Who are we now?

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

One more story in case you have trouble sleeping.

 

I was born at a very young age.  Name is Jeff.  I grew up in New England and my first memory of a President was Eisenhower. Father was a Marine and a machinist who served in the occupation force of Saipan and Nagasaki. I was the youngest of four boys. Enjoyed Avalon Hill war board games from about age 10 on. At 17 I had onset of a medical condition that limited my life options, including dashing aspirations of becoming a pilot or joining the military. Eventually, with help from various areas, I was able to attend college and attain a degree in accounting. Boring maybe, but all companies and governments need one and it was something I wouldn't kill anyone doing if I screwed up. Was hired by a municipality and became fascinated by government accounting and finance working my way to Senior Accountant. Being a product of the Watergate era, and the general distrust that existed of government as a whole, it was good to see how things really worked and how much BS there is in media coverage.

 

After a few years I was hired by the UN Trust Territory in the Pacific and moved to Saipan as their Accounting Manager. It was there that I married by wife, now 30 years plus. Ah, to be young, in love and in paradise... My first daughter was born overseas. All of you with kids know the changes this brings. It was there in the early 80s that I bought my first computer, an Apple IIe, and played the first MS Flight Simulator on a green screen monitor at 3 fps or so. Used to also play computer war games by mail on floppy disk with my next oldest brother.

 

Upon return to the US my brother and I opened a software store which lasted about six years until the recession of the early 90s. Needless to say we had access to all the candy we wanted, including all the latest flight sims, joysticks, etc. Although the store burned to the ground (arson from another store owner), we were able to reopen for a few more years.

 

I was then hired as CFO, managing four divisions, for a small city with an annual budget of about $100 million. During my tenure my second daughter was born. I also found out there was no medical certification needed to fly ultralights. So in the mid-90s I was able to finally take to the sky. Ultralights epitomize flying. It's like flying in a lawn chair, feeling every wisp of turbulence and wind. I gave it up after three years due to the risk to me and my family. I retired in 2006 and am lucky that I can now devote my time to travel and hobbies.

 

I have been flying the many combat flight sims over the years. I joined an IL2 squad in 2005 and met a fine group of people that helped me in many ways. Also enjoy ROF.

 

One last thing. Need to thank the people that have similar interest in air combat and that take the financial risks to produce the products that many of us whine and complain about.

 

Cheers!

[avlSteve]

Been reading these forums on a daily if not hourly basis since July.  This thread is one of the greats.  So many interesting characters, and it adds a depth and perspective to the conversation.

Edited November 8, 2014 by avlSteve

[chris455]

 

 

One last thing. Need to thank the people that have similar interest in air combat and that take the financial risks to produce the products

.................

 

Amen brother. You can say that again! 

[Rjel]

I find it fascinating several of us have two daughters. Not that that is so uncommon, but considering the small sampling of posts in this thread its quite a coincidence. I'll echo what Blackwolf said, the early teenage years weren't all that enjoyable in the father/daughter relationship department. But it passed and all three of us get along very well now. Best of all I have a brand new granddaughter who makes me feel great every time I hold her. It is an experience I could've never imagined and really can't describe.

 

Kudos to Chris455 for starting this thread. I think it's almost been therapeutic for the website. I hope more people will post their stories.

[JimTM]

...No one can make a cup of tea like the English. An elder gentleman and his wife there became my good friends. They lived through the Blitz and bombing of London...

Cheers Chief! My next door neighbour is 88 years old and she went through the blitz. She served as a wireless operator and used to pick up the coded messages being sent by agents in Europe. I had her and her son over to fly the Spitfire in CloD and she loved it. I gave her a little tour of London. She remembers well seeing the dogfights going on overhead.

[VBF-12_Snake9]

 

 

I find it fascinating several of us have two daughters

 

I have two daughters also.  And that's all you need to know about me. 

[1./KG4_Blackwolf]

Wow that's a lot on this forum with two girls! 

I don't have any Grandkids yet and that's OK I can wait a while to be called Grandpa! Extreme one, you got you hands full over there..five? How'd you do it?..Two was enough for me. Hats off to you Sir.

Edited November 11, 2014 by Blackwolf

[Gort]

There is an old sophism that fighter pilot's sire girls. It is attributed to G forces killing the manly sperm, etc, etc.

 

It was amazing to see how many pilots had all girls around the base. I think it has something to do with repaying fighter pilots for some of the things they do to girls.

 

I being a gentleman by the way, have two boys.

[sallee]

There is an old sophism that fighter pilot's sire girls. It is attributed to G forces killing the manly sperm, etc, etc.

It was amazing to see how many pilots had all girls around the base. I think it has something to do with repaying fighter pilots for some of the things they do to girls.

I being a gentleman by the way, have two boys.

Ditto.

[79_vRAF_Friendly_flyer]

Count me in the two-daughter group!

 

 

I'm from very peaceful Norway. I'm you average "never gout out of university" chap and today enjoy a quiet, if somewhat dusty, career teaching at the local natural history museum. Being 46, my grandparents was too old and my parents was too young to have any really interesting stories from the war. That did not stop me from being a raging aeroplane fan as a young boy. I had a ceiling full of 1:72 2nd World War model plans (complete with coloured cotton as smoke on some of them).

 

I spent an inordinate long time studying for my masters degree in zoology in the 1990's, ending up doing almost anything but what I was supposed to do. In the process of financing my beer consumption, I did odd illustration jobs for the museum, and eventually I was hired on as a teacher there, as I had a unique combination of subjects including palaeontology and a bit of geology in addition to zoology. I'm the kind of guy who play a killer Trivial Persuit, and I'm usually the guy to answer the phone every time the press phone the mu sum with questions on some strange animal. Here's a typical example (me in the centre, the "monster" all around, poor sloth).

 

In the many years I spent living in collectives, I picked up some gaming habits, but it wasn't until IL2 that I was really sold. I'm still here, so to speak. Eventually I picked up a wife and stopped living in collectives. We were planning on having two children (we both comes from two-child families), but the last litter turned out to be twins (boy and girl). They are five now, but keeping tracks of three young children really means any on-line flying activity is out of the question for me. Sure, kids are great, but if anyone suggest twins is a good idea, just say no.

Edited November 11, 2014 by 79_vRAF_Friendly_flyer

[chris455]

I remember the old colored cotton trick!