Tsunami Relief Flight

[mtan002 0]

Touched by the massive disaster that swept through Idonesia, Thailand and Sri Langka, I loaded my virtual 747-400 wth tons of clean water and nutritious food and took off from Butterworth, opposite the beautiful Penang island(which was also hit despite being partial protected by Sumatra; but to much lesser scale) and headed for Bandar Acheh which is probably the closest point to the villages unmercifully destroyed by the tidal waves. I landed OK. I only hope the villagers have real food and water from the relief teams that are working there. Spare a thought for this massive suffering. M TanCanberra

[Guest allcott]

While it's a gesture, a more effective gesture surely would be to donate something to the relief effort. There's a time and place for everything, and a `virtual relief` flight would not appear to be appropriate given the scale of the tragedy. Your making personal entertainment out of such a disaster is morally worrying, although I don't doubt your motives were good-intentioned.Sorry, but that's the way I feel.Allcott

[Guest shanwick]

>While it's a gesture, a more effective gesture surely would>be to donate something to the relief effort. There's a time>and place for everything, and a `virtual relief` flight would>not appear to be appropriate given the scale of the tragedy.>Your making personal entertainment out of such a disaster is>morally worrying, although I don't doubt your motives were>good-intentioned.>>Sorry, but that's the way I feel.>>>AllcottI agree completely. The sheer scale of this disaster is beyond imagination. Although it was probably well-intentioned a virtual relief flight is, IMHO, in very bad taste.David

[Guest Agamemnon]

AllcottI think you have badly misread the post as I am sure that during his flight this tragidy was weighing on his mind.Tan The only thing I see wrong with your post is that you carried water.Water treatment equipment would have been a better choice for your lift.I have to tell you that watching news coverage of this event is really heart rending and I do hope that the world responds to that area`s needs in force.Troy

[Dillon 2,197]

Allcot I just want to say I agree with you about this issue. An FS fly in is hardly appropriate considering where talking about well over 100,000 dead...Troy I agree with you on the hope that the world responds but what bothers me is what are all those companies that have American jobs outsourced doing for these people??? Companies like Dell and Microsoft are making millions in lower paying jobs. How much are these companies giving back to India . Why should the American Red Cross and the American economy be further drained when corporations like Procter & Gamble and IBM can step in and help out in a major way....http://www.gnp.org/india.htmNASSCOM: "The US will outsource 6 million high tech jobs to India by 2005"So if I'm reading this correctly 6 million US $50-$80,000 a year jobs which in India most likely pay $10-$15,000 has made huge savings for companies in this area of the world (now this is just IT jobs, this figure is not counting the countless other jobs that's been moved to this region). These companies collectively can more than provide the needed relief for these people with the profit margin they've made in just a year's time frame.Don't get me wrong I feel bad for the people in India and the other countries affected by this disaster, I feel these countries need as much help as they can get. But to ask countries like England, France, the US, and countless other government and/or organizations (which already having internal economic problems due to war and other issues) yet have no mention of these rich dynasties is wrong.Every company that has a vested interest in this region of the world should at this most dire time be the main one's helping get these people back on their feet... :-hmmm

[Guest simoni]

I have lost a close family member in this tradgedy - in Thailand to be exact.I therefore beg of everyone not to discuss this issue so flippantly - it is certainly not the place of a Flight Sim "Relief Flight".Thank you

[Dillon 2,197]

Simoni I surely hope your not getting a disrespectful levity or casualness in the tone of my post. I feel very bad for the people in this region especially knowing places like California could face the same fate. I just hope people that can really make a difference financially step up to the plate. Sure many of us here can afford to donate $50 to $100 but how far will that go in the scheme of things.I hope the whole issue of hording money is put aside for once to lend a financial hand in helping get this region back on it's feet. I'm sorry to here about your lose but it only helps everyone involved if people speak out and let the world know what's really going here if the proper help is not received.It's not O.K. for any foreign institution to come into a region and exploit the work force in sweat shops for profit but stand and do nothing when a crisis of this magnitude hit's the region. It's bad enough that many lives were destroyed by outsourcing in the home country (USA) but to stand and watch in the face of a disaster while people with less financial means are doing everything they can is evil. To me this is not discussing an issue 'flippantly'. People need to open their eyes and not get blinded my the sorrow in general but see who is really helping and giving back. If my country is helping your business make billions the least you could do is help my family in a time of grave need... :-hmmm

[Sonar5 3]

How one person Grieves is certainly their choice.If you read the first post again, the author does say he was touched by this and encourages others to give thought to the disaster.If this is how one particular person chooses to grieve, I certainly have no problem with it.One of those to each his own scenarios.I suggest you all read his post again, and find the Good Things in it and perhaps focus on those.I found it very solemn.You may consider it entertainment, but maybe his thoughts and prayers were made during that flight.As for it being morally worrying, well that is your opinion, but I disagree and I think it was done in good taste. It's not like he in the posted this in the screenshots forum, it is hangar chat, and if this is the way he wants to express himself, so be it, IMHORegards,Joe****************Grab My FREEWARE Cessna 172 Voice recognition Profile here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna 172 Voice Profile[/a].You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to use it, get it here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight Assistant 2.2[/a]

[Dillon 2,197]

I re-read the original post Joe and I have to agree with you. This is his way of expressing his sorrow....

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Dillon, before you walk too far down this path, I suggest you read this:http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/30/news/fortu...dex.htm?cnn=yesAnd understand that there are many others that are not getting (or want) the attention that these are getting.

[jagabom 21]

I think M Tan's flight is in excellent taste. Well done.JimCYWG

[Dillon 2,197]

Thanks for the link Tom... Looking at the amount that's listed for the various companies donation to the Red Cross is interesting...Intel -- $100,000 (:-hmmm )Time-Warner -- $500,000 (aren't these guys one of the biggest corporations in the world)...AOL -- $200,000 Bank One -- $1,000,000Bristol-Myers Squibb -- $1,000,000Citigroup Inc. -- $3,000,000Exxon-Mobil -- $5,000,000First Data Western Union -- $1,000,000GE -- $1,000,000Hitachi Ltd. -- $200,000 (maybe their having a bad year)Merck -- $250,000Merrill Lynch -- $1,000,000It's good that these Corporations are giving something and no one can complain about something given. My point above still holds weight when you look at the money being made in India (Intel for sure) and the amount of the donation given when a crises is at had...

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

As I said, there are many companies (mine being one of them) that are contributing without the desire to be noticed or reported about. You have no idea that some of those companies that I am sure you are referring to (HP and DELL come to mind), are indeed contributing or not. From my perspective, any company that has involvement in India, Malaysia , Thailand, Sri Lanka, etc., would be extremely stupid not to invest some of their discretionary disaster funds in those countries. No responsible corporate citizen would do otherwise.

[Dillon 2,197]

You're right Tom I don't know who all is donating and it would be foolish for those guys not to... Although some of these guys seem to be giving the bare minimum (barley qualifying for a tax right off)... I'm just glad to hear Avsim is pitching in, for the record I'm donating as well...I'll just say this, if your Intel or Time-Warner and your only going to give $100,000 to the Red Cross for something like this. Don't go tell CNN Money. It doesn't look good for a Muli-Billion dollar company with interest in the very place the disaster had occurred...

[oqvist 11]

I can