The International Flight Simulator show took place last weekend at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Displays which caught my eye particuilarly included some of the following.

The excellent IL2 Stormovich military sim was there, with it's designer in attandance all the way from Moscow. On the stand was a young lad who had "spent the last 2 days trying to land on the Aircraft Carrier". I had a go. I got wet! (Twice).

From Holland came the designers of the Simflight cockpit instruments, which look like the real thing, but use servo motors to drive the needles taking signals from FS.

There were several quite realistic cockpit mockups, which I had a go on - including the one built by Simflight which, as well as their very realistic looking instruments, used genuine Cessna parts for the engine and other controls. I did a couple of circuits at Blackpool on their setup and found it excellent. I commented afterwards that the only snag was that the yoke pressure in the flare was a touch too heavy for a real 172. A pilot who followed me doing the same thing made the same comment, independantly. The designers said they would modify the spring pressure.

The prize had to go to an amateur built 747 full size mock up running on one PC with 5 monitors - one for the view out of the window, 2 for the 2 Flight Director/Engine instrument displays, a fourth one for the back up instruments (AI, DI etc) in the centre of the console, and one running FS Navigator as a Navigation system.The panel had neat holes cut out with the monitors behind, with each display windowed on the monitor to exactly fit and position in the hole in the panel, making the displays look like real cockpit CRTs.The man who built it was a real world PPL of some experience, but in talking to him, it was clear that he actually enjoyed flight simming more than real world flying, with its restrictions of flying times and range due to aircraft hire rules and the vagaries of the English weather.

There were a couple of Virtual Airline representatives resplendent in uniforms, and with promotioanl literature and business cards to flash. It is sometimes hard to know where reality begins in this hobby!

I was tempted enough by the Track-IR to buy one. This is a neat infra red sensor gismo that lets you look out of the aircraft windows by turning your head. It picks up head movement and tranlates that into different views from the cockpit. The only snag for me, who regularly flies using the two dimensional cockpit in FS, is that it only works with the three dimensional cockpit display. I shall have to change the habits of a flightsimming lifetime. Now what do I do with a redundant coolie hat switch on my yoke?

A small stand, perhaps lacking some of the eye catchiness of others, was the Captim Sim stand. It caught my eye as it was a superb exposition of the possibilities of computer graphics in the hands of skilled designers. They had some incredibly detailed virtual aircraft on display. There was no indication as to how accurately they flew, but looking at them was something else - perfect for rivet counters.

There were a couple of real world flight training organisations there too doing a brisk business in answering queries from "I wannabe an airline pilot" people. Why is it that being an aerial bus driver is so fascinating? It could be the money. It could be the travel. It could be the uniform. I think it is more like the widespread urge people have to get themselves on T.V. (no matter what they have to do!). It is simply the glamour!

Most fascinating was the professional and dedicated way in which the people on the (significant) VATSIM setup were running an integrated Air Traffic Control system. They were handing pilots over one to the other with the laconic gravitas that I have seen in real world Control Towers. Take away the wandering people, the noise and lower the lights and you'd swear it was real. Of course we members of the Cix VFR Club know how dedicated the Vatsim controllers are, and what a superbly professional job they do. Like any hobby, there are many levels of enthusiasm. there are the dabblers, the endless chatterers (who rarely actually DO it), and there are always people who want it to be truly as realistic as possible. Vatsim is there in that group, and as far as flying light aircraft is concerned, I believe so are we. Nowadays, I personally draw the line at counting the rivets, but I assure you, I have been there in another existence.

Peter Dodds