My Foray Into The World Of Virtual Airlines

By John Murcutt (3 May 2006)

During the early days of the personal computer, during a visit to stay with my family, I was introduced to virtual flying by my brother when I spent hours trying to master Psion Flight on his Spectrum 48k.

The hours of joy and sheer frustration spent in a world, where if you flew off the top of the map, you would magically appear on the bottom. I was immersed in a strange world, where the room was filled with the puttering that simulated the engine emitted from the tiny speaker, keyboard controls leading to the world ballooning up and down and then the sheer satisfaction of managing a landing after countless hours of staring at the simple graphics.

Eventually I graduated to the Commodore 64 and the Amiga, each time finding greater challenge until I saw Flight Simulator 5 on a 486, whilst visiting a friend.

I was hooked. Without discussing my desires with my wife, I became the owner of a second hand 486, bundled with a box containing Flight Simulator 5.

That was countless eons ago, leading me into the purchase of faster processors, bigger and better hardware and a series of joysticks, culminating in my introduction to the CH series of equipment and each new version of Flight Simulator as soon as it hit the shelves.

I have enjoyed each and every hour spent in front of my monitor, the add-ons which have given more challenge and admittedly frustration waiting for the bugs to be ironed out.

Despite having graduated to a Pentium 4, every bay and slot filled with hard drives and memory, book shelves bulging with additions to make my world more realistic, my mind has often wandered towards the world of the virtual airline.

So I have often searched the web for access to these virtual companies that operate their business conveying passengers to destinations across the world, sometimes mirroring the enterprises of real world carriers.

However, like many I suspect, the process is daunting, the recruitment process is filled with the need to read countless manuals, undertake hours of training and check rides with expectations that I feel unable to fit in around the responsibilities of the real world.

Then during one of my daily visits to FlightSim.Com at the start of March, I happened on an article written by David Zaleski regarding Business Class Express, his new venture to create a virtual regional airline, catering for the short hops that are part of the business traveller's world.

I contacted David to seek information which lead me to visit his web site, where in simple terms he explained his experience and philosophy about the conception of a brand new airline, with the door to the CEO always open to discussion and ideas from the whole membership.

Unlike many carriers in the virtual world, there are no transcontinental flights, the service begins and ends at Las Vegas flying one of the best small aircraft for its purpose, the Brazilian Embraer ERJ-145, with the choice to fly one of the best all round freeware packages the ERJ 135/145 Total Package For FS2004 - USA Fleet (CFERJ.ZIP), available to download from FlightSim.Com or the payware version developed by Feelthere again in my opinion one of the all time best packages for Flight Simulator 2004.

As I have said BCE has no intrusive expectations either to training or hours spent flying each week. The schedule serves the Pacific West region with flights averaging an hour to locations such as Seattle, Phoenix and to those airports serving the business traveler with a fast and efficient service offering a regular schedule. Completion of PIREPS is simple, your record being updated daily, so that you can see your hours growing. The rank structure is simple and follows that of the real world with a progression based on experience and hours flown. If you desire it is simple to join the world of the Virtual Airline Stock Exchange, not only do you receive virtual dollars to invest and manage but you will also be paid for your services, all adding to your virtual financial portfolio.

In conclusion having now completed some 30 hours of flying, applied and been accepted for the post of Maintenance Chief, taking part as a member of staff as well as being a pilot, I've made some friends, I am hooked and hope to travel further into this fun world that I could never hope to achieve in the real world whilst gaining more fulfillment from my hobby, I would say, if you are considering taking the plunge, visit BCE at www.businessclassva.com, read the information contained therein and maybe you will decide to join us in our journey into the future.

John Murcutt
jlmurc@btinternet.com

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