Dave, Thank you for saying what has been on my mind for some time after reading the previous posts about the "kids".
I too spend a great deal of time around KSFO and the "kids", and I've taken the time to help and encourage many with their "How do I fly a helicopter?" questions. Yes, it makes me cringe a bit, and the chat box is a poor medium for lengthy explanations. Yes, most of the time it's a waste of time. But not always. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes that person settles down or goes off and reads the how-tos and comes back days later with a real working knowledge of how to fly a helicopter. I like to think that a few of those "kids" have added to community, or at least added to themselves. There are many ways to enjoy FG. Not all of them involve "serious flying". I find it disturbing to see 787's doing loops and rolls, but if there is no active ATC, who is to say they should not? I often fly the Su-37 in seemingly aimless loops. Why? Because I want attention from flying some absurdly fast and extreme aircraft? I fly it because my first few dozen attempts at flying it beat me and I determined to learn it. I fly it because it's fun to find its envelope-- just how low and slow can it go? I fly it because, briefly, in a virtual world, I feel something that a bird must feel. I cannot fly for real due to monetary and medical reasons. But I can fly virtually, and I can fly for free. I'm on the network to mess-around and socialize. By doing so I've met wonderful and creative people who I now consider my friends. Some pursue realism in their flights. Some fly for other reasons. They all come because they like something about aircraft or flying or flight sims, and all have been willing to help others learn. We sometimes encounter disruptive individuals, but they are few and usually do not stay long, and the experience on the whole remains vastly positive. Like Woddy, I've found FG to be a great gift that has occupied much of my time over the last year. I've learned a lot. Maybe one day I will submit a model. But that shouldn't matter. A community needs members and not all can participate on the same level and not all have the same skill or learning as others. But they may one day, and I hope the development community will encourage rather than screen. Cheers, -Gary "Buckaroo" Neely On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 9:57 PM, dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear Rob, > From your description it appears that I am one of those "kids". A 43 > year old kid mind you. I am always polite to others on the MP system. I > sometimes perform stunts in unusual aircraft and show off just for a > laugh. I demonstrate what can be achieved with practise. I push the > flight envelope on occasion. What I do as well though, is encourage the > use of FG and Linux through my usage. I help those "kids" who say "how > do I fly a helicopter?" learn to fly a helicopter". I remind the "kids" > that this a shared realm and that people aren't required to follow > orders. Most of the people on there are good folk and treat each other > respectfully. I would rather have the less-than-serious "kids" use > FlightGear than alternatives and rather "kids" than a bunch of stiffs > who just don't approve because of their personal mind set. I think that > if you need to have serious, "trying to fly as realistically as > possible" events, then go ahead and organise more of them and publish a > code of conduct for those attending. Who knows? you could have it as > often as weekly. Weekend flightschool/control tower practise anyone? > I'll turn up and make you proud! > On the subject of IVAO, I think that even entertaining the idea of > closing access to the FG-MP server for IVAO is the tail wagging the dog. > The connection to IVAO should be the exceptional case, not the general one. > > Getting to know FlightGear was/is not an easy experience and at least > some benefit of the doubt should be afforded to those who obviously > aren't at your level of familiarity/usage or have a different attitude > to FG in general. I suppose what I am trying to say is that your idea of > what FG is, may or may not be at all like what I see it as. People need > to remember what the "open" part of open source implies and what free > spirit is about as well. > > While I am here, I thank you all for FG. Because of FG, not only do I > have have a great simulator (free too) I have learned to use blender and > am a long way into a new model to hand over one day should it past > muster. I am even considering dusting off the old coding me and diving > into the guts. Such a great gift, is FG, that I feel the need to > contribute and learn more to be able to do so as well as the need to > encourage and help others use it. > cheers, > Dave McLoughlin. > (Woddy) > > > > Rob Shearman, Jr. wrote: >> I wrote: >> > It seems >> > that a large number (often, the majority) of FG-MP users are on the >> > network to mess around and socialize rather than participate in a >> > multi-aircraft scenario with any degree of realism. >> >> Arnt wrote: >> > ..my impression from what little I've seen here on this list, >> > (I haven't had time to join the fun), is our "social" MP >> > things are MP airshows and fly-ins, in the http://eaa.org/ >> > and http://airventure.org/ style spirit. >> >> > ..these events fits nicely into RL air traffic in RL and I see no >> > problems with IVAO's serious relism traffic servers joining our >> > MP servers, {...} >> >> Those are the events that we "organize," and in the forum these are >> organized by a core group of mature, "semi-serious" aviators, who fly >> these events for social reasons but attempt to fly reasonably >> realistically throughout them. >> >> But those you don't see on the list, but who are online on the MP >> servers on a near-constant basis, are the "kids" (of variable age >> range, no doubt) whose idea of social flying is "EMERGENCY LANDING< >> EVERYBODY CLEAR THE RUNWAY!!!!@@@" or "CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO >> FLY>>??" and/or those that just loop around aimlessly seeking >> attention or try to pull off something "cool" flying a 787 like it >> were in an aerobatic display. >> >> Given the former, I agree that this presents no problem working with >> IVAO. How do we screen for the latter? Again I say that there would >> have to be two FG-MP networks; one connected with IVAO and one that >> isn't. Or, close FG-MP to only those who register for IVAO and plan >> to follow its guidelines, leaving the "kids" to play solo, or else >> privately set up their own FG-MP servers. >> >> Cheers, >> -R. >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.Net email is sponsored by the Moblin Your Move Developer's challenge Build the coolest Linux based applications with Moblin SDK & win great prizes Grand prize is a trip for two to an Open Source event anywhere in the world http://moblin-contest.org/redirect.php?banner_id=100&url=/ _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list Flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel
