Ludwig

It is really unusual to see a reflection that far away and would be more likely the paint than anything else. Air quality has a LOT to do with it. We don't hear visibility UNrestricted hardly anymore but when it happens it is incredible. I saw the rotating beacon at the El Paso airport at over 200 miles and saw SW 737 climbing out over DAL late at night. The controller said No... he is 240 miles from you and as he went through 10,000' I called his lights out and they confirmed.... oh yeah, he sees us. Both instances are at night. What gets my goat is the reflection inside the canopy and the scratches on the glass (?) or acryllic material. I have never seen that as bad as they made it in the sims and it is way easier to lean and adjust to get the Sun behind a cockpit frame so you can see in the cockpit compared to the sim, even with the 6 axis enabled.

I have two of the G-9 curved monitors. One is mounted on my Next Level Racing rig and the other is a desktop for my flight sim that uses the stand included with the monitor. Both work well. Looks like the Next Level mount is pretty close to the wall mounted idea. I have no trouble adjusting it at all. Mounting on the wall would be a little more tedious because you don't have the space out in the middle of the room, but should not be that hard. We put the TV up using that type of wall mount and it was easy and a handful at 85" to get in place but it dropped right in. I had to smile.... saw "Flight of Eagles" on the wall there I had to put mine in the corner because I was running out of wall space and the larger prints would not go there.

Hey that's really great Vonrd.... you have put in so much work on these things for all of us, so nice to see you get the recognition you deserve.

I remember the boys talking about their car touring off by itself at car shows all over the world. It was making a ton of money. They were laughing about it doing better and more appearances than they did.

I was hooked when I first was introduced to SWOTL. Then MicroProse "Aces of the Pacific came out and I bought it to run on my buddies 386 (he had SWOTL) and he said... man... I don't think that is going to run on this machine, I don't have the memory for it. I thought it was akin to Nintendo.... you bought it, you plugged it in and it worked. HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH.... So... the guy I was flying with at the time lead off the conversation that night with "MAN.... the AA credit union makes it TOO EASY to get money. I was talking with XXXX and he said... just go in and tell them you want $3,000 for a dirt bike and they will give it to you." So... I went in and said I wanted $3,000 for a computer and she said... ok, just a minute. She busied herself around the office and came back about 3 minutes later and handed me a check for $3,000 and said sign here, this is what we take ouf of your check each month, thanks for coming in. SO... I got one of those 10,000 page COMPUTER SHOPPER magazines that weighed about 12 lbs and picked out a Dx 486/33 with the CAD upgrade (from 14" to 15" monitor) and twice the RAM and it was there in a week. I did everything I was supposed to do... and installed Aces of the Pacific and BLRRRPPPP.... it didn't run. I was PISSED. I called the salesman and he said... OH MAN... did we get you QEMM for that? I said... what is that?? HE said .... don't worry, I will make you a copy of mine and over night it to you and you will have it first thing in the morning. He did... and I installed QEMM and it ran like a spotted ape. Imagine doing that today... making a bootleg copy of a memory manager and mailing it out FedEx overnight.

SWOTL.... I can hear the music in my head. That was the first real computer based game I played. I still have my code wheel.... didn't have the heart to throw it away.

YEAH.... and after the 11th Circuit Court ruled last month that 91.315 which precludes warbirds from carrying persons or property for hire prohibits paid instruction from taking place in such aircraft. ( i.e. limited category aircraft) So now, if you want to give someone instruction in a T-6 you are not supposed to be able to get paid for it. When there was obviously blowback on the item the argument was that this has always been the case (70+ years) and only NOW they wish to enforce it. The FAA has been without leadership for some time and the last appointee to be considered was so horribly UNqualified for the position he was almost completely laughed out of the hearings. It is worth the comedy if you want to see it on YouTube. Since so many reasons were immediately obvious as to how this would undermine those groups and individuals that attempt to maintain warbirds and make them available to the public through displays and airshows an already expensive undertaking now loses a MAJOR part of the very small amount of money they can generate to help sustain the effort. Since the ruling, the FAA has backtracked into that dark zone where ok.... "certain people with regular access to such aircraft" may receive paid flight training but of course there is no definition to what constitutes regular access. So getting a ride in such a machine is going to get harder to do.

Snags may remember Steve Staples from AMR Eagle, he flew Nine-o-Nine when he got laid off from Pan Am.

GREAT work on the B-17... I have said it a million times I simply don't know how you guys do that and so fast. It really is amazing. I guess akin to watching Walter Lantz once when I was in college and he could draw Woody Woodpecker in about 5 seconds. I know... not the same but the familiarity with the subject and software what takes you guys an hour would be a lifetime for someone else. SAD news on the B-17s out there today. A friend of mine here in North Texas said he was with a group of guys the other day and that one of the old guys (watch it!) was going through some inspections and they found a wing spar crack that is likely going to ground ALL the B-17s that are currently flying. I sure hope that is not the case.

Any clue about the DCS update? I actually thought I had a few spare minutes.... got torpedoed by an update

OH sad.... the last of the Gordon Prange series of books put out by his students on the Pearl Harbor attack and effects it had on the Pacific war.

HAHAHAHAAHAH 1955 Messerschmitt KR200 for sale on BaT Auctions - ending July 19 (Lot #113,901) | Bring a Trailer

I would have lost the bet on the 2nd video.... NO WAY.... The first video is the basic hey we found an upside down Russian tank in a mudhole. I think this video has been around some years.... but the second one... well... you have to see it to believe it. I am still not exactly sure that there was a lot more going on behind the scenes but don't want to ruin it.

I just bought a DAC and have been reading about it and the myriad of uses it is capable of and saw a small bit of info regarding this between your computer and your speakers for game sound improvement. Is anyone using one of these? I got it for streaming music from the net to my reel-to-reel recording, but it might be fun to give it a try on the game side of things.

I have been listening to BEEEEEP BEEEEEEP BEEEEEEP for the last 10 days because the City is repairing a watermain behind my house. I have no idea how the workers can stand it day after day. I would welcome a woodpecker on my head right now in lieu of having to listen to it any longer.

Hey what about the Roland??? Other than the fishy smell.... it was a lot of fun.

What ever happened to the Siemen Schukert?

>> I did fly control line combat in my teens though. That was a blast also. A good friend of mine is Jeff Dawson from San Antonio and he was at least 2 time national champion in control line combat. I watched him a couple of times and it was INSANE how fast the planes were and the maneuverability was off the charts. He makes and sells models for CL Combat and they are quite popular. He was always nagging on me to give it a try and it was so far beyond me.... I felt bad because I know he wanted guys to come out and fly but I was useless at this game.

Jake and I knew him pretty well. We were in BH for years. vG was a funny guy and we enjoyed his humor. He was the ramrod that got things done. Schmiddy was one of vG's favorites and said so many times. He was a sharp kid that was hacking a path through the world and doing it in the Japanese language which is a really tall order. Sorry to hear this, I guess it affects all areas and endeavors. Sadly, I am getting these messages all to often now. Thanks so much for passing it along to us. LL

Motion simulation training is really highly over rated. I remember when the USAF was going AWAY from motion sim training and going more towards just straight sim training without the motion. It made more sense as the motion portion is really more comic book than reality. If you want to learn to fly the a/c the sim is definitely the way to go. I have trained on multiple platforms as a pilot and I have trained pilots as a sim instructor for the USAF (T-38) and for AA on the MD-80 and for CAE on the Phenom 300. (...and I turned down the USN for the T-45 in MEI last year) No motion means no sensory input which means that your scan has to pick up everything. That means you have a razor sharp scan. I recommend MSFS 2020 to all my clients particularly those that do not fly as much and want to stay sharp. It makes a HUGE difference in your performance. Quite some years back.... bear in mind here.....too much whiskey tonight and way too tired... the USAF announced that they were going to begin a move towards static sim training and it was a good move, but the problem was that it benefitted mostly pilots that were already rated, and sharp in the a/c. The medium time/skilled goomers not so much. Now, the worm has turned again with the automation reaching ever higher and higher levels in the cockpit which is allowing (I will let YOU make the call) mediocre pilots to pass through training and they are HEAVILY dependent on automation. You already know this stuff... but just to be clear, $16 million dollar sim can only simulate momentary G loading, it can not replicate steady loads. Does it matter??? Nah... probably not.... sometimes it helps... sometimes it is a bother. The sim REALLY struggles with lateral G during engine out on multi-engine platforms. The stuff goes sliding off my desk (IOS panel) because these clod hoppers have never flown anything tail dragger or otherwise rudder demanding and consequently think that they are skilled and competent when in reality they are lacking coordination skills badly. The sim can't teach you that, you need to be out in the real world and experience these things for yourself. It makes you a much better pilot. I also HEAVILY recommend that they get out and fly a Stearman or a glider etc... that goes for you fellas reading this.... it is NOT that expensive. So I guess the old adage of fight like you train is really great... but you don't fight in a simulator. Actually, you guys that are mastering DCS in non-motion environs would have some advantage of those trained in motion sims for the simple reason, you have to pick it up on your own and without sensory ques. Your scan would be better (if you are flying precisely) and were you to hop into the jet you would have a much better transition... but then all the rest of the stuff would kick in and it would be kinda dicey for a while. Make no mistake, sim training works and is a valuable training tool. I was typed in the ATR 72 and my first takeoff had 64 people sitting behind me which was pretty amazing. Now, we do that sort of thing all the time in MUCH larger aircraft. Combat sim training is MOST excellent because it focuses on the COMBAT relationship between the flights and allows and promotes the thought that is needed. SORRY MAV.... if you DON'T think.... you ARE dead. I think pretty fast for an old fat bastard and that is because I have been doing it for a long time, it is more reflexive than anything else. If you want to give a recital at Carnegie Hall... it is the old joke.... The lady hops a cab and says "Do you know how to get to Carnegie Hall?" and the cabbie says: (come on.... say it with me) Practice Practice Practice......

Hey I enjoy Cliffs of Dover... if you guys keep me tuned in I will try and meet up with you.

I can stand it, that's an old friend.... top picture... that's Ubon Thailand a 497th Charlie with 2 on the splitter, I would have to go look and see who got those. circa 1967 EDIT: I should have guessed as soon as I saw it was the 497th, Robin Olds..... wonder how many he REALLY got. It was a lot more than the 4 he claimed. I should have seen the bulletproof mustache through the mask. He married my dream girl Ella Raines. Go see "Tall In the Saddle" with the Duke sometime.

This is my new one. I have since replaced the entry hall lighting, added bookcase, bar and new recliners. NO TV ! The library is for reading. 100" diameter and turns about 45 rpm on low.

There was more than one of those accidents when this became popular. Too much PC stick time and the "instructors" were low time CFIs that didn't keep control on their student and they hauled back and bent or broke the airplane. There is an F-4 in Houston owned privately by 4 captains (AA + SWA) and they let Steve Ritchie fly their jet and he bent it. It isn't hard to do. Duke Cunningham was part of one of the southern California groups that started up back in the 80's I think it was Air Combat. They had some guys here in DFW that took an actual cockpit section from an F-4 and and I think an A-4 and made a crude gimbal to hold it so it would rock back and forth (roll) about 10° and pitch (jerk) about 5° and they put a screen in front of with a rear projection and put up pictures of Russian planes. This was essentially the most expensive version of the fiberglass horsie outside a Woolworths you ever saw. I don't remember the cost but it was way over priced. They put the guys in a nomex flight suit and gave them a helmet. Nothing worked, I think the F-4 they could light up the instrument panel and that was about it. They would take a picture of them (pre digital photography) and assign them a "callsign" and a briefing and de-briefing... the whole experience. Sheeeesh. This was also when US Navy fighters was about the most sophisticated PC flight sim available. "Dave and Busters" in Detroit had a commercial group that setup a 9 computer LAN with USNfighters on it and it was on free-for-all mode and used all CH products which were almost indestructible. It was fine for guys that had never seen a flight sim before, they didn't even know how to retract the gear and there was always some guy that had the game at home on his PC and would get in there and slaughter the sheep. I always wondered if they were legally using that game.... hmmm....... doubt it. Do it till you get caught, sell off the computers and maybe come out ahead.