Av mags and sims....

"Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo" wrote in message
...

[suddenly! and grabbing a line from the flick "FAME"...]

Don Parker: "Does he want to be a musician or an airline pilot? Mr.
Martelli! Mr. Martelli!"

How'd I get this honor? Or was it just my turn in the barrel? (;-))

Actually, I'd fail miserably at both - only got to the level of playing some
good ole 3 chord r/r by ear on the guitar 35 or 4..... well, skip that - and
had my right eye go from fair to terrible about the same time, so after a
few hundred hours in 150's, and having my written passed for commercial &
instrument, scrapped any pro flying ambitions. Recognizing the fact that
I'm a habitual day dreamer also influenced the flying decision - missing
your freeway exit by a half dozen while you're engrossed in thought (local
saying is "Homer, ya got yer mind in Missouri, and yer ass in Arkansas") may
work on the ground, but in the air ain't the place for it! Thank [favorite
deity] for FS's! The flying public should be very grateful... G
Cheers'n beers.
Don

Don Parker wrote:
"Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo" wrote in message
...

[suddenly! and grabbing a line from the flick "FAME"...]

Don Parker: "Does he want to be a musician or an airline pilot? Mr.
Martelli! Mr. Martelli!"


How'd I get this honor? Or was it just my turn in the barrel? (;-))

Actually, I'd fail miserably at both - only got to the level of playing some
good ole 3 chord r/r by ear on the guitar 35 or 4..... well, skip that

Well, I'm still hoping for that Ebay item where someone puts up what
they think is an "old guitar...needs strings....dusty...NO RESERVE" and
it turns out to be a Martin D-35 Acoustic! Although, on the electric
side, a Fender Jazzmaster or Gretsch would suffice! ;-)

But then, for those in the group also in the MS train sim...Ebay...lady
puts up at auction and I quote "OLD BOX OF 'TOY' [!--emphasis mine]
TRAIN TRANSFORMERS--- 50's vintage--- no reserve---needs to be cleaned
up--don't know if they work---starting bid $10....." $10 for the whole
box mind you! The old 'toy train transformers' so the story goes was
four, count 'em, 'four' Lionel classic 275 watt "ZW" transformers which
today, even if the thing SMOKED when plugged in, would still bring a
small fortune [pop in new internal and updated 'caps' and an external
original case clean-up and $300 a piece 'minimum' is almost guaranteed
by collectors and O-gauge train buffs. $450 if all works with original
internal parts!] And yes, my 3 tiered O-gauge [post war and diesels
only] Lionel [primarily anyway] train set is still in the basement...and
working since the 50's onwards!

[suddenly...a detractor from Detroit...] "Still wear the Lionel engineer
hat too, Doc?" My response, "Sure..what, you don't wear those Sporty's
ordered airline Captain hats [with the scrambled eggs of course] --and--
Van Heusen shirt 'with' the 4 stripe epaulettes when you fly?" ;-)


- and
had my right eye go from fair to terrible about the same time, so after a
few hundred hours in 150's, and having my written passed for commercial &
instrument, scrapped any pro flying ambitions. Recognizing the fact that
I'm a habitual day dreamer also influenced the flying decision - missing
your freeway exit by a half dozen while you're engrossed in thought (local
saying is "Homer, ya got yer mind in Missouri, and yer ass in Arkansas") may
work on the ground, but in the air ain't the place for it! Thank [favorite
deity] for FS's! The flying public should be very grateful... G
Cheers'n beers.
Don



Me, it was the venerable Cessna 152. Then 172. But planes belonging to
'other' folks. And now, well, just too pricey! So for me, the sims fill
the void quite nicely and, quite frankly, I find it a challenge! Even
the sims can be non forgiving! But then the range of folks who are into
what I would term serious flight simulation...at least those whom I know
over the years..all ages and genders BTW...seem to share this same
excitement and look to the sim not only adjunctively to the real deal
but just as seriously.

And the best part of all? The sim community! It's staggering what 'our
own' can and does produce and I mean for free! Often, in my opinion, far
better than some of the stuff being commercially hawked! Who in this
hobby has 'not' heard of FlightNav as a sim community add-on which at
least up to version 3.0 was a freebie? And the websites where sim
community offerings...all free...abound! I recall when FS98 came out and
I loaded up that Chaffin-Rambow-Visser team R4D [DC-3, one of my
favorites] and I was literally stunned at that plane and panel package!
And so many others whose names in the sim community have become almost
legendary!

In short, I love it and our sim community talent base, if you will, just
keeps on growing where after awhile, folks use the FS 'whatever' merely
as the requisite 'engine' platform to run 'sim community' produced
planes, panels, gauges, scenery, etc. etc. What other serious hobby
offers that kind of expertise often for the 'cost' of mere time to
download and/or 'reasonable' shareware/donation ware stuff!

Doc Tony

[still grousing....]

Al Denelsbeck: [in the tower...] "YOUR TOO LOW, DOC! SOUND YOUR ALARM
BELL!"

but then, and still counting on Don's known sense of humor...]

Don: [stoically a la Lloyd Bridges as 'McCluskey'] "I guess I picked the
wrong week to stop sniffing glue!"

[but then..to everyone's surprise and a sudden RAS cameo appearance!]

Dean Bielanowski : [and quite serious to boot!] "GET ME REX KRAMER!"

[but ahhhhhhhhh!]

Kevin Reilly [the guy in the cab...] "I'll give him 15 more
minutes....but that's it!"


*** I love that flick! ["AIRPLANE"]

"Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo" wrote in message
...




*** I love that flick! ["AIRPLANE"]


Damn, I wouldn't have guessed that in a hundred years!!

And Doc Tony replies, "If I told you once, I've told you a million times,
don't exagerate!"...

(:-))

Don Parker wrote:
"Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo" wrote in message
...



*** I love that flick! ["AIRPLANE"]



Damn, I wouldn't have guessed that in a hundred years!!

And Doc Tony replies, "If I told you once, I've told you a million times,
don't exagerate!"...

(:-))



Hey, Don, I could have used "AIRPORT 75" you know...the 'serious' one
[cough-cough] but then folks might recall the rumor that when 'you' went
to see it and suddenly Joe Petroni says to Murdoch [Charles Heston]
after the Jumbo took a hit, to wit, "My God! She's actually flying the
plane!" , well, word was you jumped up in your seat and bellowed at the
top of your lungs, "OHHHHHHH HORSE****! GIVE IT A BREAK ALREADY!"
whereupon pandemonium reportedly broke out in the theater!

The interesting part however was the report that Al Denelsbeck [I'll get
him to pipe up yet!] was also watching the flick in that theater and
thundered back, at 'YOU' that is, "DOWN IN FRONT, PLEASE!"

Said Al after the flick, "I don't know why Don reacted as vehemently as
he did since the stewa...ehhh... I mean the 'flight attendant' had been
briefed at least via some initial radio communication and, let's face
it, what does it take to disengage the AP knob once you know where it
is and then simply turn the yoke gently to the right!"

Countered Don, "C'mon Al, the Jumbo in that flick takes a mean hit when
ol' Dana Andrews does the Fred Sanford routine albeit the real thing and
then collides with the Jumbo and you're telling me that a totally
untrained flight attendant could start manually flying the Jumbo with
that kind of structural damage --and-- under such heavy stress? Does
that sound realistic to you even for a Hollywood flick?"


Quips Al, "You want 'realistic', Don --- how about Microsoft's claim
that with FS2004, hey, all you really need to 'share in the excitement'
and 'experience the challenges' and bag the desired results is, and I
quote, "a 450 MHz CPU with 64 MB of RAM [if using '98 or ME] and 128
megs [if using 2K or XP] and just 8MB of video RAM.....how's that for
sounding 'realistic'.... ."

Don: "A point!"

Doc Tony
;-)

* Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo :

Well, this is a bit nostalgic but a couple of emails flew in about my
mention of the real thing av mags for the sims. Why not? Remember our
friend Dorfmann in the flick "The Flight of the Phoenix" in re "But then
the principles are the same... ."

Now there's an aircraft that someone should model for FS, complete with
people hanging on the wings, not to mention a monkey in a bag!

And so they are! What, it's 'unusual'
for the sim community folks to be reading 'Flying', 'Plane and Pilot',
'Private Pilot' etc. ? I subscribe to all 3 and have done so for many
moons.

While I don't subscribe to any aviation mags I'll often buy one or more GA
mags if they seem to have interesting articles that relate somewhat to
things I can do with FS.

--
Dave Pearson
http://www.davep.org/

2Studs wrote:
On 11 Aug 2003 10:16:13 GMT, Dave Pearson wrote:


* Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo :


Well, this is a bit nostalgic but a couple of emails flew in about my
mention of the real thing av mags for the sims. Why not? Remember our
friend Dorfmann in the flick "The Flight of the Phoenix" in re "But then
the principles are the same... ."

Now there's an aircraft that someone should model for FS, complete with
people hanging on the wings, not to mention a monkey in a bag!


And so they are! What, it's 'unusual'
for the sim community folks to be reading 'Flying', 'Plane and Pilot',
'Private Pilot' etc. ? I subscribe to all 3 and have done so for many
moons.

While I don't subscribe to any aviation mags I'll often buy one or more GA
mags if they seem to have interesting articles that relate somewhat to
things I can do with FS.


Who gives a ****? There you are, so all knowing, yet knowing jack ****.

Jerk & Jerk-OFF


Ahhhhh! Well, thank you 'Mr. Jerk' for your comments. I note you're also
piping up for another mentioned 'stud' as well, Mr. Jerk-OFF! Hence
2Studs, yes? I mean that's the way it was signed off! And hey, do give
my regards to your duly mentioned other buddy up there, Jack S.

Doc Tony
;-)

Another?

[suddenly...]

X: "Now-now, Doc..... ."

Doc Tony: "Hey, the schmo left himself wide open for that one! Perhaps
he'll do better next round. Now I never initiate but I 'do' respond when
fools beckon. This one needs to construct better sentences...I mean for
his benefit. And his indicated buddies.

;-)

Al Denelsbeck wrote:
"Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo" wrote in
:



Quips Al, "You want 'realistic', Don --- how about Microsoft's claim
that with FS2004, hey, all you really need to 'share in the
excitement' and 'experience the challenges' and bag the desired
results is, and I quote, "a 450 MHz CPU with 64 MB of RAM [if using
'98 or ME] and 128 megs [if using 2K or XP] and just 8MB of video
RAM.....how's that for sounding 'realistic'.... ."



Alright, you drew me out on this one! I've long been a proponent of
the idea that Microsoft gets kickbacks from both Intel and the RAM
manufacturers. since they manage to 'upgrade' everything they market every
two years, and somehow these 'upgrades' require a new processor and twice
as much RAM to run.


And hence the rub...while their 'minimums' to run the sim may serve to
sell more copies of same, I believe it is unrealistic [read: unfair] to
give those kinds of minimums [read: hype] and make folks believe that
they can 'share the excitement' as those usual website screen shots
depict yet I doubt that the hawked 'hey, LOOK!' screen shots were ever
done with those Microsoft minimum machine requirements.

Sure, sure, the old "...well, naturally, ya' gotta' make [slider and
frame rate] compromises... ' gambit but they don't tell the uninitiated
that who fork over $50 plus and believe they are in for a treat with all
the hawked and visualized bells and whistles....until they try it on
their 450MHz machine. Ohhh, it 'will' run, yes indeed, but to what
expectations-- Microsoft [it's running, isn't it?] .... or the end user
[what's this? Psychedelic City?]. I note while other folks give a sort
of minimum...better...preferred..and best range to get the max use out
of 'whatever', MS sticks with their minimum as if to suggest however
that if you have at least 450MHz, hey, you've got it all!


You know me, Doc (though the rest of you don't): I've
got the Czech L-39 screaming along inverted, trying to see just how close I
can drag that fin along the asphalt. FOD detail, my ass - there are ways to
keep debris off the runways, and it's called "wake turbulence".

Or there's the fun of approaching in an EMB-121 light twin turboprop
perpendicular to the runway (no, not the approach path, the runway itself),
chopping throttle and going full flaps at 25 feet AGL, yanking up and
standing on one wingtip as the gear drops, and touching down at stall lined
up perfectly on centerline. Or, ahem, the attempt thereof. I won't consider
it 'realistic' until the mechanics drag me from the flight deck and pummel
me senseless for wracking their aircraft around...

And then, of course, is my passion for helos.


You know me and helos, Al. Indeed, if we could get Fr. Bill in here, no
doubt he would shake his head at the sheer number of helo 'baptisms'
I've performed with those egg beaters! Talk about the 'De Profundis'!
Depths, indeed! It takes much patience to fly those things...correctly
anyway...and thus far I haven't been very successful. The only decent
'hover' I could do is if I pause the sim and fake it with muttered
guttural sounds of whoop...whoop...whoop...whoop....usw. !

None one of these
habits lend themselves to crummy framerates. Not long back, I was running
my favorite high-speed driving game on a system with dual network cards and
Internet Connection Sharing installed, spreading the wealth of the cable
modem. Someone else starts downloading mpegs, and the display turns into
one of those photo sequences of disasters you see in Newsweek - blink!
damn, looks like I might be going a bit too fast for this turn, blink!
that's some mighty fine detail in the rock textures, blink! look at the
pretty sky, though it's hard to see through the shattered windshield.
Thankfully the router is now in place and everything isn't passing through
my RAM.

So spending $500+ on a new system for eye-candy? Keep it. Give me an
F-14 that *loses airspeed* when you go null throttle and an F4U that won't
do flips at the slightest touch of the brakes. Clouds? That's IFR
territory, why you need pretty pictures for IFR?

But yes, I have long recognized the apparent disparity between MS'
'minimum system requirements' and the real world of ones and zeros. Though
it could probably work, *if* you weren't running an MS OS at the same
time...

And to emulate Doc (those of you who don't know Doc will learn
quickly, and those of you who dare to chime in will have a hell of a lot
more fun): "That's a Nakajima Type 97 or I'm a bigger dummy than he is!"
pipes Eddie Deezen as the P-40 screams past. And if you recognized that
line, did you also realize that the line "Safety Bar? We don't need no
safety bar!" was an obscure homage to "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"?

Oh, yeah, while we're on the subject: I did finally see "Brassed
Off!", pretty good movie. And if you liked that one, check out "An
Everlasting Piece" (that's not misspelled). Anna Friel doesn't quite
compare to Tara Fitzgerald, but is nice all the same...

- Al.


Good flick! And Tara! Ahhhh! I got the CD too and performed by the real
McCoy "Grimethorpe Colliery Band." Nice!

Doc Tony
;-)

[suddenly...]

Don Parker: "Well, there's always Mister Chuckles!" [or 'chook-ulls' as
the UK brethren would say].

Tara F.: [miffed!] "Ohhhh, 'stoof' that one, Doc!"

:-( !

Dave Pearson wrote:
* Dr. Anthony J. Lomenzo :


Well, this is a bit nostalgic but a couple of emails flew in about my
mention of the real thing av mags for the sims. Why not? Remember our
friend Dorfmann in the flick "The Flight of the Phoenix" in re "But then
the principles are the same... ."


Now there's an aircraft that someone should model for FS, complete with
people hanging on the wings, not to mention a monkey in a bag!

Good one, Dave! As for 'Choo-Choo', well, let me say that it was like
our friend with the portable radio and this Arabic station comes in and
suddenly we hear that ...[interrupted!]

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Dave: "HEY....DON! What are doing, man?"

Don: "I'm shaving! I'm trying to maintain some semblance of civilization!"


[Reader Note: Ya' gotta' know the flick! But then, our friend Dorfmann
'was' right...the principles 'are' the same!

;-)



And so they are! What, it's 'unusual'
for the sim community folks to be reading 'Flying', 'Plane and Pilot',
'Private Pilot' etc. ? I subscribe to all 3 and have done so for many
moons.


While I don't subscribe to any aviation mags I'll often buy one or more GA
mags if they seem to have interesting articles that relate somewhat to
things I can do with FS.


Hey, and some judicious looking around, $9.95 for 12 issues of Plane and
Pilot and $12 [12 issues] for 'Flying'.... not bad! And the more the sim
community gets into today's avionics [with real thing folks most happy
for the free publicity...do you thuink MSFS used the word 'Garmin' in
their FS2004 sans official nod from those folks?], the more the learning
process can be directly applicable. Among other areas as we begin to
move from static do-nothing knobs and switches to those that function
based on the real counter-parts....with noted exceptions of course and
byte space considerations. But then too, the sim community isn't exactly
a slouch on producing quality avionics that in fact mimic the real deal
electronically! It's getting better as time goes on....WITH the very
valuable sim community input. Falcon 4 suddenly comes to mind...as when
it was wholly abandoned and it was the sim community that picked up the
slack forthwith! THEN the commercial folks wake up to community
interest...and community successes and suddenly there is talk of Falcon
V....whenever that is to materialize.

Doc Tony