simfan37

LOL! I don't think there was ever really any love lost between Ronnie Van Zant and Neil, that's for sure! Although I did read something (more scanned over it) while fact checking that little blurb I wrote, and if the article is to be believed, Neil Young actually served as a pallbearer at Ronnie's funeral. Depending on the side you look at it, it was either the ultimate in "Getting the last word in." OR a very classy and respectful way of letting bygones be bygones. OR BOTH...And yes, I couldn't agree more, tremendous talents, every last one. I still listen as well! I like to think I have now heard every last thing they did, ALL the legendary "Muscel Shoals Sessions" (I don't live but about an hour away from that historic studio, and have been by there, just to say I have). SO many GOOD musicians from that era though, I sometimes feel (especially when listening to the radio today) that REAL Rock & Roll died with the likes of Ronnie, Jimi, Janis, and the list truly goes on...What tragic, senseless wastes of immeasurable talent. Thanks for reading my little "In memory"! Take care, and see ya 'round the ranch, Robert Almost ALL of them do. I forget whom, but somebody from 'back in the day' making the statement about how they'd much rather "burn out than fade away." It is SO often said we are ALL here for a reason. Perhaps it boils down to they just fulfilled their goals or 'mission' or what have you. They leave their mark on history, make a HUGE impact on their industry, and then what? Another interesting fact I read, was that Aerosmith was preparing for a tour in the Summer of '78, and in preperation, had looked at this very same Convair! The article was also very quick to mention that Aerosmith's chief of flight operations, AND their head of security had BOTH said "Absolutely not, no way, never! NOT. Gonna. Happen." Although what I read wasn't very specific on just why both those guys were so quick and certain with bringing an end to the Convair talk once and for all. I'm going to look into that more and find out what those guys saw that obviously the Skynyrd management people didn't clue into. Take care, and see ya 'round the ranch! Robert

Today, October 20th, marks a particularly dark day in the worlds of Music AND Aviation... 36 years ago today, the chartered Convair CV-240 with "Southern Rock" super group Lynard Skynyrd on board, crashed in a swampy marsh area near Jackson, Ms. while attempting an emergency landing after the aircraft declaired a "Low fuel situation". The exact origins of the problems, and indeed, ultimate causal factor of the crash, can be found here: http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR78-06.pdf Killed in the crash, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines (older sister of Steve), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray were all killed on impact.Guitarist Allen Collins suffered two cracked vertebrae in his neck, and both Collins and bassist Leon Wilkeson nearly had arms amputated as a result of crash injuries. Wilkeson suffered severe internal injuries, including a punctured lung. Drummer Artimus Pyle, the only band member who was ambulatory, crawled out of the plane wreckage with several broken ribs, and hiked some distance from the crash site through swampy woods with road crew members Kenneth Peden, Jr. and Marc Frank. The three injured men finally flagged down farmer Johnny Mote, who had come to investigate. Varying accounts have Mote either firing a warning shot into the air (believing the bedraggled men to be escapees from a nearby penitentiary) or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder — no report is completely reliable. Pyle claimed in a February 2007 appearance on Howard Stern's Sirius radio program that Mote had shot him; Mote has always denied shooting the drummer. In 1996, Pyle called Mote to thank him for his help after the plane crash. As to the flightcrew of this aircraft, I'm certain each and every one of my fellow 'real world' pilots reading this, no matter if you're a 3 hour student pilot, or an 18,000 hour, ATP rated Captain, at some point, have the "But for the grace of God, there go I." moments each and every time you read one of these crash reports. Of all the questions and uncertainties surrounding this event, IMHO, one thing is not questionable at all. It was a tragic, FAR too early end to life for extremely talented, brilliant musicians who's futures contained nothing but the brightest of promises, and endless possibility. When you have a spare 12 minutes, do yourself a favor, if so inclined, have a good look & listen as they play (to perfection) arguably one of the most well known and universally liked songs from their catalog, and IMHO the VERY best rendition of "FreeBird" you have ever heard, or they ever played, a mere three months before their most untimely and tragic departure, here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odA8mKyT_Zw Rest their souls. Hope I didn't bum you all out too much, but we shouldn't forget these events, people, times, places and things. Just doing my part to keep memories alive. May your logbooks always contain the proper ratio of takeoffs to landings, Robert

Thank you Nathan, I couldn't begin to guess the last time I even logged onto facebook was. Besides, push the stick forward, the houses get bigger, pull the stack back the houses get smaller. That should get me through the weekend... :lol: Cheers! Robert

Hi All! Yeah, she needs some tweaking and TLC, but she IS here! My 2nd favorite turboprop of all time, and developed by one of the best names in the business! A welcomed and refreshing break from the "New tubeliner of the hour" stuff of late. I heard about the Razbam Metro project due to an error in reporting elsewhere on the web. I read an article about Razbam having an Embraer 120 in progress and nearing completion, actually. Well, I went bonkers at that point. My ALL TIME favorite turboprop (I used to fly a private one owned by a company in North Carolina) But, after more research and putting the Razbam site under the microscope for a bit, I discovered it HAD to be the Metro, somebody goofed. Alas, this slender nimble beauty put on offer for our simming pleasure today still suits me However, I wonder if any of you other owners might help me with something...Was there ANY documentation released with the beta? I can't find it anywhere to save my soul. Not in the install directory, no desktop icon to lead me to it, nothing. So, am I overlooking it? Looking for something that didn't get installed because it doesn't exist? ANY input from you all would be GREATLY appreciated, as it appears Santa Claus got a little confused or ahead of schedule yesterday and left a pair of 2 Gig Nvidia GTX 760s at my door. Haven't been able to install them yet, as a matter of fact it's up next on the "To Do" list. Wanted to pose the question of the "Missing Manuals" before I got into that and then wasn't seen or heard from for a bit. Would be cool for the Metro's maiden flight AND that of the SLI'ed GTX 760s were one in the same! Thanks once again and in advance for help with my query. May your logbooks always contain the proper ratio of take offs to landings, Robert

@Spokes: Thanks for the link and info about the SHRH F-111!!! The price sure is right, and the fact it's by a passionate group of not just FS enthusiasts, but someone who has a very close relationship to the 'vark as a tech, he should know that airplane inside out and upside down, he seems VERY keen on realism, so I'm gonna add ya'all's 'Vark to my collection. The GKS is a bit pricey for what would just be a few cool liveries. The comparison chart really helped my decision too, clearly the SHRH model has the most going for it, the WORKING TF radar and autopilot functionality I appreciate your time and input! @ Barfly AND Spokes: I have actually only heard VERY positive things about the DX 10 fixer. There was another post just today about just that. "If your computer can pull it off, bloom" was the title I think. I know there is allot of initial hype and excitement whenever anything new is released in our hobby, and then after the "New wears off a little bit" people start seeing the cracks and imperfections. I think enough time has passed since the fixer release and it's still a hot topic and popular item, the money I saved not having to shell out bucks for a payware F-111 can help offset the cost of the DX 10 fixer. I've seen screenshots, and I feel like DX 10 mode makes SO much improvement in visual quality, it was just a shame not to be able to use it more, so I'm off the fence about DX10 fixer AND the F-111, thanks to you both! Robert

Hello all!!! For a month or so now I have been considering stepping out of my "comfort zone" and trying some different kinds of Aircraft for FSX than my usual fare (Tubeliners, Carenado GA planes, most every Eaglesoft Corporate jet they offer, so GA and corporate\commercial are my thing) I've been wanting to branch out into military stuff, fighters, bombers, and the like. I've seen a few F-111's on offer from such noteworthy industry big names such as Virtavia, Just Flight, GKS just to name a few. I've never seen a Virtavia model I didn't like, I have the B-1, the C-17, and a few others by Virtavia and the quality is generally super. I know they have an F-111, but I've also seen the GKS version with some really cool and unique paints, but as far as systems modeling, depth, complexity, I don't know who offers the best, I run a really high end PC, so performance isn't an issue, I guess what I'm asking those of you more versed in the military side of FSX, what's the BEST F-111 for the money? Most systems complexity, model versions, paints, extra goodies (like ability to set up AI tanker flights to simulate and practice air-to air refueling, dropable ordinance, and so on). Your time, attention and advice will be greatly appreciated! May your logbooks always contain an equal ratio of takeoffs to landings, Robert

Greetings again Blake! You're RIGHT! it IS the "Golden Ticket" it solved the problem once and for all! I've done several flights now, and the FMS works perfect every time! Thanks SO much for bringing my attention to the fix, I certainally owe you one! Again, thanks so much, it was really beginning to look to me like we were just going to have to wait for PMDG to release SP1. Many happy flights, and once again, thanks for leading me to the info that solved the problem! Take care, be safe, and we'll be talking through the forums I'm sure!Robert

Greetings Blake! Yeah, unfortunately it looks like we're just going to have to be patient until PMDG is able to release SP1 before we recieve a sure fire fix for the problem. I'm ever vigilant though, and if I come across anything that seems to fix the problem I'll be quick to share with you and the rest of the PMDG J41 community that's being effected buy this issue! Overall I think PMDG has a REAL winner on their hands with the J41, overall it's argueably one of the best if not THE best release they've done, proving the critics wrong that said no way could PMDG be sucessful with a commuter propjet release. I have high hopes that they are VERY sucessful with the J41, so much so that they may entertain the idea of doing a EMB 120 Brasillia, (MY personal favorite commuter propjet ever) an overlooked and thusfar ignored aircraft by the payware designers. True, there IS the ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIC freeware 120 model by Eric Cantu, but so far no complex, "study level" payware model. Take care and hopefully soon we'll see a release of the SP1 for the J41!!!

I too have the blank (or yellow rectangle shape) issue myself, and from what I've been able to gather from reading the forum posts, that an un\reinstall of SP2 seems to be a pretty much sure fire solution to the problem. I however, am running Acceleration, I seem to remember reading a thread that suggested doing a repair install of Acceleration (along with rebuilding the FSX.CFG) is again, a sure fire solution for the problem. In MY case, not so much. I followed the instructions to the letter, and am STILL having the display problem. I know PMDG is fully aware of the problem and will address and correct the problem with SP1. I understand that they are trying to nail down and correct one or two more elusive problems before they will release SP1. Is there anyone else with the non displaying FMS screen problem that has come across a solution they'd be willing to share with me? I'd be very appreciative of any help\advice\suggestions that anyone could give me. MANY Thanks in advance!