3D vision navigation technology". We flightsimmers just call it the external view.

Flightsimmers are used to being able to see their plane in flight from inside, outside and all around. Now real pilots can do this too. Imagine flying your real plane while viewing it from behind...the Garmin 796 makes this possible. Check out this picture:



So now instead of sitting at your computer pretending you are flying you can site in your airplane flying and pretend that you are flightsimming :-)

I spend seven days a week doing something relating to flightsimming...that is what it takes to keep this web site going. But I also have many other interests, the problem being finding time to devote to them. One partial solution is to try and combine activities and thus the "Three Island Tour" came about.

No surprise, I like to fly real planes and do it when I can. With limited time finding interesting destinations not too far away is something I'm always looking for. Another activity I enjoy is "geocaching" (see www.geocaching.com), an outdoor activity that is sort of a nerdy, high tech version of treasure hunting. People hide boxes like this:



and give others information on finding them. Sometimes it's as simple as navigating using your GPS to a set of lat/long coordinates, other times it can be more involved. Much like flightsimmers, geocachers can be very creative and some hides are quite extraordinary.

So, the goal was to visit caches that were within walking distance of airports that I could fly into. I'd never found a cache in New York so I thought there might be something suitable on Long Island and sure enough there was, near Montauk Point (KMTP) -- island #1. Nearby I noticed that Fishers Island also now had a cache. Fishers is almost entirely private so there's little reason to go there unless you own property, but it does have a nice little airport so I added this as another destination (0B8) -- island #2. Also nearby is Block Island, part of Rhode Island (does that make it a double island?) and there were also caches within reach of its little airport (KBID) --island #3. So plans were made and it was just a matter of finding some suitable weather, something that has been in short supply this year!

So finally on May 31 the weather cooperated and I was off. I passed over Fishers Island on the way to Montauk Point:



You can just see the little airport at the far end, with a pair of runways, 2300 and 1700 feet, and the lighthouse off the coast which I passed when coming back to land.

But Montauk Point was the first destination and was just past Fishers. I landed right over the harbor, parked and set off caching! The first cache was on the beach just a quarter mile from the airport and was hidden in what looked like a birdhouse. Here's the view from that cache site:



Nice place, Montauk! Another cache was 3/4 miles down the road on another beach and I found that one too. Good start! So back in the plane and over to Fishers. Fishers Island airport is not exactly busy...there were zero planes on the ramp as I approached but wouldn't you know, a Cessna came in right behind me. This cache was at the nearby ferry landing, hidden in a pay phone. Caches are quite often right out in the open, but unnoticed by most people. I found it quickly, enjoyed a bit more walking around and then headed back to the plane where I took this photo, looking out towards the lighthouse:



Time for island #3 so off to KBID, only 20 miiles away. Block Island is much busier, with regular small commuter planes coming in from the mainland and lots of GA traffic. Still, no problem getting in and parking.



The cache was about half a mile away but this time I struck out, having to log the dreaded DNF (did not find). Oh well, 3 out of 4 isn't too bad.

It was still only mid-afternoon though. Being a good pilot I had a "plan B" in case the islands did not work out and that was to head to Cape Cod and do some caches near Chatham (KCQX) so with plenty of time available I decided to head there too. A rail trail starts right at the airport and there are a number of caches around. I struck out again on the first one but continued on and found the next and decided to end the day there, with a successful cache in the log.

On the way back I home I flew the entire length of the Cape. What a great day to be out flying and having a reason to land at each of these little airports made it that much better.

So, that's my story of combining hobbies. I hope it will inspire others to do something similar that combines interests and activities.

I see quite a few recent blog entries by other people...not one of which is a proper use of a blog. To simply ask a question, post what you have to say within the main forums.

Just so everyone is clear, here is a good definition of "blog" from Wikipedia:

A blog (a blend of the term web log) is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (Art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

Most of my email is pretty routine stuff, but sometimes I get caught off guard. It's really kind of shocking what some people think of our beloved hobby, for example this email just received (paraphrased a bit, and atrocious grammar and spelling corrected):

I have read articles regarding web sites that are trying to turn people away from the hobby. Some of the reading is so shocking that web sites will do anything just for the money. FlightSim.Com and Avsim can't say they are not doing this, when they are.

I cannot believe when web sites say it is the peoples' choice what they upload. It's not true at, all payware means money and money turns to greed so web sites will do anything just to sell payware only.

A payware will be sold by the web site one day and by three days later the web site is flooded only with repaints from that product.

What a sad and cynical statement. I wonder where all these articles are? Here's my reply:

After operating FlightSim.Com all these years I find myself rather baffled by your comments. We certainly are not trying to "turn people away from the flight simulator hobby"...just the opposite in fact! One of my primary goals in operating the site is to serve as sort of a cheerleader for the hobby, promoting it in all its aspects.

However, I can only lead to a certain extent. Though you don't seem to believe it, it really is true that our file library is completely driven by the interests of the developer portion of the flightsim community. We do not control or limit the file library contents in any way; what you see added there each day depends entirely on what community members choose to contribute. If some of the files are add-ons (textures, etc.) for payware products that's only because that is what interests those people.

You said: "A paywear will be sold by the website one day and by three days later the website is flooded only with paywear textures from that product." Well, think about how natural that is. It's simple human nature to be interested in the latest thing, whatever that might be. When a new airplane comes out people are going to get it and repaint it, whether it's payware or freeware. While it's new there will be lots of repaints and then eventually something newer will come along and repainters will flock to that.

As for our file library, I took a look at today's submissions. There are 61 new files, of which 47 are freeware and not tied to any payware product. I think that's pretty typical. There's plenty of freeware available, if anything the most difficult challenge is choosing since no one can possibly try it all!

Instead of complaining I suggest that you just enjoy our hobby. We have an abundance of great things available to supplement the basic simulators.

One of my favorite flying destinations is the Owls Head museum, located right on the Maine seacoast in Rockland. It's a very scenic flight up there and just the right distance...too far to drive but a perfect day trip by light plane. About twice a month they have some kind of themed vehicle show and this weekend it was cars of the 50's and 60's. Plus they fly many of their old planes, when the winds permit and of course there is the museum itself.

Most of the planes they fly are from the WWI era. Many are replicas but often with authentic engines:





As much as I love airplanes, I love anything steam powered and they had some interesting examples...

A steam locomotive on treads and tires (for logging):



A steam powered bicycle (yes, I want a hot pressurized steam boiler between my legs!):



A portable steam engine for powering other equipment, lots of nice shiny brass:



The nice thing about smaller shows like this is the lack of hassle. No big crowds, no parking problems. We're parked right on the flightline:



Well OK, we're actually parked on the other side of the airport but still. Old airplanes and cars...what a great way to spend the 4th of July!

Some planes earn the accolade "great" and I think the Corsair is one of them. Not only did it have a distinguished WWII career, it was one of the rare WWII planes whose career extended beyond 1945. Corsairs were still being built as late as 1952 and some saw service into the 1960's.

This past weekend was the 70th anniversary of the Corsair's first flight. The plane was designed and built in Connecticut and the first flight was at Bridgeport airport, at which a 70th anniversary air show was held.



Along with some other nice planes, there were five flying Corsairs on hand (plus the hulk of a sixth that is the beginning of a restoration project). It's said this represents fully 1/3 of all Corsairs currently in operating condition.

The sight and sound of these great planes soaring over blue skies of Connecticut was just magnificent. I managed to capture some photos which you might enjoy viewing:

http://www.trainsim.com/n8439t/corsairs/

This is the time of year here in New England that I start thinking about outside aviation activities in addition to flightsimming. This past weekend I attended my first aviation event of the year, a little open house at one of the local airports. Even small events have their little pleasures (in addition to the hamburgs and hot dogs!) and this one offered a look at the Terrafugia Transition, the roadable light sport aircraft. I've seen the videos...it really is a car that flies (or a plane that drives). I doubt I'll get a chance to fly the real one, but maybe someone is working on a flightsim model?



Another crossover between the real world and flightsimming involves airshow performer Kelly Pietrowicz and her Pitts S2C biplane. If you see Kelly at a show this year you'll see the FlightSim.Com logo prominently placed on the aircraft fuselage. And if you want to fly her plane yourself, you can download it from the FlightSim.Com file library.

This month FlightSim.Com completes another major upgrade: single login. For some years now we've had a situation where FlightSim.Com was almost like two separate web sites, with one registration (login name/password) required for the file library and a second registration required for the message forums. We're not the only site that has this problem, but it is confusing for many people.

The problem is that the file library software and forum software are written by different people and were never meant to work together...but we've now changed that. With this upgrade completed, you will only have to login once to use the entire FlightSim.Com web site and since your login details are stored in a cookie on your own computer, as long as you retain that cookie you'll remain logged in. This should make using the site simpler for everyone.

Just be aware, though, that some people may be issued a new password as part of this process but for as many people as possible we've simply retained your current account as is.

Most people don't know what goes on behind the scenes at a big web site like this, but one of those things is software development. FlightSim.Com is run on software that we developed ourselves, from the big things like the file library to little utilities that you as a user never actually see working but that do useful things for us. (The one exception to this of course is the message forum software, which is vBulletin, a popular and widely used program).

Well, one of the big things is about to change. For some months now, the file library software has been worked on, being rewritten completely from scratch using now standard tools like php and MySQL. Release 1 is now finished and has gone live on sister site Train-Sim.Com. We opened it up there first since that site is much smaller and required fewer things be converted over. That also let us find the bugs while affecting fewer people.

There's some nice changes, the top one being that you won't have to login every time as you do now; logins will be controlled with a cookie so you won't have to worry about losing your login "key" as is so easy to do now. There's other nice things like the ability to link directly to other files from within file descriptions (i.e., if a file is a repaint and needs a base model, the link directly to the base model can be part of the description).

We'll be moving this software to FlightSim.Com shortly. Good things are coming :-)

Being involved in aviation does allow us to do some fun things. Though I was just a spectator, I did do something fun aviation related this past weekend that I thought I'd share here.

The event was called the "Race Of The Century" and was hosted by the Collings Foundation http://www.collingsfoundation.org/menu.htm at their HQ only a few minutes from where I live. Must be nice...big house, huge barn containing an amazing antique car collection, a hangar bigger than any at my local airport and a grass runway next to the scenic Assabet River. The runway was big enough to host the planes and other vehicles involved in the races.

Back some hundred years ago when cars and planes were new, and we didn't have TV and the Internet to entertain us, promoters would stage events to amuse the public and among these were "races"...car versus horse, plane versus car, that sort of thing. And that's what was recreated in Mr. Collings back yard. The races were:

1) A beautiful 1860's built stage couch with two horses against a 1904 Franklin motor car (with transversely mounted engine...guess that idea is not so new).

2) A champion racing horse team and wagon against a Stanley steamer motor car.

3) Stutz Bearcat (very fancy early sports car) versus a 1909 Bleriot Type XI (similar to the first plane to cross the English channel)

4) Stearman biplane versus 1937 sprint car



I like most any kind of vehicle and actually seeing these things run was a thrill. When was the last time you saw a 1909 aircraft actually in flight? Some of the races were actually pretty good too...the Stearman versus sprint car came right down to the line.

So all I can suggest is that in addition to flightsimming be sure to get out and take in real aviation events like this. Wherever you live there's bound to be something interesting to see.



For my complete set of photos from the event, go here:

http://www.trainsim.com/gallery/race...ury/index.html