Hello from Newbie - skc

[skc]

I am a father of 3 (60yr!) from Durban South Africa and have joined in order to 'ease' myself into combat flying.
I have a long term interest in aviation, starting, when at 12yrs when I flew with my uncle who did part time aerial photography. I often took over the controls of the piper cub while he took his snapshots of various farms below. The runway was on the slope of a hill, could only be used from one direction and needed to be buzzed before landing to ensure the cows got off it first!
In the 80's I flew gliders (real time) for about 3 years. Since then I have flown only 'virtual' starting with simulators on the 48k Spectrum. Later on the PC I flew Chuck Yeager, Red Baron, Flightsim 4, 2002, 2004 and now FSX, XPlane and my beloved il2. I currently have 1946-409m, 409m/Ultrapack and on another HDrive, 408m. I purchased WOP but apart from the stunning graphics am disappointed with various aspects of it and still feel il2 cannot be beaten when it comes to WW2 Combat Sims.
I belong to a Flightsim Club (Durban Flightsim Group) which mainly covers FS2004 & X. I've been through some virtual airlines and have done some online flying although not enough. I also belong to a wargames club and if/when I have time, play WW2, Boer & Zulu wars and Ancients.
My interest in all things WW2 was inspired by my father's many war stories. He was in the S.A. Infantry and saw service thoughout East Africa and the Western desert until his capture by the Germans at the Gazala battle. One of his stories relating to aviation was, how while in the desert trenches, every morning a ME110 flew over on dawn patrol and occasionally took a 'pot shot' at them. He said that with 'German precision' the aircraft was so regular that they could set their watches by it's arrival! He also told me how while a prisoner in Germany the worst thing was being bombed in error by his own forces, which happened quite often! I am particularly interested in the fascinating aerial history of this period.
My main issue is time which currently I am short of. However where I can, I hope to get into online combat and this FIS seems to be the place to start.
Looking forward to futher interaction with you guys when time allows!

[:FI:Wardog]

Hi SKC

Welcome to the forum mate and thanks for giving us some info on yourself. You'll find we are a very informal bunch who like a good laugh when we meet up online to fly which we do every Wednesday and Sunday at around 7:30 pm GMT. We have guys from all over the place in the Squadron but I think you may be the first from SA.

I am sure the Squadron welcoming Officer( Falcon) will be along shortly to give you the full brief of how to join us online and such so I will leave all the formalities to him (he loves all the formalities )

Hope to hear and fly with you soon.

Kev

[:FI:Rambo]

hello skc welcome to the fourms m8. Hope to see you soon

[:FI:Falcon]

Welcome to the forums Shawn!

If someone hasn't done so already, I'll PM (private message) our TS3 addy and password to you now. We use HSFX 4.1 and TS3 (TeamSpeak 3). If you have any issues connecting to these, let us know in these forums. We will help you. I suggest that you come early or try to arrange a test session before our scheduled stuff. Contrary to what you may have already heard, I do not overly favor formalities! That reminds me. Kev, you didn't transmit any information about entering into the pattern, declaring your approach or intentions or call short final OR call clear of runway on any of your returns to base last weekend. You do remember how important it is to maintain certain forma ... erm, rules and courtesies during flight operations don't you?

Shawn, thanks for the bio. I'm sure we'll have fun wringing more information from you soon.

Yours totally informally,


Falcon

[:FI:Wardog]

Kev, you didn't transmit any information about entering into the pattern, declaring your approach or intentions or call short final OR call clear of runway on any of your returns to base last weekend. You do remember how important it is to maintain certain forma ... erm, rules and courtesies during flight operations don't you?

If you want the short answer Stu: NO

And the long answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

With me your lucky that I tell you I am landing as lets face it I don't have to do it that often


Kev

[:FI:Heloego]

Hi, skc!

While Stu does not like formalities, he does like Formal Wear. He's absolutely adorable in his 3-inch heels and that stunning backless number.

[:FI:Armitage]

hi skc,
welcome. Enjoy the party.

I much prefer Stu in the short red dress.

[skc]

Thanks guys for all the welcome messages. As I mentioned in the technical forum I was waiting for my email to tell me there had been replies but obviously had not clicked the "Notify me..." button.
Well here I am and when I get a gap will try to meet up...