So sad! But to those who participated and went through some of its ups and downs, inevitable.

http://www.freebirdswing.org

April 2, 2009

The FreeBirds Wing Command, both past and present, have decided the time has come for the FreeBirds Wing services to close. The low activity and participation levels both here at FreeBirds and within the general community are the primary reason for this decision. The Falcon 4 community as a whole is contracting; without a supply of new pilots and new interest it has proven too difficult to maintain high enough activity levels to keep our hobby enjoyable. In order to continue the FreeBirds require a replacement simulator for our current Open Falcon version. Unfortunately, there is no such replacement available and none announced.

When FreeBirds was first formed 10 years ago it was founded in the idea of creating a community where everyone is provided equal opportunity to participate. We proudly continue to uphold our values 10 years later, although it was never imagined we could continue this long.

Throughout our history the FreeBirds were the original home to many of the communities most experienced and capable pilots, and great contributors. The FreeBirds have always been defined by the sum of our members and never by any one thing. It is because of our members that we were able to accomplish so much. To those that have contributed throughout our history the FreeBirds are forever grateful for your dedication. Hopefully you enjoyed your time spent with this organization.

To all the founders of the FreeBirds, we thank you for your efforts in building for the Falcon4 community what has become a benchmark in online communities for tactical flight simulators.

Below are some closing remarks from one of our founding members; Vulture (Mark), who was part of the group that created the FreeBirds in February 1999. Mark had the foresight to realize the value in our founding ideals, set our standard of excellence both in the Falcon cockpit and in our way of operating, and led the Wing with respect and strength. It is from his commitment that this Wing once grew to hold a roster of almost 300 members, nightly activity levels upwards of 30 pilots, and a group of 20 highly skilled instructor pilots disseminating fighter-pilot excellence and Falcon knowledge among our membership. Thanks for the good times Mark.

Any pilot that wishes to comment or contact Wing Command may do so by emailing:

FreeBirdsWing[at]gmail[dot]com

Signing off,

FreeBirds Wing Command

[From Vulture:]
To All FreeBirds Pilots,

It is with sincere gratitude that I thank you for the past 10 years of what I consider a great endeavor.

For all of the people that might not have had the chance to join the FreeBirds in its infancy here is a brief history of its beginnings...

In early 1999, some guys found themselves together on the recently-released Roger Wilco wondering what to do next. It was the first time we could actually speak to each other as opposed to typing in ICQ. This opened up the communication line and flooded our minds with possibilities. Oh yeah, and we had just been handed an incredibly anticipated update to our beloved Falcon 3.0. It offered complexities we drooled over and thousands of hours of enjoyment for our JP-4 fueled minds. We were living and breathing Falcon 4. We began to talk, discuss, debate, and teach each other. Little did we know that something bigger than we could imagine had begun. Meetings and discussions and tinkering lasted a few months.

Maddog one day mentioned that he had found an online group organizing a Virtual Fighter Wing. Realizing the opportunity to crank up our pool of pilots to learn and fly with, he decided to join. After a build-up of excitement, he learned the requirements to join included a stringent flight exam. He washed out. Dejected over the lack of flexibility and elitist attitude, he felt we could build a better group ourselves with an open door policy. The ideals that we shared apparently were not shared everywhere.

We began to toss around the idea of starting our own group. I had previously participated in a local Falcon 3.0 group and wanted to start my own. Maddog pushed the issue until I caved and The FreeBirds Virtual Fighter Squadron was born. Word spread and numbers grew. We built a meek and meager website, and pilots joined. We were flying, teaching, learning, and people were connected. Mitch showed up in early 2000 and kicked the wing in the pants with a magnificent website replacement that to this day offers the best virtual fighter wing functionality I have seen. You are a wizard Mitch thanks for leading this group, improving the FreeBirds, and maintaining our vision. Getting new pilots caught up with our months of discovery took time and drove the creation of a list of items. The list turned into a syllabus for instruction. Enter TomcatTwo, a former Nuke Sub dude who created PowerPoint Presentations for a living. With his passion for Falcon and natural ability to teach and present, the FreeBirds Training program as we know it today began it's life.

We've been through many events... including development of 3 separate squadrons (North American, European, and Australian) to accommodate global time zones, re-integration into a single global wing, various intra-squad combat exercises, and development of the our training programs from BFT thru SCR. These same training programs developed countless pilots and was imitated many times over by other virtual squads around the world.

We have had our ups and downs but I have always been truly amazed at the quality of people that joined our group. It fascinates me that with our policy to "accept everyone" our membership continued to consist primarily of great pilots and people, reassuring me that the FreeBirds organization was built right; to promote the hobby we love and allow everyone to participate. Our organization became like a family. Members came, and went, and returned again. I have had many incredibly enjoyable experiences flying, learning, and teaching. I humbly say thank you to all FreeBirds Pilots. To all of you I can honestly say, without you we would have not made it this far. I never imagined this was possible back in 1999.

Spiderman, Chillydog, Fooey, Etrain, Slice, KidVicious, Lytning, Unpilot, Sappy, Firebird, Ratty, Oledog, Fhybr, Gman, Giltedge, Novice, Soulman, Mitch, Tiger, Doc, Fixitman, Dagger, Tex, Ripcut, Snake Eyes, Arpad, and Badboy, and others I'm sure (apologies)... you all have done so much for the FreeBirds. Brothers, you were the rocks that built up the Wing. Thank you for your efforts.

TomcatTwo drifted away with life's responsibilities which I have recently grown to appreciate

Stumpy left for Undergraduate Pilot Training not too long after the FreeBirds started and later went to Tyndall to fly F-15's. Stumpy, wherever you are, I hope all is well, and thank you.

Maddog and the original 8 members were swallowed up by the massive number of new recruits that joined within the first year. Guys, you will always be the heart of the FreeBirds to me.

Thank you,

Mark "Vulture" V.P.

Their grand design was too much/too late.
Today’s noobie shortage is unforgiving.

I had my best flights with the Freebirds.
Lots of Silk, Lots of Glory.

I remember all the boys above when we only had about 4 to 6 people on RW channels together for all nighters on the weekend. Flying campaigns, TEs, matchplays...etc. I remember administrating the Wing for about 3 years and watching it grow into a strong training foundation with laid back, good natured attitude where experienced pilots shared their knowledge with new joins that were looking to get the most out of their Falcon experience.

I spent over 5yrs with the FreeBirds and enjoyed its ideology and pilot core base. All fine sticks there. Most fantastic training program I've experienced in the modern jet combat era sim communities.

I look forward to seeing it revived with a new sim, in the future.

Thanks for all your hard work and dedication,

-KidVicious

It was the rare combination of a fantastic idea coupled with superb execution. My days with the FreeBirds have set the standard for online simming and collaborative community for me.


Hear, hear! Likewise, Kid.

-Hap.

This is really hard to believe could happen to such a legendary group! And over the years whenever Freebird members flew with others I was involved in, they always elevated the experience, shared expertise and experience, and were always relaxed and never condescending to others. Feels like the passing of an era.

I tried to make a couple runs at joining a VFW and though the FreeBirds were excellent, I could never get past the learning curve, I spent more time playing the Falcon dance than flying. This was no fault of the FreeBirds. I found the squadron helpful, polite, and friendly - every time. Their training materials are outstanding. Real Life just got in the way this spring. Thank you!

I hope there is a new sim that will be stable and enjoyable and I will try again. I hope the Freebirds are there when that happens!

Salute,
Bodhammer

Thanks for all the fun fellas S` and clear skies

The Freebirds were the benchmark in virtual squadrons. As laid back as the squad was, the attention to detail and craft were unmistakable. I learned quite a bit from the wing and its members, as someone else mentioned the training program was second to none.

One of my fondest memories of my time in the Freebirds revolved around the fact that they weren't overly concerned about things like rank. One night we were flying a TE and there were relatively few of us online. One of the flights were completely AI crewed, so I jumped into the lead position. As we began working our out flight plans, a few other members joined up, and a couple of them jumped into my flight. Now, even as an FNG, I recognized the new pilots as some of the better experienced guys, so I offered to fly a wing spot and turn over flight lead to one of the beter guys. I was politely turned down and told I'd learn a lot more as flight lead. As lead, I formulated the flight plan, and though I took suggestions (very polite suggestions) from the other members of the flight, the plan was pretty much mine. The guys implemented the plan as laid out, and treated me every bit as the flight leader. They were right, I learned a lot about the sim and leadership from that experience, and it made me value my time in the wing even more.

It's a shame things got to the point they did, hopefully in the not too distant future a new sim comes along worthy of bringing the Freebirds back to life. I know I'd sign up again.

Johnny Chemo; Freebirds callsign "Talon"

Hey Kid, Chrono and Caper!

I haven't been active with the FB in some time, especially once they limited to only OF, but I lurked in the shadows.

I went by there today and could not believe what I saw. I was a proud FB for 9 years, made many great friends, it was a big part of my life.

FB has been in a downward spiral for a while now, but seeing its demise was quite a shock.
Truly, the end of an era..

so long, FreeBirds!
Slice

To All Guys I have flown with. I have learned so much over the last 10 years and have met alot of friends. We had 119 members when I joined and I watched us grow to over 250. I am going to miss all the fun times we all had. I just registered here so if any of you want to drop me a line feel free and I will do the same.
Take Care,
Robert "Reaper" Parrymore

Great group of guy's. I wonder what's going to hapend with all the "knowledge base" the created/collected/developed. All those PPS/PDF/DOC's etc.


Thank you for the memories.

Hello all!

I'm sorry to see the wing close.

I joined sometime around 2000.

Mark (Vulture) personally taught me how to dogfight like the real pilots do.
After my first 0-10 loss against him, he opened up my world to the proper use of energy in a fight.
These lessons are always in the back of my mind, even today, while dogfighting anyone.

Lots of good times online - my first 4 vs 4 online fight using oh...perhaps the 1.08us patch!
Leaning how important buddy spike calls and flare marking is in a virtual battle.

I was pulled away for many years (life gets in the way) and a few years ago when I wanted to get back into the sim again, the Wing was happy to welcome me back.

Great group of guys.

Sorry to see the Wing close

Thanks to everyone for the great experience.
Hopefully the wing will reform when the next king of sims comes along.

Paul "Juggernaut" Sterman

Better late than never (some say). I've been so engrossed in my personal stuff for the last few years that I wasn't even aware of FreeBirds' closure until today. (Yes, 2011) (and yes, you can have a laugh at my expense)

Well, it's now been 2 years since the fatefull event, and it's still a shock to hear.
I started late in the FreeBirds compared to many others, but like the above, I found myself amongst really interesting, friendly, and nice people. It's the only VFW I've been involved with, and it enabled me to get the most enjoyment from the best simulator I've seen. What amazed me most about the FB's organisation (other than all the background work that was done to develop the site and training aids) is the amount of time it's Instructors volunteered to train new and existing pilots. Thanks Gman for investing your time in my development.

As Bobhammer mentioned, Falcon is famous for the 'dance' you had to perform before you got to fly. When I joined the FB's, this was a 'slow dance' but not quite a waltz. With my technical background, and after taking the time to understand what was going on, I developed the Falcon Synchroniser. It cut the dance down to a 'quick step' which meant heaps more time in the pit.

I also remember how we ran a couple competitions where you were eliminated once you 'died' and suspended for a day if you went 'MIA'. That was really fun! (So much fun that I didn't mind being shot down by my wingman in a chaotic furball.)

My involvement with the FB's flying activities diminished when I got involved with the IDFL through the development of Secure Falcon, an electronic referee that was based on the Falcon Synchroniser concept, and later administration and hosting of the IDFL site. To be honest, I got burnt out from the 24/7 committment I had gotten myself into.

To FreeBirds members I had the pleasure of meeting (and those who paved the way before I arrived) I say THANKS and I hope you are all well and still enjoying Falcon, albeit perhaps with other wings.


Other than wanting to contribute to the FreeBirds' epitat, there is a reason for me coming back at this point in time. I recently heard there was a new BMS released. Now we all know that with many things in life, the shine eventually wears off over time. And in software (games especially) there is nothing like a new release to get the juices flowing. I got curious, starting checking out Falcon related links and found that someone had posted about Falcon at Wikipedia.org. In the External Links section, I came across a PDF file which outlines the development paths for all the Falcon flavours we've enjoyed. (Nice work) It brought me up to speed on things I wasn't aware of past and present.

From it I learned that Falcon is still being developed by community members and that it's not dead. For those who enjoyed participating in the IDFL, I would like to let you know that the IDFL is not dead either. It's been hybernating (to choose a euphamism). The IDFL Site has been up the whole time and perhaps it's time to re-invigorate the competition. I am certain that I can make SF work with all the flavours (not just F4AF) and it is possible to cater for a ladder for each major one.

I'm excited about giving it another go, after a long break.


Dimitri "Napoleon BlownApart" Joukoff