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WillyCanuck

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  1. in my opinion, all bets are off with Bombardier at this point. The only truth is currently held tightly within their boardroom and it's truly difficult to understand what they intend to do over the next 10 years. The situation with the C-Series was a crushing blow for them - Boeing saw to that. They are obviously consolidating and focusing on private jets going forward but I think even the future for that is uncertain nowadays.
  2. Very simple answer for this which can be summed up in four words: Range, Speed, Cost, Familiarity As airlines attempt to consolidate to 'multi-role' airliners, the day of the turboprop is starting to fade. With the advent of the 320neo, the A220 and the MAX, the attraction to turboprops has become somewhat less appealing than it was 10-20 years ago. In my opinion, Airlines are now looking for the following advantages: Range - increase operation range across all aircraft types - the turboprops are no match for modern regional jets allowing more and expansive routes which can be served by the same airplanes that can also serve the shorter, reliable routes. Speed - relating to range, the established regional routes can be sped up using jets and offer more flights/day and shorter operation times for crew Cost/Familiarity - reduce training and cockpit variability - turboprops are vastly different in their operation and require a bank of pilots specific to those types. Airlines want to be able to move around their workforce as much as possible and Turboprops create an automatic silo that needs to be managed. In the past, the reduced burn of turboprops justified this as well as the adherence to the traditional hub-and-spoke model - but the introduction of more efficient regional aircraft and movement to point-to-point business models make the fuel benefit of turboprops redundant. Final point on this is the chance to consolidate the maintenance to jet-servicing which reduces complexity on maintenance assets quite significantly. Bottom line: the move to more flexible and efficient trans-region airliners has benefits across the board and will enable much stronger resource management with respect to personnel and equipment. A really good example of this is the A220 which can fly transatlantic from New York and land on the prohibitively short runway at London City. That same airplane can then be used between London City and Dundee (an established UK regional route) with comparable efficiency and cost ppm, using the same pilots and the same crew (or another regional crew trained on the type and ready to go) - that is a powerful and flexible capability.
  3. thanks for your time as well, Larry. I think 'just be here' fits in exactly with what i'm suggesting. I just want to make sure that our potential superstars know where 'here' is :) If they find their own way here then all the better.
  4. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Whatever the catalyst - the two do often walk hand in hand ;) Ok there's two points in that. On education- no, I'm not saying that simmers shouldn't take responsibility for their own learning - they absolutely should. But we can't jump to the conclusion that they're not committed simply because they asked a question which may seem obvious or basic. I prefer taking a deep breath and responding at face value. However, if a pattern emerges with an individual where they simply ask question after question without demonstrating any self-study, then yes - that would be a problem and they should be advised accordingly (nicely). On comms - I think it's a bit of both. There is a choice given to every generation as they rotate to the 'elder' status to decide on how they wish to engage with the younger generations. The younger generation doesn't 'elect' to communicate a certain way to be obscure - they just evolve that way. Popular culture and technology plays a huge role as well. Think over the years as to how people communicated/gathered: 50's (Milk bar, sock hop, drive in, etc), 60's telephones became more accessible and used, 70's/80's arcades/movie theatres/shopping malls... after the Internet came into play, much of this went online. Yesterday's Facebook/Twitter is today's Instragram/TikTok/Discord. Things change. Preferences Change. Am I asking you to get an Instragram account? No - but Discord does make certain sense (as an example) because it's really just a mesh of all the things we're already used to: voice channels, chat, forum-style subject areas. It's not a big deal (in my opinion) for us to adopt that whereas I don't think the younger generation would be motivated to embrace the good 'ole web forum. So we could sit back and shake our fist at those 'whipper snappers' or we could engage with them in territory they feel comfortable as young adults. I'm not asking anyone to ditch what they like - just to stretch themselves a little. That's a healthy thing ANYWAY regardless of whether it's flightsim focused or not. I do agree but then reality gets involved. We have a lot to offer but they don't necessarily know that. The younger folks will create their own communities without us (which would be a shame) and before we know it, their community will become THE community and we'll be left in the dust because we didn't take the time to get involved nor did we have any chance to influence how it was evolving. So yes, they should invest their time/effort as well but if they don't know what don't know then when will that change. SO - what I'm saying is - we continue to 'be here' and available - but we need to reach out and invite these folks in.....and I don't think it's a stretch to extend our own communities into Discord or other to stay relevant and provide that critical doorway for them to find and walk through. To be fair, (apart from Instragram) I don't they they are either. Snapchat and TikTok seem to be the flavour now not that I have any time for it either. I really think Discord (or something similar) is where we should focus and for me - it's really just an evolved combination of forums, live chat and TeamSpeak moulded into a single, slick interface. Yes although rather than 'when they come onto the forum' - i would say 'IF they come onto the forum' - my question is: what percentage of the overall group are we actually seeing? Is there missed opportunity? Do you care? All relevant questions. Two things on that: 1. It really comes down to what you are personally motivated to do and I would not presume to understand or dictate such a thing. 2. it sounds like you have a certain preconception about how such venues are used. I've seen people bare their souls on web forums as well but i don't necessarily believe that that's all you will find in web forums. As with anything, it really depends on 'where you go' and what community you land on. So why not create your own realm within the new technology - extend the existing community so that you have a chance to influence yet provide a landing spot for folks tuned to newer tech? Nope - not at all. But you know yourself that the younger folks will carry on merrily doing something else if we don't at least extend our hand. My point is: if you think sitting around waiting for them to come to you is the best strategy - be prepared for disappointment. You'll get a few heads, sure - but nothing close to what you could get. LOL! I love this statement. I laugh with respect and affection for it. 'Why' comes down to you and I can't answer that for you. Although I would say that - for me - it makes me feel younger and wiser the more I understand and relate with the younger generation. Ultimately, this does absolutely come down to personal motivation. If you see no benefit at all - not even a reason to explore the possibility of one - then you're probably not going to change....and that's fine. That's up to you. All I could ask is that you don't attempt to block others who might think differently about it. Is it simply yourself that you don't wish to change or is it everything around you (which affects other people too) which you are trying to hold back? -That's my question. This is probably the one statement I made that caused the most confusion. Based on LOONNG experience having mentored and managed many, many younger folks over the last decade, it is about the approach to teaching and mentorship I'm trying to share. Think back to high school - or possibly training. You had good teachers and bad, right? Bad teachers were easy to spot: did all the talking, didn't give a sh** what you thought and probably spent most of the time yelling at the class. Good teachers were good---why? Because they listened. They asked you questions. They got you thinking but also made you feel like you had a role to play in the process. That's what I'm trying to convey. Don't be the bad teacher. Be the good teacher. Or at least, support those who wish to be the good teacher...but absolutely never be the bad teacher. Does all this make sense? Ok - but I have a reality check to square with you. It is happening elsewhere and any woman will tell you that. My point is - make sure it doesn't happen here. If it isn't - good. Let's keep it that way. No more to say on that really. I completely respect that. Unfortunately (and apologies for not saying this in my original statement) - the misogyny I was speaking of isn't coming from the older guys (on the whole) - it's the younger guys. I don't want to get into a study group about the cause and effect of that but it's not gone by any stretch. We just need to be mindful of it and act accordingly if it's introduced (most likely) be a new member to the community. Come down hard on sh** like that and leave them sore from the whipping. That's just it - I can't. Nothing I say or do will make you decide otherwise - and that's fine. But please support us guys who DO want to make the effort and appreciate us for doing so - because ultimately - we are acting for the greater good of the entire community. Hmmm.....So I think I know now where you fit in to all of this. Think of guys like me as a 'vetting agent' where we are reaching out, shaking hands, getting to know younger folk etc. We can handle some of the basic stuff and deal with the drama. However, every now and then, we'll come across that superstar that really wants to learn and demonstrates all the qualities you'd expect before you'd spend your time helping them. So guys like me come to you and say 'Inuss, I got this young simmer here with the right attitude and a bit of talent who could use a bit of your time' - and you'd say 'great', because you'd know then that this was done on a referral...and you know that any time you'd invest would be appreciated and worthwhile. I think that's how it could possibly work going forward, and the venue would continue to be what it is now, on that basis. Best of both worlds??
  5. I've set mine to 20gb. I don't think this is a massive difference on performance but I do find that the load times reduce if i return to an airport i frequently fly from. In theory, you should save bandwidth on routes you fly all the time but I've never really checked to see if this is true.
  6. Hi there, It's a compelling idea. I do agree that flight sim pros would prefer more conventional styles of control but your idea is timely for the vast number of new simmers coming into the fold. I think that this would work well for simmers that are looking for a bit more precision than can be offered by a gamepad or keyboard. If it's priced cheaply, it should prove to be moderately popular. It has the advantage of being accessible to anyone with an existing phone which I think some people will find appealing.
  7. Hi All, For some reason, my comment isn't posting on the Op-Ed - so I thought I'd drop it here. It's really important for me to ensure everyone knows that I have no ill will towards anyone here or in the community at large. To Flapman and any others who appear to have been deeply offended by my post, may I first offer my apologies. I certainly did not expect this reaction and I absolutely did NOT intend to upset anyone. I am sorry, truly. However, I'd like to address some of the comments from Flapman in an attempt to explain my position. A couple things on this - the article was not directed at flightsim.com nor its members specifically. It certainly wasn't directed at any specific member. My statements are based on general observations across a multitude of flight simulation communities and channels. If you believe that this does not apply to members of flightsim.com, you could well be right...I haven't specifically seen that behaviour here although I haven't been back long enough to say one way or the other - so I surrender to your assessment. I believe you have completely misinterpreted my point. What I was trying to convey is simply that simmers from the younger generation have just as much to offer as they do to gain. If anything, my statement is out of respect for enthusiasts in their late teens/early twenties. It's great that you (I think) agree with that position. Unfortunately, not all do. (again this is not directed at flightsim.com but the community at large) Again, my point was simply to identify that different generations have had different experiences with the World Wide Web. Each generation tends to favour the current trend of the technology at the time of their initial exposure. Younger people don't really interact with traditional forums or Facebook pages with the same enthusiasm as older people. There are newer communication mediums which attract the younger generation who might not think to search or even consider forums. This is not to say that one generation is more deficient than another - they're simply different. To bridge the gap, we need to come together somewhere - and that effort needs to come from all sides. Again, not directed at Flightsim.com or its members BUT I will say that I have personally observed misogyny in the wider community. In the worst example, I witnessed a male user suggesting that a female pilot (who was attractive) 'have his babies'. I'm happy to say that this was dealt swiftly by the moderators of the channel - but it highlights that the issue does persist outwith Flightsim.com. Again, I apologise if you saw my editorial as harrassment. I must admit, I was quite confused and upset by that interpretation and it certainly wasn't my intent. I think you and I subscribe to the same ideals. Perhaps I have not conveyed it in a way that struck the right chords with all readers. I shall consider your comments carefully and endeavour to phrase my thoughts more carefully in future. I do appreciate your feedback but may I suggest that it would be more helpful to me if you could phrase your rebuttal a bit more constructively? I believe that you are making valid points but you have come across (to me) quite angry and vicious. Was this intended? I can look past this to pull out the wisdom of what you are saying but I would rather engage in spirited debate rather than descend into adversarial statements and personal attacks. Is that too much to ask? If I can leave you with one primary thought (to sum up my thinking) it is this: I am encouraging everyone that fits into the 'older generation' bracket to do everything they can to welcome younger members because that strengthens us overall as a community. That's it. If there's one message I would like everyone to take away - it is that and that alone. Thank you for your comments. For me, it's not about being 'right' - it's about learning. I appreciate that alternative views represented regardless of how they were phrased. Best Wishes, Willy Canuck.
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