Telling stories about flight sim, on the other hand, is tricky. There isn't really anything other than geek pride at stake during a flight. I'd rather talk about flight simulation as a community rather than as an activity. That seems to interest pilots I know more than the time I enabled unlimited fuel because I pooched my fuel calculation.

I completely understand your point there. I'm not a real world pilot, and I'm loathe to talk about my flight sim experiences with any for fear of a condescending impression of "Ah, how cute. A child and his toys." Only someone in my position-- that is, a FS enthusiast with no real world piloting skills-- could grok my excitement of successfully shooting a tricky approach, or setting a chopper down squarely on a postage stamp. I think part of this is the distinct lack of real world danger. You admire the pilots who fly in and out of places like Lukla or Saba because if they screw up, fatalities happen. That same admiration doesn't really translate as effectively from a real pilot to a sim pilot, since we're talking about a scenerio with a built in reset button. Im going to catch some flak for this, I'm sure, but I'm a PC gamer, and I enjoy immersive gaming experiences. This goes as much for Flight Simulator as it does for a RPG or shooter, or any other game/sim I play. The more I can suspend my disbelief, the better, and when everything pops in just the right way, it's a joy to experience. It the kind of experience I can't help but want to share with others, which is part of the reason why I started this thread. Jon/KSEA

Real world airline pilots looking down on flight sim captains seems to me a real shame. Like as in any profession (except AVSIM Staff), you get your good folks and your not-so-good folks. Personally, I've never had anything but respect and goodwill from airline pilots I have talked to about FS in person. I've had a few unfriendly notes from pilots I know only as e-mail addresses, but in person, all of the pilots I have met have been gracious. Bryan York sets the highest standard for current pilots who are excited about FS, as far as I am concerned, and Tom Allensworth is simply an amazing person to meet. Many of the pilots I have met were passengers on flights with me. One spent most of the flight explaining not only the utility of checklists, but how to maintain a certain cadence so that you don't get bored with the routine or overloaded into missing steps. Another was reading "Fate Is The Hunter", and we spent the flight talking about that book. I talk about AVSIM and writing Reviews, but I doubt that I can stay on that topic for more than half a minute before the eyes of all but the very geekiest fanatics glaze over. Pilots never have difficulty telling stories about flight, and in researching my Reviews, I enjoy hearing about them. Telling stories about flight sim, on the other hand, is tricky. There isn't really anything other than geek pride at stake during a flight. I'd rather talk about flight simulation as a community rather than as an activity. That seems to interest pilots I know more than the time I enabled unlimited fuel because I pooched my fuel calculation. Jeff ShylukSenior Staff ReviewerAVSIM

Agreed, usually people watch themselves, but not always, we all have our moments, but usually RL pilots are respectful to those of us who use a computer for our flying.

A couple of years ago before a trip, I prepared a little folio of FS screen shots showing PMDG 737s at work in West Jet colours. In flight a few days later, I caught the attention of an attendant and explained that I was going to visit my sister for her 80th birthday. Noting that I was a loyal WestJet customer & Flight Simmer, I asked if it would be possible to get crew autographs on the folio I showed her. An hour later she returned with all autographs and kind words from the entire flight crew. Thanks West Jet!!Alex Reid

I'm almost up there with you guys :(. My longest flight was KJFK to EGLL in a 747 which was about 7 hours, but I wasn't able to fly the whole thing cause I got up constantly, went outside, etc, but for the time I was there it was absolutely beautiful. I can't remember what season it was, maybe summer, but it was around the time when the north pole barely gets any night time. I flew over Newfoundland then got to Greenland and there was a beautiful, just the most amazing sunset I have ever seen in FSX, and it took a VERY long time for the sun to go down, almost completely. I don't remember if I changed the time or what, but I remember that the sun started rising again and it never got to night time on that flight, and I was amazed at the reality. On holiday break, I plan to do a real one, I mean sitting at the PC for the whole enchilada so I get the full experience, and hopefully it will be even better! Hopefully one day when I'm in a real plane, I can meet a real world pilot and hear how it is to really fly! I think the best thing to do on a flight with a captain, instead of saying FS, is showing your knowledge about aviation, what aviation magazines, manuals, books, etc you read, and then say you play FS :(, then he/she knows your not someone that likes to fly F18s and ask for escorts and you like to put some realism into your flying (and fun of course!)

I'm almost up there with you guys :(. My longest flight was KJFK to EGLL in a 747 which was about 7 hours, but I wasn't able to fly the whole thing cause I got up constantly, went outside, etc, but for the time I was there it was absolutely beautiful. I can't remember what season it was, maybe summer, but it was around the time when the north pole barely gets any night time. I flew over Newfoundland then got to Greenland and there was a beautiful, just the most amazing sunset I have ever seen in FSX, and it took a VERY long time for the sun to go down, almost completely. I don't remember if I changed the time or what, but I remember that the sun started rising again and it never got to night time on that flight, and I was amazed at the reality. On holiday break, I plan to do a real one, I mean sitting at the PC for the whole enchilada so I get the full experience, and hopefully it will be even better! Hopefully one day when I'm in a real plane, I can meet a real world pilot and hear how it is to really fly! I think the best thing to do on a flight with a captain, instead of saying FS, is showing your knowledge about aviation, what aviation magazines, manuals, books, etc you read, and then say you play FS :(, then he/she knows your not someone that likes to fly F18s and ask for escorts and you like to put some realism into your flying (and fun of course!)

Just remember, if you're going to go for realism, you can't alt-tab out and surf the 'net during those long stretches of less than eye candy scenery. ;) I could never do a long-haul in real time without either setting the AP and doing yardwork, sleeping, or watching a movie, etc., because my love of aviation doesn't supercede my fear of Deep Vein Thrombosis from sitting at the desk that long. ;). Now, if I was doing it for $200,000 a year, I'd say to heck with it and invest in a G-suit. When I do airline flights, the maximum I've done while sitting at the computer was about 3 hours, but even then I was alt-tabbing out to surf the net and I even watched a show or two on Hulu.I've been thinking of trying out a RTW flight, but I'm just not sure how I'd do it. Would I go for speed at 40,000 feet and get it done in 48 hours just to say I did it, or would I go slow and low and take FOR-EV-ER? This caused me to think further about why I'd want to do it. I've been simming since FS4 and have had the whole world available to fly, more or less, since FS98, but I rarely go out of my comfort zones. Not sure if anyone else is like this, but there's maybe 20 or 30 different routes I ever fly. Ever. Sure, it's fun, and I mix it up with different aircraft and/or weather, but there's a whole lot in the sim that I've never seen. I've been giving some thought to an "around the western hemisphere" flight starting from the Seattle area, working my way down the west coast of both North and South America, rounding the Straits of Magellan, and back up the east side before cutting across the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, and back down to Seattle. This is something I can do in bite sized chunks that would take me to a nice variety of landscapes. Heck, I might even look into that photorealistic Chile that dominates the FSX scenery section of the file library. ;)Jon/KSEA

My flight sim geekiness comes out every Feb. as Team AVSIM participates in the Flight Sim Round-The-World Race. There are some of us that schedule time off of work to participate in this non-stop relay race around the globe, mostly in piston power aircraft, in flights that are less than 2 hours / 600 miles. The route always changes every year as the race committee comes up with different challenges and requirements that have to be met. It usually takes 4 or 5 days of non-stop flying.It is great fun and very exciting to compete against other Flight sim websites. FS RTW Race Site

I know exactly what you mean.I remember I used to think the Westland Lynx helicopter was the ugliest pile of rubbish I'd ever seen.Then I got the opportunity to sit on one... All of a sudden I loved them! As soon as I got home that day, I grabbed the best quality add-on I could find of the wirly-bird, and simulated it's flight to the college where it landed that day, haha.I'm always at it. If I see something that takes my fancy - I'll re-create it.That's the joy of Flight simulation!!!

when you start coding a combat flight sim, then you may reach my level of nerdieness...other than that, I'd say that the most nerdy thing you can do (I KNOW I'm gonna get slammed for this) is to pay over 40 dollars for a flight sim addon.

Careful Peter, or I'll have to beat you to death with my new pocket protector. :( Cheers nerdily, SLuggy

I am not a nerd nor am I wierd, I play it smart. For overseas flight sometimes i leave the computer on with FS9 in the background and go to (no ATC in the ATLANTIC USUALLY). When I get up i am usually on time to begin decending :( . I get my hours for VA flights but the joy of taking off and landing. Lets be honest guys this isn't my day time job (oohh how i soo wish it was)!

The nerdiest and scariest thing I have ever done in FS is to ask she who must obeyed, permission to buy clouds! There was a couple of missed approaches on that one before a reluctant clearance was given. :(

Lord Farringdon, read this. It will explain about the one who must be obeyed.http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtop...72&hl=wifusJimCYWG

Lord Farringdon, read this. It will explain about the one who must be obeyed.http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtop...72&hl=wifusJimCYWG

Hey thanks for that Jim. That was a real laugh. Your threads being going a long time mate. I particularly like this one:....I fly late-night, 2 hour flights, when everyone is asleep. If it's a long flight I'll save it and complete it when I can over the course of a few nights. Not the most realistic, but with two young children, that's about as real as it gets for me. I would be lying if I didn't admit to occassionally waking up to find myself circling around the destination airport at 30,000 feet! You probably want to avoid dead-heading on my aircraft....He must fly Northwest Virtual airlines. :(