Bearracing

Mike,Everything I would want to say here as already been said, but I would add that I for one have throughly enjoyed your aircraft and I am going to miss your almost weekly uploads. There comes a time when it is probably a good idea to get away for a bit of a rest, especially considering what you said "...its just not fun anymore!".I will sorely miss your work, but hopefully some day you'll find that fun factor again, as there are a lot of people here at AVSIM and in the forums that really have enjoyed your work and the fact that you've been kind enough to share your work with all of us (as freeware) has been greatly appreciated by the vast majority. Thanks Mike for all you've done for the community! Hopefully you won't stay a stranger to our forums here.http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d6b2d9e068c7d40.jpg

Mike,As a person that has, at times, received a great deal of negative email for one reason or another, just let me comment that for every negative posting or email you receive, there are easily a hundred or more individuals that feel just the opposite, me for one. Your aircraft designs are really terrific and I know absolutely that there are litterly thousands of individuals that have been impressed and greatly entertained with and from your work. I wouldn't put to much to those that complain about this detail or that detail, because there simply are some individuals that will complain about anything rather than look at the good side of it. Those same people would probably complain about winning the California Lottery, right after they discovered that they personally had to go to Sacramento to pick up their newly won millions, go figure!Considering that you have been releasing one outstanding aircraft after another for some time now, its no wonder you want to take some time away, I feel the same about my monthly feature (Bear's Picks), because downloading (I'm stuck with a 56K modem), installing, testing, and evaluating 100s of files each and every month also gets a bit tedious at times and I haven't had the chance to catch my breath for nearly 2 years now. Some day I would like to get serious and do some flying (simming) for myself, but as long as I have those monthly picks to do, that possibility is highly unlikely.Bear!

I agree with Lou here, as I can't think of any hobby or activity that can be experienced for any less money or investment than flight simming! Using Dreamfleet's 737 as an example, you can buy it for roughly $30US and its going to be about as close to the real-thing as anyone could hope for, but what would it cost to rent the real thing? United Airlines will sell you simulator time (about $500 for 4 hours I believe is the current cost) at their flight training center in Denver and I do know that Southwest will rent you time in one of their 737s (a friend of mine got his type rating renting a Southwest 737 for a flight from Seattle to Salt Lake City last year and his cost of that flight was about $15,000, if my memory serves).I've also found that most aircraft and such that worked in FS2000 can also be upgraded to work in FS2002, though it is my understanding that this may not be the case with FS2004, but what ever costs I've incurred buying and upgrading files or aircraft for FS, those costs have been quite incidental as compared to some other activities I've been involved with (like golfing for example). Even considering the cost of a new computer, you're looking at about the same as the cost for a good set of golf clubs, but the green fees will equal the cost of FS2002Pro every time you go to your local course!I simply don't think there is any other hobby or activity out there that can compare to the very low entry cost versus the many hours of enjoyment you can have with Flight Simulator.Bear!

Heather,You and the DDG are to be congratulated on one of the most original and delightful uploads in recent memory! I litterly danced and giggled like a 12 year old with your version 2 Grumman Duck (believe me, at 52 years old its not very often I run across anything that makes me act that way!). Your Duck is absolutely wonderful!I'm not going to wait for my Bear Picks for the month of August to give you this, as I can't think of anyone more deserving of my highest award than you and the DDG, thank you all for sharing this outstanding FS aircraft with us!http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d690f5203db3865.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d690f6604383c00.jpg

"Thanks a lot for this hint. The Raytheon spec sheet as well as the FS2002 aircraft manual or Werner Schott's checklist (manbb58.zip) don't say anything about mixture settings. Does leaning only depend on the altitute? Does anybody know a specification or a rule of thumb how to generally handle the mixture on the Baron 58?many thanks, Thomas." Thomas,Gasoline has a specific air/fuel mixture ratio of about 14.5 to 1 for the efficient operation of an engine. This means that you want 14.5 lbs of air for every 1 lb of gasoline. As the density altitude increases a given volume of air has less mass (the weight is lower for a specific volume). This means that you MUST reduce the weight of the fuel you allow in to match the reduced mass of the air.If you create an oxygen starved condition (too rich) you will note a loss of engine rpm, so by slowly leaning the mixture (pulling the mixture knob out) you should notice an increase in engine rpm (without changing your throttle settings). If you go too far (too lean) the combustion chamber environment because oxygen rich and once again your engine rpm will fall off and eventually the engine will quit, once you've gone too lean.So the rule of thumb is to slowly lean the mixture for maximum gain in rpm. Rather crude, but effective.The modern automobile has an on-board computer with a rather complex fuel mixture mapping program that handles all of this automatically, and these systems have proven to be very reliable and exceedingly efficient, but these fuel management computers haven't caught on in aviation yet, which is kind of surprising to me!All of us pilots that fly here on the west coast (I live in Reno, NV) must be very aware of the difference between actual altitude and density altitude and knowing the difference can and will save your life, period. Having sufficient lift and for efficient engine operation, you must be aware of your density altitude at all times!Bear!

The problem is that there are so many excellent files worthy of download, it is all but impossible to even attempt to give you a list without first you stating some parameters. Your preferred type of flying (jet or prop airliners, General Aviation, bush or backwoods flying, military combat aircraft or heavy transport, lighter than air, vintage, helicopters, etc.) then one needs to know what areas of the world do you most enjoy flying in (Western Europe, North America, Asia, Pacific, Caribbean, etc.). Only then can we begin to give you some idea where to start! Not only has the number of available downloadable files been quite high, as compared to what was available for FS2000, the quality of files has been quite extraordinary as well!Bear!

Heather,Dispite the few minor problems, I just love your Ducks, outstanding! Next weekend I would suggest you check out my "Bear Cave" and see what I really think from my Bear Picks for the month of July!http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d4380a935c44c71.jpg

Just announced on the news is the apparent crash of a Su-27 into the viewing crowd at an Air Show near Livi, Ukraine today. Early statements by officals have said that dozens on the ground were killed and many more dozens injured. Both pilots of the Su-27 ejected safely. My most heartfelt condolences to those families effected by this tragedy.Steve Cartwright

Apparently you have some other issues, because as you can see, my aircraft folder in FS2002 is getting pretty full, but my FS Edit and AI aircraft are both working fine with my sim.Bear!http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d42f1a45aa6583b.jpg

Jaap,Back a few months ago, when I was attempting to set the ED3D glasses up, I tried just about everything and I did get some assistance from others here in this forum at that time, but nothing seem to work. The 3D effect worked, like I stated above, when I viewed some of the still 3D photographs (demo) at eDimension's website, but I could never get the effect to work in any of my sims (CFS2, FS2000, and FS2002). I have two completely independent systems for running my flight sims (a custom built system with a AMD 1.2Ghz, 512mb ram, and GeForce2 and a Compaq AMD 1.3Ghz, 256mb ram, GeForce2 MMX) and I could not get the ED3D glasses to work on either system!I also heard that the individual (AVSIM Online) that was testing them for reviewing purposes also had and continues to have similar problems that I had. My only real compliant is that I kept trying to get them to work for too long a period and when I finally had had enough, it was too late to return them (30 days of purchase), so I am stuck with a $150 pair of 3D glasses that are all but useless. I know that there are some that claim they work great, but frankly I don't believe them and I believe those individuals just claim they work to cover their own foolishness for having spent that kind of money for something that is nothing more than a gimmick. Back in the 1950s, I spent $.49 for a pair of X-Ray glasses by mail-order from one of the comic books I was reading, they didn't work either!Bear!

Pat,I always find it interesting to read about others and their response to the ED3D glasses. I purchased them about a year ago (bought them with two sets of wireless glasses), but to date I have never been able to get them to work whatsoever (with exception to viewing the 3D still photos at eDimension's website). My responses from ED with my requests for assistance have been somewhere between poor and non-exsistant. There was no manual concerning setting them up of any kind, other than a 4 page installation booklet, so any kind of assistance from them would have been appreciated, but to date nothing. To be totally fair, I haven't messed around with them for many months now, after I spent an entire weekend attempting to get them to function with my system, which ended in my having wasted over 20 hours to no avail! The cost to me for the glasses was $149.00 So, my opinion of these glasses is not very good and I just don't understand how they work or if they add anything to the experience of flight simming, as they certainly did not for me!Bear

Aidan,Using LAGO's FSSE and a RARA (Reno Air Racing Assoc.) course blueprint, I was able to place the plyons within 1 or 2 meters of their actual positions in FS2002. I could upload this file into the AVSIM Library, but it requires that you have LAGO's FSSE scenery enhancer program installed to view it.I do not own nor have I used any of the scenery designer programs so I don't have clue as to how to design a scenery package for the race course at Reno that everyone could use! Bear!http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3cf27f683a8568bc.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3cf27f7a3ad71c6f.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3cf280493d896eae.jpg

When writing, it is a common thing to change the syntex of a sentence to provide a different meaning or to develop a better flow with each sentence as it is inserted into a paragraph, unfortunately, it is also very difficult to easily observe your own error. In this specific example, my editor also missed this obvious error and I have no way of correcting it, once it has been posted. I probably (in this example) had originally typed something like "I found these aircraft to be....", I then intended to write "I did find these aircraft to be...", but failed to change the word found to find or it could have been the reverse. Bear!

Did some further research on Alcock and Brown and this is what I found at Encarta Online:(I should also comment that my statements in response above were based on the Curtis flight, which took 3 weeks, and obviously not on the Alcock & Brown flight. I still stand behind my original comments in my Bear Picks though, because the route used by Alcock & Brown was barely half the distance flown by Charles Lindbergh and their trip ended by their crashing in Ireland. I sure don't wish to belittle the accomplishment of Alcock & Brown, particuarly considering the type of aircraft they were using and the early date they did it, but Charles Lindbergh flew between two major cities, New York and Paris, and his aircraft could just as easily have been refueled and in all likelihood would have completed a return trip! If anyone is asked today, Who flew across the Atlantic first?, the answer would invaribly be "Charles Lindbergh"!)Alcock, Sir John William (1892-1919), British aviator, the pilot of the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Alcock was born in Manchester, England. During World War I (1914-1918) he served as a pilot in Britain's Royal Naval Air Service. He was captured by the Ottomans when his plane was shot down after a bombing raid on Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) but he managed to escape.After the war, Alcock became a test pilot for the Vickers Aircraft Company. Just before the outbreak of the World War I, the London Daily Mail newspaper had offered a prize of 10,000 pounds ($46,000) to the crew of the first airplane to fly nonstop across the Atlantic. The war prevented pursuit of the prize, but immediately after the war many aircraft manufacturers took up the race in earnest.The first flight across the Atlantic was made in May 1919 in the NC-4, the fourth of a series of amphibious airplanes designed by the United States Navy and built by the Curtiss Aircraft Company. With the support of more than 200 U.S. Navy ships strung out in a line along the intended route, three NC-series planes left from Long Island, New York, bound for Plymouth, England, via the Azores Islands. Although all three planes made it to the Azores, only one was fit to continue the trip. It taxied into Plymouth Harbor three weeks after it left New York.Two weeks after the Curtiss flight, Alcock and fellow British aviator Arthur Whitten Brown launched their attempt at a nonstop crossing. Choosing a shorter, more northerly route than the Curtiss crew had taken, the two took off from St. John's, Newfoundland, on June 14, 1919, in a Vickers Vimy, a converted World War I bomber. Alcock served as pilot and Brown as navigator. They crash-landed the next day in a bog near Clifden, Ireland, after traveling 3140 km (1950 mi) in only 16 hours 27 minutes. At one point during the flight, Alcock took the plane up to 3700 m (12,000 ft) to clear a bank of fog and regain a view of the stars. Reentering the fog, he became disoriented. When the plane broke out of the clouds, it was only 15 m (50 ft) above the ocean. At other times during the flight, Alcock and Brown took turns climbing out on the wings to chip away the ice that threatened to end their flight prematurely.Soon after their historic feat, Alcock and Brown were knighted by English king George V and presented with the London Daily Mail's prize. Six months after his famous flight, Alcock died when a plane he was flying crashed on the Normandy (Normandie) coast in bad weather.Bear!

While it is true that the "First" to cross the Atlantic in an aircraft were the team of Alcock and Brown, it has generally been accepted that it was Charles Lindbergh that did it in a fashion that truly demonstrated the future possibilities of aviation. As an example, it is generally accepted that Chris Columbus discovered America, but in fact it was the Norweigen Vikings that had sailed here many many years before. There are even some corners of study that have concluded the possibility that the Egyptians may too have completed sailing journey's to the new world as early as 1,100 BC. The Vikings accomplished their journey by hop skipping their way from Iceland, Greenland, and then finally down the Canadian eastern seaboard. Alcock & Brown (using a seaplane) managed to make it eventually to the United States, but only after several stops and several days and in a fashion not too different than the Vikings of ages before.The faster Cruise ships of that time period (1919) could and were completing the journey from England to New York in less time than what Alcock & Brown required. Now, you can say that technicially, Alcock & Brown were the first, but it was Lindbergh that was first to do it where it proved the value of aviation and set the pace for the future.Steve (Bear) Cartwright

The Pro version, besides the additional aircraft, also includes a few tools (specifically GMAX) that are quite useful, if you're into rendering your own aircraft that is. I can't imagine why a VA would require the Pro version, unless maybe they are using aircraft that require some of the gauges that are included with aircraft that are only in the Pro version?Bear!