We need a more professional way of saying what we do...

[briansommers 29]

we all say we are flight simmers or we say we are going to go flight simming. Well think about it, man if that doesn't sound super nerdy what does...it's no wonder people look at us with odd faces. What is a better way of saying what we do? What would be a better term or whatever to come up with that would make our hobby more serious.Funny thing is, once I explain it to people, saying that real pilots do this, you can actually go out and buy REAL aviation charts and and study REAL aviation principles/rules, etc and actually use them.and that we can "fly" with REAL weather, etc, etc.then the look goes to being rather oohhh, serious..so... I think I'll go...simulation flyingsimulate a flightvirtual flyingcomputer flyingfly on my computerwhat else say you..this Thanksgiving diner and Christmas, it would really be fun to be able to say my hobby right along with everyone else saying what they did during the summer and not sound so freakin' nerdy.I mean, good grief even when you say you fly radio-controlled model airplanes, you get more respect then when you say you are a flightsimmer..

[Superpilotv2 2]

That sounds darn familiar to me!! :smile:My dad allways says I´m wasting my time with what I´m doing. But well, I don´t care!

[Chuck_B 2]

"Virtual Pilot".

[briansommers 29]

TRUE WE ARE,, oop s caps on.. but everyone is wasting time with there hobby, I mean if were making money in our hobby then isn't it work? or at least work that we love?but what hobby does your dad have? isn't he wasting time as well? and oh not everyone is, there are some who actually do then go out and learn to fly the real deal.

"Virtual Pilot".

I agree that is what we ARE but I'm looking for a verb, what is it that we DO. you can't say well, I'm tired I'm going to go out and virtual pilot for a bit..

[Ron Attwood 1,101]

I 'do' flight simulation, should anyone ask. But I cannot recall being asked...ever! It's normally me(you) who brings the subject up. You usually have to drag people up to your sad little room to show them your cockpit. 'Normal' people don't give a toss!

[Chuck_B 2]

I agree that is what we ARE but I'm looking for a verb, what is it that we DO. you can't say well, I'm tired I'm going to go out and virtual pilot for a bit..

... and what's your hobby? [what do you do] . . . "I'm a Virtual Pilot, and now I'm going "flying". What's the problem?And if you're getting up from the Thanksgiving table to Go Simming, maybe you should look at how much of a geek you are." LOLOLOL

[briansommers 29]

hehe, no I'm not going flight simming and missing the pumkin pie...but I like your example, nice one

[Superpilotv2 2]

TRUE WE ARE,, oop s caps on.. but everyone is wasting time with there hobby, I mean if were making money in our hobby then isn't it work? or at least work that we love?but what hobby does your dad have? isn't he wasting time as well? and oh not everyone is, there are some who actually do then go out and learn to fly the real deal.I agree that is what we ARE but I'm looking for a verb, what is it that we DO. you can't say well, I'm tired I'm going to go out and virtual pilot for a bit..

Yeah, you´re right! A thing what you love will another find time wasting. Everyone its own thing. And well, I´m flying for real. Learing to fly in an ASK 21 sailplane.

[MarkW 639]

Give it up ! To the rest of the world, including my family who knows what I do, we are just a bunch of "pretend pilots" & gamers. Sadly its the truth and honestly I could care less what they think, its a hobby I enjoy and I will continue on enjoying it. Mark.

[mgh 89]

Give it up ! To the rest of the world, including my family who knows what I do, we are just a bunch of "pretend pilots" & gamers. Sadly its the truth and honestly I could care less what they think, its a hobby I enjoy and I will continue on enjoying it.Mark.

Exactly! Why are some apparently so insecure and worried about being thought of as a "gamer". It's a sub-$50 gane - just have the confidence to enjoy it.

[briansommers 29]

yeah, I know, I'm afraid you are correct indeed and yes It won't affect my enjoyment of the hobby either... it would be nice at least once though .. It's like that one article on the other site that was talking about flight simming isn't sexy.. well how was your vaction Bob? oh yeah, we went skiing down blah blah blah and well the so and so's went rafting down this river, blah blah blah , what did you ? oauhhhh oh me? yeah, I sat in front of the pooter and pretended to be a pilot! yeah!

[Chuck_B 2]

Exactly, Brian. Exactly!

[n4gix 1,234]

I get really odd looks from folks when they ask what I do for a living...I just tell 'em I do 3d modeling of aircraft, like the ones they use in Hollywood movies. For some reason that's more acceptable than when I said "for flight simulators..."

[ViperPilot 69]

Interesting...Back in the day when I was using primarily Combat FS (CFS, CFS2) my friends were interested mainly in the "shoot 'em up" aspect of the sim, which is understandable. They would all take a turn behind the stick to see how it felt, and to see HE incendiary hit with devastating force! :PNow, as I use FS 9, most of my friends ask me questions like, "You can really fly anywhere in the world, and it looks real"? Or, "You actually fly in real time"?They show some interest, and that's OK, since they've known for years that I'm an aviation buff.Just tell folks that you participate in Flight Simulation, or that you're a "Virtual Pilot". If they can't deal with it, that's their loss... not yours.Alan

[Raindance 25]

You can never convince people who don't themselves do computer games or sims that any of it's worthwhile, so I don't bother even trying. They've probably vaguely heard of stuff like World of Warcraft through newspaper articles if they've heard of anything in that line, or they've seen kids playing arcade shooters in motorway rest stops, and so they assume you're a serious case of arrested development.If they show some genuine interest you might get a conversation going, otherwise forget it..

[linux731 264]

Give it up !   To the rest of the world, including my family who knows what I do, we are just a bunch of "pretend pilots" & gamers.  Sadly its the truth and honestly I could care less what they think, its a hobby I enjoy and I will continue on enjoying it.Mark.

I agree!But in my case, NOBODY that lives... hmm... say 120 miles from my house likes flight simulation at all..... I'm the only one in the entire city of ****, Texas that would spend 3 hours on a virtual flying network going from KIAH to KMIA...Like Mark said, I really don't care what others think. I will continue to enjoy and have fun in my hobby.As a matter of fact, in my Facebook picture I have a picture of the Cessna 172 that I train in, and somebody (at my school) asked me if I do barrel rolls in it.... I know, right? Another example was when I was told by someone that they were going to Jamaica (Kingston). I asked them, (KINDLY) what plane were they going to go on (because as you know most airliners put the plane type on their website while you're booking) and they said "I don't care! As long as it gets me there!"I just thought of something else. Most of them (if they're not football guys) think Call of Duty Black Ops is the best thing ever, Battlefield sucks, this is the only game I'll ever play and flight simulation is stupid.Although most people think "football" is a hobby, I say (and will continue to say) otherwise.

[tutmeister 169]

To be honest, no one I know ever makes fun of me about flight simulation as a hobby. This may be because I am a qualified pilot and they think that flight simulation is therefore an acceptable hobby to do some frugal training in these poor economic times, but it's also probably the ability to state it confidently that it is something I enjoy doing. I've done it for a lot longer than I've been a qualified pilot and my military flight school was a breeze because of my years of virtual piloting (not ground school, just the actual hands-on part). Ironically, the only person I do now remember that has made fun of me was my flight school wingman. He just couldn't understand why after a hard day's training I'd come and fly the next sortie online instead of heading to the mess to wind down! hehe, only our type understand that, I'm sure! :D

[Cessnaflyer 56]

My first contact with FS was back with an Apple II GS (the only good Apple product). My dad used it as a procedure tool for when he was getting his license and I would fly around for fun. I started to do the same a few years later when I was training for my license. The novelty of it has quickly worn off and now I use it if I haven't flown at work for a few weeks to keep some procedures fresh. I don't know how some of you do real time flights hours at a time.

[BillCusick 60]

<< 'Normal' people don't give a toss! >>That's not fair, Ron. I consider myself 'Normal'. Ha ! (Looking over my shoulder nervously)tutmeister - <<'This may be because I am a qualified pilot'>>I know - let's just call ourselves 'qualified pilots'. Well, we are, aren't we ?I know I am. After all, I fly a 737NG in FSX. (I consider myself a qualified 737NGX pilot) so there ! (jumping up and down, stamping my feet)I think our 'respect' has been reduced 'cos many call this a 'game'. I think that those who call flightsim a game should be banned from Avsim !RegardsBill

[mgh 89]

I should be banned then because I call it a game.We sit in front of our computers in the comfort of our own homes and respond to them using. a mouse, keyboard, stick/wheel,/pedals. controllers etc in exactly the same as any other game player.FS may simulate aircraft and auirfields, but racing car games simulate cars and tracks: war games simulate weapons and battlelfield scenarios.Why do some posters here have so little confidence in themselve that they can't want to admit what they do for amusement?

[Raindance 25]

Game or sim? It's what you make of it surely? If you're seriously practising piloting procedures & protocol then it's a sim. If you're flying around for the sheer enjoyment of it then you're having fun, and that falls broadly into gaming I'd say.It can also be an aesthetic experience, which is why texture/cloud/sky improvers and better topography add-ons are so popular. If you have one of the Mega-airports and decent WOAI for it, it's sometimes nice just to sit and watch the AI coming and going as the sun goes down in the evening.Speaking of aesthetics, I've just ordered this (AirCraft, The Jet as Art)>>http://www.jeffreymi...rCraftBook.html

[briansommers 29]

Game or sim? It's what you make of it surely? If you're seriously practising piloting procedures & protocol then it's a sim. If you're flying around for the sheer enjoyment of it then you're having fun, and that falls broadly into gaming I'd say.

mmm. not sure If I can agree to that one, if I'm not a pilot and not taking lesson, but If I "fly" my flightsim with correct piloting procedures and protocol then wouldn't I also be using it as a sim? To me, if I'm flying fs9/x/xplane/whatever and not flying by current rules/procedures, etc, etc, I would consider that to be "gaming" - but non-the-less, the cool thing is that FSX is a sandbox and we can play in it however we like.now, I'll give my def of sim and game - it is a lot broader and that is a game, is a real world task which then result in a score to determine winner and looser. A Sim is just simply a model of a real world task. So based on that and aside really on how we play it, I would say fsx/fs9 is a sim.. YOu could then argue well how WELL does it model the real world task in which it sets out to model and we tend to say, because something that doesn't model the real world task well we then tend to call that a game. I just say its a bad simulation but still a sim.now, back on topic.. it is really interesting to read these responses and I think part of my problem is my confidence level! Maybe I embarrassed to admit that I"m a virtual pilot or that I do civilian computer flight simulation ( and yes, I have to say civilian, because I have to many people respond back and say, ohh you blow stuff up and shoot stuff?) is because I say it kind of quietly. I think for my next experiment, next time I'm hanging out and the conversation goes to hobbies I should say mine in real confidence and boldly and see if the response would be different. I think it might.. ...mmmm

[GlobalGentleman 0]

Brian, couldn't agree more fully with your articulation above of the sim definition/experience....I've used different terms in the past to describe it to different people, and it's equally interesting watching the variety of reaction. Some get it, some don't. Consider your audience beforehand as well, when you start explaining it to them. For those who understand time spent with computer based software 'hobbies' as generally classified into 'games,' you're probably not going to make much headway with them, regardless of how confidently any of us phrase it. I generally start out by referring to it as virtual aviation training, or a variation thereof. I mean, aviation becomes a way of life, rather than just a game (or even sim), if you're passionate about it....who else do you see pausing to get in their car because they hear a prop overhead and want to look up and identify whether it's a c172, sr22, etc? things like this speak way beyond just the sitting in front of the computer portion of it, as far as I'm concerned at least.....And if all else fails in trying to get someone to take your passion seriously, start talking to them about atc approach vectoring, or the need to monitor EGT during engine start, or how to interpret REL's while the aircraft is taxiing during their next vacation or business flight.In my experience, that usually jolts them out of poking any fun at my 'way of life' !! Grrrrrrrr!!! ;)

[Chuck_B 2]

Brian, couldn't agree more fully with your articulation above of the sim definition/experience....I generally start out by referring to it as virtual aviation training, or a variation thereof.

"Virtual Aviation" and "Virtual Aviation". I like those even better. Outstanding! That will make people sit up straight in front of their giblets this thanksgiving ... !!!

[GlobalGentleman 0]

Haha!! Thanks Chuck!! I think you were heading towards 'Virtual Aviator' there? a great variation.Yeah, it might even pause them going for that 2nd helping of mash potatoes if we're lucky ;)