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Post by AirCoaster on Apr 25, 2007 11:11:05 GMT -5
Hello All,
I wasn't sure if this was the right forum to start this thread, but since a lot of what is involved is content creation, I figured why not.
This post is an attempt to get feedback in regards to having a Golden Age Virtual Airline we can all enjoy. I realize that some here don't enjoy VAs, but for those who do, I would like some feedback on what you would like to see developed for your enjoyment.
I would like you to give me your opinion on each of the following items that need to be developed.
Era: what time frame 1920s-1950s?
Aircraft: must be passenger, capacity 4-20 passengers depending on the era
Location: general location, country, state, region, choose somewhere that you think everyone would enjoy.
Rewards: what would intice you to come fly with the VA, and what would keep you coming back?
Scenery; what scenery packages would you like to see, excluding GW3, cause it will be the base scenery package.
ATC: depending on the era chosen, would you like AI ATC, or not with sound files for the VA
Live ATC, and MP Sessions: ?
Rankings: are rankings needed or not
Forum: would you like a forum dedicated to the VA
Participation: would you enjoy being a pilot, administrator, content creator
Remember, the important thing here is to have fun. Also, this is preliminary information gathering, and not cut, and dried. Let's not nit-pick about things in your comments. Again the idea is to have fun. I would like to keep this thread up for about two weeks, and then gather the results to come up with a profile for developement. Also, remember, if you are willing to contribute in anyway it will be greatly apprecited, and I am sure you will get a lot of self-satisfaction from your participation. What a great chance to give something back to the GW3 community. Any other ideas you can think of would be appreciated, and considered.
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Post by lifejogger on Apr 25, 2007 11:24:09 GMT -5
Nice idea, however there already is a golden age VA called DC-3 Airways www.dc3airways.com. The only thing I don't like about them is you can only fly DC-3s and DC-4s. Also Blue Grass Airways is a vintage VA, bluegrassairlines.com.
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Post by AirCoaster on Apr 25, 2007 11:29:32 GMT -5
Hi lifejogger, Yah, I use to belong to Blue Grass Airlines with Joe, Russ, Bill, and the gang many years back. I just thought it would be nice to have a VA connected to TOH. Actually, I was the administrator there for their Alaskan division, but then Russ talked me into developing Big Bear Airlines. That is ancient history.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2007 12:06:55 GMT -5
Hello All, I wasn't sure if this was the right forum to start this thread, This is as good a place as any to start. If you attract a crowd we can easily move the thread to a place of it's own. I'll post a link to the thread in the main TOH forum.
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Post by cptroyce on Apr 25, 2007 16:13:34 GMT -5
Aircoaster-
>>Era: what time frame 1920s-1950s?<<
1930's for me
>>Aircraft: must be passenger, capacity 4-20 passengers depending on the era<<
Imperial a/c , Junkers whatever is appropriate to the era
>>Location: general location, country, state, region, choose somewhere that you think everyone would enjoy.<<
For me, I enjoy the exotic area, Imperial routes through Africa and Asia. Also the Aeropostale` and Regis Air Afrique routes through North and West Africa into South America
>>Rewards: what would intice you to come fly with the VA, and what would keep you coming back?<<
Perhaps a point system to move up "through the ranks". Each route could have a difficulty rating attached to it. Time from departure to arrival..perhaps some landmarks that could be "frapped" and attached to the flight report etc ??
>>Scenery; what scenery packages would you like to see, excluding GW3, cause it will be the base scenery package.<<
Era appropriate..scenery experts abound here..not me unfortunately ;>)
ATC: depending on the era chosen, would you like AI ATC, or not with sound files for the VA
>>Live ATC, and MP Sessions: ?<<
That could be interesting
>>Rankings: are rankings needed or not<<
Rankings should be included IMHO; adds motivation and "reality" to the VA
>>Forum: would you like a forum dedicated to the VA<<
Yes
>>Participation: would you enjoy being a pilot, administrator, content creator<<
Pilot.. the only other assistence I could add is research
Regards, Royce
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Post by Barbara Ellen on Apr 25, 2007 16:17:39 GMT -5
Era; 1950s
Aircraft: Aero Commander, or Curtiss Commando, I like the older paved runways, but also have a passion for oil soaked dirt....*giggles*
Location: USA, Ohio
Rewards: just good fun, and comradery, and continually updated website
Scenery: no special scenery, GW3 is fine as long as the VA has era related terminals, or a facsimile
ATC: would be cool, live or AI as long as the VA name was included in the sound files
MP Sessions: I don't have time for them, so they are not necessary for me.
Rankings: could show longevity, and service merits
Forum: yes
Participation: I can be a pilot, admin, and content creator
I guess I am with AirCoaster on this, just because some VAs have been around for some time, doesn't make them the only players on the field. Remember, this is just another way to make things your way. Geez, what would have happened if the Boeing Model 40 would have been more popular than it was in real life? What if they made it slightly bigger, and more reliable, bigger engine, and so forth. It's our world, with imaginary passengers. Nothing has to be true to life.
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Post by Admin on Apr 25, 2007 17:19:11 GMT -5
It's our world, with imaginary passengers. Nothing has to be true to life. There's a mission statement I can agree with. I won't vote on anything because it's unlikely I will be taking an active role of any kind, but I want to encourage members who are interested or who have never tried a VA to get on board. I can remember flying my Ford TriMotor through the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire down to the coast of Maine on my Burlington to Portland run for Bluegrass North. I also rode along with Captain Art Nichols on many of his Bluegrass and TCA flights. It was fun back then and I urge the curious to give it a try.
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Post by ScruffyDuck on Apr 26, 2007 0:50:25 GMT -5
I do not really fly any more but used to run a VA. If you have experience in running on all well and good otherwise I would be happy to offer - I hesistate to say advice - but answer any questions anyway
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Post by bhk on Apr 26, 2007 4:12:34 GMT -5
I wouldn't mind trying a bit of pilotage in a VA. (Yes, "pilotage" is a proper word.....I didn't make it up! ) Not really interested in MP or suchlike but insofar as period, routes and aircraft types are concerned, certainly the Imperial Airways hey-days would be of interest. Bruce
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Post by dalecaruso on Apr 26, 2007 14:13:17 GMT -5
I thought there was ... at one time, an Imperial Airways VA ... do think it disappeared. I know at Blue Grass still has route info at their site
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Post by AirCoaster on Apr 27, 2007 13:43:14 GMT -5
Some great input here. I was thinking about developement time. Researching actual routes, and their support entities would take a lot of time, not to mention the research, and/or developement time for acquiring actual authentic textures, and structures. I am a bit more inclined to go for the fantasy Imperial Airways. Our own ports of call, our own aircraft, our own repaints, and so forth. While we are at it, we could throw in Hawaii too....... . I guess what would be ideal from my experience in VAs would be the short trips, half hour, or one hour flights. I flew with Great Lakes Express for some time, and I always seemed to enjoy being able to complete a flight in one session. Also, another consideration would be ports that could have local taxi style flights. At Big Bear we had several taxi flights daily, and these were more for the new fellows, and pilots who loved short hops, low grade ranking modifiers. The airline could have several style scenarios to satisfy the diverse styles of flying. Take for instance Africa, 1930, a bush style service to enhance the fantasy Imperial Airways connecting inner Africa to the coasts. I think historical accuracy will be out for me, unless there were a team developed to do the research, and the creation of scenery. Accurate scenery takes much time to develope, but fantasy can be simulated era style scenery, which can give the embiance of real life. At Bluegrass, and Big Bear we made scenery that was located properly, but not so much accurate. You need to remember, sure it's great to have accurate, and well placed scenery, and aircraft, but when it is one person doing the work you need to consider that person's time when making suggestions. Otherwise, the developer sees the high expectations, and decides to handle it his way. Just trying to feed the embers here. I am trying to get suggestions that all would enjoy. Thanks for the input, so far. Don't stop this is great.
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Post by AirCoaster on May 9, 2007 10:05:22 GMT -5
Somemore input from me. After looking at Bluegrass Airlines' Imperial Airways VA, I think Imperial Airways VA is out. But, I think, from what I see here, that many would like to see VA to exotic places, and I don't mean Cindi's House of Sin either. It looks like the European to South American flights are what people would enjoy. I'm just curious, what do you think flights like those would take as far as time goes, and then there is the boredom factor of flying over water for many hours.
I flew with a bunch of fellows in an around the world flight back in 2003, and whenever we flew over water, or vast expanses of land with very little scenery change, many would complain, and become disillusioned with boredom. I would say, and this is speaking from my past VA experience, that two hour flights would be the max.
As far as era goes, it looks like the 30s is more popular than say the 50s. Each has it's own pluses, and minuses, but as far as Golden Age virtual airline activities goes, I would think that the late 40s, and 50s would offer more realistic airline style activity. Not to mention all those beautiful propliners, and seaplanes of that era.
Just my input, and I am looking for what others may think on these ideas, and what you may want to see additionally.
Thanks all.
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Post by bhk on May 9, 2007 16:09:58 GMT -5
Boredom over water can be reduced by fast-forwarding. Many of the flight's I've created fly over vast stretches of ocean and it is a simple matter of placing the a/c on autopilot and ratcheting up the time to 16x. I suppose that it's really up to what the individual wants from his/her simming. Many (not including me) like to simulate accurate navigation techniques using the simulated astro-sextant, drift meter, radio-range etc technology that is now available for FSim. For them, long flights over desolate areas are fun. If you are to go for a Forties - Fifties period then Radio-Ranging was complimented by ADF and then VOR, so such olde-worlde navigation methods as sun-sights, star sights and drift-angle calculations became less important inside the USA. In the Pacific these methods were in use well into the 1950's. I have no problem with long flights, so if you wanted to look at a maximum of two-hour stages between stopping points that would be workable, I would think. For example, a commercial flight from New York to Buenos Aires in 1949 ..... a long flight but if you serviced Venezuela and Brazil on the way then your hops could fit within the two-hour requirement. Just some random thoughts. Bruce
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Post by cptroyce on May 9, 2007 17:08:54 GMT -5
Long flights can be somewhat "grueling", though personally, I find them somewhat immersive. But as Bruce posted, one can always go to auto and speed up the sim..or just move the plane in the map screen.
Regards, Royce
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Post by AirCoaster on May 10, 2007 10:54:27 GMT -5
Good points Bruce, and believe me, I have no real problem with long flights. I was just thinking of the normal simmer, and what could be done to encourage them to join. Ok, I need this sextant, You say it is available at FlightSim.com? Interesting, I would like to try it. Next, let's think about some ports of call. Europe, of course, USA, of course, and geez, we wouldn't want to leave out Central, and South America. Egypt, Africa, and I think some African bush service would be nice. London, New York, Rio, Miami, Cairo, Casablanca, Panama City, etc. I am sure you can come up with more, but we need some idea what we want as routes, and whether they will be strictly amphibious, or include double duty aircraft. We need to get a plan together to get some scenery in place. I am a scenery creator, and can manage web resources for the management of the VA. I am not that much at doing any adventure scenarios, or scheduling of routes, so we are going to need people to do those tasks. Then there are the aircraft people, model research for qualifying models, and painters. let's see, then there are the maintenance people, mechanics, docks workers, fuelers, oh, and also people to handle the facilities, waitresses, busboys, management etc....... . Man, we need a name, too. Added later: All aircraft should be of freeware file downloads, so that everyone could enjoy. Paywares could be added as options. Anyway, I am looking forward to getting this off the water....... Awaiting your input.
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