44 and live in SoCal. Been with Boeing for the past 15 years across a variety of Programs (C17, Royal Saudi AWACS / F15 / C130, Future Combat Systems, 767 Tanker, C40A, F/A-18). Private Pilot and A&P, been simming since my Sinclair ZX-81 days.Spent a few years on the USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 (AMS3). Father was a Waist Gunner and Radioman in B25's and B26's and told some awesome stories of his missions.

Father was a Waist Gunner and Radioman in B25's and B26's and told some awesome stories of his missions.

You would enjoy Ambrose's book about George McGovern flying a B24 from Italy during WWII "The Wild Blue."

56 year old professional orchestral clarinettist. I imagine this has parallels with being a pilot, periods when you're not doing a lot interspersed with brief moments when you absolutely put your neck on the line and have to nail something very difficult. Fortunately in my job nobody's life is at risk if I mess up! John

Age, 25Air Traffic Controller for German Air ForceRgds

Fortunately in my job nobody's life is at risk if I mess up!

Just the concertmaster getting a heart attack if it happens just before an upcoming solo. You see, I'm a little biased when it comes to the woodwind section... :(I remember a french horn player in our orchestra messing up. I think it was Tosca. One of the percussionists stood up and delivered a first class uppercut. Well, their relation hasn't been that good for the past months anyway, but after that they communicated via lawyers solely. Apart from that the percussionist received an official warning of course. Pure luck he wasn't fired right away.So far concerning "nobody's life at risk".

I'm 37, currently a Dash 8 Q400 pilot for a loco here in the UK, and a part time Flying Instructor (1 day per week)I still use flight sim (FS9 & X) but I have no enthusiasm to boot it up when I get home from work, so I have now moved into controlling on VATSIM in Australia just for something different.EnjoyCricketFootballSnookerBadmintonGymI also want to start playing the guitar but don't know where to start :)

Hi Im 52 live in Virginia USA retired from the us army were I was helicopter mechanic. and know I work as aircraft mechanic for air wisconsin airlines on crj 200.

I am 46 and have been employed for 18 years by a regional airline in the US as a captain and soon-to-be IOE/Line Check Airman on the ATR-72. I have more than 15,000 hours total time and nearly 12,000 hours in the ATR-42/72 series. I've flown more than 40 types of airplanes including the DC-3, Beech 18 and BAe Jetstream 32. My dad, who is a Commercial/Instrumented rated general aviation pilot and avid flight simmer, once asked me if I thought flight simming had any benefits in my professional flying. I told him that I believed that it had very positive benefits, namely an increase in situational awareness. He responded by saying that he believed that was what I would say. I also said that flight simulation allows me to fly airplanes that I will never get to fly in real life and expose myself to situations that I may never see in real life as well, even though I have had more than my share of emergency situations in real aircraft!I have been involved in PC flight simulation since 1982 when Microprose released Strike Eagle. I wanted to be a fighter pilot but was unable due to poor (uncorrected) eyesight which, at the time, was NOT correctable by surgery like it is now. I have been lucky enough to get some sim time in actual USAF F-16 and T-38C simulators and I can tell you that my home PC sim experience really prepped me for those events. After 1 hour in the F-16 sim I was told by the sim instructor (who also happened to have the most flight time in F-16s at the time) that he wouldn't have any problem strapping me into a real F-16 for a few turns around the pattern! Knowing that simulators are always harder to fly than the real airplane, I believe I would have been comfortable in that scenario! (See me taking an aerobatic lesson in a REAL Extra 300 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLpF-fb8W4s)Incidentally, I was on the beta test team for Flight1's ATR-72-500. It is a pretty accurate rendition of this great aircraft and I actually use it to prep for my semi-annual proficiency checks and recurrent training events in my job.I count myself among the most fortunate people on the planet. I love my job, which is also my hobby and my passion. It just doesn't get much better than that!Terry Swindle

Awesome post, and it's neat to read of so many engineers and musicians, and to read about everyone's backgrounds. I'm a Mechanical Engineer, and work in the commercial refrigeration industry managing sales for the Latin American and Caribbean region - I get to fly (as a passenger) to many countries in this region (and also the USA), and then sometimes repeat many of these flights in FSX when I come back home. I also grew up in a farm (coffee) in Central America, and came to Miami, Florida when I was 13. I've had two passions since I can remember, flying and music. I'm not a pilot, but plan to get my private license in the near future, although I have been hooked on PC flying since the first flight simulator came out in the early '80s.I am also a musician (lead vocals and bass), and write and record my own music on the side...genre is Spanish rock (www.uniongris.com) - you are welcome to visit our webpage. Anyway, it's nice to put names to faces, and to read your life stories.Happy wishes to all,David Bolanos

56 year old professional orchestral clarinettist. I imagine this has parallels with being a pilot, periods when you're not doing a lot interspersed with brief moments when you absolutely put your neck on the line and have to nail something very difficult. Fortunately in my job nobody's life is at risk if I mess up! John

Cool which orchestra? I'm a violinist but not yet professional material.I'm 17 years old starting a degree in Commercial Aviation Management at the University of Western Ontario this fall. I'll have my CPL by 2014 if all goes well.I love FootballSki RacingViolinKayaking

I

Hey all,Just curious as to what most of you do in real life aside from this addicting hobby we call flight simulation?I am 27 years old and live in a very small town in Manitoba, Canada, pretty much right where North Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba meet. I farm 3200 acres with dad and two uncles. Last year I bought 400 acres and I rent an additional 350 myself and have been running that 750 acres on my own since 2002. I've been working on the farm (shovelling grain, doing mechanical maintenence and driving heavy equipment) since 1996 when I was only 13 years old.My sister's boyfriend is a pilot for Air Canada, he flies the A320 series and the Embraer jets. He also farms about 20 miles away near Miami Manitoba. My brother has been in aviation at UND in Grand Forks ND for 3 years, he was first taking ATC but decided that wasn't for him, then he got his PPL and was going to go for a commercial pilot job then quit that as well. He is now getting a degree in Airport Management. I've always been obsessed with planes and always wanted to fly but I'm very obsessed with farming as well so this discovery of Flight Simulator and awesome addons such as PMDG and LDS lets me pretend to be a pilot without leaving the farming behind.My other big interest, since during the summer farming takes 99% of my time, is snowmobiling. I have two snowmobiles, a 2008 Polaris Dragon and a 2007 Polaris Switchback, between the two I put on 2300 miles this last winter.Hopefully others will show interest in this topic, the community on these forums is excellent and sometimes it's nice just to get an idea where everyone is coming from.Jeff Calder

Hi Jeff,Good idea for a topic.I fly 737 and 747 for our national carrier down under! My computer skills however are sadly lacking!Dave

21, with several years experience!Ok, 40 something :)Been IT support for 20+ years, now facilities management in a museum.

I'm 28 year old, i live near Milan Italy.I'm an IT consultant I use FSX and i love to fly Boieng aircraft 757 - 767 - 744 and MD82 - MD11 ( i'm looking every day pmdg site for 737 NG) and i'm wondering about a decent airbus simulation will come

Hi Jeff,Good idea for a topic.I fly 737 and 747 for our national carrier down under! My computer skills however are sadly lacking!Dave

Well dave you could of been my pilot at one time. I will waiting in my seat for the trolly dollie to come and tells me dave is to sick to fly the plane can you help. And i hope your FMC skills are better then the unamed airline's crew who put a few dents in there A340 tail at YMMl.