…so at least that part got fixed. 
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I vote @Hangar200 for Mudspiker of the year award! Nobody made a greater sacrifice for the hobby, in 2019! 
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Seconded!! Agree fully
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And thirded! Awesome sea stories, a very special sense of humour and being a fun and active pillar of our community gets you 
from supreme Soviet 
Now go treat yourself to capitalist Tomcat Christmas present. Is good.
Anyway. 2019 was a terrible year in a lot of respects, but not when it came to flying virtual airplanes.
777 studios kept on rocking it with their great battles series, going from strength to strength. Sweet high Res dual layer clouds and improved AI need highlighting imo.
Eagle Dynamic and friends also did great this year. Dat turkeybird! Whoo boy! And then, just at the threshold, this sweet new pit for the ol’ hawg.
Personally, I got back the baby room and turned it into my den, fitting an old car chair and my HOTAS to make a perfect pit. Comfy too. If only I got to spend more hours in it…
And last but not least a shout-out to the incomparable MilesD of PointCTRL fame, who truly goes above and beyond to make virtual reality more real.
In the coming year I hope to have many a terrified and/or terrific flight hour with you guys on Hollo Pointe, suffering @Victork2’s hamfisted landings and owning the MiGs en facon glorieuse Avec la mirage.
If Microsoft’s new flight sim pans out as good as the prerelease hype suggests I may very well join you lot on the 2020 Christmas flight.
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I would like to thank, @Troll, the supreme Soviet and the Mudspike Academy 
for this prestigious award…
P.S. …and yes, I’ll be getting the “Turkey” for 2020 
EDIT: Turkey purchased…and the Mirage 2000…and the Red Flag map…2020 is turning out good so far.
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I keep trying to think of some really memorable moments, but far too many stand out over this past year. Playing around on Hollo Pointe with @Wes, @WreckingCrew, @Dark_Star, @Andrew116, @AndyE, and so many other guys has been quite a hoot and probably the most fun I’ve ever had simming since my IL2 and LB2 days.
I did my first real mission with scripting for DCS, Offensive Posture, which has been running on Wes’ Hollo Pointe North server, and it has been quite the experience. While I’ve been adjusted to the FP/ArmA series SQF language (which I still consider a lot more flexible), learning some LUA has helped to enable a lot of concepts that aren’t possible with just triggers alone. It’s not quite to Wrecking Crew’s level, but overall I’ve been pleased with how it managed to mimic the environment of Allied Force, which it was loosely modeled on (this past year was the 20th anniversary of the operation). It’s steadily grown as more modules have been added and my understanding of LUA has increased, though naturally some compromises had to be made. It opened the door for the much more complex Divine Falcon which is a Hormuz Strait/Persian Gulf mission built to leverage knowledge gained over the past year.
The 2019 screenshot thread has more memorable moments on record, like when we first got the F-14B on Erl Sis, with me hopping into a MiG-29 to test against Wes in a F-14 and some F-16s came in to attack me, but ended up shooting Wes down instead!
I’d have to say that the Heatblur F-14 has been pretty much the best module/addon of the year, with incredible detail and depth of simulation; one could get that module alone for DCS and never get tired of it. As I’ve said many times, I was never a Tomcat fanboy, being partial to the old Intruder instead, but I’ve spent so much time enjoying the Tomcat over the past year that it’s grown on me. Playing it in Wrecking Crew’s Red Sky mission is one heck of an experience and one that will push you to the limits!
I also started getting into IL2 Box/Great Battles, getting Stalingrad, Kuban, and Moscow earlier this year, and Flying Circus plus Bodenplatte this fall. I haven’t spent as much time as I’d like with it, but what little time I have, I’ve been impressed. It’s finally starting to grow to the point that old IL2’46 had reached and the future looks brighter still. I’m glad that 777 Studios has been keeping it alive, especially Flying Circus which has been a lot better than I anticipated!
Hardware-wise, I upgraded from a 980GTX to a 2070RTX this past spring, which was quite a leap ahead, though I’ve yet to see good prices on the 2070s since then. I bought a few things throughout the year for an inevitable system upgrade which coincided with late summer, getting myself onto Windows 10 before the EOL came for Windows 7; it was mostly a painless move, though I was reluctant at first to commit. I thought about upgrading my stick several times throughout the year, but couldn’t justify throwing the money at some of the fancier sticks from VKB and Virpil, so my CH setup will soldier on quite a bit longer. I’m half tempted to try and build my own stick that better conforms to my needs, but that’s one hell of a can of worms to open!
For 2020, I’m looking forward to seeing Heatblur add the F-14A and A-6 AI, along with the Forrestal carrier to DCS. I’m planning to spend more time with IL2 Great Battles and get some more entertainment out of it, though I’ve yet to find a group to do MP with which is the main draw for me. Since I’ve already got a pretty solid array of modules for DCS as well as most of the BoX content, now it’s all about using it. I’ve got two things on my mind: an AAR series for the Heatblur Viggen campaign which was recently added and an AAR series for IL2 BoX as a Shturmovik pilot. Hoping I’ll have the time to make these happen!
Thanks for a great year, Mudspike!
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…I hope you did so without including the twice daily “Uncle Wes Show”, otherwise known as the SACEUR VTC staring General Wes Clark…that is is one part of the Allied Force environment I don’t care to revisit.
When I get better I will definitely give that a try.
Not really a sea story-more a short trip in the Way-Back Machine
During one such VTC, a bunch of us were watching from a secondary room in HQEUCOM that we affectionally called “the Peanut Gallery”. There was no camera and the sound was muted so theoretically we were “safe”.
On this particular instance, the General made one of his typical outlandish zany and downright dangerous statements to which I sarcastically commented something like, “Well hell, why not just let the Navy sink all the merchant shipping in the area.”
To this, a USAF Major turned to me with a seriously concerned look and pleadingly said ,“Shut up! He gets enough crazy ideas on his own.”…so I did shut up because, the Major was right. 
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Careful now, you’ll hurt @Wes’ feelings! 
I managed to avoid a lot of the more unsavory parts of Allied Force, like the annoying “mother may I” calls required before shooting down hostile aircraft or the artillery platoon clearly shelling civilian towns. The red side also has a lot more MiG-29s than the Serbians did! 
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I used to love watching those in high school, especially the briefings he did in French, since I was getting ready for the IB French exam.
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OK…these were TS/SCI level briefs…did your high school have a SCIF? 
Eh just put some Seaman/Private in the room and make sure they don’t talk about anything classified and then they don’t need a clearance. All good!*
*I ■■■■ you not. True story.
My fav moments are fairly lowkey, as I haven’t done much Flightsimming in 2019.
They are getting to fly this lovely DCS bird in this liverie:
It struck a chord within me seeing Tamiya’s 1/32 version in a friends Tamiya catalouge and I bought my first Tamiya catalouge because of pictures of that bird. I have always wanted it, but no room for the finished result and lack of skills to do it justice have stayed my hand. Getting it in DCS have fulfilled that dream and even better! I Get To Fly It!
And getting to fly this other lovely bird in the Dannebrog 800 Years Liverie:
What have mostly been holding me back, is that I still haven’t made my DIY throttle and collective. I fully intend to complete these projects in 2020. There are still a few components that I need to obtain and a 3D Printer I need to modify for ABS/ASA printing, but it will happen.
Happy Simming
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Now that looks really sharp! Back issues can be a real B@$&; - love the setup!
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Great story. Great chair. In 2020 I’m going to take a page out of your book and make a deliberate effort to buy/get/make an ergonomic “sim station”.
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I’ve been looking for a chair replacement for ages and I think this one may fit the bill nicely. I would also use it for work during the day. Would you say it is suitable for long sessions and computer productivity? Also, does it recline back comfortably for an impromptu Viperesque setup (If your back allows that)?
Thanks for the writeup!
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Thanks for the reply!
This chain sent me down hours and hours of research looking at noblechair reviews, forum posts, youtube videos etc.
I like everything I am finding. I did end up ordering the Icon series instead of the Hero, and in leather as well. It doesn’t have the lumbar adjustment, but it has been reviewed very well and is a bit smaller. Also it is allegedly a bit softer, although still far on the firm side.
It comes tomorrow! I’m super excited and wanted to thank you for turning me onto this company.
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I’d like to, but am not sure how yet. I’m wondering if there is a way to get a swivel mount with enough play to swing the stick center or side without looking like a cyborg arm. Also I’m thinking of getting an extension for the stick and am not sure how that might effect the chair mount.
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So I’m looking at these gaming chair posts…and I’ve got my sim PC back and running (you should have seen how much dust there was from the repairs…and I’m still finding pieces of insulation from the attic)…and I tested out the VR and something hit me…an idea, not the floor like last time.
- The VR headsets give you very restricted peripheral vision.
- My current seat is a flight deck seat from a COMAIR aircraft (its got an FAA number).
- The harness is nice as it make one feel strapped-in to a real aircraft but it doesn’t move.
- This is OK for my XP 727 but not for my DCS fighters.
- When I turn to the side to look over my wings, I can’t turn my neck enough to see even the front of the wing…and after my “Incident” I don’t want to push it too hard.
So what I am thinking is that a gear chair may be better since I will be able to swivel it to the sides…or even backwards…hmmmm 
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Just don’t try to use the rudder pedals when you swivel!
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Loosen the harness so you can twist in your seat. It’s a healthy core workout.
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