Wondering what you need to get into Flight Simulation?

After doing each demonstration, I've had a lot of people ask what they needed to get into flight simulation. While I have described a lot of it at various locations around the website, I've created a more concise web page here showing the various software and components with links to where to purchase them from. Let me know if you have any questions.

What you need to get into Flight Simulation

Air Show Listings

Several people have asked how to find out about air shows in the area.

Here are a couple of links that I use:
http://www.iflyamerica.org/airshow_search.asp

Atlantic Flyer Monthly - The March issue has a listing of over 350 Air Shows

The next one is usually pretty good, but it has not yet been updated for 2007
landings.com events page

Also, every year starting in May and running till November, the Owl's Head Transportation Museum hosts events about every other weekend with live airshows of a variety of aircraft from WWI aircraft and earlier to modern jets and automobiles.

Going Flying Again

Well, it's been awhile, but it was great to get back up.

I was supposed to be helping at the Young Eagle's show today by entertaining the kids waiting for flights with flight simulator time. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, the event had been cancelled due to very bumpy weather earlier in the morning and the knowledge cloud cover was coming in.

But by the time I got there, even though it was overcast at about 3500 ft, the air seemed to be rather smooth. So Jim Ellis suggested perhaps he should go up for a quick flight to see what it was like, and he asked if I'd like to join him. Of course I jumped at the chance! So up we went, and, it was a tad bumpy, but really quite smooth, plenty smooth enough to take anybody up in. Jim even offered to let me fly nearly half the flight in his very nice 1966 Piper Cherokee.

And we did end up getting one family asking for a ride, soon after we touched down, so the day was not a loss at all as far as the Young Eagle's were concerned.

Thanks Jim!!

Flying'sCool! visits Grafton Middle School!

Yesterday I visited the Middle School in Grafton, MA with Flying'sCool! for their Science Career Day. It was a loonnnggg day giving three 90 minute presentations, one for everyone in each grade, but it was a ton of fun! I was very happy to see how well behaved ALL the kids were, especially given the fact that they had to attend so many different presentations. It was a real pleasure presenting for everyone there.

Everyone got to learn about some of the concepts that pilots need to know to fly, and a bunch of kids got to demonstrate some of those concepts using Microsoft Flight Simulator X in front of all their classmates, from learning how to take off and land, navigate from one point to another, to learning about why planes fly (and what might make them stop flying, too).

I want to thank all the kids for making it such a great experience, doing such a good job, and showing so much interest, and especially all the teachers and everyone else who worked with me at the school that made the event such a success.

I had a bunch of requests for where to purchase the hardware and software used in the presentations, and I'll be putting together a page with all that information shortly. You can already find links to it at my site, but I want to put together a more concise version, which I'll post a link here for when it's ready.