Jay Honeck wrote in
:

There are a couple of "regulars" who are older pilots on fixed
incomes. They may have lost their medicals, and almost certainly
have no discretionary income to **** away on "$100 hamburger"
flights.

Are they guests of the hotel, or do you allow anyone to come in and
fly the sim?

"Movie Night" is open to the public. You don't have to be a hotel
guest. In fact, most attendees are *not* hotel guests.

The Kiwi is a terrific outlet for these guys. They get their
flying "fix" each week without spending a nickel, and the rest of
us get to enjoy their company.

How does it compare to real flying for them? If zero is nothing and
ten is real flight, where does simulation rank?

Well, that's a totally subjective topic. Personally, I put flying
the sim at somewhere around a "5" on a 1 to 10 scale, with real flying
being a 10. For the older guys who are now unable to fly "for real",
it's something of a moot point. For them, it's all there is.

Is it as good as flying to Janesville for brunch? Hell, no! But
the price is certainly right.

That's one of the huge attractions to simulation: the cost is
essentially nil. Personally, I would not trade my 900 or so hours of
online simulation for the half-hour or so of real flight that I could
get for the same money.

I would not trade my first solo flight for any amount of money. It
was a magical mixture of joy, excitement, personal satisfaction, and
wonder that could never be duplicated or replaced. Even if I had
never flown again, all the time, money and effort I had invested would
have made that 30-minute flight worthwhile.

Until you've felt the wings get light while being in complete control,
you will never be able to fully appreciate flying.

Discovery flights (at least in America) are cheap. You really owe it
to yourself to just take a single flight lesson -- it can be a life-
changing event.

Additionally, since a lifetime on the ground is only one failed
medical away for every pilot, it would be wise for pilots to
familiarize themselves with simulation, just in case. Playing on a
simulator is a lot more fun than sitting in a recliner pining for
unattainable experience in a real aircraft.

I think most pilots are familiar with flight sims, although in my
experience much of their knowledge-base is pretty out-dated, being
based on what flight simulator could do years (or even decades) ago.
Many real pilots are quite amazed at what our Kiwi can do.
--
Bull****. I use state of the art stuff and it's still just a toy.


Bertie