Sharing Your Passion

[NoahBryant 26]

Like many of you, I consider myself a hard core simmer. I love everything about FSX coupled with the great add-ons that we all love. I have been enjoying flight simulation for more of my life than I haven't.Flight simulation led me to VATSIM which was a whole new world for me. I began to learn far more about navigation than then simply following VOR to VOR like I had been until then. I learned about the FARs, communication, procedure, everything. I ate it all up and craved more.Once my starvation for learning grew again I became a VATSIM controller, challenging myself in new ways. I learned the rules associated with pushing tin, even more about navigation and quickly worked my way up and, just like in all other aspects of my life, I knew I had to teach.I started teaching VATSIM controllers my passion and passing things on to them, I believe that a person can never truly know something until they teach it to others.I then became a real world private pilot. Using all the things I had learned to this point and applying it to the real thing. Coupled with the great instruction from my flight instructor I quickly progressed through my flight training, even teaching him a thing or two that he didn't know.Unfortunately, I had no one to share my passion with. The only friends I had were all from work - and none remotely cared about flying and the concept of flight simulation or VATSIM was more lost on them than simulating growing shrubs. I once mentioned what I do to someone I was ridiculed and actually got made fun of for it for months.My wife is wonderful, but she practically has to be sedated to go on an airliner let alone a Cessna, and has nearly the same feelings about simulation but at least she loves me for my quirky passion. Ditto family, I'm an only child and no one else in family would be remotely interested. My career path took me instantly away from friends I went to school with as well.But....I do have a child.My little girl loves planes and thinks of me like what I'm sure any five year old would think of a daddy that can fly a plane. She has all the airplane books she can find, toy airplanes, and even a little Co-Pilot shirt that sadly doesn't fit anymore.When I use FS, she would run and put on her copilot shirt, grab my David Clarks and sit next to me, pretending in the way only children can. I would fly my airliner and point out what button to press in the on-screen cockpit. She would press the control, while I time the mouse click just right for her to think she did it. Eventually she got so good that I could say, "Gear down", and she would know which lever to pull while I stealthily hit the G key.This was when she was 3-4 years old. Now she's 5 and into Hannah Montana, iCarly and whatever else she can come up with. She's too old for the press-the-screen game and the too-small Co-Pilot shirt is hidden away somewhere where it won't be thrown away. Ever.About a month and a half ago, I was invited, along with practically everyone, to "beta test" MS Flight. Not expecting much, I loaded it up and got about what I expected. The visuals were great, performance great. Sounds and flight dynamics were as best as I could tell, but I daresay I've yet to fly a bi-plane.I got coins, flew that mission where you have to get that little plane-car thing up to the astronomical telescopes and quickly lost interest.But then I was given something that I never expected. My little girl wanted to see what I was playing and came over to check it out. I told her it was another flying game and we were flying around Hawaii. She likes Hawaii and asked to play too. She started flying but this time, she actually got it. She didnt just turn the yoke expecting it to work like a car anymore. She got used to banked turns. I taught her about using the throttle to accelerate and slow down, I taught her about taking off and landing.Pretty soon she could do it herself. She knew when to rotate by looking at the airspeed, she knew to retract the gear once she was in the air. She knew not to let the airspeed drop or else it would stall. She learned about landing. She learned that If I told her to descend, she simply reduced power instead of just pushing the yoke down.It was wonderful.Now we regularly play Flight, and look forward to the full version which I am downloading now. I can't say I know how long her interest will last but anyone that has kids knows it can stop in a heartbeat. You better believe I'm going to let it ride as long as I can.No you know why you will never her me utter a word against Flight.Thanks for reading.

[Gibbage 199]

GREAT post! I think this really shows what Flight can be, even if its not "your thing". The entry point into FS is really difficult right now when you only have FSX and XP10. Unless your REALLY dedicated to flying, your not going to spend the time to learn. Its not "capturing" people like it once did. I truly think Flight will bring in a NEW generation of simmers who can graduate into more complex sims. The choice is ours. Do we want to be elitist and shun Flight with its new user base, or welcome them in, and bring them up to speed? The bigger the user base is, the more attractive flight simming will be for developers to work in. Everyone needs to remember that. We all started some place.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Noah, that is the post of the year! Thank you. You have just lent credence to our belief that FLIGHT is an entrée point for thousands to come. It's not a "simulator" today. It is an invitation to walk a different path for thousands of young people to come and a portal to exploring beyond it. Your post should be blasted far and wide among the Flight Simulation community. Thank you.

[rtodepart 761]

Like many of you, I consider myself a hard core simmer. I love everything about FSX coupled with the great add-ons that we all love. I have been enjoying flight simulation for more of my life than I haven't.Flight simulation led me to VATSIM which was a whole new world for me. I began to learn far more about navigation than then simply following VOR to VOR like I had been until then. I learned about the FARs, communication, procedure, everything. I ate it all up and craved more.Once my starvation for learning grew again I became a VATSIM controller, challenging myself in new ways. I learned the rules associated with pushing tin, even more about navigation and quickly worked my way up and, just like in all other aspects of my life, I knew I had to teach.I started teaching VATSIM controllers my passion and passing things on to them, I believe that a person can never truly know something until they teach it to others.I then became a real world private pilot. Using all the things I had learned to this point and applying it to the real thing. Coupled with the great instruction from my flight instructor I quickly progressed through my flight training, even teaching him a thing or two that he didn't know.Unfortunately, I had no one to share my passion with. The only friends I had were all from work - and none remotely cared about flying and the concept of flight simulation or VATSIM was more lost on them than simulating growing shrubs. I once mentioned what I do to someone I was ridiculed and actually got made fun of for it for months.My wife is wonderful, but she practically has to be sedated to go on an airliner let alone a Cessna, and has nearly the same feelings about simulation but at least she loves me for my quirky passion. Ditto family, I'm an only child and no one else in family would be remotely interested. My career path took me instantly away from friends I went to school with as well.But....I do have a child.My little girl loves planes and thinks of me like what I'm sure any five year old would think of a daddy that can fly a plane. She has all the airplane books she can find, toy airplanes, and even a little Co-Pilot shirt that sadly doesn't fit anymore.When I use FS, she would run and put on her copilot shirt, grab my David Clarks and sit next to me, pretending in the way only children can. I would fly my airliner and point out what button to press in the on-screen cockpit. She would press the control, while I time the mouse click just right for her to think she did it. Eventually she got so good that I could say, "Gear down", and she would know which lever to pull while I stealthily hit the G key.This was when she was 3-4 years old. Now she's 5 and into Hannah Montana, iCarly and whatever else she can come up with. She's too old for the press-the-screen game and the too-small Co-Pilot shirt is hidden away somewhere where it won't be thrown away. Ever.About a month and a half ago, I was invited, along with practically everyone, to "beta test" MS Flight. Not expecting much, I loaded it up and got about what I expected. The visuals were great, performance great. Sounds and flight dynamics were as best as I could tell, but I daresay I've yet to fly a bi-plane.I got coins, flew that mission where you have to get that little plane-car thing up to the astronomical telescopes and quickly lost interest.But then I was given something that I never expected. My little girl wanted to see what I was playing and came over to check it out. I told her it was another flying game and we were flying around Hawaii. She likes Hawaii and asked to play too. She started flying but this time, she actually got it. She didnt just turn the yoke expecting it to work like a car anymore. She got used to banked turns. I taught her about using the throttle to accelerate and slow down, I taught her about taking off and landing.Pretty soon she could do it herself. She knew when to rotate by looking at the airspeed, she knew to retract the gear once she was in the air. She knew not to let the airspeed drop or else it would stall. She learned about landing. She learned that If I told her to descend, she simply reduced power instead of just pushing the yoke down.It was wonderful.Now we regularly play Flight, and look forward to the full version which I am downloading now. I can't say I know how long her interest will last but anyone that has kids knows it can stop in a heartbeat. You better believe I'm going to let it ride as long as I can.No you know why you will never her me utter a word against Flight.Thanks for reading.

that was a great post man . Now on a side note :why do DAVID CLARKS always look so good? :-)

[HiFlyer 9,374]

It has been my worry. Soon, Google searches will bring many new and curious people to this forum, and only the people here can decide whether these newcomers find a warm and welcoming environment; Or elitists grumbling at the "console kiddies" to get a "real" Sim or go away with their "Dumbed down" games.I hope the right choice is made.

[N2056 33]

Just when I was reaching a point where I was ready to give up on following more than one forum due to the amount of negativity that I have seen recently a post like this comes along.Thank you for sharing that. I envy you more than you will ever know.

[ahuimanu 50]

Noah, that is the post of the year! Thank you. You have just lent credence to our belief that FLIGHT is an entrée point for thousands to come. It's not a "simulator" today. It is an invitation to walk a different path for thousands of young people to come and a portal to exploring beyond it. Your post should be blasted far and wide among the Flight Simulation community. Thank you.

Okay, I buy this argument and really do think that Flight can foot this bill... so what is there next when the other shoe is ready to drop? Roadmap needed...

[rtodepart 761]

due to the amount of negativity that I have seen recently

i wish there was a button to push and get ready of that for good . i was thinking that some people learn something with the closing of the forum a few weeks back but it does not look that way. In the other hand lets keeep this place clean and enjoy our hobby and try to welcome as many new guys/girls as posible .

[ahuimanu 50]

i wish there was a button to push and get ready of that for good . i was thinking that some people learn something with the closing of the forum a few weeks back but it does not look that way. In the other hand lets keeep this place clean and enjoy our hobby and try to welcome as many new guys/girls as posible .

I'm not sure if you are raising your gaze far enough towards the horizon if you can't see that an encounter with Flight, as released, is not going to reignite negative feelings for a lot of people who have been in this "game" for the long haul. There is no separation between Flight and earlier versions of Flight Simulator - the legacy is just as joined at the hip to the newbie as is vice versa. This means that flight must be vetted through the depth and breadth of the community. Such a process will undoubtedly bring a variety of feelings that are not easily disposed of with a button push (barring AVSIM staff, of course, who can edit how they see fit).I think MS needs to backstop some more advanced content sooner, rather than later, in order to transition these new guys and girls quite quickly. Flight feels shallow thus far.

[Gibbage 199]

At the risk of starting an even hotter flame war... FLIGHT has no business in a flight simulator forum. It's not a flight simulator. It is no more a flight simulator than BIRDS OF PREY or HAWX or any number of other "flying games" that are out there that get ZERO discussion on these forums.

Then why post here? Sounds like you have a bone to pick against Flight since you keep posting the same thing over and over.

[ahuimanu 50]

I wonder if down the road that this will be rememberd as the "Great Split".

I suspect a Schism to rival that of FS2004 vs. FSX. In fact, the evidence suggest that the Schism has been underway since at least last year.

[N2056 33]

i wish there was a button to push and get ready of that for good . i was thinking that some people learn something with the closing of the forum a few weeks back but it does not look that way. In the other hand lets keeep this place clean and enjoy our hobby and try to welcome as many new guys/girls as posible .

Thanks for illustrating my point. First off, I am assuming you feel that my post was negative, which is totally wrong. For the sake of clarification I have seen negativity in multiple forums on multiple sites. I have not seen that here since this forum re-opened. Geez...Even a post that was totally positive has to get ripped by someone. I guess I was right in my gut feeling the other day that I am done in the forum world. Thanks for steering me in the right direction!

[Gibbage 199]

*removed and not needed*Gibbage

[rtodepart 761]

I'm not sure if you are raising your gaze far enough towards the horizon if you can't see that an encounter with Flight, as released, is not going to reignite negative feelings for a lot of people who have been in this "game" for the long haul. There is no separation between Flight and earlier versions of Flight Simulator - the legacy is just as joined at the hip to the newbie as is vice versa. This means that flight must be vetted through the depth and breadth of the community. Such a process will undoubtedly bring a variety of feelings that are not easily disposed of with a button push (barring AVSIM staff, of course, who can edit how they see fit).I think MS needs to backstop some more advanced content sooner, rather than later, in order to transition these new guys and girls quite quickly. Flight feels shallow thus far.

Well i only start it in flight simulators back in FS95 and later in mid way in FS98 thats when i knew my desk was not goin to get any better so went for flight lessons till this day that i flight for SouthWest. I think there are better ways of letting others know what you like and dont like without getting too hot , thats all im trying to say .

Thanks for illustrating my point. First off, I am assuming you feel that my post was negative, which is totally wrong. For the sake of clarification I have seen negativity in multiple forums on multiple sites. I have not seen that here since this forum re-opened. Geez...Even a post that was totally positive has to get ripped by someone. I guess I was right in my gut feeling the other day that I am done in the forum world. Thanks for steering me in the right direction!

i agree with your original post sorry if you took my post the other way around . english its not my first lenguage . once again im sorry. Edited February 29, 2012 by rtodepart

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

At the risk of starting an even hotter flame war... FLIGHT has no business in a flight simulator forum. It's not a flight simulator. It is no more a flight simulator than BIRDS OF PREY or HAWX or any number of other "flying games" that are out there that get ZERO discussion on these forums.I wonder if down the road that this will be rememberd as the "Great Split".

You are gone. Thanks for the contribution.