Guys,
We do this flying stuff day in and day out, it is a job.
But stop and think for a minute, in order to pursue this, one has to be kind of nuts and have a dream, I think, that perhaps more than a few of us, have wanted this flying gig since we were kids. I know I did and am now living the dream, or perhaps the nigtmare depending on how you look at it
I always enjoy the young kids, with their dads in tow, sticking their head up front. Their eyes light up seeing all those buttons, lights, switches and screens.
Well, that kid is me 30 years ago and yes, I had my dad in tow. I remember it, as if it was yesterday. The bright sun coming through the windows of the DC-8, the "thousands" of gauges and the three kind gentlemen, who indulged a little kid with seemingly no hurry. It planted a seed.
It is really weird that people play on flight sims or go hang out at the airport perimeter taking pictures? To some of us, perhaps, we are after all the "cool skygods", but I remember doing the airport gig. Hanging out on the hill overlooking the airport, watching airliners arrive from all over the world.Wishing that some day that would be me.
Heck, every time the Concorde departed Kennedy, even the most blasee person would stop and gaze upon it. Watching the last BA departure, people were lined up along the runway, the same people who saw that darn thing day in and day out. Yet, they wanted to be there! Why? Aviation is fascinating! Man has wanted to fly since time immortal and we are actually the ones doing it.
So, next time you think it is silly, or dumb or stupid, just remember, that those you ridicule are not so different from yourself, the difference being you are the one actually living the dream.
So next time you sail over the Greenland in that G4 in clear blue skies, next time you fly a perfect ILS in crappy wx, in a clapped out 402 freighter, next time you do some patterns in early morning calm air, in that C-152, see if underneath all that jaded exterior, isn't a "little kid" grinning from ear to ear!
the cool thing about flight sim is the simple fact that i can go to the MAKE BELIEVE world and do the stuff i can't do in real life...example, bust a TFR and crash into the white house...now that might be a bit extreme of an example, but i think it illustrates what i'm getting at, that yes it's fun, and no it's not REAL...
