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Here’s a thesis: I think the current crisis for many consumers, especially those double-hit in the US (bad dollar AND bad economy), may be GOOD for the Flightsim Industry. After all the possibility of real flying becomes more distant again for many, having to watch their Dollars (AND Euros!) more carefully, so the next best thing is FS! I just read that Cirrus Aircraft is reducing their 4-days working week to a 3-day one, and they won’t be alone! As soon as we still make a few bucks, and continue to have affordable Internet, we’ll download great add-ons and fly on-line ! And you can meet your fellow pilots on the simFlight Forums of course!
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Here’s the anti-thesis:
Potential Cirrus customers who use their planes for business meetings or recreational reasons and who are now forced to postpone or cancel their purchases will take a joystick and do virtual flying in the living room? I don’t think so…
I also can’t imagine professional pilots who will lose or already lost their jobs in the airliner business will instead “play” around with PC flight simulators at home.
I think it’s essential that there are optimistic people like you in the business, but your thesis seems a bit far-fetched to me.
Sorry, there was no real anti-thesis in my first post, but it’s plain and simple:
The flightsim industry will suffer, too.
Real world pilots will have to cut back their spendings for flying, but there won’t be many to enter the world of flightsimming. Of course, it’s just what I think.
I agree, and I’d take it farther than just pilots who can’t afford the “real” skies. With the economic world crashing down around our ears, we’re all going to need a bit of escape more than ever. Flight simulation is one of the cheapest escapes I know of; far less than taking a tropical island vacation, and way more accessible too. For less than the price of a movie and dinner, you can buy an add-on that gives you hundreds of hours of fun. With everything I see on the news, FSX’s world looks like a lot more fun than that one I live in. 😉
>>>> I also can’t imagine professional pilots who will lose or already lost their jobs in the airliner business will instead “play” around with PC flight simulators at home. <<<< See, that's debatable. Do you know what the guy running PMDG now did before that? Yup, he was an airline captain and lost his job. Of course nothing is black-and-white in a colored world.... but hey, if we all subside to the doom and gloom scenario the media are trying to force us into, we'd better all take a pill or a rope and get done with it. I, for one, will remain optimistic..... been there, done it, seen it and still alive and kicking! ;-)
“With everything I see on the news, FSX’s world looks like a lot more fun than that one I live in…”
Not if you have an ATI card and want realistic clouds *g*
Ha, maybe so. Always run NVidia cards, so I wouldn’t know about that ( I do actually, and that’s why I recommend NVidia…. pity they are not the best for any other game on my PC of course… ).
Francois, my nvidia card have just felt down (R.I.P)…:-( But I really agree with you about your feeling.
happiness is flightsimming around… Keep on doing your nice flight sim work
It’s hitting the real world aerospace industry already – my promised new job is on ice because of it 🙁 and even engineers fly sim, not just pilots – so any industry layoffs or “holidays” may well give engineering staffers more sim time.
Having been at home since May, I know my simming time has increased dramatically! 😀
See !?
Now, let this be clear, I don’t wish ANYBODY to lose his or her job. But just a little less ‘real’ travel can’t hurt us simmers…. and it’s even good for the environment…. assuming the energy being used to run our HUGE FSX PC’s is not more than that used by a real airliner of course 🙂
no worries – I am pragmatic about things like that – besides, it gives me more time to become a better painter…
“I also can’t imagine professional pilots who will lose or already lost their jobs in the airliner business will instead “play” around with PC flight simulators at home” i know many retired pilots from air company that fly on fsworld now. Fly it’s a drug.
But ..wouldnt recreational pilots that are a bit short of cash and can no longer fly (or have reduced their hours) be interested in using flight sim? I know of a few that do – although they did that before the economic crisis hit
A lot of pilots use FS – retired or active.
One of the reasons is that while a real world airline pilot may get to fly a B757 into O’Hare every day, they don’t get to fly a helicopter around Tokyo, or a DHC Beaver around Africa… But they can in the sim.
I suspect, unfortunately, that the global financial problems will cost the real world GA community a lot more members as well. A few of them might keep up their skills to a certain extent, or just enjoy flying around, in the sim.
Ian P.
(CAA PPL/IMC – Lapsed.)
At least gas has dropped here to $2.46 a gallon compared to $3.80
before Ike had all the scalpers going. Rebuilt a new system with a E8500, Visiontek 4070, and 4gb ram, and a Saitek switchbox, system runs great for X-Plane, FS9, and FSX. Hey as a teacher I am not worried about the economy. Money may be tight, and when they can’t spend it they will make kids that I will be teaching. And I’ll still be simming.