FORGIVE ME, FOR I HAVE SIMMED
Several weeks ago, Al the Web Guy, Coco the
Pomeranian and I were planning a road trip from
Denver to San Diego. That trip got put on hold
when Al The Web Guy came down with a nasty and
potentially fatal staph infection. That's all
behind us now and we're planning to leave later
this week. We'll be gone a total of about eight
days and will have limited email availability on
the road. If you write and don't hear back right
away, that's why.
The notion of two pilots driving for two days
instead of flying for two hours might give you
pause (or, if you're Coco the Pomeranian, it
might even give you paws). We're driving because
Al The Web Guy won't subject our pooch to flying,
won't leave him behind, and this was the only
option left to us. Actually, all three of us are
looking forward to seeing some scenery up close
and personal as opposed to from 40,000 feet.
Friends of ours will move in and take care of the
bunny, the bird, the fish and the ferrets.
We're planning to stop at one of my favorite
spots in the whole world, Glenwood Hot Springs,
and then turn south through beautiful Telluride.
Our first night will be spent in Cortez, Colorado
and the second in Prescott, Arizona. We're
planning to stop briefly at the Grand Canyon and
other points of interest for just little while on
our way out west. I'll write about our trip when
we get back.
Now, on to this week's title: During my entire
30+ year career as a pilot, I never once heard,
as a topic of discussion in the cockpit or
anywhere else, about home flight simulators. I
didn't even know they existed and although many
readers have communicated with me that they are
avid flight simmers, I suspect many more readers
don't know, but would like to know, what it's all
about.
To bring new readers up to speed, a few months
ago a reader casually wrote to me that he was off
to Africa that night. Because I do receive
letters from actual airline pilots around the
world, I took it literally until he wrote the
following night to tell me he was going to India.
This just didn't add up. There wasn't adequate
crew rest between flights, the routes didn't
match any routes I knew about, and I just didn't
buy it.
So I asked this gentleman what airline he flew
for, and was embarrassed and really quite stunned
to find out he wasn't a real pilot, but a "flight
simmer." I had never even heard the term before.
I didn't know it was possible to fly from a home
flight simulator and was intrigued.
Another reader, also a flight simmer, contacted
Microsoft suggesting they might want to somehow
involve me as an intermediary between users of
their flight sims and a real-world pilot.
Microsoft responded with enthusiasm and I am now
unofficially part of the Microsoft Simulator
Team. I say "unofficially" because we are still
working out the details.
Over the weekend Al The Web Guy, Coco the
Pomeranian (Al doesn't go unless the dog goes)
and I attended the IFC (International FlightSim
Conventions) function right here in Denver. This
was the first gathering for this United
Kingdom-based organization here in the United
States and it was well-attended, mostly by men
over 50 living in a world parallel to the one
Cap'n Al and I have been living in for the last
several decades.
Many of the things I saw, and the people I met,
simply amazed me. For instance, Brett Schnepf,
one of the Microsoft Team members, introduced me
to a gentleman named Matthew who is actually
building an addition to his house (dare I say
he's adding a wing?) in order to accommodate a
full-motion B-777 simulator. During the two days
of the convention, he walked across the street
more than once to the United Airlines Flight
Training Center where he had purchased time in
the very simulators I trained in. When his own
version is finished, in the first quarter of next
year, he promises to invite me out to his San
Francisco Bay Area home to fly with him.
In the meantime, he introduced me to one of the
designers of his home simulator, from Flight Deck
Solutions, who also designed the cockpit sets for
the movie Flight 93. This company had a
custom-built B-737 NG (Next Generation) simulator
on display with a video image on the wall, and
allowed me (and other convention-goers) to give
it a try, with my new friend Matthew looking on
from the right seat.
One of the highlights of the show for me was
flying an F-4 Phantom enclosed simulator. This
isn't a home sim, of course, but an actual
simulator. I flew in the back seat while John,
another one of the Microsoft FlightSim Team, flew
in the front. John's not a pilot in real life,
but an avid and talented simmer. He did MUCH
better than I did. Throughout the convention I
kept hearing the same comments about pilots--that
unless they have experience in simulators, they
just don't do well at first. That was very true
of me as well. Even the really sophisticated $10
million variety I flew at United are more
sensitive than the real airplane, and take some
getting used to.
We took off from Las Vegas's McCarran Airport in
our F-4 and John flew right down the strip at
just a few feet off the pavement, naming the
hotels as we flew by--Caesar's Palace, The
Belagio (he even said "Hey, where are the
fountains?" but on closer inspection, there they
were spouting away), Mandalay Bay, Luxor, etc.
When we were done with that he wanted to fly to
the Grand Canyon. I know that area extremely
well and gave him a heading of 080 degrees until
we flew up over a plateau and then right down
into the canyon, where he flew along the Colorado
River well below the rim. I used to do this in
real life when I flew Canyon tours decades ago,
but not screaming along at hundreds of miles an
hour in an F-4 Phantom.
Our five minute session turned into forty-five
minutes. I got talked into flying NOE (Nap of the
Earth) out over the desert at 30 feet and over
600 knots until I finally misjudged and we
crashed into a small hill, exploding into a
fireball. The whole thing was being videoed and
watched by a large crowd in the lobby, and we
could see ourselves on screens in the cockpit. A
copy is being provided to both of us. I'd like
to thank the guys
at www.F-4Phantom.com for the experience and it
was my first chance and privilege to share a
cockpit with one of the Microsoft Flightsim Team
guys. Although we didn't get charged as fellow
exhibitors, it was only $10 for anyone to fly and
get a souvenir video. If you ever get the chance
to fly it, I highly recommend it.
We ended with several attempts at a carrier
landing. John did an amazing job of getting
close, although it would take lots of practice
runs to get it down. I took one shot at it and
didn't make it but wound up going around.
Microsoft itself has never been a big player in
the flight simmer community, but that is changing
right now. Their website is undergoing a
complete facelift and the current plan is that my
site will become part of their site in some
fashion. I'll start providing content and
provide a resource for flight simmers who want
input from an actual pilot. I'm hoping to become
a liason of sorts between simmers and me, an
airline pilot. Al The Web Guy will continue to
be involved, as always.
Many readers have written to me over the last few
years about living vicariously through my flying
experiences, and that they wish they could see
the cockpit view on landing and takeoff. These
home flight sims have visual images so realistic
it's a little scary, but quite wonderful. You
can fly around whole world right from home if you
want, and many simmers do just that. Many people
want to fly but can't afford to, or are past the
age where it makes sense, or have some illness
preventing them from flying, etc. These systems
are an incredible way to jump right in and
experience many of the things real pilots
experience.
In the coming months, I'll be introducing some of
the fantastic add-ons to the Microsoft Flight
Sims. Cap'n Al and I want to try at least some
of them ourselves and evaluate them so we can
render our personal opinions, for whatever
they're worth. Even since the convention ended,
I've had an offer from one of the presenters
there, Ariane, to try out their software so I can
give them and others feedback on it. They're
sending me their B-737-800 software to try out.
Before the convention, five of the Microsoft
FlightSim Team guys were supposed to come to
dinner. Two didn't make it, but three did--John,
Mike Lambert and Mike Singer. Al The Web Guy and
Chief Chef made his famous BBQ ribs, salmon made
on the grill, corn on the cob, broccoli, mashed
potatoes, cornbread and crusty French bread,
salad and for dessert, his cheesecake with cherry
topping and some watermelon. I'm still full and
that was last Thursday. He's also planning to do
all the cooking while we're in San Diego visiting
my parents, both in their eighties.
Do NOT miss the Microsoft Flight Team Album in my
Photo Gallery. Some of the photos were taken by
Brett Schnepf of the Microsoft Flight Sim Team,
and the rest were taken by me. We have photos of
some of the different simulators, seminar
presentations, the dinner on Saturday night, the
F-4 Phantom simulator, a few of the simmers we
met, all the Microsoft Team Guys who were there
(five of them) and even Coco the Pomeranian and
Al The Web Guy enjoying the convention together.
Find the Microsoft FlightSim Team Album at
www.fromthecockpit.com/Gallery or just click
here:
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=30
And with that,
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap'n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm(keynote speaker)
Pomeranian and I were planning a road trip from
Denver to San Diego. That trip got put on hold
when Al The Web Guy came down with a nasty and
potentially fatal staph infection. That's all
behind us now and we're planning to leave later
this week. We'll be gone a total of about eight
days and will have limited email availability on
the road. If you write and don't hear back right
away, that's why.
The notion of two pilots driving for two days
instead of flying for two hours might give you
pause (or, if you're Coco the Pomeranian, it
might even give you paws). We're driving because
Al The Web Guy won't subject our pooch to flying,
won't leave him behind, and this was the only
option left to us. Actually, all three of us are
looking forward to seeing some scenery up close
and personal as opposed to from 40,000 feet.
Friends of ours will move in and take care of the
bunny, the bird, the fish and the ferrets.
We're planning to stop at one of my favorite
spots in the whole world, Glenwood Hot Springs,
and then turn south through beautiful Telluride.
Our first night will be spent in Cortez, Colorado
and the second in Prescott, Arizona. We're
planning to stop briefly at the Grand Canyon and
other points of interest for just little while on
our way out west. I'll write about our trip when
we get back.
Now, on to this week's title: During my entire
30+ year career as a pilot, I never once heard,
as a topic of discussion in the cockpit or
anywhere else, about home flight simulators. I
didn't even know they existed and although many
readers have communicated with me that they are
avid flight simmers, I suspect many more readers
don't know, but would like to know, what it's all
about.
To bring new readers up to speed, a few months
ago a reader casually wrote to me that he was off
to Africa that night. Because I do receive
letters from actual airline pilots around the
world, I took it literally until he wrote the
following night to tell me he was going to India.
This just didn't add up. There wasn't adequate
crew rest between flights, the routes didn't
match any routes I knew about, and I just didn't
buy it.
So I asked this gentleman what airline he flew
for, and was embarrassed and really quite stunned
to find out he wasn't a real pilot, but a "flight
simmer." I had never even heard the term before.
I didn't know it was possible to fly from a home
flight simulator and was intrigued.
Another reader, also a flight simmer, contacted
Microsoft suggesting they might want to somehow
involve me as an intermediary between users of
their flight sims and a real-world pilot.
Microsoft responded with enthusiasm and I am now
unofficially part of the Microsoft Simulator
Team. I say "unofficially" because we are still
working out the details.
Over the weekend Al The Web Guy, Coco the
Pomeranian (Al doesn't go unless the dog goes)
and I attended the IFC (International FlightSim
Conventions) function right here in Denver. This
was the first gathering for this United
Kingdom-based organization here in the United
States and it was well-attended, mostly by men
over 50 living in a world parallel to the one
Cap'n Al and I have been living in for the last
several decades.
Many of the things I saw, and the people I met,
simply amazed me. For instance, Brett Schnepf,
one of the Microsoft Team members, introduced me
to a gentleman named Matthew who is actually
building an addition to his house (dare I say
he's adding a wing?) in order to accommodate a
full-motion B-777 simulator. During the two days
of the convention, he walked across the street
more than once to the United Airlines Flight
Training Center where he had purchased time in
the very simulators I trained in. When his own
version is finished, in the first quarter of next
year, he promises to invite me out to his San
Francisco Bay Area home to fly with him.
In the meantime, he introduced me to one of the
designers of his home simulator, from Flight Deck
Solutions, who also designed the cockpit sets for
the movie Flight 93. This company had a
custom-built B-737 NG (Next Generation) simulator
on display with a video image on the wall, and
allowed me (and other convention-goers) to give
it a try, with my new friend Matthew looking on
from the right seat.
One of the highlights of the show for me was
flying an F-4 Phantom enclosed simulator. This
isn't a home sim, of course, but an actual
simulator. I flew in the back seat while John,
another one of the Microsoft FlightSim Team, flew
in the front. John's not a pilot in real life,
but an avid and talented simmer. He did MUCH
better than I did. Throughout the convention I
kept hearing the same comments about pilots--that
unless they have experience in simulators, they
just don't do well at first. That was very true
of me as well. Even the really sophisticated $10
million variety I flew at United are more
sensitive than the real airplane, and take some
getting used to.
We took off from Las Vegas's McCarran Airport in
our F-4 and John flew right down the strip at
just a few feet off the pavement, naming the
hotels as we flew by--Caesar's Palace, The
Belagio (he even said "Hey, where are the
fountains?" but on closer inspection, there they
were spouting away), Mandalay Bay, Luxor, etc.
When we were done with that he wanted to fly to
the Grand Canyon. I know that area extremely
well and gave him a heading of 080 degrees until
we flew up over a plateau and then right down
into the canyon, where he flew along the Colorado
River well below the rim. I used to do this in
real life when I flew Canyon tours decades ago,
but not screaming along at hundreds of miles an
hour in an F-4 Phantom.
Our five minute session turned into forty-five
minutes. I got talked into flying NOE (Nap of the
Earth) out over the desert at 30 feet and over
600 knots until I finally misjudged and we
crashed into a small hill, exploding into a
fireball. The whole thing was being videoed and
watched by a large crowd in the lobby, and we
could see ourselves on screens in the cockpit. A
copy is being provided to both of us. I'd like
to thank the guys
at www.F-4Phantom.com for the experience and it
was my first chance and privilege to share a
cockpit with one of the Microsoft Flightsim Team
guys. Although we didn't get charged as fellow
exhibitors, it was only $10 for anyone to fly and
get a souvenir video. If you ever get the chance
to fly it, I highly recommend it.
We ended with several attempts at a carrier
landing. John did an amazing job of getting
close, although it would take lots of practice
runs to get it down. I took one shot at it and
didn't make it but wound up going around.
Microsoft itself has never been a big player in
the flight simmer community, but that is changing
right now. Their website is undergoing a
complete facelift and the current plan is that my
site will become part of their site in some
fashion. I'll start providing content and
provide a resource for flight simmers who want
input from an actual pilot. I'm hoping to become
a liason of sorts between simmers and me, an
airline pilot. Al The Web Guy will continue to
be involved, as always.
Many readers have written to me over the last few
years about living vicariously through my flying
experiences, and that they wish they could see
the cockpit view on landing and takeoff. These
home flight sims have visual images so realistic
it's a little scary, but quite wonderful. You
can fly around whole world right from home if you
want, and many simmers do just that. Many people
want to fly but can't afford to, or are past the
age where it makes sense, or have some illness
preventing them from flying, etc. These systems
are an incredible way to jump right in and
experience many of the things real pilots
experience.
In the coming months, I'll be introducing some of
the fantastic add-ons to the Microsoft Flight
Sims. Cap'n Al and I want to try at least some
of them ourselves and evaluate them so we can
render our personal opinions, for whatever
they're worth. Even since the convention ended,
I've had an offer from one of the presenters
there, Ariane, to try out their software so I can
give them and others feedback on it. They're
sending me their B-737-800 software to try out.
Before the convention, five of the Microsoft
FlightSim Team guys were supposed to come to
dinner. Two didn't make it, but three did--John,
Mike Lambert and Mike Singer. Al The Web Guy and
Chief Chef made his famous BBQ ribs, salmon made
on the grill, corn on the cob, broccoli, mashed
potatoes, cornbread and crusty French bread,
salad and for dessert, his cheesecake with cherry
topping and some watermelon. I'm still full and
that was last Thursday. He's also planning to do
all the cooking while we're in San Diego visiting
my parents, both in their eighties.
Do NOT miss the Microsoft Flight Team Album in my
Photo Gallery. Some of the photos were taken by
Brett Schnepf of the Microsoft Flight Sim Team,
and the rest were taken by me. We have photos of
some of the different simulators, seminar
presentations, the dinner on Saturday night, the
F-4 Phantom simulator, a few of the simmers we
met, all the Microsoft Team Guys who were there
(five of them) and even Coco the Pomeranian and
Al The Web Guy enjoying the convention together.
Find the Microsoft FlightSim Team Album at
www.fromthecockpit.com/Gallery or just click
here:
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=30
And with that,
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap'n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm(keynote speaker)
1 Comments:
Glad to see that you are "unofficially" with the Microsoft team.
I bought my first flight sim in 1987 and haven't looked back yet. In 1998 I started taking real flying lessons and on my second lesson the CFI asked me to make the approach and I had that cessna lined up perfectly with the runway. The CFI mentioned that he liked the approach and I told him that this was due to the hundreds of hours spent with Microsoft's flight sim. His response to this was a small grunt and I never mentioned this again.
I would never kid myself that I would be able to handle a plane based purely on my time with using the flight sim but as with any flight school's approach nowadays, it can be a great addition in learning how to fly.
You'll find as you continue with this relationship that there is a huge community dedicated to this "hobby". Even virtual airlines that have "real world" schedules that their sim pilots can fly.
In fact, "online" flying is available through places like Vatsim that allow for you to speak "live" to virtual ATC while flying in the comfort of your home (I understand that real world controllers take part in this as well). This can be very serious business and real world guidelines are strictly adhered to (as much as possible in a virtual world).
I am looking forward to seeing your contributions (no pressure there) and based on seeing your previous articles, etc. I'm sure you'll be a great addition to their team and a benefit to our simming community overall.
Good Luck!
Post a Comment
<< Home