Man...I thought you had fallen off the planet!Cheers,bt

Tom's reiteration at the beginning of this thread pretty much sums up the basic reason I came here around 8 months ago from another well-known forum. Unlike other forums, I have always felt completely at ease here knowing that I can express my views within reason without being abused, belittled, contradicated when stating undisputible facts, or shot down in flames. I also have the confidence that I can engage in any forum here and be welcomed without having to have the cringe button armed and ready. I came into flight simming via a somewhat round-about way 3 years ago and I guess it has become a much larger part of my life than I could have imagined possible back then. If it weren't for this place, I think at least 50% of the fun would go out of it. Probably a lot more. My only misgiving is that living in New South Wales, Australia, I suffer a little from remoteness in comparison to many Avsim users and staff. It would be really nice to meet up with some users I have known quite a while and all the Avsim staff personally (I hope one day to have a short holiday in the US and maybe the UK). Oh well. Maybe one day...