I do! A Jetstream 31 in United Express colors for FS95 (actually it might have been earlier than that). I got lucky - many freeware aircraft back then were considerably worse than the defaults but this one was sweet! I think it was the first time I downloaded any file from the internet. I got it from a "large" database of FS files on some university server. It was years before I got to ride on a real Jetstream 31 - a TWA flight from Chicago to Champaign/Urbana. I think they are pretty much gone nowDavid

You might wanna have a look at this :)http://217.160.89.38/html/flugsimulator.de...are/compare.htmJohnny"I'LL BE BACK"[div align=center]http://www.avsim.com/hangar/fly/josve/zone.jpg ][/div

A DC9 for FS5 from ftp.iup.eduI was gobsmacked.... it was beautiful and I flew it all round the Caribbean (I had the MS Caribbean addon) for months.Then I found the Comox flightsim thingy place and I was made.Ian

Real-world replacement liveries for the default 737-400 for FS2002. From FS98 until then, I flew 'em out of the box and had no idea the flightsim community existed. My brother in Switzerland e-mailed me a link to a CFS plane at Simviation, and my world changed big time. A whole community thriving around the simulators that were already the only hobby I had! I found out about Avsim about two weeks later and, though I frequent other sim sites, have really called it my home ever since (Avsim.com is my home page :-) ).Happy flying,Kevin

Same here, until FS2002 i had no idea about the flight sim community, i would fly the planes out of the box and thought that the way u flew the default 737,747,777 was the way real pilots did, no MCDU or anything, just using instructions from ATC and following the GPS line.adam

Yes! That was the server I was thinking about. Looks like it is no longer around though.David

I believe it was a Ralph Tofflemire DC-9 panel, one of his only freeware works. It was for FS98. It was closely followed by a very early version of Eric Ernst's 767 panel (predecessor of 767 PIC), again for FS98.They both, in their own ways, got me started on panel design. Never met Ralph, but Eric, living nearby, remains a close friend and dinner companion to this day. :-)Of course, it was playing around with FS4, which at the time was installed on computers aboard QE2, while I was on a cruise aboard her back in 1996, which got me interested in FS.It was FS that reminded me that I never should have sold my Cherokee 235, thus my purchase of a Piper Dakota in June!Interesting how things come full circle. ;-)Regards,http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...RUM_LOUF_A2.jpg

Mine was an add on Qantas 737 from flightsim.com for fs95. I can even tell you the date ( 03/12/97 ) Looked up my Flightsim member settings and it gives me my first search date!Too date Ive downloaded 3372 files from flightsim.comProbably 500 from avsimand spend about $1000 on FS related addons. But thats not bad on a hobby over 7 years!

Ah I can only remember the payware, first was Wilco's 737 for Fly! followed by PMDG's 767. Then came Lou's 737 ;-) and PIC!Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4][h3]P M D G's 747-400[/h3][h4]coming to a runway near you[/h4][/font color]Caution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)AMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

>A DC9 for FS5 from ftp.iup.edu>>I was gobsmacked.... it was beautiful and I flew it all round>the Caribbean (I had the MS Caribbean addon) for months.>>Then I found the Comox flightsim thingy place and I was made.>>Ian> Same here. The DC-9 addon. :)

Brad Disher's Sunstate Dash 8 for FS2002.I learned about the flightsim community after reading an article in Atlantic Monthly by James Fallows.BlairCYOW

I couldn't tell you the date of my first addon but it was for FS2002 in the fall of 2002 I believe. I stumbled on the flightsim community by doing a google search on fs2002 jets or something like that. The very first addon I downloaded and installed was a Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet in Belgian Air Force colors from simviation.com, file name: alpha_baf.zip. Since that day I have become totally addicted to flight simulation. Ironically though my first addon was a military jet, I primarily fly single and twin engine props, and helicopters, doing bush flying or regional airline flights. Currently my flight sim folder is 33.7Gig.

I think it was Paul Golding's A310 panel for fs2000, which was great. But it may have been preceeded by some Fly! stuff it as that was my first sim. Some of these early addons give me fond memories.-

Hello All,I do remember the J31, and what a joy it was to have that aircraft. Although, I don't believe that was my first download, but at this point, and being it has been sooooo long ago, I really can't remember what it was.However, I DO remeember those awful days of early FS which were pictured with screenies earlier in this thread . . . so, now, you youngster who just came aboard with FS 2002 or so, you can see why some of us 'old' guys don't complain too much. Today we have real sky, and real mountains and real airports . . . and the aircraft, well, they are just too good.Best to all and going down memory lane really makes me feel old!Clayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Geeze... I'm really going to date myself by saying this, but my first add-on was the first add-on ever for Flight Sim.It was a patch that could be added to FS3 that caused one of the spans on the Oakland Bay bridge to tilt so one end was in the SF Bay. It was triggered by setting the sim to a certain date and time. It was suppose to represent an earthquake. As trivial as the concept seems today, it was mindblowing in its day (1984 I believe). It demonstrated that someone other than BAO (creator of FS Flight Sim) had cracked the BGL files and could not only alter the scenery, but trigger it based on another setting in the simulator.The author was Laemming Wheeler, a true genius and connoisseur of hawaiian shirts...LOL Within a year, Laemming released the first aircraft add-on for FS3, the Hungwell Gypsy Moth. To this day no one is certain if Hungwell was part of the actual name or part of Laemming's famous wit.This was way before the internet, and the only way to find out about this add-on was via compuserve or one of the FS dial-up bulletin board services.In retrospect, that Gypsy Moth aircraft was not only the first add-on aircraft, it was the only add-on for that full year. Today, we see a dozen or more add-ons each day.Bruce