Do you look up at every passing airplane? That's the true test -- unable NOT to look.

:( :( I couldn't agree more, I even run to the window to get a glimpse if the aircraft is flying low over my appartement!I have a friend who's balcony has a view over the final approach to the runways 36R and 06 for LTBA and 06 for LTFJ, I don't let go of the binoculars when I'm there.I always loved airplanes as a kid but I got truly addicted to aviation and FS in the early 2000s in Toulouse during my stay for university education. I loved spotting the green fuselaged Airbuses on test runs.

My dad brought home a bunch of computer games from his office one summer day in 1998. I pulled one out, installed it, played it, got interested. It was Flight Simulator 98.

Do you look up at every passing airplane? That's the true test -- unable NOT to look.

Yeah, I can't help it, either. This one time, I was walking with this girl, and I tried to avoid looking up when I heard a plane flying over my head. Unfortunately, knowing me a bit too well, she went ahead and said, "There's an airplane." Naturally, I looked up. "Continental Airlines. Boeing 757-200."And I was trying to avoid looking up because I hadn't seen her in a while, so I wasn't planning to waste two seconds looking up at a Boeing 757-200 that was flying over our heads.

... [i wasted] two seconds looking up at a Boeing 757-200 that was flying over our heads.

I was out walking with my wife the other day. We heard a turbine sound rapidly reducing in pitch. "What was that?" she asked, startled. I glanced up and sure enough, I saw a 757 transitioning from the new northbound arrival (I don't know it's name) to approach into KDEN ..."Simple" I said to her ...KDEN APP: "United 385, reduce speed immediately to one-eight-zero knots." UAL 385: "Ah ... Okay, slow 'er down to one eighty, United three eighty five."I think she understood but I'm not entirely sure.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"Hey Grandpa, what kind of plane is that?" asked Quentin, pointing at the aircraft I was watching outbound from KDEN, climbing through about 7,000 AGL, headed for the BJC VOR and then on to EKR."It's a 737-800" I said to him. "Can you see the little winglets?"xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxMPM: "So, Wil [my son, the noted science fiction author Wil McCarthy]. How was Hawaii?"WTM: "It was great."MPM "What kind of aircraft did you fly outbound, and what kind coming back?"WTM: "I haven't a clue."MPM: "Well, what did they look like at the gates?"WTM: "I have no idea."MPM: "Well, what did they look like on the inside?"WTM: "Geez Dad, I don't know. They were airplanes, okay?"xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxIt's like the difference between sailors and landlubbers, isn't it? :)

Do you look up at every passing airplane? That's the true test -- unable NOT to look.

Sure do! Doesn't matter whether I'm near CYVR and a Dash-8 or a 747-400 is just taking off or near CZBB and a 172 passes over the highway, or at home on my porch (near CSK8) and an ultralight lazily buzzes by.My wife has also gotten used to hearing, "Nice day for flying," in almost all these occasions, too.

Sure do! Doesn't matter whether I'm near CYVR and a Dash-8 or a 747-400 is just taking off or near CZBB and a 172 passes over the highway, or at home on my porch (near CSK8) and an ultralight lazily buzzes by.My wife has also gotten used to hearing, "Nice day for flying," in almost all these occasions, too.

Joel- I know where CYNJ & CZBB are, but pray tell me where CSK8 is located?Alex Reid near CYYJ

I remember how I started Simming.When I was 7 years old, my nan bought me a simple simulator called 'A-10 Cuba' out of the blue, from a car-boot sale. I remember the graphics were terrible, because I was about 8 years old and the game came out in 1995. It was 1998/1999 when I played it. I got a bit addicted. I loved all the instruments and little details, teh realism. It was amazing. After talking to a friend about it in late 2007, me and him managed to find it on the internet, and got playing it. The nostalgia was lovely. It was exactly how I'd remembered it. I didn't care for shooting anyone down, I just loved flying around. My friend suggested we started on a proper Flight Simulator, and bought 'Flight Unlimited 3', which I still have. This game got me hooked on the proper realism, and the difficulty!!! I wanted to master it, and get good. Soon after, I bought FS2002, as I thought Microsoft had the pinnacle flight simulator. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the 747. I remember being incredbly excited, and overwhelmed by the 'complexity' of the default airliners.After lots and lots of practise, teaching myself, I gradually learnt how to take-off, navigate and land.I got FS2004 in Janurary 2008 and have never been happier expanding it with all my favourate aircraft. it was the add-ons which taught me which planes were which, seeing the subtle differences between them. I wanted them all.Over time I learnt proper procedures, VOR Navigation, ILS approaches and the like.Payware was like porn for me, aswell. Seeing the quality of the payware add-ons compared to their freeware counterparts was amazing.I've been simming for almost 3 years now and I can say I'm no less than addicted.My girlfriend hates it!!!

Joel- I know where CYNJ & CZBB are, but pray tell me where CSK8 is located?

CSK8 is the King George Airpark, just near Colebrook Road, south of Highway 10, on the west side of King George Highway. In Google Maps, enter CSK8 in the search field, and you should see immediately where it is.

CSK8 is the King George Airpark, just near Colebrook Road, south of Highway 10, on the west side of King George Highway. In Google Maps, enter CSK8 in the search field, and you should see immediately where it is.

Joel- Aha, no wonder I was puzzled. Those of us living on Vancouver Island tend to forget there is anything east of us- apart from saltchuck and whales!<grin>Cheers Alex Reid

The year was 2000,My landloard had Warbirds on his computer. I found a computer pilot magazine at the news stand,And is was off and running with Microsoft flightsim 2000. But I remember a relative having a stick framed version of MSFS with KORD as the airport. I cant remember the version,But you had to use the keyboard. I have been in aviation since 1976,as an aircraft mechanic,Up until 2008 when I went to subway trains.

I started simming in 1981 with final flight on a commodore 64. Spent months programming an artificial horizon in machine language and then found fs1 which was way ahead of my meager doings although 1 fps which didn't matter at the time. Spent the next years flying everything available on a computer-wife bought me real flying lessons in 1989 as a present-something she has probably regretted ever since.....All I can say is we are way lucky to have what we have now in simming...

All I can say is we are way lucky to have what we have now in simming...

Amen, brother Geofa. Amen.

Time for a bit of a history of my flight simming in general I guess...It all started in 1998, I was 8 at the time, and I was getting a joystick, a Sidewinder Precision Pro, the same one I use to this day, to play an old game called Cadalacs and Dinosaurs... I saw a copy of FS98 on the shelf and I asked dad, he said I had a choice between a normal joystick without FFB and getting a copy of FS98 or getting a FFB joystick alone... guess my decision. After I got FS98 working I got hooked. For over 3 years I was constantly using FS98. sometime during the period between my getting FS98 and my getting my next copy of MSFS, FS02, I grabbed a copy of Falcon 4.0 used at a game store. IIRC it was around 2000 or 2001 that I bought that. That is about when I got hooked on combat flight sims. After that I picked up various flight simulators, Fly! 2, FS02, X-Plane 7, Janes F/A-18, Jane's USAF, Gunship!, Mig Alley, Lock On Flaming Cliffs, and others. During which time though, I was jumping around between normal games, consoles, and flight sims. Eventually I picked up a copy of MS FSX, Followed by IL-2 1946, and then X-Plane 9. A short while after I turned 18, I saw a news post on AVSIM about some staff reviewer job openings, and here I am. Now my main flight sim focuses are FSX, DCS Black Shark, and X-Plane 9. During my time, I have always played a variety of stuff, not just flight sims, If a new game came out, and it was interesting to me, I most likely got it. I don't only use sims, and I have plenty of stuff to blow off steam with, however my main focus remains simulations.

Started in 1985 with the Commodoer 64 (Sublogic FSII). I had been eyeing the box in the store for some time, while buy cartriges for my Collecovision (remember that?). At the time , I think the C64 was $500 with the floppy drive. I saved up for it, took it home and was hooked ever since. Picked up the Star scenery they came out with later. A few years later picked up an 8088 PC and started off with that. Had every Flight sim since.Rob

It was the hot, lusty summer of 2007...I caressed her gently-curving face in both my hands, lovingly admiring her soft, blue eyes and ruby-red lips, and her demure smile sent a chill down my spine as we lovingly, passionately embraced, our hearts in total unison, lips engaged, swaying gently, in maddening love as we violently and suddenly...Oh, wait, this is about our passion with Flight Simulator. Never mind the previous statement.Okay, same summer. A large sum of money came in and it was decided I should treat myself to one vice...Flight Simulator be thy name. Don't know why I started with FS2002, but I did...that and a $20 Wal*Mart Saitek stick As the poor Cessna 172 and I careened across the virtual sky, leaving skid marks and craters on various runways, the stick situation began to seem a bit crocky and I decided to look into a yoke/throttle setup and rudder pedals. Doing my homework like a good boy, the Saitek setup got the nod. Soon I was careening across the sky and leaving craters in the earth...from phantom button-presses resulting in engine-outs (The phantom button-press matter was remedied by uninstalling the yoke's CD-ROM 'yoke profiling' software). Soon, it was apparent that FS2002 was sucking due to a lack of support compared to FS2004, and FS2004 was in the mailbox within a week.Over time, takeoffs and landings were starting to suck a lot less. I then got FSX, installed it...and promptly uninstalled it. Too much for this PC. Back to FS2004. Over time, as the techniques became progressively better and smoother, it was off for cross-country flights, self-tutoring in IFR, you name it. It was getting good...the virtual hangar became more loaded and scenery packages began to adorn the experience. Over time I decided that stock airports sucked due to their horrid, general inaccuracy, and someone introduced me to Lee Swordy's AFCAD 2.21...and the experience became exponential. To quote a FS luminary, I became a monster. Google Earth became my second tool of choice along with AFCAD to hyperaccuracise these sad, hastily-laid-out default airports.Then a couple kind souls became a part of my experience: Holger Sandmann and David "Opa" Marshall, the latter of whom taught me all I know about AFCAD and AI traffic. I was getting less sunlight: my skin turned sallow like a returning U-boat sailor and my parents didn't hear from me for weeks. My toenails got to 3 inches in length at one point (Just kidding...). Within weeks, I had well over 100 airports hyperaccuracised, including markings, correct-width taxiways, exactingly-placed VASI and ILS systems, you name it. Now I'm enrolled as a Lifetime Member in a Flight Simulator Anonymous 12-step support group, gulping lukewarm coffee, stale cookies and coping by anxiously thumbing the buttons to a 1980s-era handheld Mattell Pro Football game....I lay there, sweating like an August hog, with my beautiful object of lust. Puffing a cigarette to calm myself, I uttered "Was it good for you, too?" And that was after a successful ILS landing on KDCA's Runway 19 in a 757! :(P.S.--I keep seeing Peter Clemenko here and he keeps reminding me of Peter Clemenza in "The Godfather". I just don't wanna cross this guy, him being a staffer and all, lest I hear something like "Leave the ban-gun, take the cannoli" or something. :(

Started with early pc sims like Jet, FS2, Falcon back in '85 was it? I remember loading these games on a brand new 4.77mhz turbo beast with a 10MB hard drive. The graphics and technology left alot to the imagination but this was awesome stuff and probably how I got addicted to flight. Shortly after I started flying lessons although I couldn't go all the way (was only 12 years young).Spent considerable time simming in FS3, most of it flying hops between Meigs and O'hare in the 172 trying to perfect my landings. Ever since then I've simmed in just about everything released on the PC and flown as much as possible IRL getting all the ratings I could short of ATP. Started making add-ons for Fly! and got my feet wet with commercial products with PMDG back in '98 or so. Started focusing on MSFS add-ons founding HiFi and doing Active Sky in 2002. It's amazing how far flight simming has come and it seems like a new chapter is just on the horizon.Here's looking forward! :(