Kira

So I found a really good price on RAM, roughly half the going rate, but it says "16GB DDR3 1066MHz PC3L-8500R ECC Registered 15-13131-01 CL7 240pin 4Rx4 Cisco Server Memory Module" Note the "Server Memory Module". So, is this ONLY for servers, and not useable on personal PCs, or is this just intended for servers, and being 240 pin DDR3, it'll work just fine in any DDR3 motherboard? UPDATE: So, I got two sticks. I'll have 32GB RAM within a week, hopefully. Plus the 8 I have now. 40GB, here I come. Talked with an old friend who agreed it was the deal I thought it was. If anyone else is interested, here's the link: http://www.madepc.com/16GB-DDR3-1066MHz-PC3L-8500R-ECC-Registered-15-131-p/311018580-08.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8fKupOyI2wIVk4zICh2CZwoKEAkYASABEgIqcvD_BwE

Gypsy, take a good look at the RAM requirements before deciding to purchase the Normandy map. If you're going to do it, make sure you can do it right. They're talking 32 GB of RAM for a "well running, action packed" mission on the Normandy map. 16 is, they say "good enough". I have 8 and Normandy runs-ish. Only a little better than "barely", really, with just my aircraft. Same for the new 2.5 Caucasus map. Truth be told, I'll be looking at a serious RAM upgrade soon. 2.5 alone has forced it.

Yeah, this guy does some spectacular ones, that's for sure.

Massively incomplete due to lack of glorious Spitfire, no doubt!

Looks like the F-14 will be a while yet.

A-10C, F-86F, F-5E, Bf-109K-4, AV-8B, P-51D, F-15C, FW-190-D9, UH-1, Flaming Cliffs 3 (and associated aircraft), prepaid for F/A-18C, and will do the same for the F-14 Tomkitty the instant it's available. Ordered by personal favorites, pretty much. The F-86, F-5 and AV-8B are just plain fun to fly, even without blowing stuff up. The only reason the F-15 isn't further up the list is that it's an FC3 aircraft, and thus not full switch. I found it all but impossible to go back to a non-functioning cockpit once I'd gotten the A-10C. Learning curve wise, the F-86, F-5E, P-51, and Bf-109 are pretty simple. The FW-190's a bit more involved, but not a whole lot. The AV-8B is, for flying, rather more complicated, and it also has the extra stuff the A-10C does (weapons systems, navigation systems, etc. and so on). The UH-1 is pretty difficult, being a helicopter. Finally, the A-10C is the epitome of DCS, in my humble opinion. Very in depth and thus complicated. However - it's possible, like any other, to take small bites, rather than trying to devour the whole elephant at once. One piece of advice - learn to do any aircraft the right way. Once you get used to doing something a particular way, that's the way you'll do it. It takes time, but if you ingrain the right way, then it just feels better. Then again, it's a sim, not the real deal, so who cares about BITs anyways? (Built In Tests, for making sure stuff is actually working.) No need for them if you don't set it up to fail, is there? Totally personal preference, but I now regret not learning to do it "right" in the A-10C. By the way, sales happen roughly quarterly at DCS.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-story-of-the-usaf-pilot-who-led-bahraini-f-5-drivers-into-battle-during-the-operation-desert-storm/

For me the order would be 1946, DCS, BoX, CLOD. I haven't flown the new CLOD but a few minutes; 87 to be exact. 46 is still "where it's at" for me, at least in theory, especially when doing the aforementioned Dogz "thing" of just knocking about and spending time with friends of similar interests. DCS is great - but - as mentioned, the time requirement to learn a specific system (aircraft) is outrageous; yet that's exactly what makes DCS DCS. It does a great job at it, but it also has some major issues along the "this aircraft is a beta" line for YEARS on end. Almost like they don't want to own up to the fact that they've accepted money for an unfinished product. But they wouldn't do that, now would they? It's as close as you'll ever get to the real thing without the real thing, though. BoX is okay, but I'm not huge into the Russian stuff, and while it might get better with the pending release of some U.S. and British stuff, I'm still not 100% convinced. At least, unlike CLOD, you've got some varied scenery to mess with. As for what's best for the group, as much as I hate to admit it, I'd agree BoX is your best bet for a long term outlook.

With pictures, both well known, and not.

By one of the better known RIOs Dave "Bio" Baranek https://theaviationgeekclub.com/f-14-cockpit-selfie-the-untold-story/

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-43494430

I can vouch for the Microsoft FFB2. Loved it while it worked. It quit years ago, but I still have it in hopes that I may one day get the nerve to attempt to fix it. Loved that stick. Currently have a Thrustmaster HOTAS X. Other than the fact that it is throttle and stick combined, with enough line between them to have one on each side of the keyboard with a little left over, I'd say it is decidedly "meh". You get what you pay for, I suppose. This one was less than $100, though it's been in for the long haul; I got it within a week of the FFB2 dying. It does okay, but I'm seriously considering a Warthog for the A-10/F-14 experience. Might have to go with Vipril or BRD though. Not 100% sold on the Hog, though maybe the later production ones are better.

Only picture of the Concord in flight at Mach 2. Full (short) story below: http://luxurylaunches.com/travel/the-only-picture-of-the-concorde-flying-at-mach-2.php

Ancestor thereof:

The view from 70,000ft courtesy U-2 Dragon Lady. http://thechive.com/2018/02/12/from-earth-to-70000-ft-in-the-u-2-spy-plane-video/?utm_source=Wildfire&utm_medium=Paid

Nice to know. Unfortunately, I've lost track of the specific post/person. Oh well.

I'm on a forum on facebook for Airframe and Powerplant mechanics. A&P is a U.S. certification/license (not sure which) allowing one to work on the mechanics of aircraft, at least in the U.S., and apparently also accepted by a lot of U.S. companies overseas. There's a guy who has his A&P, and 7 years experience, just moved to Germany, and is having difficulty with making things work in Germany. There's mention elsewhere about problems with EASA (the European version of the U.S. FAA?) and another guy, assumedly also from the U.S. who was working in Switzerland, but ended up getting out of that country. There's mention of people having all kinds of trouble being allowed to work in the U.K. (as in 'they're not allowed, at all to work in the U.K.), particularly with the A&P rather than EASA certification/licensure. Also stated was that U.S. companies like Delta and American DO accept A&P, rather than EASA. Any thoughts?

From the net. As a former SR-71 pilot, and a professional keynote speaker, the question I'm most often asked is "How fast would that SR-71 fly?" I can be assured of hearing that question several times at any event I attend. It's an interesting question, given the aircraft's proclivity for speed, but there really isn't one number to give, as the jet would always give you a little more speed if you wanted it to. It was common to see 35 miles a minute. Because we flew a programmed Mach number on most missions, and never wanted to harm the plane in any way, we never let it run out to any limits of temperature or speed. Thus, each SR-71 pilot had his own individual “high” speed that he saw at some point on some mission. I saw mine over Libya when Khadafy fired two missiles my way, and max power was in order. Let’s just say that the plane truly loved speed and effortlessly took us to Mach numbers we hadn’t previously seen. So it was with great surprise, when at the end of one of my presentations, someone asked, “what was the slowest you ever flew the Blackbird?” This was a first. After giving it some thought, I was reminded of a story that I had never shared before, and relayed the following. I was flying the SR-71 out of RAF Mildenhall, England , with my back-seater, Walt Watson; we were returning from a mission over Europe and the Iron Curtain when we received a radio transmission from home base. As we scooted across Denmark in three minutes, we learned that a small RAF base in the English countryside had requested an SR-71 fly-past. The air cadet commander there was a former Blackbird pilot, and thought it would be a motivating moment for the young lads to see the mighty SR-71 perform a low approach. No problem, we were happy to do it. After a quick aerial refueling over the North Sea , we proceeded to find the small airfield. Walter had a myriad of sophisticated navigation equipment in the back seat, and began to vector me toward the field. Descending to subsonic speeds, we found ourselves over a densely wooded area in a slight haze. Like most former WWII British airfields, the one we were looking for had a small tower and little surrounding infrastructure. Walter told me we were close and that I should be able to see the field, but I saw nothing. Nothing but trees as far as I could see in the haze. We got a little lower, and I pulled the throttles back from 325 knots we were at. With the gear up, anything under 275 was just uncomfortable. Walt said we were practically over the field—yet; there was nothing in my windscreen. I banked the jet and started a gentle circling maneuver in hopes of picking up anything that looked like a field. Meanwhile, below, the cadet commander had taken the cadets up on the catwalk of the tower in order to get a prime view of the fly-past. It was a quiet, still day with no wind and partial gray overcast. Walter continued to give me indications that the field should be below us but in the overcast and haze, I couldn't see it.. The longer we continued to peer out the window and circle, the slower we got. With our power back, the awaiting cadets heard nothing. I must have had good instructors in my flying career, as something told me I better cross-check the gauges. As I noticed the airspeed indicator slide below 160 knots, my heart stopped and my adrenalin-filled left hand pushed two throttles full forward. At this point we weren't really flying, but were falling in a slight bank. Just at the moment that both afterburners lit with a thunderous roar of flame (and what a joyous feeling that was) the aircraft fell into full view of the shocked observers on the tower. Shattering the still quiet of that morning, they now had 107 feet of fire-breathing titanium in their face as the plane leveled and accelerated, in full burner, on the tower side of the infield, closer than expected, maintaining what could only be described as some sort of ultimate knife-edge pass. Quickly reaching the field boundary, we proceeded back to Mildenhall without incident. We didn't say a word for those next 14 minutes. After landing, our commander greeted us, and we were both certain he was reaching for our wings. Instead, he heartily shook our hands and said the commander had told him it was the greatest SR-71 fly-past he had ever seen, especially how we had surprised them with such a precise maneuver that could only be described as breathtaking. He said that some of the cadet’s hats were blown off and the sight of the plan form of the plane in full afterburner dropping right in front of them was unbelievable. Walt and I both understood the concept of “breathtaking” very well that morning, and sheepishly replied that they were just excited to see our low approach. As we retired to the equipment room to change from space suits to flight suits, we just sat there-we hadn't spoken a word since “the pass.” Finally, Walter looked at me and said, “One hundred fifty-six knots. What did you see?” Trying to find my voice, I stammered, “One hundred fifty-two.” We sat in silence for a moment. Then Walt said, “Don’t ever do that to me again!” And I never did. A year later, Walter and I were having lunch in the Mildenhall Officer’s club, and overheard an officer talking to some cadets about an SR-71 fly-past that he had seen one day. Of course, by now the story included kids falling off the tower and screaming as the heat of the jet singed their eyebrows. Noticing our HABU patches, as we stood there with lunch trays in our hands, he asked us to verify to the cadets that such a thing had occurred. Walt just shook his head and said, “It was probably just a routine low approach; they're pretty impressive in that plane.” Impressive indeed. Little did I realize after relaying this experience to my audience that day that it would become one of the most popular and most requested stories. It’s ironic that people are interested in how slow the world’s fastest jet can fly. Regardless of your speed, however, it’s always a good idea to keep that cross-check up…and keep your Mach up, too.

Jack, AP, and I have it. A few others may as well. It's fun, and a challenge, as with most DCS platforms.

I'm not a fan of VASAviation , mostly due to their editing. I want unedited, the whole tamale, enchilada, whathaveyou. Context, context, context!

Oh, I'm sorry Swep. Did you have better things to do?! Hehe.

This guy's hilarious. And professional. He know exactly when serious is needed, but normally tries to lighten the stress for all as much as he can. Funny: Serious:

You mean like launching right into the flight line? Sounds like some of my less successful landings.