It's been a long time since my stint as a mod here (glad those days are over, I only did a fair job and I stressed out too much).  I miss Tom greatly but also have to recognize and commend the Avsim staff for keeping the site going in his memory.  I weighed in heavily on posts here when deciding to purchase a new system and purchase XP11 and P3dv4.

I had to make sure I would get the right system and not be disappointed with performance, which requires a lot of study in order to purchase something at a reasonable cost.  But there are members here whose word I take as gospel, if they say it works, I know it will work.

The forums serve a great purpose.  Interested in a new aircraft or scenery?  Someone is sure to review it for you and post images of the results.  It helps in deciding whether an add-on is the right fit or not.

And the file library is a great archive.  After my last system crashed I was able to go into the library and get my ultralight trike and Colorado photoreal scenery where they are safely stored.  Two of my favorite Flightsim projects.

I haven't said thank you in a long time, just wanted to let the staff know how much I appreciate this site.  I think without it, our hobby might have died as developers might have thought lack of interest. 

John

Hi John,

Thanks for your kind comments about AVSIM and all of the various features we have here for our members and guests.  There's a lot to do and see here and I'm always extremely impressed with the quality of the AVSIM Reviews.  I know they are used by many in making decisions on purchases, not only by our membership but by the Flight Simulation Community.  Lots of things to do and see here!

Best regards,

Jim

8 minutes ago, Jim Young said:

Hi John,

Thanks for your kind comments about AVSIM and all of the various features we have here for our members and guests.  There's a lot to do and see here and I'm always extremely impressed with the quality of the AVSIM Reviews.  I know they are used by many in making decisions on purchases, not only by our membership but by the Flight Simulation Community.  Lots of things to do and see here!

Best regards,

Jim

Thanks Jim

I guess I have to ask, how do you do it?  It takes resources to keep a website running yet it's a free gift to the community.  I donated once when your servers crashed years ago as many members did, but that was a drop in the bucket.

I used to run a website for my hotel company some years ago and it was a big infrastructure.  We had server rooms and content developers with high security in and out.  Now I am partially retired due to disability, I only help my former colleagues when they ask me how I would code something for the hospitality industry.  That's very rare and I've forgotten much of what I used to know, being out of practice.  But I help flowchart my former colleagues from a business standpoint.

John

May I please add my hearty agreement with everything said above.

It is easier to criticise instead of being constructive, blame instead of building and taking credit instead of praising others. AVSIM is a good thing, doing good work and run by good people.

+1.  Harder than I think we imagine.

1 hour ago, Cactus521 said:

I guess I have to ask, how do you do it?  It takes resources to keep a website running yet it's a free gift to the community. 

AVSIM has a great team of Moderator's and Staff.  Tom set that all up before he departed.  His legacy continues...  I just hope members understand it is a difficult job running a website and especially the forums as the forums gets the most visibility.  A mistake in the Reviews or on the AVSIM Front Page gets less visibility.  Without Chase managing the duties once held by Tom and Chuck running the front page, and our Library Team, AVSIM would no longer be here.  Oh!  Forgot Brian, our tech who keeps the site up and running and upgrading the hardware.  I think AVSIM will be around for a long time and some of our current membership may one day be in my position or another staff position and making it happen.

Best regards,

Jim

Bravo to Avsim, my go-to resource. Thanks much guys.  Hard to imagine flight sim without you.

Jay

What a nice sentiment. Thank you John for voicing it. 

I agree.  I really appreciate having Avsim available as a resource to keep me up to date on the hobby.  I check it every day.

 

Bob

Agreed, when other FS Forums were adopting various policies and TOS etc Tom was the guy who his response was 'Good Grief' to some of the other stuff going on out there. Even though AVSIM still has rules as you will never get away from that entirely it has become a place where developers and users can grow this hobby together where other forums were making attempts at limiting things you could discuss due to sales goals, etc. The Unofficial Forums became a place were members banned from other forums could find a place to discuss things that other forums prevented people discussing and we have Tom to thank for that. 

I keep coming back because it is still just as great as when Tom was laying out his vision for this, and it is the many people on here that keep it that way both Mods and Members. It is 2017 now and we are still at it....Bravo 

+100

The AVSIM forum is the only flightsim forum I visit daily. Well, actually, which I visit multiple times a day. I sometimes visit specific addon developer sites for a while but the AVSIM forum is my home base. In fact, it's the only 'general flightsim forum' I visit. AVSIM seems to get a lot of flak (if that is the right word) but just as everyone above posted I also think the people over here are doing a superb job!