A friend of mine has an 13yo son, who has just got one of the new xbox's and bought himself MSFS.

Now he can't stop playing with it.  It's fair to say he wouldn't have been able to get into flight simming in any other meaningful way at the price point he has managed to, and it's ignited a love of flying, even if the virtual flying he's doing isn't anywhere near procedurally correct or aerodynamically advisable!

Hopefully he'll graduate to some more mature piloting skills in time, but it's good to see young people being inspired afresh.

It started for me in the 80's on a friends dad's computer, with wireframe graphics and a simple joystick. Even though I didn't get a chance to repeat that experience for years it got me hooked although I did not know it at the time.

49 minutes ago, kevinfirth said:

A friend of mine has an 13yo son, who has just got one of the new xbox's and bought himself MSFS.

Now he can't stop playing with it.  It's fair to say he wouldn't have been able to get into flight simming in any other meaningful way at the price point he has managed to, and it's ignited a love of flying, even if the virtual flying he's doing isn't anywhere near procedurally correct or aerodynamically advisable!

Hopefully he'll graduate to some more mature piloting skills in time, but it's good to see young people being inspired afresh.

And I have been saying that all along. What would be the chances that same kid bump into P3D?Considering that MSFS will soon be available on every smartphone as well via the cloud, I am sure that many more youngsters will get access to it and that is just great!

9 minutes ago, orchestra_nl said:

It started for me in the 80's on a friends dad's computer, with wireframe graphics and a simple joystick. Even though I didn't get a chance to repeat that experience for years it got me hooked although I did not know it at the time.

I first saw subLOGIC on an Apple II in my grade school cafeteria.

I later went on to become a commercial pilot, thanks to the inspiration from that and the Microsoft Flight Simulator versions that followed it.

Edited September 16, 20214 yr by Gulfstream

10 minutes ago, GCBraun said:

And I have been saying that all along. What would be the chances that same kid bump into P3D?Considering that MSFS will soon be available on every smartphone as well via the cloud, I am sure that many more youngsters will get access to it and that is just great!

MSFS on smartphones, where did you hear that? 

1 hour ago, kevinfirth said:

A friend of mine has an 13yo son, who has just got one of the new xbox's and bought himself MSFS.

Now he can't stop playing with it.  It's fair to say he wouldn't have been able to get into flight simming in any other meaningful way at the price point he has managed to, and it's ignited a love of flying, even if the virtual flying he's doing isn't anywhere near procedurally correct or aerodynamically advisable!

Hopefully he'll graduate to some more mature piloting skills in time, but it's good to see young people being inspired afresh.

For me it took my parents investing in a Commodore 64 which at the time was probably far more expensive than a console today and it came with an awesome green screen CRT monitor too 🙂  Oh how far we have come.  Simply awesome.  

13 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

MSFS on smartphones, where did you hear that? 

Via Xcloud. It will come sooner or later as almost all game pass titles are available there.

1 hour ago, Bobsk8 said:

MSFS on smartphones, where did you hear that? 

On his smartphone.

My grandfather got me hooked on flight when I was just a kid.  I can still remember the feeling,  and I don't ever want to forget it.   So happy for your friend's son.

I can still remember trying to make cockpits out of cardboard boxes,  special times.   

When I turned 7 I remember him taking me to D.C. just to visit the National Aerospace Museum.  I was hooked before we got in the door. 

He was a pilot himself,  and when I was 8 he took me to the release of "the Great Waldo Pepper".    That day I fell in love with the golden age of aviation,  and began to understand it's meaning.

The best part of your story,  is that he bought it himself.  I'm glad to see a young person take the first steps.

 

 

There was a time that you could find FS in chain stores like Office Depot. On the rack with word processors and spreadsheets. I guess MSFS was considered a worthy adult game instead of a lark (because it was the only 'game' in the store).

Heck, I'm 52, been virtual flying since I was 13 (subLogic FS2 on a Commodore 64) and my virtual flying still isn't anywhere near procedurally correct or aerodynamically advisable!  Hehehe...  Seriously though, MSFS is the first sim I've actually started to learn procedures and 'proper' flying.  Kudos to him for hopping in and actually enjoying flying (instead of just focusing on Minecraft, Pokemon or whatever the kids are playing today).  

9 hours ago, psolk said:

with an awesome green screen CRT monitor

Started early 90ies on an IBM compatible something I forgot with those fluffy floppy disks and an amber screen CRT monitor. That was FS4 back then 

I think I was around 10 when I got a copy of MSFS from a friend back in the early 80ties for my C64. Next to the disk I even copied the manual, never done that before in my life. But the investment in this manual was well justified This was not a game, it was a Simulator! It took literally years to tune a VOR. And when I first managed to hear the VHF signal and follow the needle I knew was a true pilot…

Edited September 16, 20214 yr by urthgental

7 minutes ago, DAD said:

Started early 90ies on an IBM compatible something I forgot with those fluffy floppy disks and an amber screen CRT monitor. That was FS4 back then 

Another FS4-Starter. I still have the box with the disks on my shelf (and all FSxx versions since).

I even had addons for it. Aerosoft (yes, they were around at this time already) had a 7-part package of Germany scenery extensions.

Kind regards, Michael

It's way better than the chemistry kits we had to play with.

bs