Thanksgiving flights
One of my best friends works right across the hall from me. We've worked together on FS for six or seven years. Some of you know him from AVSIM conferences or airshow booths: Mike Singer. We often discuss how to eliminate barriers for new users to getting into the FS experience and we have a concept we call "Mike Singer in a box."
Mike can take just about anyone from zero to 110 in Flight Simulator in five minutes. He has a very simple, unintimidating method. It simply reduces the information needed to get flying to what is absolutely essential and then Mike coaches the new user through a flight.
Mike tells a great story about using this technique with a cousin who had never expressed an interest in simulations. Later in the day, Mike asked the cousin what he wanted to do that evening. The cousin replied, "Can we practice some more landings?" The cousin called Mike some days later and told him excitedly how he'd just learned how to navigate by VOR using the Lessons in FS. All from a little spark ignited by someone who has passion for Flight Simulator and has a talent for helping newbies get started.
So have you all done this with friends and relatives who either didn't understand your passion for simming or who expressed an interest but were intimidated?
Are any of you readers in the U.S. going to take time out from mindless gluttony (not that there's anything wrong with that) this weekend to initiate a pal into the wonderful world of Flight Simulator?
What's your technique?
