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Guest fu3

A moment to reflect...

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Guest fu3

Dear All,I know this isn't exactly FU3/flight sim-related, but I would assume most here are aware of the spate of aircraft incidents recently.As a regular flier, student pilot and avid simmer, I am shocked at the sheer number of incidents, together with the vast number of people killed and injured, not to mention the suffering of their families and loved ones.Aug 25thQantas 737 suffered engine failure during approach - no injuries.Aug 24thPeruvian Boeing 737-200 - at least 70 out of 100 people killed.Aug 21Qantas A330 - Nine injured during evacuation after a false smoke alarm indicated smoke in the cargo hold.Aug 16West Caribbean Airways MD-82 - 160 killed.Aug 14Cypriot Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 - 121 killed.Aug 6Tunisian-chartered ATR - Killed 16 out of 39.Aug 2Air France Airbus A340 - Amzingly, nobody was killed.At least 2 of these involved weather problems (and, with all the telemetry available to controllers and crew, should never have happened). A couple involved engine failure (2 engine failures in the case of the MD-82) whilst system failures and pilot error accounted for the rest.I don't wish to point fingers, and in fact I applaud the efforts of the various rescuers and crew who prevented futher loss of life, but I couldn't help but feel that something's getting away from us. After all, 2 Qantas 'issues' in less than a week is unusual. Of course, in typical Qantas fashion, nobody was killed or aircraft lost however, both incidents could have been much worse had both aircraft not been close to a suitable runway (and 9 people WERE injured in Japan during evacuation).As the truth comes out in the ensuing weeks, we'll see exactly what COULD have been prevented but my belief for now is that there may have been undue pressure to maintain schedules, rather than provide for safety. This certainly appears to explain the Air France, Cypriot and Peruvian accidents. The Air France and Peruvian aircraft could have been diverted to a safer location whilst it appears that there were known problems with the Cypriot 737 that were not addressed before flight.The problem with these last 3 'schedule-related' crashes is that the pilot ALWAYS has the right to decide what's best and safest which then implies 'pilot error'. My instructors have always said that it doesn't matter what clearance you have, or what instructions the Tower gives you, ONLY THE PILOT can ensure safety and prevent accidents.Anyway, regardless of what us 'flier types' may believe, the most significant issue right now is the loss and suffering endured by those involved, their close friends and families. To those people, I extend my utmost respect and best wishes during this harrowing period.May we live and learn - to live another day.

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Jon,Do you have any idea when you will be able to send me the remaining models for SanFran 2005 ? I am looking for the following:-Berkeley PierThose two restaurants at Berkeley MarinaStanford Radio TelescopeVersions of the two tallest radio masts with THREE guy ropesAny bridges that have been completed ;-)Chris Low.


Christopher Low

UK2000 Beta Tester

FSBetaTesters3.png

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Guest R_Driscoll

I know what you mean. One thing about FU3 was it allowed a much more real environment, modelling ATC and many GA systems, so that procedures could be followed in the sim. But I must admit that I've been lazy at times in following them, and of course in real life that's fatal.One concern is that nowadays there is a lot more attention to safety, yet accidents still happen. I think its not enough even just to follow the book, it has to be written on the brain as well. Filling in a form can never be a replacement for common sense. For the pilots who do acrobatic shows, I am sure their safety standards are even higher than ordinary, but because they are pushing the envelope for the sake of entertainment, the risks are so much higher.So to everyone in the FU3 world, find the flags 'engine_mtbf' and 'electric_mtbf' in flt3.cfg, set them to a number that will cause occasional failures (I use '24' - i.e. an average of one failure per 24 hours of flying time), just to keep awareness of the real world and the need to carefully plan all flights.RobD.

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