Would never ask anyone to do anything I would not do myself, so here goes...
My name is David and I forget where I'm from. Really. Had to be from somewhere before being born, am just not remembering from where exactly. Almost didn't make it when born, reluctant to take that first searing breath of oxygen for some reason. Took over 2 minutes to do so, and before knowing what happened: Here I am now.
:-) Fascinating, that.
My first flight in an aircraft took place when I was a teenager, the experience awe-inspiring and wonderful. A doctor/pilot took our Explorer Scout troop up 3 at a time up in his Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer. 3 takeoffs and landings in all, each of us getting a turn at front seat with hands-on flying time including turns and stalling. I was hooked. It's why I'm in process of getting involved with the local branch of Young Eagles, an organization gifting young people their first airplane ride, a worthwhile fellowship:
https://www.eaa.org/eaa/youth/free-ye-flightsServed my country for 4 years in the USAF as a hypobaric chamber technician ("altitude chamber", training flight crews) and later in Physiological Support Division for SR-71 Reconnaissance. After honorable discharge from the Air Force it was on to being Program Supervisor for my hometown Parks & Recreation Department, later driving for Greyhound Lines seasonally for 7 years afterwards, finally becoming a recognized artist (painter of people and places mainly) and on to becoming a writer.
My first flightsim was over 35 years ago before many of you were a gleam in your daddy's eye. A simple little Timex-Sinclair 1500 computer and an extremely basic Psion Flight Simulator. Took over 2 minutes to load that simple program from a cassette tape player. The first part of this short video will give you a taste of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDh71FV5XAk Next it was on to my Apple IIe and Bruce Artwick's SubLogic Flight Simulator II before Microsoft bought him out. It was chasing green lines on a monochrome monitor, flying out of good ole' Meigs Field in Chicago to Champaign, Illinois while imagining what decent scenery might look like one day. Now we know. Kept me happily busy while waiting to be called into work as a Greyhound extra driver back in the 1980s.
FS95, FS98, FS2002 onward through FSX, dabbling in X-Plane and headed back that way when I can afford it. Have tried several other modern flightsims but always return to FS2004, quite satisfied with all it does. Nostalgia is a factor as well. Sure, it hasn't quite as detailed graphics as more modern sims but hey- It's global, it's stable, has basically just about everything as well as a vast amount of add-ons freely available to dress it out as you're seeing fit. If it ever becomes too familiar then I simple grab some new terrain mesh and fly somewhere on virtual Earth that I've never been before in various kinds of weather conditions and different seasons. It's never failed to renew a sense of wonder and relaxation, especially when flying any number of fine planes available.
I talk too much, write too much, and as Robin aptly puts it: Enough about me...
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