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Cosford 2015 Flightsim Show Report


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Cosford 2014 was my first ever flightsim show, and I loved every minute of it. That being the case, a return trip to Cosford 2015 was a no brainer. I arrived on Friday, and stayed overnight in a local Premier Travel Inn. My evening meal last year was a solo affair, but this year I had the pleasure of dining with three other flightsimmers (Kevin Firth, Ben Weston from Airline2Sim, and his friend Dan). This was a very enjoyable experience, and I was particularly pleased to note that Ben was already aware of my status as a UK2000 beta tester! We all had plenty to talk about, and it was nice to get the show weekend off to a flying start.

 

I arrived at RAF Cosford early on Saturday morning. In fact, I was standing outside the front door nearly an hour before it was scheduled to open! A few others had already arrived, but they were more interested in getting a coffee from the refreshments van. After maybe twenty minutes, a handful of JustFlight staff exited the hangar with a couple of flags/banners that needed to be erected. Mark Embleton came over for a quick chat (he was assistant editor of PC Pilot magazine when I wrote a couple of articles on the Flight Unlimited series well over a decade ago, and I had met him for the first time at last year's show), and I was pleased to note that Martyn Northall recognised me from last year.

 

A short time after that, more visitors started wandering over. I think I scared off one or two earlier because they thought I was an official doorman when they saw the UK2000 ID badge around my neck! I had a nice conversation with two guys at the front of the queue (including someone called John who I continued to bump into throughout the duration of the show). I was impressed by the length of the queue when the doors finally opened at 10 AM. It was considerably longer than last year, and very encouraging for the future.

 

I made my way over to the Mutley's Hangar stand (next to that impressive Rolls Royce RB211 engine at the rear of the hangar), and made second contact with Joe Lawford. He had P3D v3 running on his PC (together with some addons), which was impressive considering that v3 had only been released two days prior to that! Installing it in your home is one thing, but getting it all up and running properly for a flightsim show at such short notice was a bold move. Well done, Joe! I had a brief chat with him, and then went for a quick wander around the other stands before the show became really busy. People were flooding into the hangar at a steady rate, so it didn't take long for the place to be packed.

 

I made my way around to the main “shopping” area to see what was on offer. There were some good deals to be had at the show, including PlayHorizon VFR Generation X photoscenery volumes for only £5 each! That was a bargain. There were also significant discounts at the main JustFlight stand (one of which I took advantage of later in the day). I was also impressed by the demo videos of various products being shown at the JustFlight stand, particularly the new Tornado GR1. That looked very impressive indeed.

 

I followed this with a visit to the “satellite” PC Pilot stand (the main one was located in the shopping area), and watched Jessica Bannister Pearce making a final approach to London Heathrow (the Aerosoft version) on her impressive three monitor setup. She was also running P3D v3, and it all looked smooth and responsive.

 

I then moved back to the Mutley’s Hangar stand, where Kevin Firth had arrived with his two year old daughter. She was keen to have a go on Joe’s PC (and tuck in to the mints on offer)! Two or three other members of Mutley’s Hangar were also there, including Adrian Spence and his lovely wife. I had met them both at last year’s show, and it was a pleasure to see them again.

 

I then decided to make a quick return to my car to collect the copy of the Flight1 Piper Cub package that I had received in last year’s “goody bag” (given to all show visitors at the door who pre-ordered their tickets). I had brought this just in case anyone wanted it, and to my amazement the person who parked his car right next to mine spoke to me briefly around 45 minutes before the doors opened, and explained that he was looking for a small GA aircraft for his sim......something like a Piper Cub!! I think fate must have played a hand here. So, I collected the DVD from my car, identified the guy almost as soon as I had re-entered the hangar, and gave it to him. If you are reading these words, I hope that you are enjoying the plane!

 

I then grabbed a sandwich and drink from the catering stand, and climbed the stairs to the “viewing platform” at the front of the building. This gave me a nice elevated view of the hangar, so I stood there munching on my tuna and onion sandwiches, and watched everyone moving around in the main “shopping area”.

 

After filling up my fuel tank, I returned to floor level and made my way around to the Airline2Sim stand to meet up with Ben Weston again. I had enjoyed our conversation the previous night, and I was keen to see what he had to offer. His video tutorials of the Majestic Q400 sounded very interesting, and it didn’t take long for me to make a decision. I have wanted to learn how to fly a plane properly for quite some time (I tend to fly everything “low and slow” on sightseeing tours), and this sounded like the perfect opportunity to broaden my horizons. I have been told that taking on the Q400 as a starter is a bold move, but I will worry about that when I get there! I also spoke to John again at this point (the guy I was speaking to outside before the doors were opened). I was able to help him with one or two issues that he was experiencing, and I also gave him one of the two “freebies” that were in this year’s “goody bag”. I like doing stuff like that. I also gave him a free copy of my Manchester Airport DVD (90 minutes of runway action from 2002-2006, but that’s another story).

 

I decided to wear a UK2000 ID badge around my neck this year, so that I was easy to identify. Although I failed to make contact with a couple of other UK2000 beta testers who visited the show, I did get to meet Ray Proudfoot and Pete Dowson, and also Brian Crawley (who had a Fly UK badge). He asked me what UK2000 product was next in line (for the record, it’s Southend Xtreme, and hopefully it will be released at the end of this month). In addition to UK2000, I am also a beta tester for SIM720. I was aware that Barry Hudson would be at the show this year, but I didn’t know which stand he was at. Kevin Firth (who had already met him at a previous show) was going to identify him for me, but he had to leave early. However, Joe Lawford (Mutley’s Hangar) knew where I could find him (the Flight Simulation Centre stand). This was located in the main “shopping area”, so I wandered over and “hung around looking suspicious” until Mark Embleton on the JustFlight stand pointed Barry out to me.

 

Kevin Firth had told me that I would like Barry, and he wasn’t wrong! A really nice guy to talk to, and full of enthusiasm for flight simulation and the flightsim community. It was really interesting to talk to him, and we discussed the next SIM720 airport project in the pipeline (sorry, you need TOP SECRET NSA clearance for that information). I also met another member of SIM720 (David Bonney), and his friend Peter. It was a real pleasure to meet and talk with them all, and I am hoping that I will be able to meet the rest of the SIM720 team at some point in the future.

 

I then returned to the JustFlight stand to purchase the Majestic Q400 (with a 37% discount), so that I could make use of those Airline2Sim videos. I spoke to Martyn Northall again, and thanked him for the free copy of the Canberra PR9 that had been deposited in my "goody bag". He muttered something about "giving away his stuff for free", but I told him that I was still interested in the Tornado GR1, so I think I got away with it! :smile:

 

The only task left after all that was to drive 150 miles back home. Just like last year, I was on a high for the entire return journey, and I can still feel that sense of excitement as I type these words. It is a real treat to be able to talk to so many other enthusiastic flight simmers (both developers and users), and I don’t think you really need me to tell you that I will be back for Cosford 2016!

Christopher Low

UK2000 Beta Tester

FSBetaTesters3.png

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  • Commercial Member

A few of the A2A Community went, experiences here and of course they are pretty similar to yours Chirs;

http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=49328

 

I managed to miss the Airline2Sim stand somehow so i'm a bit narked as I really wanted to speak to the guys there. Is it me or does the day just go super super super fast!

Lewis - A2A Simulations

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I haven't actually done any flying since I installed P3D v3 the day before the show. I have an annoying controller assignment problem that is causing all of my aircraft to pull sharply to the right as I accelerate down the runway. I have been told that I might be able to solve it by assigning the controls through FSUIPC, but I am not sure if I would need the registered version. Anyway, I would prefer LM to correct the problem.

Christopher Low

UK2000 Beta Tester

FSBetaTesters3.png

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