MicroWings Articles by Rick Lee - Flight Simulator Articles

A few eons ago, before there was such a thing as the World-Wide-Web,
when I was sysop on the Compuserve Flight Simulations Forum,
I wrote a regular column in MicroWINGS magazine. Here’s a trip down memory lane…
I have compiled some of the articles here if you are interested in the Golden Age
(or is that the Dark Ages?) of personal computer flight sims.

MicroWINGS Magazine
CompuServe - Your Electronic FBO
by Rick Lee

Feb 93

"OTHER PEOPLE'S BRAINS"

When most people first get a CompuServe account, they think that the

main benefit that they'll get from it is access to massive databases and

giant file libraries full of free software. This sort of thing

absolutely does exist on CompuServe but when people have used CompuServe

for a time they discover that that the most important feature is access

to OTHER PEOPLE'S BRAINS. Not just any people either. Many times you are

getting access to the world's top experts on the subject. Problems which

seem insurmountable might be solved with a few sentences typed by

an expert on the subject.

Therefore, one of the things that I'd like to emphasize in this column

is PEOPLE. I plan to feature CompuServe users in this column through

interviews and profiles. I've been simply astonished over the last few

years at the incredible quality and diversity of the people that I've

made friends with via CompuServe. The geographic diversity alone is

staggering! Forget the fifty states and Canada. I'm talking about

Australia, Malaysia, all parts of Europe, South America, Saudi Arabia...

Flight Simulator is popular world-wide. We like to call the FSFORUM "the

crossroads of the FS world". Through CompuServe I have come to know and

make friends with the main programmers of all the top selling flight

simulation software.

I'm devoting this first column to introduce you to some of my FAVORITE

people, the staff of the CompuServe FSFORUM.

SysOps:

** Mike Barrs is a professional commercial photographer in Miami, FL.

His specialty on the forum is air combat simulations. He plays guitar in

an amateur blues band in his spare time. ** Rick Lee (that's me) is also

a commercial photographer who also enjoys playing blues guitar (wierd

coincidence!). I live in Charleston, WV, the heart of Appalachia about

an hour's drive from Hamlin, WV, the hometown of Chuck Yeager. My area

of expertise is Microsoft Flight Simulator. Being a SysOp leaves me

precious little time to actually fly FS4 these days so I'm beginning to

curse our incredible growth. ** Jim Ross is a theologian/archeologist at

a seminary in Alexandria, VA (just outside Washington, DC). Jim is our

Design Sysop since he excels in the area of scenery design. He put

together a list describing all the various add-ons for FS4. This file,

DOODAD.TXT has been downloaded literally thousands of times and has

turned out to be one of the most useful and popular files in the forum!

Jim has also programmed several handy utilities for the FS4 Scenery

Designer. ** Rob Heitmann also lives just outside Washington, DC and is

a brilliant computer programmer but actually works in county government

(or should we say county politics?). Rob is the author of the wildly

popular and widely distributed FALCONER utility for Falcon 3.0.

Member Experts:

Charles Gulick is one of those guys like Bob Hope that needs no

introduction. Charlie wrote several very popular books on Flight

Simulator and in doing so probably did more to advance FS as a hobby

than anybody other than Bruce Artwick. He's retired from a career in

advertising and resides in West Palm Beach, FL. ** Laemming Wheeler, from

somewhere in the wilds of New Jersey, is the author of the incredible

Mallard Scenery Enhancement Editor (SEE) utility for the FS4 Scenery

Designer as well as the co-author of Mallard Aircraft Factory. He did all

that in his spare time which I try not to think about that since it

gives me an inferiority complex. I'm not sure what to say about

Laemming that you'll believe. He looks like a guy who might sleep on the

beach but he actually works for a very serious bio-medical firm. I'm not

sure exactly what he gets paid to do but it appears he just thinks for a

living. Well, he is very good at it. ** Terry Carraway specializes in

air combat sims which is logical since he used to fly A-10 Warthogs in

the Air National Guard. He was famous for low-level flying and after one

mission came back with then nickname "Pinecone". (Whew! Think about it.)

He now is self-employed in the field of industrial hygiene. ** Steve

Wigginton is an unsung hero of the FSFORUM. He is our local TRACON (air

traffic control) expert. He knows the program inside and out and takes

care of all TRACON questions with skill and speed. He lives in central

California and works in the computer industry. ** Bryant Arnett is our

local Aircraft Design expert. He was a beta tester of the Aircraft

Factory for FS4 and he got so good at it before the program was even

released that one of his aircraft was included in the package as an

example. I know Bryant lives in southern California but I'll be darned

if I know anything else about him. I'll have to ask him someday! ** Tom

Basham is getting famous now without my help. His recently released

book (or rather 600 page tome) on Falcon 3.0 tactics is selling very

well nationwide. It can be found in most software stores. ** Scott

Holtzman is an owner of an electronic paging and data transfer company

in Jacksonville, FL. He's a multi-engine rated pilot and has volunteered

to head up our new online Computerized Flight Instruction and

Certification project. This is a major undertaking that I'm really

excited about. It's almost ready to get underway and it really holds

great promise. ** Our newest staffer is a brand new Washington lawyer

named Michael Fisher. Michael passed the bar and got his FSFORUM title

at about the same time and he actually seemed to be more excited about

the forum staff title. That should tell you what an FS fanatic he is.

He's a Mac user and has volunteered to be our resident Mac expert.

That's the gang! I'm just terribly pleased to be associated with all of

them.

MicroWINGS Magazine
CompuServe - Your Electronic FBO
by Rick Lee

May 93

INTERVIEW WITH TOM KOPKE - NAVY SIMULATIONS PHYSICIST

The Electronic FBO... I like the title for this column that Robert gave

it! We have a section on CompuServe called "Hangar Talk" which is reserved

for non-simulation discussions but really, the whole place is full of hangar

talk. It's like the FBO office or hangar where the guys hang out and

talk about their last flight... what they like or dislike about a certain

aircraft... a difficult sortie... scenery they've flown over... on and on.

Any sort of real-world hangar talk has its electronic counterpart. In my

first column I introduced you to our FSFORUM staff but from time to time

I also intend to introduce you to some of our more interesting members.

There are so many interesting members... how can I choose who to tell

you about? Tom Kopke definitely comes to mind. Hanging around the

electronic hangar, Tom and I recently had an interesting conversation:

-=-=-=-=-=-

Rick Lee: Hi Tom... so where do you live exactly?

Tom Kopke: Exactly? Two miles at 70 degrees from the ORL (Orlando)

VORTAC in a duplex situated on a sprawling estate of 1/8 of an acre!

Rick Lee: I know you work for the US Navy... how would you describe

your job?

Tom Kopke: I do simulation research and development. I've been at it

for about 10 years and have had the opportunity to see and use some the

best hardware for simulators available. Specifically, I do development

technologies. I've worked with out-the-window display systems, helmet

mounted displays, embedded simulators (simulators as part of operational

aircraft), and image generation hardware... just to name a few. The job

requires a very broad background of technologies to address the varing

simulation requirements. I've had to work with lasers, cooling systems,

precision plastics, chemistry, even quantum physics! All this in

addition to my primary expertise in display systems. It is a constant

learning environment to be able to simulate different systems and one

gets to see the actual systems quite frequently that is being simulated.

I also interface with other organizations to develop technologies and to

specify and evalutate new simulators for training. It is definately hard

work but what other job is there that you can get paid to play with

really expensive "video games"?

Rick Lee: Wow... that's amazing. Tell me more about yourself... do you

have a life outside of your work?

Tom Kopke: I'll never be bored, I have too many interests and hobbies

from brewing my own beer to the latest home improvement project. Friends

from all around the southeast can always be found visiting me and my cat

at the spacious three bedroom mansion in which I reside. My culinary

expertise and close proximity to Disney World assures me that I'll

always have guests to entertain.

Rick Lee: With the best simulations in the world at your fingertips,

how did you get interested in PC-based flight sims?

Tom Kopke: Before the days of the IBM PC, I saw an ad for a simulator

program for the Apple computer. That was Bruce Artwick's Flight

Simulator... the program that evolved into Microsoft Flight Simulator.

From that day on, I wanted a personal computer just for that purpose.

Rick Lee: What PC sims do you use these days... which do you like and

why?

Tom Kopke: FS4, Falcon 3, and JetFighter II. FS4 because of being able

to fly to areas that I'm familiar with and because of the ability to

create and modify the environment in which I'm flying. Falcon because of

the head-to-head playing ability using a simulation that has very good

fidelity. Flying against another human being is much more fun than

flying against the computer. JetFighter for the basic stress relief and

simplicity of play. It is not difficult but allows for my basic need of

shoot-em-up play without much effort.

Rick Lee: In your work you are constantly striving to increase realism

but you have huge budgets to work with. Do you have tips for the

dedicated PC sim user to get a more realistic experience?

Tom Kopke: One is only limited by financial resources and mechanical

ability. The goal is to remove, as much as possible, distractions from

the simulation and to improve the realism by the addition of various

add-ons. Distractions as simple as room lighting or a TV detract from

the ability of the user to become engrossed in the simulation. Turning

off all room lights and "noise" sources is a start. Some people fly this

way with a small penlight when they need to look at a map or keyboard.

You could even build a black enclosure for your cockpit to carry that to an

extreme. Next is the addition of a sound board running at volume levels

equivalent to the real thing. Sound -- not to mention vibration -- is a

powerful psychological cue. High quality joysticks, throttles, and rudder

pedals are a must to any simulation set-up. Analog controls will always feel

more "real" than a keyboard. A larger monitor or custom speaker setup will

also improve the simulation. Custom projects such as cockpits, display

adaptations such as a fresnel lens, the use of an intercom or radio for

multi-player flight will all add immensely. For civilian set-ups, using

recorded air traffic communications in the background can add to the

complexity of the entire simulation. Most of the items are available from

various vendors at different qualities and prices. Some either can or must

be built as do-it-yourself projects. *

Rick Lee: How did you happen to get involved with CompuServe FSFORUM?

Tom Kopke: Actually, I stumbled into it by accident... and I was

intrigued by a group talking about simulation on a PC. I wan't sure

what to expect but found a surprisingly knowledgable group. I was glad

to find a place to learn about various new products... all communicating

via computer. It has been an extreme pleasure to meet some of the

members and to share experiences.

Rick Lee: People talk a lot these days about "virtual reality". How

does this technology fit into your work?

Tom Kopke: A person once asked me if I ever considered using "virtual

reality" in simulation. I didn't have the heart to tell him that most

of the virtual reality technology (what we call "HMDs", or Helmet

Mounted Displays) was developed for simulation first and what is used in

professional simulation far exceeds, in capability, that which is in

most so-called "virtual reality" technology offerings.

Rick Lee: Thanks Tom... it's still unbelievable to me that I have

access to brains like yours. A computer without a modem is like a car up

on blocks. You can get in and listen to the radio but you can't go

anywhere! As I lounge here on my couch watching Jay Leno I'm also

chatting with one of the world's top simulation experts. Well... Jim

Shrubsall of Australia is paging me... talk to you later Tom!

-=-=-=-=-=-

MicroWINGS Magazine
CompuServe - Your Electronic FBO
by Rick Lee

June 93

COMMERCIALIZATION OF USER-DESIGNED SCENERY

We've had a lot of intresting discussions on CompuServe in the past

couple of years regarding ASD scenery (user designed scenery for FS4

made with Microsoft Aircraft & Scenery Designer). The discussion on how

to make ASD scenery has gone on unabated since the introduction of

ASD. You can always find messages in Section 6 regarding design

techniques. And amazing new utilities to aid in the design of scenery

are uploaded every week or so. But that's not what I want to talk about.

I'll gladly leave that for Jim Ross' column! What I want to explore in

this column are the discussions we've had concerning the ethics of

commercializing ASD scenery.

We have literally hundreds of ASD files in the CompuServe scenery

library. Fortunately, almost all of these are free for the downloading.

They are designed by hobbyists who do it because they enjoy it and are

happy to allow the files to be used and distributed freely. The guiding

philosophy is: I do my backyard, you do your backyard. Fair is fair. On

rare occasions, someone will upload a set of scenery (or even an

aircraft design) with docs saying that their scenery is _shareware_

which must be registered with a fee. When this sort of thing happens, a

dialog will somethimes crop up which goes something like this:

"Why should I pay for YOUR senery when you can download everyone else's

scenery for free?"

"I've spent many long hours on this project and I also had to purchase

many maps, aviation charts, books, and other reference materials to use

in the design process. I think it's only fair that I ask a small

registration fee to help defray my expenses."

"I had to do all of that too."

"I've worked damn hard on this and I have the right to charge for my

work if I want to."

That person is absolutely correct. When you create something, you hold a

intellectual property and that means you have the right to charge

whatever you want to for it. The marketplace will determine if it is

worth it but you alone have the right to set the price. The question

then becomes not only... is it fair?... but also... does it make sense?

Consider that it's not uncommon at all for an FS enthusiast to have 200

ASD scenery files on his hard drive. If each of those designers had

asked for a modest 10 dollar registration, that would be 2000 dollars in

scenery! It's completely unreasonable to think that even the most

enthusiastic user would shell out that kind of money on scenery. If it

had somehow become traditional for ASD scenery to cost money, then we'd

all have much less of it to use. Even if you were receiving payments for

your own scenery, how much of that income would you need to give back if

you wanted to download others' scenery at the rate considered normal

under today's circumstances. My guess would be all of it... making it a

wash and not worth the trouble. Some of the designers of free scenery

have considered adding this line to their documentation: "This scenery

is free _unless_ the user has ever personally charged money for ASD

scenery. If so, the user is required to pay $50 dollars to register it."

Some designers claim that quantity and quality of scenery makes a

difference. A single designer working on his own might have done an

entire country in high quality scenery which meshes together perfectly.

Italy was done in this way and the designer felt that this package was

sufficiently unique to warrant a fee. Perhaps it is. But it's a matter

of degree rather than principle so the distinction is still problematic.

But what about the matter of access? How many people even have modems,

much less CompuServe accounts? For these people, the normal software

distribution channels such as retail stores and mail-order houses are

their only link to the flight simulation community. Other designers have

addressed this by actually putting their scenery up for sale in the

retail channels with packaging and so forth. Mark Fahey of Australia has

some excellent scenery of the Sidney and Melbourne areas which he has

marketed successfully in Australia as commercial packages. They come in

software boxes which are every bit as professional looking as Microsoft

or Mallard products and they also contain professional looking charts,

approach plates and docs. Mark says that modems and BBS's are rare down

under so this approach makes the most sense to him.

When you look at it that way, just how different is that from, say,

Mallard's Tahiti? One comes in SC1 file format and the other comes in SCN

file format. That's about it. Ohhhh... it does get complicated doesn't

it? My brain hurts from trying to solve this. I'm just very, very glad

that the vast majority of the really talented designers have opted for

free distribution. If the trend had gone the other way we'd all have much

emptier hard drives.

MicroWINGS Magazine
CompuServe - Your Electronic FBO
by Rick Lee

August 93

GET-TOGETHER IN DAYTON -- INTERVIEW WITH STU "MR ED" BUTTS

Recently we had an official FSFORUM get-together in Dayton, OH, the

_true_ birthplace of aviation. I hope the folks from North Carolina will

forgive me (especially since I claim that state as my second home having

attended college there) but let's face it, the Wright Brothers were from

Dayton and did most of their work there. They only occasionally went to

Kitty Hawk to do some early flight testing. I've always felt that Dayton

got short-shrift in comparison to Kitty Hawk and I also find it ironic

that North Carolina even puts "First in Flight" on their license plates.

I digress.

The main purpose of this get together was to attend the world-famous

Dayton Airshow. I won't go into a blow-by-blow description of the show,

but it was great fun. Before the show, several of our members met at the

United States Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. I

met, Bill "Samurai" Ciccoria, Aaron "Pirate" Anderson, Lewis "Moose"

Gregory, and Stuart "Mr.Ed" Butts. Stuart is a Captain in the USAF

stationed there. More on him later. Stuart brought along a friend, none

other than Robert "Mouse" Shaw (Bob), author of _the_ textbook on air

combat, _Fighter Combat Tactics and Maneuvering_ published by Naval

Institute Press. This was on the order of bringing along Chuck Yeager or

John Glenn in my book.

We had a great lunch there at the museum cafeteria but then Stu and Bob

decided that we needed to continue our conversation at dinner! We all

went out to the Spaghetti Warehouse that evening and closed the place

down. It was about midnight when we finally pried ourselves loose from

the table. They were literally sweeping the floors around us. Bob has

recently gotten interested in PC simulators and it was fascinating to

discuss our favorite activity with one of the world's leading aviation

authorities. We are currently getting Bob signed up for CompuServe (his

new ID is 73054,2233) and we will be scheduling an online conference with

him soon. I'm afraid that the conference may have already happened by

the time this reaches you. If it has, the transcript of the conference

will be available in the Modern Air Combat Library in FSFORUM.

I may print more on Bob Shaw in this column later, but the rest of this

column is my interview with Captain Butts who has been a regular in

FSFORUM for several months now.

-=-=-=-=-

RL: Hi Stu... it's been just great to have you hanging out in FSFORUM

lately. Your expertise has been greatly appreciated by the air combat

enthusiasts! Where do you live and what is your rank and current

function in the USAF?

SB: I live in Beavercreek, OH, a small suburban town adjacent to Dayton

about 55 miles north of Cincinnati. I'm stationed at Wright-Patterson

Air Force Base (AFB). I am a Captain (been one for 4 years the end of

this month) working at the Foreign Aerospace Science and Technology

Center (FASTC). FASTC is responsible for the scientific and technical

intelligence analysis of all foreign aerospace weapons systems. I work

as a flying qualities analyst, primarly focused on fighter aircraft.

RL: What's your education?

SB: I graduated from the USAF Academy (USAFA) in May 1985, with a Bachelor

of Science Degree in Astronautical Engineering. I will graduate from the

University of Dayton in December 1993, with a Master of Science Degree

in Aerospace Engineering.

RL: What did you do before USAFA?

SB: I was at Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro, TN, about 30 miles

southeast of Nashville. I graduated in May 1981, and entered USAFA in

June.

RL: What different assignments have you had in USAF?

SB: After I graduated from USAFA, I was assigned to the Air Force Flight

Test Center at Edwards AFB, CA, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles. I

worked as a flying qualities engineer (eventually becoming the lead USAF

flying qualities engineer) on the X-29 Advanced Technology Demonstrator

from July 1895 to May 1988. The X-29 had forward swept wings and large

canards as the primary pitch control surface. It was approximately 35%

unstable in the pitch axis at subsonic speeds compared to the F-16's 5%.

From June 1988 to March 1991, I worked on an agility project that

involved several aircraft including the X-29, F-16, F-15, F-4, F/A-18,

and A-37. This program was geared to looking at new ways of determining

the relative merits of aircraft in air combat from a flight dynamics

standpoint.

From April 1991 to Feburary 1992, I worked as an Instructor at the USAF

Test Pilot School (USAFTPS). I was responsible for integrating the F-16

and F-15 aircraft, as well as modern flight test techniques into the

flying qualities phase of the curriculum.

In March 1992, I was transfered to my current job.

RL: That's a helluva resume so far and you are a still a young man.

Tell me more about yourself personally.

SB: I grew up in the South (AL, MS, TN, KY). I always knew I wanted to serve

in the military. I wanted to go to pilot training after I graduated from

USAFA, but my left eye will only correct to 20/30, so I went to Edwards.

While at Edwards I earned my non-rated aircrew wings, so I got to get

into the cockpit afterall. I have back seat time in the F-16, F/A-18,

F-4, F-104, A-7, T-38, AlphaJet, A-37, T-37, and T-33. During flight my

duties included flight test data collection, safety and photo chase, and

while at USAFTPS I designed several sorties for instructional purposes.

I'm married (June 1990) but don't have any kids yet. I'm about half way

done with my private pilot's license, but had to put that on hold until

I finish my MS.

RL: How did you get interested in PC based simulators?

SB: When I was working on the X-29, a friend brought in FALCON for the

Macintosh. From that moment on I was hooked. I thought it was great,

especially the head-to-head capability over the network. It wasn't until

years later that I got my own PC. Actually a loaner from my

brother-in-law. It was a 286, so I had F-19 and FALCON AT. This past

summer I bought a 486/33 partly for my MS work, but primarily so I could

fly Falcon 3.0. <g>

RL: What simulations do you presently use and like? And why?

SB: My favorite flight sim is Falcon 3.0 from Spectrum-Holobyte. It is

the most realistic in terms of its overall treatment of modern air

combat that I have seen. I like the 3 levels of play (Instant Action,

Red Flag, Campaign) also. That really provides for flexibility depending

on what kind of flying mood I'm in. <g> I was recently on the beta-test

team for Spectrum-Holobyte's latest sim, MiG-29 which is similar to

Falcon 3.0.

I like Red Baron a lot also. Partly because that is when air combat was

born, so it holds a special fascination for me (I've seen the film The

Blue Max a million times) and also because it is an excellent sim. I

think they did a real good job with the flight modeling. I just wish it

had modem support like Falcon 3.0. There's nothing like going against a

human opponent.

RL: Any interesting anecdotes from your experiences that come to mind?

SB: As all Falcon 3.0 jocks know, Bitchin' Betty is quite helpful, but

at times she can scare you. For example, I was flying with an F-111 test

pilot who had just transitioned to the F-4 out at Edwards. This was his

1st sortie without an Instructor Pilot in the "pit" (slang for the

backseat). The F-4 cockpit is notoriously hot, but as we were climbing

thru 10,000 ft after takeoff, it was much hotter than normal. We also

noticed that the cockpit altitude was exactly the same as the aircraft

altitude. We had lost all cockpit pressurization and cooling air. The

pilot asked me to get into the checklist and find the emergency

procedure (EP) that covered our situation. The only EP that really fit

was "Extreme Cockpit Temperture". I started to read off the steps to see

what it required us to do, before we implemented it. The next to the

last step said "rotate command selector valve". The command selector

valve is a handle in the backseat that controls ejection sequencing. In

the vertical position, if the weapons system operator (WSO) decides to

eject, he goes by himself. In the rotated (horizontal) position, if the

WSO ejects, the pilot automatically follows him a split second after. If

the pilot decides to eject, the WSO goes first an then the pilot. The

command selector valve was already rotated, but I thought to myself

"what does this have to do with being hot?". Then I read the next step

and got my answer. It said "jettison aft canopy". I told my driver I

wasn't that hot <g>, he agreed and we skipped that step. The reason the

handle had to be rotated was that if eject was needed while the aft

canapoy is gone, the WSO must initiate it. Without the aft canopy, the

timing sequence for a pilot initiated eject is lost, so the pilot goes

instantly once he pulls the handle and the WSO get a face-full of rocket

motor exhaust. Anyway, back to the point... we decided we couldn't fix

it airborne and since our mission required us to exceed 10,000 feet we

would have to go back. We had two external fuel tanks with us, so we had

a lot of gas. We started to fly around dumping fuel to get down to an

acceptably low landing weight. While we are doing this, it is getting

hotter all the time, and here's where the Bitchin' Betty part comes in.

In the F-4, Bitchin' Betty says 3 things "FIRE-FIRE, CANOPY-CANOPY,

ALTITUDE-ALTITUDE". She says this exact sequence whenever the system is

tested. Well, my pilot must have been thinking that with all the heat,

some of the system might have been damaged (a known problem with the F-4

and high temperatures) so he decides to test the voice warning system,

but _he neglects to tell me he is doing this_. One minute I'm enjoying

the view, the next I'm in complete terror as I hear "FIRE-FIRE". The

split second that transpires between the time Betty says "FIRE-FIRE" and

"CANOPY-CANOPY" seemed like an eternity. I saw my entire life flash

before my eyes. When I heard "CANOPY-CANOPY" the biggest sigh of relief

I have ever felt overcame me, followed quite shortly by an extremely

loud string of obscenities directed at my frontseater for not keeping me

informed as to what he was doing.

RL: How did you happen to get involved with FSFORUM?

SB: A friend at FASTC gave me copies of FALCONER, F3MAPS, and FALCCALC last

fall. I asked where he got these great programs. He said on CIS in the

FSFORUM. A modem went to the top of my Christmas list. Then I started

digging out my old FALCON AT box, becaused I remembered it had a coupon

for a free trial CompuServe membership. After one session I was hooked.

RL: How did you get the callsign "Mr.Ed"?

SB: That's not for public distribution... you only get that in private and

if beer is present.

MicroWINGS Magazine
CompuServe - Your Electronic FBO
by Rick Lee

10/93

"The Year the Europeans Came"

I've been active on the CompuServe network for quite a while now... it

must be, uhh <counting on fingers> 6 or 7 years now. One of my favorite

sayings is that "computer years are like dog years", so we're talking

about half a lifetime, or so it seems. I've seen quite a few changes

over the years but when I look back on 1993 I'd have to say that this

has been _The Year the Europeans Came_.

When I was new to CompuServe it was very interesting to me that there

were so many Canadians around. Coming from a small southern state I

really didn't think much about Canada at all until logging on and

finding hordes of them on the system. I began to think about the various

provinces of Canada just the way that I would think of California or

Florida. They were there in a real way to me and not some far off

foreign land in the frozen north. Anyplace outside of North America was

still pretty exotic to me though.

A year or two ago it was quite an event just to stumble across a

European user on the system. There were some around but in such small

numbers that it was really _special_ for me to chat with one. When a

new one posted a message in the forum I would fall all over myself to

send him or her greetings and welcome messages. It was as if they had rowed

across the Atlantic in order to ask me how to get more memory for FS4. I

would be quite thrilled to find one in a Conference Room and realize

that as we casually chatted about our favorite hobby, the signals

bearing our text were bouncing off of satellites somewhere in

geosynchronous orbit in between our hits of the Return key.

It has been possible for many years for Europeans to access CompuServe,

but due to cumbersome government regulations in those countries, it was

quite expensive to do so. But in the last year or two, CompuServe has

taken advantage of liberalizations of telecommunications systems

in Europe to set up local CompuServe nodes in many large European

cities. This brought down the cost for them and result has been,

predictably, that there has been an explosion of the numbers of

Europeans hanging around.

Europe has always been a big market for Microsoft Flight Simulator. FS

users groups are numerous and well organized there. So now that they

have easier access to CompuServe, naturally they are swarming into the

FSFORUM. So much so that they are part of the furniture now. I no longer

perk up my ears like a puppy dog when they amble into the forum to ask a

question. I've accepted Europe as just another part of our territory. I

would say that FSFORUM is one of the most international of all of the

forums. There have been times that I have looked at the "Who's Here"

list in FSFORUM to see that more than half of the users present were from

European nodes. This happens especially in the early afternoon Eastern US

Time when it's evening over there. The time difference is about 5 hours.

For these guys to attend our Saturday evening informal conferences, they

must stay up late or get up early at about 3 or 4 am. Nevertheless, some

of them actually do this. Hardly a week goes by that we don't have at

least 2 or 3 of them in attendance. We even had three people come across

the ocean in person to attend the MicroWings convention at Cornell

University.

-=-=-=-=-

One of my favorite Europeans is Simon Hradecky [100031,336] from

Austria. I had corresponded with him for a long time before I actually

met Simon at the MicroWings conference in Ithaca last May. I had stored

in my mind, an Anglicized pronunciation of his name that I had just made

up for my own convenience. I had no idea how to actually pronounce it.

At Ithaca, I was introduced to him along with a gang of several other FS

enthusiasts and his name went right by me. The real pronunciation was

something similar to "huDRESSkee" which is actually (I found out later)

a Czech name. I was grossly embarrassed to learn as I chatted with him

after dinner that night that he was in fact the same Simon that I had

already known through CompuServe for months and I had been talking to

him as though he was a stranger I had just met. Simon is one of those

guys whose brain glows white-hot when he's doing programming. He has

de-coded much of SubLOGIC's ATP program and provided ATP users with an

incredible array of add-on enhancements for the base program.

[RL] Simon, you are a real star in the ATP world... where are you live?

[SH] I am living in Salzburg, Austria - you know the city, where Mozart

was born.

[RL] And what do you do there?

[SH] My profession is - you won't believe it - software developer! I am

specialized in machine controls, flexible manufacturing systems,

communications and device drivers for specialized hardware integration.

I am 30 years old and not married - just the typical workaholic and

computer freak, speaking and swearing to computers like children:

"Quiet, stupid tin", when it happens to beep. Well, a little bit

overdrawn.

[RL] How did you happen to get started hacking ATP programs?

[SH] When I had to write a professional program for NOVELL network, I

decided to use the original user interface library, which also is used

by NOVELL - CWORTHY. Knowing, that the first application written with

those tools are normally worthless, I decided to setup a hobby project

first - ATPUTIL 1.00. After finishing the project - and being customized

with the library - I wrote my professional application. The hobby

project proved to be not worthless - it looked quite nice. So I hadn't

the heart to throw it away (as I originally thought). Instead of this I

uploaded it to CompuServe. You know the success. I was forced to

continue development of ATPUTIL (and increase my knowledge about

internals of ATP). The big disappointment was, when ATPUTIL turned to be

shareware (it took nearly all my free time to delvelop further versions

- I couldn't do that work on company time). The first half year only 40

registrations came in (where 600 would have been necessary to cover the

expenses). After version 2.0 came out, the number increased to 100 at

this time - and hopefully there will be 6 times more.

[RL] Ouch... so it has not been a financial success.

[SH] In the meantime I spent about 1400 hours of development time for

ATPUTIL. I have real costs of about US$ 400 per month for attending

ATPUTIL on CIS - totalling now 4800 US$ - plus software expenses for

compatibility tests plus hardware plus, plus, plus! I do not hope

anymore, that ATPUTIL will gain back its costs. But I am working on some

new professional projects - my company involved - for ATP, which should

save enough money for development of ATPUTIL and new projects: Real 3D

256 colors in preparation of the 3d project (supported VGA chips:

Paradise, ET 4000, Trident, ATI, S3) - the landscape as well as other

windows and texts and the instrument panels are perfectly displayed.

Afterwards drivers for 800*600/1024*768 in 16 colors are no