Major Lee

@Jimbib Yeah, I it was something like that. Yes, would be interesting to see how he set that up for the USAF.

TK also did a version of SF for the US Air Force thar they use in recruiting events.

I got turned into a newt once, but I got better. Anyway, I'm off to face the perils of Castle Anthrax; I think I'll be staying a bit longer this time...

Yeah, DSIX is commercial industrial grade software to predict the flight characteristics and parameters of a 3D model, and used to develop actual aircraft components. Birhle used the 3rdWire environment as a visual update for their system. TK based the SF environment on what is called a "standard atmosphere". And for those who don't know, TK's baccalaureate degree was in programming, his master's degree was aerospace engineering. By the way, he also did a version of SF for the US Air Force that they used at various recruiting events. He is a very bright and interesting person in conversation. I don't know what he's doing these days, but I would wager he is quite busy with real world programming.

Thirdwire didn't release it, Birhle Applied Research did. TK did the environment, and Birhle did the flight modeling. TK told me the big thing for this sim was the addition of dynamic wind, so the glider could fly, having no engine for propulsion. Birhle does specialty flight simulation analysis for major corporations. I think it might be considered abandonware at this point. Their First Flight dedicated website is defunct. I did get a beta download of FFWE just before retail launch, and I noted a glaring historical error; the flag at Fort Meyers had 50 stars on it, so I sent them the correct 46 star version, and they included that in the sim. I did buy a retail disc as a collectors item. Birhle used my Himalaya terrain, and one other small map, I don't recall which, in their D-Six commercial software. If you look at their D-Six website, you can clearly see the signature SF airfield. FFWE was designed for Win98/2000/XP, but does run on my new Win11 machine, without too many issues. https://bihrle.com/dsix/

Has anyone thought about making the Enterprise from the original Star Trek for an F104 intercept mission?

Yeah, here's a couple of pictures of @Wrench testing the Wright Flyer B model at Fort Meyers, VA, round about September 1908....

Roast Beef...

Up around 45,000' making contrails...

I think this kind of thing is very worthwhile, and very worthy of public and private support. The RAF has a squadron called the "Battle of Britain Memorial Flight". Our own military would do well to emulate this effort. History should be preserved for future generations. https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/battle-of-britain-memorial-flight/

@torno Wow, that Privateer looks awesome! Just outstanding work!

Aiming for total destruction, I decided to really lay into a fleeing Mig that had attacked a nearby airfield. Another Mig was closing off angle, so I gave him a long burst to fly thru and raked the entire top of his fuselage... Success!

@GepardThe Great Lakes map looks really cool! What will you do for the Mackinac Bridge? It is about five miles from shore to shore there. The bridge is huge, with 150' between the water and the underside of the framework in the center. The two towers are 550' tall above the water. The Plenty of scenic beauty up there in northern Michigan!

The USS Alabama even has photography instructions...

As an aside from this trip, can you guess which song I had playing in my truck when I crossed the Alabama state line?? You know there's only one song that fits that bill! I hadn't been in Alabama since 1987!

A few more pics from the Alabama.

Kickin' it old school with the F86H... That third shot was a little too close for comfort!

Well holy smokes, I just found my old backup disc with WOI2, SF2, and WOE2.... I had out WOE2 on my old machine, and just dragged it over to my new machine and ran that. Back up your stuff!

I'll be sure to add a screenshot in the future and I fixed up that last post...

I recently had opportunity for a short visit in Mobile, Alabama. Took some time to see the battleship BB60 USS Alabama. What a marvelous ship! Got to crawl into one of the 16" gun turrets. So much to see! I can honestly say that if I had ever served on her, I definitely would be running a twin 20mm AA gun! Even better, the entire facility is a dedicated veteran memorial park, with aircraft and vehicles from across the American military services. The WWI submarine, USS Drum is there, on an elevated dry mount. Finally, I had the chance opportunity to speak at length with the Executive Director, Cmdr (USN retired) Mark Fields. We spoke about veteran affairs, history education for children, and shot the breeze about our service time. What a brilliant gentleman to lead this hallowed park. A few pictures below... (I have more pics, but need to get home to access them.)

@Wrench I saw the Blue Angels flying the A4 at an airshow, in Smyrna, Tennessee, I guess in 1978 or 79. Met Greg Boyington there too. Awesome looking work there, Wrench!

Almost home, and a little worse for wear. Wondering how much booze I'll have to buy the crew chief and hoping this will buff out...

Somewhere on the border of West and East Germany, January, 1984, getting up close and personal...

82 years ago, Normandy, France...