Silly question of the day..

[warchild]

I've been helping a friend out recently, and i couldnt help but wonder. Does anyone ever mention their Va's here?? I know we have a ton of aircraft, but i never see anything about VA's, or flying clubs and it made me curious because i thought about saying something for my friend ( because its a great little airline and can be a fantastic va ) but then thought better of it because i didnt want to upset anyone..

[Kiwikat]

You will find that despite having such a strong knit online forum community, not many SOHers fly on multiplayer, let alone in a VA. In fact I suspect that many SOH members spend far more time on here than they do flying.

That's one of my main reasons for trying to get a warbird group together. Warbirds are a common interest among many members here. It would be a wonderful way to have fun and get to know each other better. Still, there isn't an overwhelming amount of interest. Not as much as there should be...

[falcon409]

I think you'll find, as kiwikat says, VA's and Flying Clubs are places for people to go to, sign up, talk about all the places they can fly to as a group and then not do any of it. MP Servers seem to have the same effect on people, everyone talks about how they're glad they have a place to fly now and then don't.

Are you getting a feel for the sentiment here warchild? lol.

[ryanbatc]

The majority of my "serious" flying is on VATSIM... which probably accounts for 60% of my flight sim time....

No VA's for me though - I fly GA or bizjets from point to point.

[lifejogger]

I use to fly with DC-3 Airways but I got tired of being tied to one type of aircraft all the time and so I gradually quit flying with them so I could enjoy are larger variety of aircraft.

[Matt Wynn]

i've flown with various virtual air forces, even being red one for four years... now i fly online with friends... ask Pam about what she's heard from virtual backseaters about my erm..... flying.... even Peter, Txmmy and Antton have witnessed my flying, it's good fun online, i think i taught Peter how to lomcovak online... which reminds me... guys if you read this this weekend ops scrubbed, go for next weekend... got a lot of repaints and work to do... :ernae:

about 80% of my total flights are offline, the other 20% are with my buddies, i enjoy flying with fellow like-minded pilots it keeps things interesting... :jump:

[warchild]

The majority of my "serious" flying is on VATSIM... which probably accounts for 60% of my flight sim time....

No VA's for me though - I fly GA or bizjets from point to point.

::Chuckles:; no BN-2s, or twotters?? thats why i thought id ask here, those and an atr 42 are ( in my opinion ) our main planes.. 900 ft strips, and gorgeous flying ( heh.. its the douth pacific.. what can i say?? )..

[warchild]

i've flown with various virtual air forces, even being red one for four years... now i fly online with friends... ask Pam about what she's heard from virtual backseaters about my erm..... flying.... even Peter, Txmmy and Antton have witnessed my flying, it's good fun online, i think i taught Peter how to lomcovak online... which reminds me... guys if you read this this weekend ops scrubbed, go for next weekend... got a lot of repaints and work to do... :ernae:

about 80% of my total flights are offline, the other 20% are with my buddies, i enjoy flying with fellow like-minded pilots it keeps things interesting... :jump:

You taught Peter how to have a headache?? :;chuckles and ducks::

[warchild]

about 80% of my total flights are offline, the other 20% are with my buddies, i enjoy flying with fellow like-minded pilots it keeps things interesting... :jump:


thats the other reason i thought id ask here.. I'm not interested in helping my friend build another damned VA.. i'm interested in building a family of friends.. What better place to start??

[warchild]

I use to fly with DC-3 Airways but I got tired of being tied to one type of aircraft all the time and so I gradually quit flying with them so I could enjoy are larger variety of aircraft.

yeahh, i've left numerous VAs for the same exact reason. Wont lie to ya, this one also has rules.. but your not quite as limited as with other VA's.. Since we do a lot of island hopping into small almost unfindable airfields as well as flights into mainline airports, you get to choose for each flight. your limited at first to a BN-2 and a 737 but those expand outwards to other pairs as well, stopping at the 42-500 and 747 pair..

[Lionheart]

I was BAV738 at British Airways Virtual.

Almost made it to Senior Captain when they let me go because ICARS wouldnt work on my computer.

I was so mad...

My specialty became International flights, mainly from Boston to London, real weather, VATSIM, voice ATC. We were allowed to go 4X over the water, so that brought my flights down to 2 or 3 hours. Mainly flew four sevens and tripple sevens. I was trying to get to Concord, which needs to be a Senior Pilot, and they retired the Concord fleet right before I got to Senior..

Sometimes I did local routes in the German wings version of BA, doing routes in a Otter from say Munchen to Innsbruck.


Some great times....

Got nasty in the end though. A bummer when some of the high people mess with you thinking you are cheating or something. I worked my butt off to get to my position...



Bill

[CheckSix]

VA etc can make or break some good friendships thats for sure, my heart is with you regards BAV Lionheart, that is a great shame. I have learned a LOT over the years whilst running or being a member of Virtual Airforces etc and I do not regret one moment BUT after all is said and done I am now happy just to fly online (90% of my flight time is MP) with a few genuine friends and we get a lot of enjoyment.

The major lesson learned: Quality not Quantity, keep the group small, simple, relaxed and relatively unstructured.

To anyone in two minds over online flying... Try it, try it not on VATSIM, not on Gamespy but either on the SoH FSHost or Peer to Peer BUT with a good friend that you know and trust to fly with mutual respect. You will be amazed at how FSX opens up, especially when shared cockpit.

I think WC and Kiwi are looking in the right direction. Good luck guys, I wish you all the best.

[Snuffy]

I'm not a member of any VA for the simple fact that I'm secretly an anti-socialist. LOL! No, not really, I just can't find the time to make a commitment like that. VA's usually have (or try to have,) some form of stringent activity sessions, and as a person with a life outside of computers and flight sims, I can't always find the time necessary to make those schedules.

And lately life has been rather distracting and I've not flown much. :wavey:

[Shylock]

I think the best thing to do with a War bird group or VA is just to create the group with only one rule, have fun. If you wanna fly a C-47 one night and then a P-51 another night, go ahead. After all its just a game and you wont get a pension after flying one plane for 100+ flights. I understand folks wanting it to as close to real life as possible, but it gets old after awhile. Just have fun.

[warchild]

To anyone in two minds over online flying... Try it, try it not on VATSIM, not on Gamespy but either on the SoH FSHost or Peer to Peer BUT with a good friend that you know and trust to fly with mutual respect. You will be amazed at how FSX opens up, especially when shared cockpit.

I think WC and Kiwi are looking in the right direction. Good luck guys, I wish you all the best.

Thanks :) its appreciated.. As for online flyig?? i cant. Ive got everything to do it with, but i cant. myears are old, and damaged by 25years of playin drums, and a little time spent in the army there... So if th ATC guy ( and i hate ATC usually ) doesnt pronounce things just so, i look like an idiot.. I cant do that.. Not even for my VA.. So i fly offline all the time..

i did do one online flight using fshost with the guys at transload before google banned their site.. it was awesome.. they were great guys.

[Matt Wynn]

Dig out the IRIS F-16 Pam, i'll take you for a flight online in FSX, it'll be enlightening, and you know what i can do with that thing :icon_lol: sorry for those who feel out the loop here Pam does the FDE's i test the very outside limits of them FDE's :icon_lol: She saw what happened when i took a friend for a ride in the Vulcan... and when i took the same Friend for a ride in the Viper...

online can be fun, why i like the SoH server... nice place to fly with great people :ernae:

[warchild]

I'm not a member of any VA for the simple fact that I'm secretly an anti-socialist. LOL! No, not really, I just can't find the time to make a commitment like that. VA's usually have (or try to have,) some form of stringent activity sessions, and as a person with a life outside of computers and flight sims, I can't always find the time necessary to make those schedules.

And lately life has been rather distracting and I've not flown much. :wavey:

Eirik and i have been struggling with that exact problem. The Airline requires one hour a month, And we're both getting up there in age ( well, not him so much but he has a family to take care of ), so we're loking at shorter flights. half hour and one hour flights as well as the long flights of two hours or more for the guys that want to fly the heavys all day long ( and from fiji, it can be all day long ::LOL:: ) But he and I personally will be doing very short flights.. Admittedly, my life is spent on a computer. My Emphysema is so bad that even getting coffee in the morning is a real challenge, so the computer gives me everything i would otherwise miss. But even there, my life is dictated by the next flight model to be finished, thh next airplane to be released.. And VAs can only come second or third.. So yeah,, short flights are good things.. :)

[warchild]

Dig out the IRIS F-16 Pam, i'll take you for a flight online in FSX, it'll be enlightening, and you know what i can do with that thing :icon_lol: sorry for those who feel out the loop here Pam does the FDE's i test the very outside limits of them FDE's :icon_lol: She saw what happened when i took a friend for a ride in the Vulcan... and when i took the same Friend for a ride in the Viper...

online can be fun, why i like the SoH server... nice place to fly with great people :ernae:

:::LOL:: Thanks Smoothy, but you know my flying style. i'm as insane as you are.. i once flew the Wilco A-321 from denver to LA upside down, just because i could ::lol:; You give me an F-16 and i'm liable to put her on her tail and try hopping her like a pogo stick all the way across the country ::lol::... Wish i had uou on the p-36 team. youd love this plane.. its silky smooth, and sultry as they get, like some kind of 1940s glamour queen movie star..

[warchild]

I think the best thing to do with a War bird group or VA is just to create the group with only one rule, have fun. If you wanna fly a C-47 one night and then a P-51 another night, go ahead. After all its just a game and you wont get a pension after flying one plane for 100+ flights. I understand folks wanting it to as close to real life as possible, but it gets old after awhile. Just have fun.

We tried that, for several years. We made several VA's exactly along those ideals. One was even a cargo/para-military group. It didnt work for us though. Transload, became quite successful with it though.. they have/had/will have again, some great guys over there.. Me?/ helll, its no secret i couldnt sell a life preserver to a drowning man. The VA itself however is restricted in what it can and cant do as its a part of the Simmiles network, and represents a very real airline.. A very cool real airline, but real none the less.. We have to use real schedules and flights.. Fortunately, we're island hoppers and bushers so nice short real flights are easy :)..

[warchild]

I was BAV738 at British Airways Virtual.

Almost made it to Senior Captain when they let me go because ICARS wouldnt work on my computer.

I was so mad...

My specialty became International flights, mainly from Boston to London, real weather, VATSIM, voice ATC. We were allowed to go 4X over the water, so that brought my flights down to 2 or 3 hours. Mainly flew four sevens and tripple sevens. I was trying to get to Concord, which needs to be a Senior Pilot, and they retired the Concord fleet right before I got to Senior..

Sometimes I did local routes in the German wings version of BA, doing routes in a Otter from say Munchen to Innsbruck.


Some great times....

Got nasty in the end though. A bummer when some of the high people mess with you thinking you are cheating or something. I worked my butt off to get to my position...



Bill

I ran into similar issues with a couple different VA's.. One in particular had me stuck in 737s and 767s and only a chosen few could fly the Citations.. pissed me off to no end..
Eventually, the real airline crumbled and the VA fell apart. but that kinda crap happens all over he place and i hate it.. I dont think we'll be like that. The structure will be there, but Eiriks a pretty great guy and i think that one a case by case basis ( especially if we know you have experience ) we can make allowances and get the pilot into the plane they enjoy.. i cant guarantee it, but i know Eirik wants people to have fun and enjoy the VA as much as they enjoy flying itself..

[Lionheart]

I ran into similar issues with a couple different VA's.. One in particular had me stuck in 737s and 767s and only a chosen few could fly the Citations.. pissed me off to no end..
Eventually, the real airline crumbled and the VA fell apart. but that kinda crap happens all over he place and i hate it.. I dont think we'll be like that. The structure will be there, but Eiriks a pretty great guy and i think that one a case by case basis ( especially if we know you have experience ) we can make allowances and get the pilot into the plane they enjoy.. i cant guarantee it, but i know Eirik wants people to have fun and enjoy the VA as much as they enjoy flying itself..


Sorry to hear that Pam. You should have been flying Citations and not waisting your valuable time that long.



When I was making the Junkers W33 and W34, I thought, man, it would be cool to recreate some of these routes and make a basic VA that had this and similar planes and use all the routes from the vintage airlines of that era, back in the late 1920's and into the late 1930's. Some went from London up into Russia, over to Sweden, all accross Europe, and even down into Africa as far as Iran. They were also used in Canada as their first airline plane and thus opened up channels all over the huge countrysides of Canuctica..

Would be fun, but dang, they fly slow!!!! lol...


Bill

[Matt Wynn]

Bill i'd be up for that style of flying i do love my oldies... in FS2004 i'm regularly found in a HP.42 good flying, navigating by map and by stars... it's a challenge, as entereing the coast 1 bay too far down the coast due to a mis-calculation for wind can wreak real havoc... FSX My most used aircraft is your Tailwind, think i've flown from EGNO-LGAV via several stops over 50 times now... crazy? yes, yes i am :icon_lol:

[Lionheart]

Bill i'd be up for that style of flying i do love my oldies... in FS2004 i'm regularly found in a HP.42 good flying, navigating by map and by stars... it's a challenge, as entereing the coast 1 bay too far down the coast due to a mis-calculation for wind can wreak real havoc... FSX My most used aircraft is your Tailwind, think i've flown from EGNO-LGAV via several stops over 50 times now... crazy? yes, yes i am :icon_lol:

LOL... Man, the Tailwind must fly twice the speed as a Junkers W33 or Tante Ju. Little Rockets...

[Matt Wynn]

not when you're zig-zagging dur to getting distracted :Icon_lol: think i misread the Map once and somehow ended up over Turkey... must have fallen asleep at the controls.... still hoping someone has that interior kit for the Tailwind... needs some crushed cigarette butts in mine... and whats left of doritos and other food stuffs :icon_lol: can't wait for whats next Bill...

[Bjoern]

I used to have my one-man VA at FSAirlines for a few years but they went payware this year. Was nice while it lasted though. You could do your thing and have a bit of competition as well as a community. *Sigh*

[Lionheart]

I used to have my one-man VA at FSAirlines for a few years but they went payware this year. Was nice while it lasted though. You could do your thing and have a bit of competition as well as a community. *Sigh*

Thats always cool, chatting with other pilots.

In VATSIM, I found you could do instant messages or private messages to other people on the web that were in VATSIM. Had some cool conversations on those long flights.


Bill

[jdhaenens]

Now I may be completely off base with this, but online flying with dozens of choices for VA's or whatever you want to do is one of the things I envision for the next "Flight Sim Live" scenario from Microsoft. Military VA's dogfighting, Bush pilot missions, single or dual controls for long flights, kinda like an IVAO or VATSIM with its own VA's. ...and imagine if the rooms served their own scenery and/or aircraft.. If you wanted a WW1 dogfight, you wouldn't have to worry about seeing an FA-18 intruding. There'd be a Golden Age room, a Carrier Air Group Room, an Air Race Room, an interactive mission room with each player playing a role in the mission, a flight instruction room for various qualifications and aircraft, and so on. Most folks that fly online realize that if you get more than a few people interacting in the same area, you're flight quality will decrease. Teamspeak eats way more bandwidth than FS Host. What if you could leverage the newer streaming technologies that have lots more going for them than a peer to peer handshake? Of course I could be wrong...probably am.

Jim

[Bjoern]

Thats always cool, chatting with other pilots.

Well, you do your FSX flying on our own, it's just that there is a client program that kept track of your flights and uploads the results to a website on which you manage your airline and compare statistics, etc...

The chatting only happens in the forums.

A one-man airline now costs 27€s a year or so.
FSPassengersX might be a better replacment since you only pay once.

[srgalahad]

I`ve had several friends try the VA route and most have left ( for all the usual reasons). My inhibition goes much deeper...

There are obviously hundreds of thousands of FS users. There`s a stream where people sim `secretly` ( it`s a wierd hobby, right...) and then something gets them looking online for planes and they discover a couple of the big sites. After a bit someone tips them to the specialty sites, or they discover a VA (WOW! I`m an airline pilot!) and off they go. As time goes on someone dislikes the management or concept and says: I can do better and goes off to start a new group.
On and on we find ways to fracture the community into special interest groups and because we all have limited time, good people drift off instead of staying and contributing to the larger group. We often lose the shared learning and `cross-pollenating` that expands our knowledge.

I`m not saying a specific interest is bad in it`s own right (it does fill a need), but the part of human nature that likes like-minded friends also tends to build cliques and waters down the diversity that makes flight simming so much more than a game. I`ll bet that the majority who go off to the specialties and then get discouraged don`t come back to the mainstream but rather return to `secret simming` - at a loss to us all.

Rob

[Sundog]

I've looked at VA's and even created my own "VA Textures" (Aerial X, for Aerial Executive, which were at Avsim before the crash, I don't know about now). But for flying together, I used to be part of an online fighter squadron for years, ran a terrain team for one of the majors, was the Tactical Training Officer for our squadron, and I really enjoyed it. But eventually, it just became too demanding, in terms of time. Also, I find myself much less stressed out just flying FS on my own. But I would consider flying FS with the "guys from the squadron" just to hang out.

[warchild]

VA's have the potential for being enjoyable.. I dont like they " hey look at me, i'm an airline captain" aspect of it, especially when i've spent more hours blueprinting these things numerically, than some of them have lived. but, i also find myself flying alone, in a big empty sky with no one around to share the experience with.. Thats where the VA comes in.. if not for the VA, you guys would be pummeled with thousands of not so great looking screen shots from me and tons upon tons of verbiage about this flight or that flight or even that PCFIG i made onetime http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/icons/icon11.gif Oh well..