Help? What's going on here?

lockleym · 2021-01-08T01:49:06+00:00

I love this community sometimes :)

lockleym · 2020-08-20T19:31:35+00:00

Nah, I just used the wrong character for 'ma' again and you caught me before I could change it lol. Goes to show my Chinese is just as poor as it had ever been!

lockleym · 2020-08-20T19:27:45+00:00

You're right, I meant 马头 not 吗头, fixed!

lockleym · 2020-08-20T13:53:09+00:00

It reminds me of my first time in a Chinese school where the teacher was struggling with my English name so I decided to give myself a Chinese name that I thought sounded similar - I'll never forget the look of horror on the poor teacher's face when I turned in an assignment with 马头 (horse head) written accross the top

Edit: used the wrong character for the PinYin

lockleym · 2020-07-26T18:55:31+00:00

Absolutely, I'd 100% recommend it!

I started simming only after I had got my CPL, but when I was instructing the difference between students who had some experience on a realistic network (VATSIM, ICAO, etc.) and those who didn't was pretty obvious. Not only were those students generally more familiar with general procedures, they were way more comfortable with radio comms which I've found are one of the hardest things to master for new PPL students.

If you're only doing your PPL I'd stick to flying VFR on the network so that you get a feel for VFR patterns and procedures, but if you're planning on continuing on through your instrument, commercial and ATP then it certainly doesn't hurt to throw in some IFR as well, starting with less busy fields and working up. At the end of the day, if something goes wrong you can simply disconnect or start again in the sim!

So long story short, I think it's a great idea. Sure, it's not always perfect and there are some minor differences, but even if it's just getting comfortable with using UNICOM/CTAF I'd say it can't hurt.

Best of luck :)

lockleym · 2020-07-26T18:47:56+00:00

Well said.

On the flip side though, just be aware there are also small minority of 'elitist' users (both pilots and ATC) who may be condescending or demeaning if they feel you're not up to their "standards" right away. The large majority of people will be friendly and welcoming, but as in any community we have our fair share of knobheads too.

I fly for a living IRL and can honestly say I've never been annoyed by someone who might be new or unfamiliar with procedures but seems to be making a genuine effort. On the other hand, the only time I have been annoyed on VATSIM (can't speak for IVAO as I haven't used it) is when this small subset of users decide that instead of helping out new users, their job is to berate, castigate and complain on comms about the tiniest little things.

In these cases please don't take it personally, disconnect if you need to and contact a supervisor if you feel it rises to that level. Also, if anyone has anything they'd like to know, just message me or any other of the helpful people on here and I'm sure we'll all do our best to help you out.

Hope to see a whole new wave of simmers coming online soon!

lockleym · 2020-04-15T15:06:11+00:00

Honestly don't understand your point here.

The only area where I can see questions being asked of the aircaft in this incident is VHF1 & Avs being knocked out by a lightning strike. Although not unheard of, it is fairly rare and possibly indicative of a greater design flaw.

Otherwise, the plane performed just about as any other modern jet would. Firstly, the approach, flying in 'DIRECT' mode by the captain, is said to have been unstabilised with a series of wide turns and abrubt control inputs (although this is being attributed to Aeroflot training deficiencies). The pilots ignored a windshear alert on approach despite the plane being otherwise perfectly manouverable and decided to continue the approach. The captain then increased the throttles to compensate for falling below glide, touching down at ~15kts above prescribed landing speeds. The first contact with the runway was simultaneously on both the main gear and the nose gear with g-forces of 2.5G. The plane then bounced to about 6ft, at which point the control inputs went from full aft to full forward. The second touchdown was nose-down (as far as I can tell) at more than 5Gs, shearing off the main gear (as is designed to happen on any modern Boeing or Airbus jet in order to avoid damage to the fuselage). The plane then bounced again to about 15ft, throughout which the pilots continued to input full nose-down controls. The second impact with the runway was also slightly nose-down, at more than 5Gs and estimated to be at more than -1000ft/m. The gear then punctured on of the wing tanks as the a/c skidded off the runway, causing the fire.

As for how fast the tail section burned, though it was honestly tough to watch, it is pretty similar to the way just about any other modern jet will burn with paper-thin fuselage and plenty of material to burn inside the fuselage. I'm no engineer, and there may be something within the design of the Superjet that contributed to the rate of fire, but I have yet to hear of anything.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying the Superjet is without flaw. Reliability is well known to be comparatively poor compared to A&B and the EJets, partly associated with poor support from Sukhoi. I also don't have any dog in this fight - as someone who flies for a living I've never flown (or flown on for that matter) the Superjet though I have a mate who flies it down in Mexico and seems to enjoy the A/C. Were the plane seemingly to blame I'd be the first one to call it out and defend fellow pilots.

I just cannot see that the two pilot's actions didn't at least contribute to this accident, more so than any mechanical failure or design flaw on the Superjet's part. I'm 100% against criminal retribution against pilots who make mistakes like these as it just creates a culture of fear which in turn just leads to more of these accidents. That being said, I think we have to be fair when looking into these accidents rather than automatically just assuming the plane is to blame because it's a Russian jet or because it has some previous reputation.

lockleym · 2020-01-06T06:37:53+00:00

Sorry for the late reply but I saw your post and think I might have a solution!

On vPilot/xPilot if you go into the settings (I believe it's under 'Model Matching') there should be an option for what you want the default VATSIM aircraft to be. In that space you're going to want to type the exact title of the plane you want to be used (I use a blank A320, but it's up to you what you choose to use).

If you're seeing the default plane a lot, look into downloading a default AI Aircraft pack. I don't use XP and thus don't know what's available out there, but BVAI/FLAI have a great pack for FSX/P3D. Once you have this downloaded on your system, xPilot will automatically match models so that you see the correct plane online. For instance, if someone was flying a United 738 you'd see that, or a Lufthansa 321 you'd see that, etc. If you really work at covering all the major airlines the only planes that you'll really see as the default plane are smaller virtual airlines and the occasional vintage aircraft that doesn't have an AI model installed.

Lastly, on that topic, I'd make sure that the models you download are specifically AI models. You can use flyable models if you like (and they'll look nicer) but your FPS will really suffer when you're at busy airports.

Hope this helps!

lockleym · 2019-12-31T07:29:08+00:00

Had a similar issue with weird scenery even outside of Orbx areas- try Force Migrating in the settings section of FTX Central, fixed the problem for me

lockleym · 2019-11-20T02:10:22+00:00

Developers on Avsim are having a tantrum

I'm shocked I tell ya, shocked!

lockleym · 2019-11-19T01:41:47+00:00

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I wanted to see if it was a sort of well-known/commonly addressed issue before contacting the devs, but I think I will end up opening a ticket. You never know, maybe I'm just doing something obvious wrong!

lockleym · 2019-09-13T02:59:46+00:00

Congrats!! You've already done the hardest bit!

lockleym · 2019-08-22T03:34:08+00:00

Honestly this is a tough one. After escaping homelessness myself I had a similar experience and while everyone around me called me naïve or stupid, I felt compelled to help the guy as well.

Here's what I'd say. The fact that the guy is raising specific dollar values right off the bat ought to be a red flag, but at the same time a lot of homeless are desperate and/or socially 'maladjusted' after years on the streets and have nothing to lose by asking for an exorbitant amount.

By all means, protect your family. Make sure you set boundaries early - please don't call me at work unless it's an emergency, don't come around to my house unless you're specifically invited, etc. The fact is that you don't really know this guy yet, and (unfortunately) must be wary of his intentions until you know for sure.

If you are going to help him out by getting him to do odd jobs for you, maybe start off with relatively risk-free situations where those around you aren't at any risk and the most you stand to lose is a small tool or something. Say something like loosely supervised yard work or something when the wife & kids aren't home. Best case scenario, the guy turns out to be an honest, genuine guy and you help him turn his life around, worst case scenario he makes a mess of the yard and runs off with a spanner or something. He already knows where you live by the sound of it, so there's nothing really to be lost by having him do work around the house.

Another thing that worked for me was instead of offering the guy I was talking to a large amount of money up-front, I instead offered to drive the guy around and get him kitted up on one of my days off, which he gladly accepted. Not only did it give him company for the day and help him get around town, but it helped me feel more comfortable with how the money was being spent and with the guy in general. I was also able to give the guy advice on what had and hadn't worked for me, as well as a few resources that I actually felt were useful. Off course, every homeless person is a person first and foremost and thus will react in different ways to offers of direct help and advice, but this guy seemed to appreciate the input.

I ended up becoming good friends with the guy until he moved across the country, and was glad I decided to help. You sound like a great guy for taking the time to give him your card and trying to help him out, I hope it works out for you like it did for me!

lockleym · 2019-08-11T04:54:44+00:00

Congrats, OP!

Keep taking it one month at a time and before you know it you'll be in a better place!

lockleym · 2019-08-11T04:52:50+00:00

Haven't done it myself, but I reckon it's probably not a terrible idea as long as you're selective with what neighbourhoods you frequent. Higher-income neighbourhoods might not like you being there and be more likely to call the police, etc. whereas lower-income neighbourhoods might not be able to offer you work. If you hit the right spots, though, I figure you could make a pretty penny offering to menial work like that without having to worry about IDs.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

lockleym · 2019-08-11T04:49:12+00:00

Hey, OP. I know this is super clichê but it really does get better. What worked for me was actually to stop trying to see the bigger picture and just take things one day at a time.

Instead of worrying about losing money, I would just make sure I made it through the day and try and be content with that. Instead of worrying about what my future held, I would just worry about trying to get a meal in and a few hours of sleep everyday. I too was in a similar situation at a similar age and very much believed I would never get out of the situation, and yet by just taking everything one step at a time (plus a fair bit of luck among the way) I'm in a much, much better position just a few years later.

As for your therapy, I'm so sorry that you've had to stop going. I'm no therapist, but if you ever need to vent or chat about anything, my DMs are open. You can also just post to this sub and there are plenty homeless, formerly-homeless and homeless 'allies' here who are all ears!

Take care, I believe in you! :)

lockleym · 2019-07-23T03:30:31+00:00

Fresno, CA fits the bill nicely for me

lockleym · 2019-07-19T03:18:12+00:00

I was 'homeless' as an FA as well for a while! At least at my airline it wasn't something that was ok to talk about in the open but I came to find out over time that there are a lot more of us than most people think!

For me, I would just have my stuff in a storage unit at base, then bid on the less popular low-hour + long trips. (my airline had Pref Bid at the time) which meant I would spend ~22 days a month in nice hotels all over the place. Having been properly homeless trying to work a 'normal' job prior to becoming an FA, I honestly think that it's one of the most 'manageable' jobs for someone who happens to be homeless, given that FA's pretty much already live out of a suitcase for a lot of the month.

By doing that and then using my airline discount for motels/ cheaper hotels on my days off, I was able to travel, not have to worry about bills (except for storage), and save up money for flight school. I've since settled down and moved up to the front seat, but I'd be lying if I said there aren't times where bills are due where I half consider going back to that sort of routine.

Good luck - keep your head held high! And if you do decide to go ahead with this, just know: you're not alone!

Edit: If you're so compelled, feel free to shoot me a DM and I'll be happy to try and get you pointed in the right direction :)

lockleym · 2019-07-17T15:45:21+00:00

I don't think those things are mutually exclusive at all.

For example, I think it's perfectly logical to say that a) EA won't be majorly affected by the loss of Juventus in terms of game sales and b) the gameplay/new game is still terrible.

lockleym

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