USAFA

scooter · Post by **scooter** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:44 am

Any Zoomies (Air Force Academy grads) checking out this forum?

Scooter

TBT_Piper · Post by **TBT_Piper** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 9:59 am

I would guess some are either in CAP or ROTC. At least thats teh people I know. BUT WHAT DO I KNOW!!!

USAFABrad · Post by **USAFABrad** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:02 am

SOrry to break it to you guys, but a bunch of the Grads think youre dorks. Sorry, theyre real pilots, and hey, theyre proud of it. I imagine some of you guys have pilots licenses, so hey, props on that.

Burner · Post by **Burner** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:36 am

Yeah, I and every member on this team can fly circles around you and your bunch of Grads.

Jarhead · Post by **Jarhead** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 1:57 am

Nice way to reflect on the US Airforce. By the way ALL of your Grad friends from the Airforce Academy are hardly pilots, SOrry to break it to you guys. I imagine some of you guys have dreamed about flying an F-15, so hey, props on that. Thanks for your kind words

STRIKER · Post by **STRIKER** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:23 am

Well said Jarhead....hell I probably have more flying time in military aircraft and a hella alot more experience than they do and I'm maintenance.

Also, don't know if USAFABRAD realizes the true combined (military/civilian) experience that we have on the Virtual Thunderbirds but if he did I would imagine he would change his tune.

6 out,

Rock · Post by **Rock** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:30 pm

In life there will always be those individuals who are quick to criticize other people. Often these same people are also the ones who don't analyze all the available information to come up with an appropriate conclusion. Taking a look at what the Virtual Thunderbirds have done and are doing is rather impressive if you look at the facts. They have managed to take the world of Virtual Formation Flying to a new and ground-breaking level. This is the first time in history that anyone has been able to simulate what real world Flight Demonstration Teams do and it is the first time that the anyone has tried to fly like the USAF Thunderbirds online. It is not only ground breaking but also cutting edge in the world of Flight Simulation. The Virtual Thunderbirds are also modeling themselves after the real world Thunderbirds by maintaining professionalism and striving for perfection. They have made two very entertaining videos, which are enjoyable to watch and have been well received in the Flight Sim Community. If I am not mistaken at least two members of the team are Airline Pilots and one or two others have military flight time. If you add up all the facts it is easy to see that the Virtual Thunderbirds are a very credible organization and they are working some exciting and challenging Virtual Flying. Personally I can only see positives in what they are doing and look forward to seeing more of what they have to offer in the future.

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 2:02 pm

Pretty impressive simulated flying, especially considering the inherent lag of a broadband connection.

I for one would like to know the aviation background of the 'teammembers'.

In addition I would like to know how many hours are spent practicing individually and as a 'team'.

It is obvious by looking through the website that you take your virtual thunderbirds act very seriously...that might cause a reaction with some in the audience.

Is it possible for you folks to create a profile that would allow someone to attempt to fly in these difficult formations without having to find a 'team'?

Jarhead · Post by **Jarhead** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 2:13 pm

We have just the thing you are asking about being made for the pilot page on our mainsite. Pilot Bio's should be completed within a week.

Post by **Lawndart** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 5:20 pm

The real world flight experience of the Virtual Thunderbird pilots total... hold on to your hat!!!... is somewhere in the neighborhood of close to 40,000 hours flown in real aircraft ranging from C-152's all the way through heavies such as the Airbus 340's. 7 team members have pilots licenses with 5 current members working as professional pilots as their normal jobs and two of these with prior military background. I'll say what I always say regarding flight sims though... this may or may not have bearing on how well you can fly online and that does not imply that it is any easier because you're flying daily in real life! In addition to our real-life pilots, some of our "non-pilot" members have extensive experience with real aircraft and most of all of us have been around flight sims and combat flight sims since the dawn of computer flying. The remaining guys are exceptionally skilled and quick learners that understand what we do just as well or better than any real world pilot.

So, to answer all you grad boys's questions: Sorry, we're real pilots too and of course we are dorks, but we take our virtual flying seriously and we're proud of it!!! In many ways I'm more proud of this type of flying than all my thousands of hours flying real airplanes...

(Big dork smile)!

LD

TBT_Piper · Post by **TBT_Piper** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:15 pm

Be careful not to take it TOO seriously.

Post by **Lawndart** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:22 pm

Bubba wrote:Pretty impressive simulated flying, especially considering the inherent lag of a broadband connection.

I for one would like to know the aviation background of the 'teammembers'.

In addition I would like to know how many hours are spent practicing individually and as a 'team'.

It is obvious by looking through the website that you take your virtual thunderbirds act very seriously...that might cause a reaction with some in the audience.

Is it possible for you folks to create a profile that would allow someone to attempt to fly in these difficult formations without having to find a 'team'?

Pilots page should be available shortly with brief bios and more. In the mean time, check the post a few clicks above. As far as practice, lots and lots of practice... we've got a long ways to go, especially with a "new team" now, but just like the real guys it will come together with time. I can only speak for myself and I don't spent much time flying on my own, aside from doing some "relaxing" solo maneuvers every now and then, trying to get that 4-point roll nailed to 90 degrees and not 86.5 degree increments etc... Of course I draw a lot on experience in flight sims almost 20 years back and also flying for a living, so I focus most of my time to team management and actual formation practice with the team. As far as how much formation practice I'd say between 5-10 hours per week is spent on average for each pilot. There have been weeks where I've flown as much as 30 hours and also weeks with no flying, but in general 2-3 nights per week, each time 2-3 hours. Creating a singleplayer profile to fly formation with is not possible at this time, only straight and level rejoins with A/I airplanes in Lock-On. This is the way the sim works and not something we could change. To fly the maneuvers in form you'll need other real people to fly with ya!

Hope this answered most of your questions!
LD

USAFABrad · Post by **USAFABrad** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 3:22 am

Burner wrote:Yeah, I and every member on this team can fly circles around you and your bunch of Grads.

I wasnt trying to be sarcastic when i said i give you props, it's more than i have. And also i never said that the Air Force thinks youre a bunch of dorks, just that a bunch of the grads (at least in that forum) think you are. That's not an opinion. It's just a fact about how they feel. I'm not trying to drag you guys down, i'm just letting you guys know. I mean, this is a thread about USAFA and grads right? You wanted to know if there were any on here. I'm just filling you in on how they see you guys. The only reason i saw this was that they mentioned seeing your performance on one of the grad forums, to which a landslide of rolly-eyes and point and laugh-type comments ensued. Hate the message, not the messenger. If you feel the need to educate them, head on over to this forum and give em a holler.

I know i've edited this a few times, and i apologize if you took what i said to be intended as an insult. I realise it may have been inflammatory, but you guys have a right to know. It should also be noted that the particular group i am talking about also do not represent Grads as a whole. Again I apologize.
http://www.edodo.org/rumormill/viewtopic.php?t=10335

BonJobie · Post by **BonJobie** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 3:49 am

It's difficult to respond to this subject without going "tit for tat"; however, I can't let the opportunity pass for some clarification. First you guys are way late in calling us "dorks". We coined that phrase several months ago and we're proud of it. "Wannabe's". . .you bet. We certainly respect everyone's opinion on this forum even if it is critical. As far as experience goes, I think Lawndart did a great job explaining that, and so I won't ask you what yours is. I am former USAF pilot; in fact, I trained both Zoombags like you guys and ROTC pukes in the T-38 at Willie for 4 years. During my time there I came to realize that it didn't matter where a new pilot came from, UPT was the "great equalizer". Where you came from was just a commissioning source for UPT. So if someone wants to look down from their USAFA Ivory tower at us dorks and "Thundernerds" we are glad you are watching. Maybe some day you might have the privilege of doing in reality what we enjoy so much in the virtual world. As for taking ourselves too seriously, we only do that to the extent that we want to imitate the goal of flying perfection as the real Team does. Other than that we are just a bunch of guys with a great hobby. We certainly invite you to come fly with us some time and show us your stuff.
And by the way, no one on this Team asked if there were any Zoomies looking at this forum, that was from the outside, probably one of your own.

Regards,

Bon

USAFABrad · Post by **USAFABrad** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 3:59 am

Hey, i'm sure they dont know all that either, sir. And i can certainly appreciate the civility that you guys are demonstrating here, i'll say it is more than i would come to expect from your average Edodo group.

And just for clarification, i was personally damn impressed when i saw your video a few months back. Simulated on a PC or not, that is damn hard. If something makes you happy, i see no reason why you shouldnt continue doing what you do.