Avsim international stats

[Guest Ashleigh Davidson]

Thanks for the this Avsim, I think this justifies the call for a European version of the sim series ? What say you dear reader ?

[Shaka 2]

How would this be different than the current version? Perhaps they could include Airbus aircraft instead of Boeing, but I doubt this will happen. Can you explain what you mean by a "European version"? Just curious...- Martin

[Paul Golding 92]

Not sure what you mean about a European version.But changing the question a little (OK, hi-jacking the thread ;-) )Am I reading the stats correctly? They seem to indicate that 36,000+ Avsim readers live in the US..............so why on earth do so few bother to go the Avsim annual conferences?Seriously, in the land of cheap hotels, cheap internal flights, cheap gas (petrol) and cheap car hire, why do so few of you bother to go to these things?In the last 14 months I've been to the Avsim show at Denver, 2 shows in Germany and the IFC one in the UK. Without a doubt, the IFC show is the biggest and the best in terms of number of vendors and visitors, size of exhibition hall, quality of stands etc. Yet it's held in a country that seems to have 10% of the FS users that the US has.Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way knocking Avsim here. Whilst massively more expensive (entrance fee's/dinner etc) than both the UK and the German shows, the overall experience of the Denver show was the best..........OK, that was largely due to finally meeting so many people I'd known via email for years and of course the UAL sim time (yet more expense). What I can't work out, is simply what it is that stops Americans from attending?OK, Denver might not be too local for many, though I bet it's local in terms of say $100 flight! So how about San Diego? I didn't go this year,

[nbotamer 0]

>Am I reading the stats correctly? They seem to indicate that>36,000+ Avsim readers live in the US..............so why on>earth do so few bother to go the Avsim annual conferences?Because I spent all my vacation money this year on a week spent roaming around Kauai. ;)And, for the heck of it, for me, paid flights to Denver and San Diego bottom out around $200 r/t. Granted I can get there for a lot less, ie free, but then, I'm not guarenteed a seat!

[mgh 89]

Some possibilities:- European voices for ATC- Use of ICAO phraseology by ATC- Change of terminology from Victor and Jet airways to Lower and Upper

[Wnuk 12]

With a family of 4, a stay at home mom to raise our kids, trying to make ends meet on 1 salary, no family vacation in over 4 years........... the list can go on & on.Point is, though many of Avsim users are in the US I'd bet a great majority of them are just casual simmers & don't have that much interest in attending a conference. Much like the add on buyers, those that attend conferences are just a small portion of the total number of FS users.As for me, I'd love to attend one. Trying to sell that idea to my wife on the other hand is just not going to happen.Jim

[Guest deKoven]

Hmmmm, an interesting point of view from here:My guess is that the european "faction" on Avsim represents a much larger fraction of the total users in the same area than the figures for the U.S. And here in the states, one could readily say that we are under "information overload" much more than other parts of the world. There is just so much time available to devote to one's hobby, assuming that this is the only hobby in which one is engaged. Given also that we, as a group, have much less time available in the form of vacation hours the likelyhood is that other things take up our time.:D

[Guest Dakota]

What?!! You mean there are other places to fly in MSFS then the United States? Hmmmm, might have to try it sometime. ;-)

[MartijnPleines 0]

I think it was a mistake to run the stats over a 36 hour time period. It should have been a multiple of 24 hours, in this way (36 hrs) the results will be skewed because of timezone differences won't they?

[Paul Golding 92]

I mentioned the UK show being so much bigger with the UK (not Europe) only having 10% of the users the US has.Also, why do you think Americans get less vacation time?http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

[W2DR 1,862]

Why do American's get less vacation time? Simply because in America we have no government-mandated vacation periods. The average vacation allowed for an American worker is 16 days and an average of only 14 days is actually taken. Compare that with the European Community directive of a mandated four week vacation period and mandated local requirements by some EC countries, e.g. France, which are even longer. Given the short vacation/holiday time available, many of us in America will spend the time we have with our families and leave such things as the AVSIM conferences for another time. (You'll find what I think is an informative article here http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/researc...cationtime.html ).Doug

[LuisFelizTirado 33]

With so many Europeans in the Avsim forum system, then this definitely justifies adding an Airbus to the game. That is, of course, if the percentage of European forum members correlates to the number of titles sold in Europe. Now, that is a question!On the other hand, there are supposedly 55 forum members in the country where I live. Given its very small population, this may make us the largest representative sample of any country in the world, in terms of percentage of total population! So, maybe the FS Team should take that into account when putting together the next version. Forget a more detailed version of SeaTac and concentrate on the Caribbean, the world's largest FS user base!Or maybe this whole "web stat" business is somehow flawed, since I cannot for the life of me imagine that there are really 55 forum members here. Probably it is all me, just counted 55 different times!As for why we (all 55 of us) don't go to the Avsim conference, maybe Tom could hold the darn thing in some more interesting locale, like the beach in Anegada:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/135541.jpgHow about it, Tom? Isn't it time for something different?Best regards.Luis

[mgh 89]

It might have been better to run it over a multiple of 24 hours, but it's still interesting.BTW the "city" of Winnersh is listed with a single user. If it's the Winnersh in the UK it has a population of 6400!

[Farlis 2,323]

>The average vacation allowed for an American worker is 16 days and an average of only 14 days is actually taken.:-eek

[Guest Dakota]

>>The average vacation allowed for an American worker is 16>days and an average of only 14 days is actually taken.>>:-eek That's it, I am moving to Europe!!!!