During this Covid-era it is the only way (or the best way) to explore the world.
If in the future I can’t travel as I am used to because of the climate change, simming comes even more important.
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I have always been fascinated with flight and enjoy travel. Life took me on over 1,500 flights as a passenger (yes, I kept track of them). I always wanted to pilot an aircraft but life did not take me that direction. MSFS allows me to play pilot, simulate the experience of the control and thrill of flight and enjoy unlimited travel right from the comfort of my home. I love viewing places I have been to and seeing places I will never get to enjoy in person.
For most of my flights, passenger travel was still fun. The thrill of flying could be enjoyed without the obnoxious hassles: Every ticket was accepted on every airline, anytime, and any flight and accepted right at the gate. No TSA checks. Yep, if I had 10 minutes after checking in the rental car, I could catch the next flight. Airlines had extensive carry-on spaces so I never waited to check or retrieve a bag. Passengers were generally well behaved and respectful. Meals were included on couple hour+ flights. More legroom. And now, no obnoxious masks.
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I was fascinated with flight since I was a kid. I’d Look up at planes passing then and still do today. For me, flying was a skill to learn, something unique, and of course, fun. but most importantly, it was a way to actually explore the passion I had in aviation.
I started simming in 1983 and earned my PPL in 2004. Even flying as a passenger in an airliner, I must have the window seat. I love reading the landscape from above, viewing natural formations and cities from above. Even when I’m flying the 172, the beauty of the landscape, the ability to see beyond your normal horizon on the ground is amazingly calming. When not in the real airplane, flight simulators enable me to get close to that same feeling where my flying imagination can create whatever experience I want - truly a treat.
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So for me it means a lot of things. In my younger days I was a C-130 loadmaster with over 1800 flight hours. I loved going out and accomplishing the mission and working with a great crew. There was nothing better when you had a good crew that was in sync and everything went smoothly. Throughout my career I was fortunate to travel the world and do some really cool things. I lived and breathed flying. My nose was always in the books as no matter how many hours you have amassed, you will never be an expert. I loved that challenge. 7 years ago, however, I left the military and at the time I never thought I’d get back in the air.
The years that followed, I started to miss it. No matter what I did in the civilian world, I could never find anything that excited me the way that flying once did. Nothing engaged me the same way. I always thought getting a Private Pilot’s License was out of reach and I always brushed it off. Then I couldn’t get the thought of it out of my head, so I did the math and turns out it wasn’t as out of reach as I thought.
I went all in, just like the old days. Ever since I started flying again, its all I think about, talk about, and its all I want to do in my spare time. It has engaged brain waves that I forgot were there.
One of the things I loved about flying then and now, is that it requires full concentration. So all of the little nit noid little things going on in the world, in your life, are really irrelevant once you get up in the air. All you care about is what is next. The next waypoint, the next radio Freq, the next phase of flight. Its both relaxing and challenging at the same time.
The challenge of flying will never go away, and no matter how many hours you have, you will always be learning. Thats probably why I love it, the fact that I will never be an expert in everything to do with it and there is always something else to learn.
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What does flying mean to me? It means that no matter how much we tell ourselves or others we’re flying we never really are nor still meant to be and never will be in our form through our way of our being. Controlling and/or riding on a contraption that flies perhaps we can say, though to me that doesn’t state that we are ever still. Interesting to see the many perspectives that result. Even to say that the contraption or our crafting is flying is arguable for the fact that without our interaction the contraption stays on the ground. To me it may provide a glimpse of what we are able to accomplish when we put our hearts and minds together, though with the tempting of fate every time an aircraft takes off perhaps what may be accomplished span the spectrum entirely through cause & effect, whereby on occasions may result in the complete opposite of what we strive or desire to achieve. Perhaps this is why many may come to equal amounts of enjoyment and peace sitting firmly on the ground in their chairs watching the birds fly and ride the air.
Importantly we see many aspects of ourselves when we come together and express what flying means to us. We see so many different responses that by chance allow us to learn a lot to of our own nature and to others. That perhaps can be just as beautiful as the sunrise and sunset at thirty thousand feet. 
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When I was a little kid one of my favorite TV shows was The Adventures of Superman. It wasn’t his strength or X-ray vision that fascinated me. It was his ability to fly. No matter how I tried, when I put on a cape, I could only imagine flight.
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I did my first flight-training in the early 70’s and flew single-engine into the 80’s. Career changes, marriage and new responsibilities made continuing to fly impossible. I always hoped I would be able to return to the air but it didn’t work out.
I picked up my first home PC in the late 80’s and discovered flight simulation. At the time I thought that even this most basic mode of simulation was a miracle - I was able to navigate via VOR and make VOR, NDB and ILS approaches. Absolutely astounding. I was hooked and have been simming with a number of programs over the years.
I usually take at least one sim flight a day. It allows me to once again experience flight in a very realistic manner, learn new systems, get a feel for new and more sophisticated aircraft and practice procedures (IFR approaches, etc.) that I was not yet qualified for in the real world, and with the wonderful FS2020, actually do dead reckoning navigation on occasion and visit virtually realistic representations of all areas of our world (getting to know South America right now). I was fortunate to actually do some IFR procedures (in Dual) while I was in training, but they were not a part of my PPL requirement, so practicing these procedures in inclement weather is something I enjoy doing in simulation.
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When my plane is above the clouds I feel I’m home.
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Flying is a hobby that turned in to a job intentionally. I love flying and wanted to fly for a living and wanted to be a pilot ever since the age of 7 or so. It has been 24 years since my first flight lesson and I’ve been flying for a living since the age of 20. It is hard to imagine doing anything else and quite frankly, right now, I do not want to. Flying has given me lots of time at home with my children seeing them grow up but it has also taken my away from important events that need not be missed. There have been moments where I have hated my job, but looking back on it, those times were short lived and overall, I could not have asked for anything better when it comes to a career.
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Personally, nothing beats soaring above this beautifully rendered virtual world in which you can take your plane anywhere you want in whatever way you want!
I love to explore and visually find my way around places I recognize, all from the comfort of my own home. Plus, endless opportunities to learn something new with every flight, accepting setbacks, and just carrying on doing what you love. That makes taking to the virtual skies an extremely rewarding hobby in my opinion!
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For me, it’s an escape.
I had typed a long, poetic paragraph, but decided my first sentence was enough…
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