The Virtual Pilot !

I was always fascinated by the big birds in the sky . As a child whenever I heard the sound of an aircraft I would just run out of the house to spot the aircraft and then try identifing the airline . I would spend hours gazing at the aircrafts whenever I had an opportutnity to go to the airport . I never dreamt of being a pilot as I knew that it was not within my reach financially to be a pilot .

A couple of years back I chanced upon this beautifull software from Microsoft called Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 . It was a dream come true to give me a virtual experience of what flying was all about . You could fly from a Cessna to the fascinating Boeing 747 . It was an amazing experience learning how to fly them . One must be wondering where do you fly to ...and where do you land ...! Well it has all the airports you can think of in very nook and corner of the world . I then discovered that there are a lot of addons you could add to this simulation software beginning from aircrafts to scenery of different places in the world to give you a real feeling of flying through those cities or places .

This fascination had got me hooked on for hours in front of my computer flying to different destinations in the world . It was now time for me to upgrade the simulation software as Microsoft had launched Fs2004. I also decided to upgrade the hardware on my computer . I needed a new video card and more memory for the system . I then discovered that you could fly online and there are two Virtual flying organisations named VATSIM and IVAO . You could get networked to any of these networks of your choice and you would be flying along with other virtual pilots around the world with ATCs and giving you the real feeling of flying . You get to talk to a lot of real world pilots and ATCs who are part of this amazing activity of virtual flying . One must experience it to believe it .

You bet this is addictive and this community of virtual pilots are eagerly awaiting the launch of Microsoft's next version of FlightSim X or 2006 . The picture above is not of a real aircraft it is the picture of the aircraft I fly a Boeing 737... I am sure all the budding pilots would like to have a go at virtual flying before they fly the big birds .......My real world pilot friends tell me that this is as real as it can get .

This is my first attempt at blogging and thought would write about what I am passionate about and my virtual flying experience continues ! Capt signing off for the moment !