Jump to content

ClearedtoLand

Frozen-Inactivity
  • Content Count

    384
  • Donations

    $0.00 
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by ClearedtoLand

  1. This is stunningly beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing it, and thank you for your kind words. I am just truly moved by all the thoughtful replies I have gotten in this topic, and it has filled me with a huge admiration for the time and consideration that all of you have brought to your replies. I am sorry to hear about the sad separation that your ex has caused between you and daughter. I can only truly wish that she will change her mind about that, because that is a most unnecessary cruel thing for her to do.
  2. The replies to this topic have been beyond my wildest dreams, I don't actually have the words to say thank you. I don't know what else to say other than at times, I have been close to tears from reading your comments. To everyone who has commented, thank you, you have no idea how much it meant to me. To those who shared stories of their own battles with adversity, I wish you all the best as you walk your own roads towards recovery, I hope that the responses from everyone on this topic will remind you of the kindness of people and that that in itself is a reason for hope and perseverance. Thank you all for sharing in the memory of little Nina, as she never learnt to speak, I would guess that her response to your warm words would have been something like this With gratitude to everyone at PMDG, and everyone who contributed to making this the perfect send off from the world of Flight Sim, and in loving memory of Nina Rene Myburgh 05 December 2013 - 31 July 2014
  3. Wow, I am really touched by the kind and thoughtful responses from everyone. I am grateful that I could have shared a little bit of Nina's memory with you, and I appreciate the warm words of support and encouragement from all of you. Thank you.
  4. As I have seen people make these sort of requests, or demands if you will, I feel perfectly entitled to one myself. I would like to ask PMDG to delay the release of their 747-8 for, I think, a year or so. I am about to take an enforced and extended absence from the world of simming, and I would hate to not have that -8 on release day. So, in the spirit of making seemingly perfectly reasonable to the self (what do you mean others?) requests, would you kindly consider delaying the -8 just for me? On a serious note though, and I hope you will forgive the personal digression, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you at PMDG for an experience that, I dare say, in recent years for me went far beyond merely flight simulation, but also, in a very real sense touched on the therapeutic. In 2013, I was lucky enough to have a gorgeous little girl gifted to me and she was soon, after an extended stay in neonatal intensive care, introduced to the wonderful world of PMDG programs. Although she had absolutely no idea what she was listening to or looking at, she could not take her eyes off the night lighting on the overhead panel of the 777, and to her little ears, the sound of the engines of the JS4100 was, quite literally, a lullaby. And if you knew how little interest she showed in sleeping, those JS4100 engines worked like magic. Unfortunately, 7 months and 26 after she was born, she died in my arms as a result of a virtually unheard of genetic condition, and despite the heroic efforts of some of the finest doctors anywhere in the world. Without going into detail, but also without making light of the situation, I buried myself in my simulator, in a limited but effective way, giving in to my constant desire to escape into a virtual world from something from which there was no escape in the real. When faced with set back, my default position has always been to get on a plane and go places. But with work obligations, that just wasn't an option. I recreated more than once a week the flight to Mauritius that her mother and I took shortly after her funeral. I don't know exactly what it was about reliving that flight on my sim, but for brief periods of time, usually the taxi, take off and landing, I could just imagine that I was actually fleeing the horror that was the death of my little girl, just as I did years ago. The incredible immersion recreated by PMDG in their aircraft turned flight simulation for me into an escape from a reality that I have struggled to connect with since she died. I found in the frequent flights that I did on my sim, an expression of my desire just to go to new places, and just be on the road that would become my home, and forget about the person that experienced that horror. In place of a hollowed out person, I could escape into the virtual world of unending travel. I actually brought it up with the therapist that I was seeing two years after she died, and he was fascinated that I could latch onto something simulated to find a relief, however temporarily, from something real, and he asked me about what it was that created the escape for me. It was the sound of the engines, the bit that I could actually relate to as a passenger. To me, that was a testament to the remarkable depth and breadth of sensation that PMDG creates, and though I imagine that this must be quite strange to read, I feel like I wanted to share this with you so that you can also know the depth of the impact that your products have on some of us beyond merely simulating flight, it is something to look forward to, something to get lost in, something to make the day just a little bit better when nothing else is up to the task, something to stimulate the imagination, a place to forget for just a moment, and a sense of better things to come. It is a world that, at times, is better than the real one. As I said, I choose the word therapeutic very carefully, but also very deliberately, and for that, you have my sincere gratitude. When some day I take up flight simulation again, I will be right back as a PMDG customer. Until then, I wish you all the best, you have been of greater help and in more way than you probably ever imagined.
  5. Thank you, Kyle, much appreciated. I look forward to seeing what magic you guys have served up for us when some day I return. All the best.
  6. Hi guys, I need to return my licences for the following PMDG products: 737 NGX + 6/700 Expansion Pack, 777 200LR + 300ER Expansion Pack, 747 V3. My desktop computer has suffered a catastrophic failure and I cannot access it at all (probably has nothing to do with the divorce I'm currently enjoying). As such, I am unable to actually manually return the licences, or, clever me, access any of my accounts (stored passwords), so in the event, should I access the PMDG site and attempt to reset my passwords, is there an option on the site to return the licences or is there some other avenue whereby I can pursue the licence returns through PMDG support, again after resetting all passwords? As it will be quite some time before I will get back into this hobby, I would like to take care of this while it is still fresh in my mind. Many thanks.
  7. No, you’re quite entertaining as it is, considering that you are up against a bunch of people who are quite willing to assist you if you were only to stop responding in seemingly uncontrollable anger towards anyone who doesn’t know straight away what your problem is. Which, it seems to me, is quite ironic since you who cannot solve the problem despite having spent hours on your system and set up, yet expect others who know nothing of your system and set up to be able to instantly provide solutions or risk your ire.
  8. Well, at least we know the OP is capable of irony, even if not aware of it.
  9. Airport officials at FAOR not being very helpful. Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah, anyone who’s ever had to deal with airport officials at FAOR.
  10. It’s Friday, have all the medication you want. I’ll raise a medication to your dedication to your customers as well tonight.
  11. I had the exact same issue while getting ready to land at EDDF, but since I was merely 18nm from the airport, I simply followed the shut down procedures, and landed her on two engines, at which point she became maintenance’s problem. Performed a full service on the plane, but the next time I loaded her up, she loaded with the same problem in the same two (3 and 4) engines. Not sure what she was going to do after that, because shortly afterwards, Windows 10 downloaded that security update that caused the Queen to crash the sim and that was pretty much that for my swimming days in any case. So, I’m also curious to know what causes these failures in the Queen.
  12. I'm always thinking 777-200ER, so, I guess it's safe to say someone else's mind was read
  13. I can’t wait for AI to rule our lives.
  14. He is asking for help regarding the error message, Err at Gates when selecting Co Route in the CDU. He notes that he reinstalled Nav data cycle 1712, and has since encountered only three further such error messages. After clearing the errors, he restarted FSX-SE and the 747 launched in the Cold & Dark state, when he then selects the co route (KIAHELLX), which he always sets as RTE1, he encounters the error message demonstrated in the pictures. He then asks what the error message means, and that he has searched the forum for a solution, which he did not find. He also apologises for writing in German, as his English is really bad.
  15. What’s the old saying, I feel sorry for people who don’t drink, because when they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they will feel all day.
  16. Thank you, Mark, that’s very kind. In reality, it’s just a simplified application of Bayesian logic, which also explains why I have more fingers on my right hand than friends. I think it’s time for bed.
  17. Alan, I’ll reply when I am not quite as drunk as I am right now. All that I will say for now is that I often check the forums not so much to see what is being discussed as who is discussing it.
  18. Well, if I absolutely have to play this game, then I will have to go and get a coffee first, and try to think of an appropriate way to phrase the apology for the upcoming boring stuff. Flight AB7001 from Miami performed the stunt while horrified onlookers feared it was attempting a botched landing. We'll start with horrified onlookers and be left to wonder whether there were any onlookers who weren't horrified. Not even one? I guess we will never know. Or maybe nonchalant onlookers don't sell newspapers, I don't know. Renate Brunder-Korbmacher, who lives near the airport, said: "People near the airport were really terrified. I assume the reporter verified this statement by interviewing the people, and not just taking Renate at her word. I also assume that the reporter forgot to ask how many people Renate was referring to, a few, many, most, all. No mention of anyone who wasn't terrified, not even one or two? So, I'm guessing it's safe to assume that it was everyone. Seems a safe assumption, otherwise, for what reason is there no mention made of people who weren't terrified of this? After all, wouldn't be much of a story if the headline was, a few people scared out of their wits by low flying plane while most people just went about whatever they were doing. Not saying most people didn't notice, just saying that there is something a little one sided to this reporting. The resident said: "The man scared the hell out of hundreds of children in the Dusseldorf-Unterrath neighbourhood." And the reporter believed the man because the reporter confirmed with the hundreds of school children spoken for, because it really is just that easy for anyone to quickly find out what hundreds of school children in the Dusseldorf-Unterrath neighbourhood thought about the fly over, or about anything else for that matter. Twitter, would be my guess. Unless the man in question is a teacher at the school(s?) he spoke for. An airport employee who watched the dramatic scenes unfold thought at first the aeroplane would crash right into the terminal. An airport employee? Spokesemployee for all employees who saw the stunt? Any airport employees see the stunt and thought something else? And what is meant by that phrase, thought at first, what did she think afterwards? Markus Wahl, spokesman of a German pilot's organisation, said that at no time were people in danger in the well planned move and he is sure that the pilot did not do anything illegal. Well planned move? That's not what we were told the children thought. The poor little dears, they must have been scared stuffless. And who planned the move? The airline said it was aware of the agreement to perform the low fly-by and "fully supports the LBA in its work". Well, this is an airline that went bust, so can we really believe anything they say about what they knew and when? OK, so let's assume, for the sake of the game, that every single statement made in the articles is true, just how confident are we that the views expressed by Renate, the resident spokesman for Dusseldorf-Unterrath school children, and an airport employee are representative of everyone's reactions? Well, we can't say because we are not offered a different view from anyone, other than ol' Markus Wahl, but he would say that because, well, he's covering for the pilots, and since he's not a resident or passenger, we can discount what he said. Unless we assume that every single last person who saw this was scared out of their wits by it, and that's a risky assumption at best, we can assume, quite safely, that there were some people who were not terrified. Why do we not hear anything from them? Were they impossible to locate? Or would the headline, Some people scared stuffless by plane behaving strangely while others didn't care/notice would probably not have been so profitable (Ok, I'm being cynical). So, what is my problem with the reporting. I am being asked to form an opinion based solely on the presentation of one point of view, without being offered any clues as to whether that point of view is the exclusive view, the majority view, or even the plurality view. I am left with no way to assess the impact of this stunt on the population around the airport, because somebody didn't think it significant to put the thing into context. And that's before we even compare the Sun's version to that of thelocal.de. Thelocal makes no mention of anyone screaming in terror. No reference to hundreds of scared school children. Renate, or anyone else speaking for die Leute is not mentioned. There is no reference to passengers on the terrace screaming out in fear taken from the video. Thelocal.de uses the word gasp, though to be fair to the Sun, that wasn't a becalmed gasp in the video. No airport employees interviewed either, though there is a reference to no passengers making a complaint. It's not specified whether these were passengers on the plane or on the terrace . In the Sun's article there are 6 adjectives or phrases suggesting fear, in Thelocal.de, there is one, and a rather mild one at that. There is an interesting description of the plan for the stunt in thelocal.de, which says that permission was given for a left turn in the case of an aborted landing. Now, that could be of interest to an investigator, because that doesn't suggest that the stunt was approved, merely that on condition of an aborted landing, a left turn was approved. Also, the Sun describes the stunt as a terrifying low fly by, whereas thelocal.de describes it as a spectacular landing manoeuvre. So, was it terrifying, or spectacular? I guess that depends on which reporter you ask, and who they did and did not ask, but I can tell you which one is the fear monger. But why bring that up? Well, since we are expressing concern for people's safety, I'll briefly share an interesting consequence of acting on fear. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, people took to the roads, in particular, rural interstate highways, in greater numbers than what would have been expected based on the year on year average for the preceding 5 years (who said transport statistics can't be sexy?). To put that into perspective, from January to August 2001, road travel was up 1% compared with the same period in 2000. In the 3 months after 9/11, road travel was up by as much as 5% month on month over previous years. In the 12 months following 9/11, road travel was up significantly above average. An unintended result of this belief that it was safer to drive than fly was an estimated additional 1600 road deaths. Those deaths were avoidable. Yes, the stunt was dangerous. So's driving. Much, much more so. And I would be really interested to know how people who read only the Sun's article would judge the event compared to people who read only thelocal.de's article. I will bet money that those who read only the Sun's article will be much harsher on the pilot than those who read only thelocal's article. But that is the terrifying point, isn't it? Apologies for the preceding boredom ... as well as the unimaginative apology.
  19. Simon, if you are pooping on anyone’s party, it’s not mine. The questions you posed all serve to find an answer to whether this manoeuvre should have been performed or not. It all indicates one thing, at the time of the Mirror and the Sun publishing their stories, there wasn’t enough information publicly available to justify headlines such as passengers screaming in terror and this won’t fly. Headlines which preempt an answer to questions they didn’t ask, so why the headlines? Obviously not to inform anyone reading those articles, how can they inform anyone if they themselves know nothing of the background? Now, it may well turn out that the pilot was reckless and violated regulations and broke the law and should be sacked, but that determination was not made at the time of publication, hence my statement about hysteria having to prevail. The articles served no purpose other than to get people who don’t know anything about the circumstances to forget that they know nothing about the circumstances and rush to judgment. Now, regardless of where one stands on the issue of what the pilots did, rushing to judgment armed with nothing other than ignorance and anger looking for a cause, is never going to lead one to the right conclusion unless through sheer blind luck. My own background has led me to greatly value a sage piece of advice, Thus I counsel you, my friends, be wary of those in whom the impulse to punish is strong.
  20. There are also too many people. Where can I donate to Robert's Club People Club?
  21. Yeah, no. When it comes to proper reasoning, I consult logic books, if our politicians followed that example, our law books might not have been the incredible collection of fallacies that they are. Law does not equate to right. Or sound reasoning.
  22. Why? Because hysteria must prevail? In what way were the passengers or plane endangered? Did the pilots perform a manoeuvre beyond their skill set? Did their actions push the plane beyond its limitations? Were they not authorised to execute the manoeuvre? Did it break a law? What is the actual issue here that demands this action be censured and prevented in future? What actually underpins people’s objections to this? It’s not a safety issue. So what are we supposed to be upset about, that somebody did something that didn’t look right to me? i remember the send off Concorde got on its last flight into London, those fighter jets had to have cost the taxpayer a few fair pounds. I remember what Global Supply Systems had planned for their last flight out of Stansted. Are those rocking wings good for the cargo, is the pilot flying drunk? Should all of these personal affiliations be prevented because someone who isn’t too clued up about what’s going on demanded that their feelings be accommodated? Sometimes people can benefit from hearing, deal with it. Even if they work for the Mirror.
×
×
  • Create New...