Who are we now?

[rigbyDerekb1948]

welcome Bongo and Rigby...

 

how about you two post your own life and flight sim stories?

Hi Hawker, actually I did. Sorry for the apparent negativity (#38). a previous post made me feel despondent.

Apologies to all,

"Rigby"

[chris455]

Derek , your story wasnt rambling ar all; I find it fascinating that so many of us are still affevted ny the war, if only through the family members who lived it.........

I have alwsys had a fascination for your homeland. the Boer War is conflict that most Americans are unaware of, yet I find it so interesting.......the first modern guerrilla war.

S! Derek!

[Yakdriver]

Hi Hawker, actually I did. Sorry for the apparent negativity (#38). a previous post made me feel despondent.

Apologies to all,

"Rigby"

no harm done!

hope the spirits lift and you feel better.

[1./ZG1_ElHadji]

To add to the El Hadji trivia: speaking of the Boer War. My dad has a pretty neat collection of antique weapons. Among them is a Enfield Cavalry carbine that was actually used in that war.

[chris455]

Awesome. I too have a rather extensive collection of rifles and pistols I have collected over my lifetime, including 2 Enfield rifles. But I have always dreamed of owning an M93 or M95 Mauser in 7mm like the Boers had.

[mondog]

To add to the El Hadji trivia: speaking of the Boer War. My dad has a pretty neat collection of antique weapons. Among them is a Enfield Cavalry carbine that was actually used in that war.

 

I have a shell from the Boer war with "Du Put 31 May 1902" engraved on it. My mothers, fathers, Uncle fought in it and was from a gun under his command (he was apparently important enough that when he died his coffin was carried through Brighton on the back of a gun carriage from Preston barracks, which I believe at the time was an officer training school). Whatever that is in relation to me. Great uncle? Fascinated me as a kid but I forgot about it until my parents retired and sold the family home. I should really find out more, I hardly know anything about him other than the shell and a photo of his coffin on the gun carriage being pulled by horses. 

[falstaff]

Bongodriver said:

 

Now I'd love to know who and why and what you will do about it.

 

Why do you want to know? Do you think you're one of them?

 

Of course, there's nothing I can do to make anyone post (or not post) here. I would have thought that much is obvious.

 

I think most people here probably have an equivalent couple of names that would raise a smile by the very act of posting here, no?

 

Some would suit it down to the ground. Others would seem a bit more...incongruous...I think it could be downright hilarious.

Edited November 4, 2014 by falstaff

[DD_bongodriver]

 

 

Why do you want to know? Do you think you're one of them?

 

Nope, genuine query, found it a strange post, like you were fishing for a reaction.

 

 

 

Of course, there's nothing I can do to make anyone post (or not post) here. I would have thought that much is obvious.

 

Yes, which is why it seemed like a strange post.

 

 

 

I think most people here probably have an equivalent couple of names that would raise a smile by the very act of posting here, no?

 

Not really, simply some folks introducing themselves....stuff like that.

 

 

 

Some would suit it down to the ground. Others would seem a bit more...incongruous...?

 

if you say so, maybe you'd like to share a bit about yourself?

[falstaff]

Ok Bongodriver, I'll bite, not least because I'm most definitely chuckling at the thought of you not only playing it with a straight face, but also saying you're *not* fishing for a reaction like it's the last thing you'd ever do....that in itself is worth the price of admission....

 

I'm 47, writer these days, got into sims/games back when 386sx computers were the norm (think floppy disks)...grew up near Cheltenham GCHQ and used to drive past all the military vehicles laid out (well I didn't, my dad did, on account of me being 6 or 7).

 

Visited the usual air displays and shows nearby, smudged the glue on lots of Airfix cockpits as a kid (even managed it on the Apollo moon rockets, which didn't have one). Dad a poet (dead), brother an outdoor fitness guy fell runner, holds a number of paragliding distance records, ex-pilot....

 

Favourite sims...probably RB2 back in the day, Falcon 4, Back To Baghdad (sold about 6 copies). used to be involved in medium and high end software dev (government security tuff, then architecture software etc etc), mainly as technical author...did abit of flight-sim journaism for an idiot, have an odd credit buried away somewhere....

 

Two teenage kids, one of each...became full-time writer when my dad went early, wife's a potter, follow tennis avidly (wanted to be pro, not quite good enough, did the circuit and won stuff as a teenager back in the Dark Ages).....still surf a lot in the middle of winter and year-round....and keep meaning to upgrade my machine....

[falstaff]

Oh, and your turn Bongo...though I think we all know what you do for a living....(besides being angry )

Edited November 4, 2014 by falstaff

[DD_bongodriver]

Meh....you just saved me the time.

[avlSteve]

I'm Steve.  I live in western North Carolina, USA, near Asheville.  We have a lot of micro-breweries here.  I support them (lest this thread would not be posted in).

 

I like to play guitar and flight simulators.  I was aircrew in the USN when I was a youngster;  Did more than one hitch in the mighty Lockheed P3C Orion, as an ASW operator, Sensor 1.  Deployments to Rota and Keflavik.  Stationed in Brunswick, Me.

 

After the nav, hell bent on pursuing my passions, I went on to play bass in a band around town for a while, but since the wage I earned could barely keep me stocked with fresh strings and gas money, eventually settled into the software developer business.  

 

I do have some solo hours in a 172 out of KAVL, but don't have a pilot license.  Maybe one day.

 

Got tickets to see Robin Trower in Knoxville Friday night.  Life is good!

 

Edit:  Oh, and I'm into motorcycles pretty heavy.  Nearing 70k on my '07 Harley Road Glide, almost all back roads.  I guess I've been down every paved road within 200 miles of here.

Edited November 4, 2014 by avlSteve

[chris455]

Hi Falstaff,

The more I read people's posts here, the more I am amazed at the fact that I have something in common with nearly every one. I too am a technical writer-I wonder how many more of us are here?

[Jason_Williams]

Chris,

 

I love the postings of people who are playing along. If you want me to cull the side discussions that are detracting from the OP let me know. I like reading the personal stories.

 

Jason

[chris455]

Jason,

I think your message will suffice as a warning. I defer to your judgement whether or not to take further action

Speaking of peoples stories, is there any chance you might be sharing a bit about yourself here? I know I would be interested, and Im sure so would others........

[JimTM]

I'm Jim (really?) and I'm 56 years old. I'm originally from Dalhousie, New Brunswick, and I've lived in many places across Canada, including Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto.

 

Over time, I've worked as an electronics technician, programmer, and most recently as a software technical writer.

 

I earned my private pilots licence in 1975 and have flown C150s, C152s, C172s, and Piper Archers. Due to the cost, I have not flown in real life for quite awhile, but the latest sims are really a great substitute. I started in racing sims (Indycar Racing, Nascar Racing, GPL) and progressed to flying sims (ROF, DCS, CloD, BoS).

 

My dad and my uncles were all in the RCAF during the war. My dad trained on Tiger Moths (hence "JimTM") and Avro Ansons, but he was in too late to go overseas. One of my uncles was a navigator on Lancasters and another uncle flew Typhoons. My uncle flying Typhoons was shot up during a strafing run. He made it back to base but crashed into some parked planes and was badly burned. He was patched up using experimental reconstructive techniques and became a member of the Guinea Pig Club.

 

Cheers!

[chris455]

Hi Steve,

I know indirectly about how difficilt it is for musicians to make decent money..

..

both of my wifes sons from a previous marriage are musicians (grits teeth )

 

I ride a 2004 Kawasaki Drifter

Love it

Just put a set of Metzler 880 whitewalls on her, as well as custom springer seat.

Like Ive mentioned before, my wife is a real sweatheart when it comes to letting me have guy stuff ;-)

[nicka117]

Name is Nick, 45 years old...but only feel like I'm about 37.

 

Live in San Diego and was born here, but having been a Navy brat, moved around quite a bit between then and now (Guam anyone?). Pop has 300 carrier landings, 100 of them at night. He says he must have been pretty good by the shear fact that he's still alive. His old saying, "Go ahead and kill yourself but don't look bad at the boat."

 

So growing up around Naval Aviators, I assumed that is the thing one must do.....that anything else was a tragedy. I actually considered it an insult to be called a "civilian." But...at the age of 12 I found out I was blind as a bat, so i had to shift that paradigm a bit.

 

I used to go out with dad and drive the golf cart when he played the local military courses...and when I finally picked up a club and took a swat, I was pretty darn good......not Tiger Woods good......but good enough to utimately become better than scratch, and have a real enjoyment of teaching others to play. That is what I'm still doing today and have loved every minute.

 

Waited a long time to get married and glad I did, because girls like my wife don't come along very often. She is the best thing that has happened or will ever happen to my life. Been married for 4 years but no kids yet.

 

Started playing Jane's F15E in the late 90's in preparartion for Jane's F18, because finally, I was going to see what it looked like to land on an aircraft carrier. Since then, I've been addicted to EAW, CFS, FSX (acceleration with nimitz Carriers is really cool), and of course il2 1946. Also did some 3rd wire Wings over Vietnam.

 

I got away from flight sims for a little while to do some racing stuff, both sims and real life shifter kart racing. Part of what brought me back was the fact that I heard Team Fusion ressurrected Clod. I had been one of the many who had waited for it desparately and been so desparately dissapointed with the disaster of it's release. that almost made me feel that WWII flight sims were dead forever. Now with Team Fusion, the ATAG server, and BOS ramping up, I've been given new hope.

[MarcoRossolini]

Noah, born in 1996 and just about the youngest here (young cybermat beat me, sign of the times I'm afraid  )

I'm from Australia, which boasts infamous ping times and lots of lag and plays when the rest of the world is asleep, fun times.

Some of my earliest memories have been doing plastic models and flight sims, my grandfather used to be into them a bit and, as you might have guessed, I've taken it a bit further now. I remember when I was 3 seeing him playing FS95... I still have memories of running my aircraft into Chicago buildings (because that's exciting when you're 4). My first proper combat simulator was Battle of Britain (I still think that's a classic) but (a recurring them in my gaming life) our computer couldn't run it very well... Flight sims went on a hiatus for a while when I went to school and got into strategy game and Rise of Nations and Empire Earth (I still love playing those). All this stuff has gotten me into history in a big way, so I've always been the odd one out at school. Probably my interest in history has been helped by going to Europe for a year with my family a couple of times. I want to go back to Europe, it's always struck me as far more interesting then anything down here in Australia. It's like we're in the grip of the disease known as National Self-Obsession... 

Anyway, I picked up Il-2 which I saw being played by a friend a long time ago and played the campaign for that a lot, however all the time I played those early games I did so with all the aids and icons on... Lazy explosions obsessed kid I suppose...

High School came along and that was a disaster, from having loads of friends I went to having basically none and reading history books in the library at lunchtimes. I wasn't bullied because I suppose there wasn't anything to bully me with, nobody actually knew anything about me...

It says something that around that time I jumped into Eve Online, which had been recommended to me a long time ago, and magically managed to get invited into a corp right after I'd finished all the beginner missions and away I went. It was great. Eventually we ended up in Providence and had some great times there, then, when that went to hell (for a while), we ended up in Northern Coalition, which proceeded to kick us from their alliance and so the corp disbanded, I couldn't go on since the corp that was taking players in had ridiculously high requirements for a guy like me who had lots of committments and the like. So that was the end of that. I've tried to join since but all the places I've gone to have been thoroughly uninspiring (one had a corp theft 2 days after I joined and I lost a great deal of stuff...) So Eve's on the backburner for the moment...

 

 

Hello from Goons . Did you see the comic CCP did about that?

 

Cool to see some Eve vets here, I'm jealous of you guys in Goonswarm, I've wanted to join in with you fellows because you seem to matter slightly in Eve (ha) but I know your requirement policies (and reputation) so I've not bothered. That was a fun comic to read though.

 

Then I ran across Rise of Flight... oh dear... So that brought me back to Flight Sims and there I've stayed till now, lots of fun times. Lots of memorable events. Thoroughly worth it. And now I'm here as well. I should be studying for my final High School exams... but they can go hang for the moment.

 

Some of the stories here have been pretty fascinating. Far more interesting than my own for one.

[Nil]

I am Christoffer. soon 42 years old.
Will stay single, as I wear down every person I get into a serious relationship with. And they all take up studies about psychology!?

The son of an alcoholic mother and a junkie dad (that I never met, since they divorced almost at once (and he crashed his car drunk and on drugs, with 4 people in it.. all died, exept the dog, when I were 5, and didn't even know what a dad was))

I played pong.. then moved over to 'sims' (and most other games too) on my C64 and onwards, to atari, to PC.
Name the sim and I prolly played it.

Chef, Waiter, Bartender, Bar-chief in responsibility of personnel.. a little of this and a little of that, a bit computer-work, support, network-technician. (IRC Warez-channel CoOp, with a fast and popular FTP server), Commie-chef on Ireland, then a little bit of insanity.. Really unstable mentally.

 

Recovered a bit and worked as a demolition-worker, Brokk-operator, Even more insanity/instability.. gave Demolition another try before I totally broke down, to the semi-alcoholic mid-insane retired simplayer 'Pigmachine'.

(My mom is a sober alcoholic since 25+ years.. and I love her now!)

Plays a lot of SH3 with mods atm

So now you know why I sometimes post crazy shit

(And I actually look like my avatar.. as it is a pic of me)

Edited November 5, 2014 by Pigmachine

[Yakdriver]

another messed up dude like me.
Welcome to BoS!
SHIII is the shizzles. \m/

[avlSteve]

Like Ive mentioned before, my wife is a real sweatheart when it comes to letting me have guy stuff ;-)

 

 I got pretty lucky as well.  Shortly after renting a scooter and riding her around at Key West, I heard her say, "You should get a Harley." 

[Cybermat47]

Some of my earliest memories have been doing plastic models

 

...

 

got into strategy game ... and Empire Earth (I still love playing those).

 

...

 

I want to go back to Europe, it's always struck me as far more interesting then anything down here in Australia. It's like we're in the grip of the disease known as National Self-Obsession...

 

we have a lot in common it seems

 

Empire Earth is great. I love playing it, even though you can use Me-262s and Fw-190s to win the Battle of Britain

 

As for National Self-Obsession... nothing wrong with people loving their countries, but when you have appalling conditions for asylum seekers, and political parties wanting to keep Australia 'pure', there's a definite problem

 

But this isn't the forum to talk about stuff like that

Edited November 5, 2014 by Cybermat47

[chris455]

 I got pretty lucky as well.  Shortly after renting a scooter and riding her around at Key West, I heard her say, "You should get a Harley." 

Almost as good as hearing your girlfriend/ wife say something like:

( I Know! Let's shave my ***** !")

(One glass of wine here. I better stop before I get my own thread locked!) 

(PS- hint- missing word was poodle)   

Edited November 5, 2014 by chris455

[chris455]

"All this stuff has gotten me into history in a big way, so I've always been the odd one out at school."

 

That was me all over in High School, Marco. (Graduated in 1977)

I can't explain it exactly, but one day when you're my age you're going to look back on your "nerdiness" with satisfaction and maybe a little pride-   

Born '94. My older brother gave me his Amiga and since then I've been hooked to technology. I'm an animator by trade.

 

I have a confession.

 

I started playing IL-2 in 2004... but I never had a joystick. I played with a mouse and keyboard for 8 years. Turns out I could fly better than a lot of people but I just bought a new joystick so have to relearn everything. Lol.

Ever try the Piano, Densetsu? 

[1./KG4_Blackwolf]

Almost as good as hearing your girlfriend/ wife say something like:

( I Know! Let's shave my ***** !")

(One glass of wine here. I better stop before I get my own thread locked!) 

(PS- hint- missing word was poodle)   

Couldn't help it..lol

[chris455]

Your'e a survivor, Pigmachine.

Known a few of 'em.

Know one when I meet one.

You're in my thoughts.................

Keep on keepin' on, as we used to say in the 70's-   

Couldn't help it..lol

Awesome Blackwolf. Just awesome..............................

Edited November 5, 2014 by chris455

[MarcoRossolini]

He brought home an Arisaka rifle and two Japanese battle flags from the war. My cousin got the rifle. It rusts in his garage.  

 

You should see if you can get hold of it if he doesn't have any use for it...

[Yakdriver]

not poodle.
they use the technical term "STAMP COLLECTION" for that!

[UncleHajo]

I'm Steve.  I live in western North Carolina, USA, near Asheville.  We have a lot of micro-breweries here.  I support them (lest this thread would not be posted in).

 

I like to play guitar and flight simulators.  I was aircrew in the USN when I was a youngster;  Did more than one hitch in the mighty Lockheed P3C Orion, as an ASW operator, Sensor 1.  Deployments to Rota and Keflavik.  Stationed in Brunswick, Me.

 

After the nav, hell bent on pursuing my passions, I went on to play bass in a band around town for a while, but since the wage I earned could barely keep me stocked with fresh strings and gas money, eventually settled into the software developer business.  

 

I do have some solo hours in a 172 out of KAVL, but don't have a pilot license.  Maybe one day.

 

Got tickets to see Robin Trower in Knoxville Friday night.  Life is good!

 

Edit:  Oh, and I'm into motorcycles pretty heavy.  Nearing 70k on my '07 Harley Road Glide, almost all back roads.  I guess I've been down every paved road within 200 miles of here.

 

Hey, not far from you here. I'm in the scandal-ridden university town, the one with the bad football team Like Bearcat and Skoobe (?) I'm a NY kid.  Hung out at the old Grumman places on Long Island, and Roosevelt Field -- where Lindbergh took off for Paris! Anyone remember the museum that was there? In the '70s I helped restore a P-47 there (really just stripped some zinch chromate paint off some panels, but...)

 

Next weekend is the "Warriors and Warbirds" airshow if anyone's near: http://www.warbirdsovermonroe.com/

 

On Panchito  

Edited November 5, 2014 by UncleHajo

[UncleHajo]

Hey, not far from you here. I'm in the scandal-ridden university town, the one with the bad football team Like Bearcat and Skoobe (?) I'm a NY kid.  Hung out at the old Grumman places on Long Island, and Roosevelt Field -- where Lindbergh took off for Paris! Anyone remember the museum that was there? In the '70s I helped restore a P-47 there (really just stripped some zinch chromate paint off some panels, but...)

 

Next weekend is the "Warriors and Warbirds" airshow if anyone's near: http://www.warbirdsovermonroe.com/

 

On Panchito  

 

I have some good vids here: http://www.youtube.com/user/dzusfastener

 

Will anyone be at MAKC 2015?

[1./KG4_Blackwolf]

I wish I could make it there next weekend..that would be a blast!

[rigbyDerekb1948]

Chris,

To add something interesting to my earlier post, I found these pics from 1967, when I was stationed at Dunnottar AFB.

These aircraft were stored, under a ton of dust, in the station's paint-hangar, and I would often go and sit in the cockpits to try and get the "feel" of how they might have been in the air. I believe they were among some dozens of "confiscated"  Luftwaffe a/c distributed to British Empire countries in 1946 or 1947.  They now carry "new" paint-schemes and are on display in the Military Museum in the Transvaal. The '262B nightfighter had a much more authentic (possibly original) finish in 1967, just visible through the dust in the photo.  The '190 was, I believe, flown quite a bit by various SAAF pilots (unofficially) before being consigned to this hangar in the 1950s. (Note the drip tray positioned below the BMW801!)

I distinctly remember the magnificent cockpit of the '190 after flying the Harvards. It was like going from a Land Rover to a Porche!

The aircraft just visible behind the '262 was a Fiesler Storch in a desert colour-scheme. I believe it was later refurbished to flying condition.

Hope you find the pics of some interest,

Derek.

[1./ZG1_ElHadji]

Great pics!

[chris455]

Rigby,

Thanks for the pics- I suppose you know how lucky you are to have seen a genuine 262B nightfighter- very few of those birds made!

One of my hobbies is collecting 1:18 scale aircraft models. As a write this, there is a beautiful 262 2-seat nightfighter hanging from the ceiling in my office (my wife calls it "the war room"  ) at home. It's impossible to tell from your photo if they got the colors just right, but it looks very close! Black belly and mottled light/medium gray upper surfaces.

Lots of USAAF and RAF bomber crews could be glad the Germans never had these things in any number- they would have been devastating...........

Thanks for posting those!

[Dakpilot]

sorry for sort of off topic, here is a more recent pic of the same 262

 

 

Cheers Dakpilot

[Gort]

Chris,

 

I love the postings of people who are playing along. If you want me to cull the side discussions that are detracting from the OP let me know. I like reading the personal stories.

 

Jason

What's your story, Jason? How did you get into the business?

 

Did you ever work as a bouncer along the way? You look like a bouncer, which comes in quite handy around this place.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Victory205

[kissklas]

I've followed this thread now since it popped up, and I must say; this is a really nice thread, and it shows what a remarkable community it is.

So I guess I'll join in, before I've had too many beers!

 

Hello, my name is Klas. (Edit: I forgot to tell you I am 26 years old, born the 24th of December, 1987. The day we celebrate Jul/Xmas in Norway)

 

I was born in the west of Norway, near the sea and the Dalsfjord, in a village called Askvoll. When I was 15 I started high school in media. The school was located in a village far enough away that I had to move on my own. So from 15-18 I lived in a cabin in a field next to school, with a turf roof, and a fireplace for heating (The key for the place was in cast iron and and was about 15cm long!). Best years of my life really.

I later took a year of animation as a year off, on a "folk college" as we call it. (It's like a pre-year to college that you can take if you are uncertain about what you want to do). I then moved inland to the east country to take a bachelor degree in Experience Production and Interactive Media (basically game development). I specialized on 3D and animation there. Today I work at a game developent / 3D viz company we founded back in 2010, after studies.

I got into a bit of flight/combat sims at an early age, around 1994, when we got chuck yeagers combat sim on the old .486 computer. Later I played a bit of IL-2 1946, and tried to get a hang of it. I never really dug deep into the world of aviation before War Thunder arrived. I started playing arcade mode with my friends for fun, and then I left them behind and jumped into simulator mode to get more challenge. Then I realized that a lot were pretty simplified in War Thunder, so I needed something that could teach me more. And I discovered there was a new IL-2 in the making. Now I am here.

I have always had a soft spot for WW2 history. It came after I talked to my grandparents about the war. My grandparents and great grandparents on both sides of the family were affected by it during the invasion. On my fathers side my grandparents and my uncle had to escape the bombing of Måløy. I was told that my grandmother ran from the burning building with my uncle on the arm. All they found in the rubble was a frying pan. We still have that on today. So they traveled to start again with only that. My grand uncle who I met a few times was in the British navy on a ship during the D-day landing. We have a picture of him being carried home on peoples shoulders when he came back to the village in 1945.

If I may, I would love to share one of the stories from that time, as told to me by my grandmother:

On my mothers side my great grandfather was in the resistance. He was a map drawer and in charge of operations in our village. He was under investigation by the Gestapo, and had to lay low at times.
The Germans made a razzia on their house as he was finishing up documents for the british intelligence in the second floor. As the soldiers were heading up, he emptied the typewriter and dropped the folder of documents down between the floor boards. When the soldiers came up into his office there was nothing. Little did he know that there were soldiers standing downstairs where he dropped the folder. It was laying on top of a wooden beam just above their heads. Swaying from side to side.

Needless to say he had to give assignments on to another resistance man, who turned out was the grandfather of what became my best friend growing up. The daring capture of strategic maps from German headquarters to mention one. But that is another story.

 

My grandmother never knew how deep in he was. She was a young girl, angry at the Germans, and entered without permission a formal military funeral the Germans were holding for two fallen British pilots. She put down flowers on the graves of the English, right in front of the whole gang, and walked out. When my great grandfather learned, he was of course furious, as he was investigated at the time.

It went well, and luckily my family all survived the war, and could pass down these stories. It has shaped me as a person. I hope it was interesting for you guys too:)

Edited November 7, 2014 by kissklas

[1./KG4_Blackwolf]

I got to add mine too,

I'm Tim, born in 1969 in Ithaca NY, a dairy farm boy. The first thing I learned to drive was a Massey-ferguson 255.  Moved to Richmond VA in 81 so I've lost my NY accent. I say ya'll instead of you'se guys now. I'm a telecommunication installer for cell phone companies, Verizon, US Cell, Ntelos, ATT. I build the network that makes cell phones work. I don't climb towers (not that crazy) I just build the machines under the tower. I found flight sims back in 2004. It started with Warbirds a MMO. I joined a server and just winged up with some guys for a few missions, I had no idea what I was doing so they took me under their wing got me on TeamSpeak and showed me the ropes.

Tropical Thunder was the squad. A Aussie based squad with ties to a squad called The Avengers who after a invite I joined and spent many years flying with them in Warbirds and Aces High. I found IL2  when I bought Silent hunter(the first one) It came with the IL2 disc,2001 I think. I couldn't run it on my computer (slide show) so I put it up until I got a new one. That was all it took I was hooked on it,left the MMO games..why pay monthly when IL2 was free? I found out I liked bombers better and was better with them than a fighter.

I formed Group Heavy in IL2 flying only bombers a former squad mate in the Avengers formed a Navy squad and we merged to form Air Group 8 Doolittle Raiders, made sense Army bombers working with the Navy. They are still going to this day in '46. The 20th BG came from a spin off of AG8. I added my lucky number 13 with Greywolf's 7 to come up with 20. I had no idea there was a 20th squad in WW1 that flew DH4 and other bombers. So it worked out I guess.

 

While I love all flight sim's and fly most of them I still like a good sub sim too! I had a big disappointment when TFCliff came out, I could run it but it was bad. Much better now though but it took a while to get there. I got into Rise of Flight by trying it out(the free download) I wasn't into WW1 and didn't think I would like it. Well fast forward three years I still fly it, own almost everything you can so I jumped at BOS as soon as it was up for sale EA. I've had my say about parts of the game I don't like but I'm being positive that as it grows it will become what we all hope it could be. I split my time from ROF fighting J5 for top spot on the War Grounds server and BOS right now. Every now and then I will fire up TFcliffs or DCS. 

 

If I'm not flying I'm jamming on my 1974 Gibson SG. I've played guitar since I was 14. Hey chicks dig it, got me plenty of..er um dates backstage?  I played the club scene in the 80's around Richmond and Hampton in a speed metal band.(and yes I rocked the mullet!) But old and married now I just play by myself. Shooting guns and drinking beer are my other favorite things to do..but not at the same time. Shoot first then drink! Just picked up a Glock 23 40 cal that I want to go shoot, just haven't had the time to get to a range. I used to build models, 1/48 scale aircraft and 1/35 tanks. I have over 150 unbuilt kits. I haven't built one in 7 years. I tell the wife I'm saving them for when I retire. By then the computer will be so complicated and I'll be so old I won't be able to figure it out!

I have three rescued dogs because I don't want four. A German Sheppard who was beat and tied to a tree for the first few years of her life. (my co- pilot by my side when I fly) A Pit bull that was dumped in a ditch as a puppy not even weaned from the mom yet and a mix beagle the owners didn't want (12 years old) and kept putting in my fenced in yard until we just took her.  

So thats me.

[Yakdriver]

got a greek dog off the street myself.

lived on a 5ftx30ft balcony for his first year of life - barely could take a 5 minute walk to take a crap.
never wears a collar, never wears a leach. not on the street, and only pro forma on the bus.
and runs for half a day without rest.

Tassos is peaceful and 60 pounds of pure black gold.

 

back in greece - 18 pounds

 

Home sweet home