I have long been an admirer of this august company of addled aviators. I have not previously applied because I did not feel that my eccentricity was quite up to the standards of the BOC.

Yes, my girlfriend repeatedly tells me that I am quite barmy (actually, she tells me that I'm mad). I think that she is just being nice.


For your consideration, my resume; my history in aviation simulation.


Click to reveal..


WW1
Wings - The first flight sim of any sort that I had. I flew the entire campaign at least twice. I remember trying to impress a girlfriend with my flying skill. She wasn't impressed, and rightly so - I was flying entirely on the flat and making no use of altitude whatsoever. I think that is what she was getting at.

Knights of the Sky - In this excellent game I became something of an ace hunter. You would hear that an ace had been spotted at such and such an aerodrome. If you flew there you would have to fight two or three waves of enemy scouts, but then the ace would appear.

Red Baron - Briefly, before getting
Red Baron II - I loved this game. It was me looking for a replacement for RB2 that led me to OFF.

Flying Corps Gold - Pretty good game, but the campaign was too short.

Dawn Patrol - I owned this for a few hours. The disc was faulty and the shop didn't have a second copy, so I never got to play it.

Other Combat
Dogfight, 80 years of aerial warfare Had scenarios from WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and Syria. I liked the first two best (you probably guessed that here).

CFS, CFS2 and CFS3 They were each good at first, but all got boring pretty quickly. I think that the campaigns of Wings and Knights of the Sky spoiled us for simpler versions.

Il2 Sturmovik, through to 1947 Excellent flight simulation.

Rowan's Battle of Britain I must admit, I had real trouble with controlling aircraft in this game. I don't know if that makes it realistic or just impossible.

B17, the mighty 8th What a campaign! Great fun. I didn't fly in the pilot's seat much. This game was for channelling my inner Yossarian.

Fighter Ace and it's WW1 version that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of I remember a fellow called CatKnight showing me a thing or two about energy fighting. I don't know if it was our CatKnight, but how many can there be?


Non Combat.
Flight Simulator 98, 2000, 2002, A Century of Flight and X ACOF was my favourite.
In former times I have been a pilot for three different virtual airlines.
I have tried 3 times to fly from England to South Africa. Twice in a Cessna, once in the Vickers Vimy! I never got further than the Sudan. Africa, it seems is a very large place.

Most of my addon aircraft are pre1940, including a Taube, a Dolphin and a DH9.



Prior to DiD, my favourite use of OFF/WOFF time was trying to survive Bloody April in a Fee.

With DiD, my AARs have tended to go on the side of historical fiction. This has led to me extending my library in the aviation section to include several out of print books. On one occasion I went to Leeds to spend a day in the archives there because the papers of one of my DiD squad mates, Maurice Le Blanc Smith were there, and his little dog too.

I have long had a belief that the music of a time period evokes the 'feeling' of the time. Since the days of RB2, I have been as likely to hum 'Kitty the Telephone Girl' or 'The Dying Aviator' as anything in the charts.

All very mad. But is it barmy? I submit it to you gentlemen to decide.