Daily announcements on the Home page...

[Paul J 349]

I appreciate that the folks working on these web pages do so on a voluntary basis, and I certainly acknowledge that Avsim is the best-run, and number one website serving our hobby, so I would ask -please - do not take offense to my small not-very-public criticism..., but ..........."The Avsim stores carries a nice selection of titles from Flight1 including ATR72-500, Ultimate Terrain X, Hunter Hawker as well as the brand new Fokker 70/100 and Super Pro 80. These new titles feature an advanced simulation of the cockpit functions and will give you the best airliner experience possible with Microsoft Flight Simulator. The Avsim also recently added the FS2crew products. The Avsim store also has many FS2004 titles on sale."...........It isn`t what I would expect from the number one website: it reads badly: the grammar is poor; sentence structure is not Avsim`s normally exquisite English. I would not expect an aviation site to make mistakes such as naming a Hawker "Hunter" - as a Hunter Hawker; another is the "Super Pro 80"; and these are not new titles, and none - including Ultimate Terrain X, features "an advanced simulation of the cockpit functions" - although I`m not really sure what this means. Please, please - have someone proof-read the page before it gets published.I hope I have not given offense here: I have only the best of intentions. Regards, Paul Johnson, Ontario, Canada

[Chock 17,769]

Even though I do write stuff for Avsim, this is in no way any sort of 'official' response by the way, I just thought it was worth commenting on...I don't know the exact procedure for the production of the main page - since in my case I only submit reviews, and then the editing is out of my hands - but I suspect this is a case of someone writing in what may not be their native language; it certainly comes across as something like that to me. But to be honest, grammatical stuff-ups are fairly rare on what is a page that is very often updated, so for me at least it is entirely forgivable when the odd mistake creeps in.Some reviews have that sort of thing crop up in them too on occasion, and although I'm something of a stickler for grammar myself in my work, I'm usually pretty forgiving of that sort of thing too when it comes to Avsim. Bearing in mind the international nature of some of the contributors, if the gist of what is being said is reasonably understandable, which it invariably is, then I can live with it.The instance you quote is a bit grammatically grim to be sure, but to be fair, since those titles have recently been added to the Avsim Store, they are 'new' in that sense at least, although you are certainly correct in saying that some of it doesn't read particularly well and there are one or two inaccuracies in there. I am for example, intrigued by the possibility of a Hawker Hunter being able to provide an airliner experience.If I am correct in thinking it was 'a language thing', then I always like to temper judgements on that sort of thing with the thought that if I had to write some copy in a language not my own, it would probably make the quoted example read like Shakespeare in comparison!Al

[Paul J 349]

Thanks for the reply, Al: "but I suspect this is a case of someone writing in what may not be their native language;"Absolutely: that's what I think, too. My wife and I owned and ran a hobby store for twenty-odd years (sold last year) - and r/c aircraft was our "thing", and this phrase "and will give you the best airliner experience possible " struck a chord because a similar phrase was on the box front of one of the imported trainers we used to sell. It went something like this: "You will enjoy the good flying experience of this model whatever its condition". It evoked much merriment at the time, but it didn't help the image - or the sales - that the company wanted to convey!Cheers,pj

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Thanks for the reply, Al: "but I suspect this is a case of someone writing in what may not be their native language;"Absolutely: that's what I think, too. My wife and I owned and ran a hobby store for twenty-odd years (sold last year) - and r/c aircraft was our "thing", and this phrase "and will give you the best airliner experience possible " struck a chord because a similar phrase was on the box front of one of the imported trainers we used to sell. It went something like this: "You will enjoy the good flying experience of this model whatever its condition". It evoked much merriment at the time, but it didn't help the image - or the sales - that the company wanted to convey!Cheers,pj

This is indeed an EASL (English as a second language) issue. We have put in place an additional editing step in this case, to take care of future problems like this.

[Paul J 349]

Thanks for taking the time, Tom; you've got a good ship here, with every day bringing something new and compelling!Regards,pj