SimAddicts Anonymous

[scon]

Well I finally got around to putting me self on here . My name is Scott and I live in Aucland I have been using FS since FS98 and I now use FSX. I am learning to fly at the Auckland Aero Club and currently have 22 hours.
I am currently 14

Regards Scott

[nzav8tor]

Hi everyone,

My name is Dave and I have been an avid flight simmer as long as I can remember!
MSFS3 I think was the first version I played and have been following the progression ever since.
I have dabbled in military flight sims, Falcon 4 and Flanker were old favourites, I was part of a network flight sim group which was led by Mailman in Levin several years ago.

Aviation has been a huge part of my life since I was knee high to a taildragger,
I am a real world professional pilot, currently flying business jets in Europe, home base Vienna.

I spent a few years in Queenstown flying for a couple of different companies and I have a bit of experience in aerobatics.
Did a short stint as a jump plane pilot with my new CPL in 2001.

l have limited knowledge of repaints and design for flightsim although I follow new developments with a keen interest and just love the dedication and enthusiasm with which fellow kiwi's have put into this great hobby.
Pats on the back all round...!

To all the developers, amateur and professional, keep up the great work!

Any questions regarding real world ops and procedures I'm am happy to give my best guess...

Dave

[Jimmy]

Welcome Dave, what a awsome history you have!

Great to have someone with your experiance here

James

[nzav8tor]

Check out my site Jimmy, sure theres a few pics on there you will probably like...

www.nzav8tor.spaces.live.com

[ardypilot]

Welcome Dave, it's great to have another real-world pilot among the ranks!

Just a few questions for you if you dont mind- 1) where did you train for your PPL and CPL and 2) do you (and other airliner pilots that you may know of) like to recreate or fly real routes that your airline fly in the sim?

Cheers

[nzav8tor]

Hi Trolly,

I did my PPL and CPL flight training with Feilding Aviation near Palmerston North. I did CPL theory and BGT at Nelson Aviation College in Motueka. Initial aeros in Paraparaumu at Kapiti Aeroclub. Instructor training with Wakatipu Aeroclub in Queenstown. IFR was in Dunedin at Mainland Air.

Some of my colleagues are into flightsimming but normally only for playing around without focussing to much on real world procedures.
When you do it for a job you want to mess about when you get home you know.

But, One of our Captains used to fly Dash 8's and he practiced using the PSS Dash 8 I believe before he did his rating.
I used the Aerosoft CJ1 to practice before I did my Citation type rating.
Another colleague who just started with Air Berlin on 737-800 (500 hrs TT! Unheard of in NZ aviation.) Was right into flightsim and practiced using Wilco and PMDG 737's and I think he had the Level D 767 too.
A former boss of mine who flies 767's for Royal Brunei used that for his pre type rating practice as well.

The correlation from Fsim to real world procedures is excellent but the real challenge in RW is handling complex ATC communications and keeping on top of the flight management, it may seem simple when you are at home but its amazing how far behind the aeroplane you can get when you are trying to do ten things at once.
For all those who think its boring and theres nothing to do, think again, it gets incredibly busy up front at times but its a very rewarding feeling when it all flows together and things just work out.
More often than not what is briefed and planned into the FMS and flightplan is quite different to what you end up doing due to traffic, weather, ATC requirements (who knows what they are) and other unforseen circumstances. Being flexible and adaptable is the key, flight sim doesn't really give you this side of flying but its great for getting familiar with systems and procedures which minimises stress and reduces workload.
Although the new missions in FSX are touching on this concept.

If I may relate an example of things not quite going to plan...
I was enroute to Paris Le Bourget a few months back and we were discussing entering a hold into the FMS. I was demonstrating the procedure to my fellow pilot when suddenly the whole system crashed and we had no RNAV. When you are relying on this for your point to point navigation at FL380 its hard to look out the window and try to figure out where you are! We quickly consultated our enroute charts managed to locate some nearby VOR's and I played with the FMS to try and get her fired back up. We thought it was fixed but the most important thing for an FMS to be accurate is the initial position data which in this case was not correct due to the fact we were moving while the system sorted itself out. So according to the FMS we were overheading a VOR which was in fact, according to our DME several miles behind us. All the approaches in busy airspace like Paris are done with RNAV so we were a little concerned. But, somehow, we figured it out and got the RNAV RNP back in order and the rest of the flight went smoothly. But in those 5 mins or so that we lost our main source of navigation things got a little busy up front. All the while our oblivious pax sipped there wine, ate their canapes and discussed their upcoming shopping trip in gay Pari...

I have had much more stressful moments in VFR flight thats for sure but IFR has much less room for 'creative' solutions should things start going pear shaped so well rehearsed procedures are critical.

Anyways, hope this gives you some insight.

Dave

[ZK-Brock]

Dave, I don't think you've said which operator you work for. Could you tell us?

[nzav8tor]

Company is called Jet Alliance

www.jetalliance.at

Choose the english version...

[Anvil_flyer]

Hi all,

My computer name's Anvil, in real life I'm another James.

Love playing flight sim X. But not that great a flyer yet. Learning more than anything but I can get a plane up into the air, and then back down to earth, mainly without breaking everything. I tend to fly the smaller planes, as every time that I try to fly a 737 or bigger, I tend to spend another $100,000,000 or airNZ (the govt's) money.

I work/live/play in Rotorua, but tend to do a lot of my flying in and around Wellington

[Charl]

Hello Anvil, welcome to the NZFF.
I'm sure you'll enjoy what goes on around here, looking forward to hearing your FSX experiences.
You'll no doubt find the threads to post computer specs vs performance, and what works for you; that seems to be uppermost in most people's minds right now.

[Brennanx]

so we have 3 james?

[Zöltuger]

so we have 3 james?

heaps of Tim's too.

[ZK-TJL]

3 james heaps of Tim's We're doomed!!!! Just kidding. Welcome to all the new people

[victor_alpha_charlie]

:ph43r:

[chopper_nut]

I suppose I better get in on this aswell. My name is Nick and I was raised in CHC but moved to WLG in 2001. Ive been around aviation pretty much all my life. My earliest childhood photos are of me sitting in H500s at ZQN in the mid 80s and the same can be said with the home movies . Ive been flightsimming since 96 but only seriously since 98. I started my PPL a couple of years ago at the Wellington Aero Club and I have about 40ish hours now (just doing my exams at the moment ) The Aero Club is a great place to learn. The instructors have a wealth of knowlege and teach you proper radio work (unlike a certain little outfit over the tarmac from us!! I just had to get a dig in there!) I am currently working at WIAL (Wellington Airport) which gives me some great opportunities to take photos.

[A185F]

Spose I better do this, nothing to Hide. My name is Ben, am a very long time reader but first time poster (dunno why). I fly a Cessna 185 on the west coast of the south island and a Cessna 206 out of Nelson. Have always been a huge flightsim fan since I got 98 in 98 and have had every edition since. Currently trying to get FSX to run well on me comp but not havin much luck. Also like spotting and aviation photography, all great fun.

Who is on here that I know I bet there are one or two, hidden behind usernames

[Jimmy]

Welcome Ben, yes you have been a member for quite some time, great to see you posting!

Keep it up
James

[A185F]

Thanks James

[Charl]

Thanks for posting Ben, great to have the west coast covered.
Interesting, the NZFF has a large component of real-world pilots, valuable to have that input into our pet obsession, erm, hobby.

[ZK-Brock]

Holy moly, something tells me I haven't really put in my bit for this topic...

Hi guys, I'm Brock. I'm 15 and based in Nelson. I go to Nelson College. I'm learning to fly at Nelson Aero club, where I'm flying the club's new Tecnam aeroplanes, though I started in a C172, ZK-ETU. I have around 15 hours logged, over the course of about a year.

As for the sim world, I own FS9 and FSX, which I fly on most days. My favourite aeroplanes are the CS C-130 in FS9, and the C172 in FSX (though I'm also growing fond of Kirk Olssen's F-16 and FS KBT's F/A-18). I like to fly short legs of up to an hour 30 mins usually. I'm also a regular on VATSIM and (to a lesser extend) IVAO, where I fly when I'm not just mucking round.

I'm also a controller on VATSIM and IVAO, you can find me some nights as NZWN_TWR.

Sweet dreams and smooth landings,
Brock