Astronut

The Vive most certainly should be better than the DK2. The DK2 never was intended as a consumer ready product.

Battlestar Galactica (the remake) was outstanding. I enjoyed all the Stargate series (including the spin offs). All the Star Trek series were good (I actually enjoyed Enterprise although it had mixed reviews). One I missed, and will have to catch up on sometime is Babylon 5.

It certainly is worth it. I went with the Rift and I think it was worth every penny. I'm having a great time flying in DCS World. Adr1ft is a pretty amazing VR experience. Apollo 11 was awesome. I have dabbled a bit with Elite Dangerous (it looks like I could lose a lot of time with it). It would be great if KSP would support VR sometime soon.

Life takes many twists and turns. There is nothing wrong with flying as a hobby. In some ways it would be nicer as you would be the one to choose where and when to fly - me, I just fly where and when I am told to.

Sounds like you have a good job, but if you want to be a pilot, then don't let anyone take the dream away from you.

July 2011, well before there was a Mun . KSP has come a long way since then!

I have been an Assistant Air Traffic Controller and Air Ops Clerk (when I was in the UK's Royal Air Force), followed by a three year stint working in IT Tech Support. When my wife and I moved to the States in 2002 I got a job at my local municipal airport as a Line Service Technician (ie refueled, cleaned, parked and towed airplanes), then, when I had the appropriate licenses and ratings, I started flying airplanes for a living (which was my ambition/goal/dream since I was very young). I have been doing that for 12 years now.

I forget which version, but the Mun was still some way off. Looking through some old posts on SimHQ it seems I started 13th July 2011.. That makes KSP just about the best value for money game in my rather long history of playing computer games (going way back to 1983)... Link to SimHQ thread..

One method I have found to be very effective is to use a drag chute. Touch down and deploy the chute immediately. It will rapidly slow you down and also keep you straight.

[quote name='Robotengineer']Drones are a nuisance, I do not own one. IMO, privacy and peace are more important than somebody's ability to fly a drone. If you are going to fly hobby aircraft, fly RC planes, steeper learning curve and more difficult to control, as well as not being able to hover and watch things. Seems to me that you are caught up with the media induced paranoia Robotengineer. While there will always be a few that will not fly in a considerate manner, the vast majority of recreational drone owners are very conscientious and not at all interested in invading anyone's privacy. A greater threat to privacy is the fact that we now live in a world where everyone carries a good quality camera in their pocket all of the time, usually with an internet connection that allows instant posting. Nobody seems to freak out about that though. Here are a few of shots taken with my Phantom 3.

I have dabbled with MSFS for good while now. I think FS95 was the first version I bought. Before that there was numerous other flight sims going all the way back to Psion's Flight Simulation on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. These days I don't spend much time with FSX, mainly because I fly for a living now. Last year I flew a trip into Queenstown, New Zealand. The scenery was so breathtaking that I purchased the ORBX scenery for New Zealand's South Island and the Queenstown airport addon. It' an outstanding representation of the actual place...

I guess 'Life happened' might be the category I would fit into. I went straight into the Royal Air Force after leaving school working in the ATC branch as an assistant controller/ops clerk. I did start an Open University degree course while serving, but I quickly became distracted with learning to fly - do I want to study calculus today or go flying? Hmmmm. Let's just say that flying won. I fly for a living now on the business aviation side of the industry. The lack of a degree hasn't held me up much so far but I have been extremely lucky and have had a lot of help along the way.

I took this shot through my telescope back in 2009 by manually tracking it. - - - Updated - - - The hardest part is getting the camera settings right..

I have an older G75 which I bought new three years ago. It's not a small laptop (I had trouble finding a suitable backpack for it at the time). I have been very happy with it, and when I get to the point where I need to replace it, I will most likely buy another. Games I have played with good performance: KSP (obviously). FSX Alien Isolation GTA V Wolfenstien The New Order Far Cry 3 Crysis 1 & 2 It doesn't cope too well with ARMA3 or Elite Dangerous. I can play them but the graphics have to be tweaked down. A new shiny G75 should have no problems with them though.

I can't claim the term "Dronie" as it has been around for awhile now.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dronie JebKerboom, that sounds like a great project. I was originally going to build my own but ended up taking the easy option by going with the Phantom 3. I would still like to build my own at some point though.

I don't post much, but I have been here for awhile .

Most of my flights are 15-18 minutes, but I make a point of landing with at least 20% battery left (the App squawks at you when you hit 30% by default). DJI claims 23 minutes of battery and I believe that, assuming you are willing to run it down below 10%.

I recently took the plunge and bought myself a DJI Phantom 3. It's a fantastic piece of tech. Very easy to fly and takes great photos and video. Has anyone else here been bitten by the bug? Here are a few of the shots I have taken so far with it. Here is the Phantom itself: and the obligatory 'Dronie'

All good advice so far. Taking an experience flight is a great idea. To start with, try to book your flights either early morning or in the evening. Small planes tend to get very hot in the middle of a Summer's day and the ride can also get bumpy at that time. That can equate to motion sickness. Fly when it is calmer and cooler. You may not be affected by motion sickness, it's an individual thing, but if you are it can shut down a lesson really quick (hard to learn while trying to keep your cookies down ). Talk with a few instructors and go with the one you prefer. Beware of instructors who are building time before applying to the airlines because if they are almost there then they may have to drop you as they take the next step in their career. You would then have to find a different instructor to finish up your training. Flight sims are a good tool if used correctly, but are most useful when training for your instrument rating. Training for your Private Pilot's License is mostly about visual flying and a sim really can't teach you much about the feel of flying a C150. FSX uses correct airport signage and markings though, so that is useful. A sim will also give you a head start by simply knowing a little more about basic aerodynamics, effects of controls etc. It won't teach you anything about the feel of the airplane or the importance of looking outside the cockpit for visual cues and situational awareness. Above all, have fun with it and fly often. Each lesson builds on the previous one, so flying frequently will help greatly in getting the most out of each session. Are you wanting to fly for a career or purely for fun?

Hard work, willingness to move to another country, never letting go or losing sight of the dream, and a healthy dose of luck. I fly in the corporate/charter side of the aviation business. I moved from the UK to the States 13 years ago, primarily to pursue a flying career. I have been very fortunate as it all worked out. It could easily have worked out differently.

I wouldn't say that becoming a pilot with the RAF is 'an easy route', quite the opposite in fact.

What a great story. Congratulations! It is so important to have some kind of dream and not to let go of it. I was lucky I guess. I knew what I wanted to do career wise since I was a small boy. It took me awhile but after lots of twists, turns, bumps in the road and a lot of luck, I managed to finally get to get on the career path I always wanted. I also know what it is like to be on a career path that I had no real interest in, and that can be soul destroying.

Worst case, the Procedural Fairings Mod works great, and will hopefully work with 1.0. This is small potatoes IMHO.

I don't know what to say Fel. I have owned two iPads and I think they are hard to beat. I use iPads at work too and they have made a significant difference in my profession. Strangely I'm not a Mac guy though. I prefer a PC for gaming and normal admin stuff.

Very nice Bigdad84. I went with the Sport version 42mm Space Gray with black wristband. I may look into getting a different 3rd party strap to supplement the sports band. In a couple of years I will probably look at upgrading to a newer model. Time will tell .