>The average vacation allowed for an American worker is 16 days and an average of only 14 days is actually taken.> :-eekI second that :-eek..and people still get burnt out here :)So there are more European simmers than North American ones..not too surprising considering the population of Europe is much, much higher than that of North America. The thing with Europe is that we're spread out in so many different countries. You can't really make a "european" version of the sim, because then you'd need to make one version for germany, one for the netherlands, one for france, one for the czech republic, one for switzerland, one for sweden etc. :-lol But some ATC controllers with european accents, as well as some more european ATC terminology would be nice..and how long can they deny the existance of this Airbus thing? :-lolIt's funny that there's only 16 times more simmers from the US than Sweden, when you consider that the US has 32 times the population of Sweden ;)

Okay, first, had I known that our revealing of our readership locations would stir up suggestions for the MSFS team to cater more to the European part of our readership, I would have emphasized the Angolan, Fijian, Sri Lankian, etc etc numbers. Hopefully that would have skewed the discussion towards having Angolan, Fijian, etc. ATC voiices, Air Fiji, Air Pacific and Angolan Air aircraft included in the base release, and evened out the US + Europe centric view. So, shame on me.. No good deed goes unpunished... Sorry to my MSFS friends. :)Luis, I am all for your suggestion. I think we might be the only two at the convention, but what the heck, with beaches that great, you, me, an umbrella drink or three, and I won't care. :-lol Just be advised that that Paul Golding dude might well be tempted to attend, and that could throw us all off our stride. Now, if he brings his wife, then all would be good. She has a tendency to buy the rounds, which is always appreciated (I think she does so in some way to make up for Paul)... :)

LOL!!! Well somebody has to get the drinks in ;-) Funnily enough we were only talking about this yesterday; the fact that you and the other Tom (Main) seem to be a bit shy of getting a round in.That said, I think you did offer to balance the drink buying up in San Diego, it's just that the

You're ON! My budget for San Diego included shouting for you. You didn't show up, so Main got your share. Now its your turn! See you in D.C.! :) If LB shows up, he gets to shout for all of us!!! :-lol

OK, the average American gets less time off work. I take an average of 3 weeks (15 days). Buts lets not forget that Americans get a lot more days in Public holidays.Anyway, for Americans visiting FS shows, days off isn't the issue as their held at weekends. Even for those that need to fly, it doesn't require time off work does it? I went to the German show in October and worked a normal week. Got up at 4.30am on the Saturday, 45 minute drive to the airport, 60 minutes till boarding and a 50 minute flight and a 5 minute walk to the exhibition hall - arriving 15 minutes before it opened.OK, I woke up in a hotel with a hangover (I recall that happened in Denver too, it's no my fault though :-) ), got a lift to the airport and was home in time for Sunday lunch.My main point above was wondering why Americans don't seem to bother with this kind of thing, and it really doesn't have anything to do with vacation time. ALso, more often than not, the travel costs are more than covered with the amount of freebies you pick up:-)http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

Might of known Tom Main would be getting my share!As for LB, well you never know.........he did spring for dinner for me in NYC a couple of years ago, and at a nice restaurant at that :-)Mind you, that cost me $30 in a cab just to cross the GW bridge.........seems cab drivers the world over are all the same :-(EDIT: Of course you can always give me a shout next time you're in the UK ;-)http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

"LB" is too busy going to real aviation events, such AOPA expo. He also has to fly around photographing aircraft, such as a recent trip to South Carolina. He also has to fly his real plane, which certainly comes in handy when it comes to flight simulation, and having folks try to tell you what "reality" is.There was another FS business trip I also took recently, wasn't there? That was the one that resulted in the DF / Flight Scenery partnership. :-coolLast time I checked Paul, it was I who hosted the DF team at London's Savoy hotel. That was a very nice day we had in the Savoy's "Drawing Room", wasn't it? That guest room Tom Main and I had was costing me $400 a night. Of course, Tom was too lazy to use the "loo" up in the room whilst we were meeting, and ended up tipping the attendant about $5 every time he went to the nearby mens room, because he did not have small change on him! :-lolYou have nothing to complain about, Paul, and you are welcome to go to all the FS events that you want to. I'll cover the other base and go to some of the real aviation ones! It's a tough job, but I'll take it upon myself to do it. ;-)All in good fun, my friend. :DRegards,http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...R_FORUM_LOU.jpg

>Buts lets not forget that Americans get a lot more days in Public >holidays.Some do. ;) I get two. Well, not even two as we are normally open at least 8 hours on Christmas Day. So Thanksgiving Day is pretty much my only guaranteed day off. Other then that, I don't get a single public holiday off.Just throwing something into the discussion.

>OK, I woke up in a hotel with a hangover (I recall that>happened in Denver too, it's no my fault though :-) )No one's blaming you, Paul. I would be willing to bet it was the alcohol that did it! :-lolhttp://home.earthlink.net/~dawgfighter/sit...es/swvasig1.gif-Jeremy BurchSWVA4806 http://www.virtualswa.com/home.phpThe Ozark Dogfighter http://forums.avsim.net/images/wedge.gifHappy Flying!

>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.Yeah - but that is also in a country which invented "train-spotting"!! :)Barry