Ken Terry Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 I find that over recent years there has been a steady decline in the number of hours per month that I am flying in my simulator. Is it that I have "been there done that" Is it that there are so many other things to do. Is it that my wife says "you spend too much time on that thing" Is it that the hardware building has ceased as I am happy with my rig. Comments welcome. Cheers Ken 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullfox Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I spend more time simming in the winter months. In the summer its garden railroading and rc flying. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I don't find spare time to fly. I have my 5yo Grandson with me most days of the week while his father is working. However today my son has his son for the next 4 days camping. I did an hour flight simming this morning but seemed to lose interest not long after. There seems to be to much going on all the time and sadly I lose interest. Perhaps I'm going through a midlife crisis. cheers Gumby 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Much the same here. I lost vision in one eye due to macular degeneration, and that makes the sim scenery a bit off. Not so much fun to fly when the picture is not clear. Plus, I got busy with writing, and that takes time. I still like the sim, just not as much. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullfox Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 You have to take a break every now and then from just about everything. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I'm with you Ken. I 've been simming now for 40 years and I somehow feel like I've been-there-and-done-that. Not much new to explore. I've never been into the eye-candy side of things. I'm more into practices and procedures. I thought MSFS2020 would get me going again but it's so poorly implemented that I've decided to put it on the shelf and move on to other things. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heaton Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 sorry guys !! - I am just the opposite - even after 40 years of flight simming - I can't find enough hours to have my fun in the skies - and all the little problems that it brings - to keep the old brain box exercised Unfortunately I have to sleep sometime - maybe i should give up my Orbx Forum time I will admit to a period around 5 years ago - I dropped it for a while and retook up painting Impressionist artwork - until the missus complained at the volume of paintings I turned out - filling the walls of the house and garage 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Harmes Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Not sure why Ken, but I have also been simming way less than I did previously since about late 2021. I am sad to say I have actually lost interest a bit. I am confident I will regain some interest in simming and aviation in general, but I guess I just started doing other things in my life. I think in my case I just wanted to mix it up a bit so started playing some other games. With a very busy work schedule over the last few years, playing other games, and doing other activities, it just left little time for simming. For the past year I've actaully struggled to even start up a sim. I used to get hours upon hours of relaxation and enjoyment flying, as well as the enjoyment and satisfaction of learning about the world and aviation through simming, so I'm sure I'll get back in to it eventually. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvdboomen Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I am an eye candy flyer so MSFS gave me a boost. I am only using the sim in winter time. During the spring, summer and fall I spend my time with photographing real military aviation. But, maybe when the novelty of MSFS has faded, I fall back in the same situation as I had with P3D 5.x and lose interest. The hobby is not as big for me as a few years ago and I do not invest much in addons anymore. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I lost interest in flying a few of years ago now and gave everything away, even the computer. I now have a laptop and haven't missed flying a bit. I think it was a wonderful hobby while its lasted but I've always been a reader so now I spend my time reading on my Kindle Paperwhite and annoying Rodger by correspondence! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullfox Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I don't think you can disconnect time spent flight simming over the last few years from Corvid. The more or less enforced need to stay at home and out of circulation and not being out meeting people. Now that need is essentially gone for just about everybody. We are still having days in southern Oregon when its too cold to be comfortable outdoors. On those days I'm on the computer, but find my self planning changes on the garden rr. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie123 Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I'm still enjoying simming after 40 years as well W2DR. I don't think my interest has waned over the past few years. I am retired and my wife is happy for me to spend time down the shed, either building or flying the B737 sim. There is always something to do, or improve, in either hardware, software, or my skills. Aussie 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wain71 Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 I did go through a period in early 2010's when I didn't sim much, more through frustration than anything else though....I probably do maybe 2 or if lucky 3 short (under2 hrs) A320/737 flights, which I really enjoy...the rest of my sim time is used BETA testing new products or updates, which as we all know can get frustrating at times.....I look forward to having more spare time but me and the wife run a small family cleaning business and once the weather changes we like to get away to our caravan and do some nice long walks followed by food and drink...life sometimes just gets in the way of fun of any type...can be good to take a break though... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 On 1/26/2023 at 1:49 AM, Bullfox said: You have to take a break every now and then from just about everything. I must agree. I really enjoy FS. But I can sometimes get too involved with it - to the detriment of real life things, so I often take a break. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 For me it's a boom/bust/boom/bust repetitive cycle just like all my other interests, mountain biking, road cycling and hiking/camping. I've now added working in the garden and that is the most compelling for me much to the annoyance of my friends with whom I do all the other outdoor activities. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Hall Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 I am flying way more than I used to, I blame this on the ONLINE COMMUNITY, I have made so many friends doing this, I joined MassiveSim32 on discord and there are so many talented interesting guys to fly with, We fly tours in GA, Tours in warbirds, Bushflying in some great scenery, DC3's Tubliners, anything an everything, you would be surprised how it opens the world up, simmers from all over the world join in and share experiences from their real world flying days, If I need help there are more than enough 1st officers or co-pilots to help out, I still enjoy doing my own thing but sharing the experience with a top notch bunch of pilots adds so much to the experience. We get in touch through discord and everything from flight plans Flyins, tutorials, recommendations on new aircraft and add ons. Flight simming is so much more than just making a flight plan and flying that route. Online multiplayer in MSFS is awesome , if you have'nt tried it Please give it a go, the worst you could do is make some new friends . cheers Ken 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 (edited) I go back to FS 5.0 in the early '90s and I spent several hours a week at it. For a quite a time I belonged to a virtual airline, Noble Air. I flew the L188 Electra on planned flights all over the eastern US. I was even co-hub captain of the PHL hub. Then at the end of 2000 we moved house and my career made a major change, so I dropped out for several years. But then in 2011 I retired. At first I pursued my other interest, railroads. I worked on my model RR, while getting some real steam time firing and running steam locomotives. But then my knees got too bad for that (arthritis). So I went back to flight simming. But since my early days in the 90s so much has changed both in software and hardware. So now I take it very seriously, as if I were flying a real plane. A "real" cockpit, real world weather, real ATC (PilotEdge), and of course Orbx realistic scenery. So in terms of actually "flying," it's nowhere near as much as back in the 90s. If the weather is bad, I don't fly. (I have been working on the PilotEdge IFR program, but still not there yet). Preparing for a flight takes longer too. I use Navigraph for flight plannig, and use the Garmim 530 too. I carefully do a "cold and dark" start up, and follow the check list. So while I still acquire lots of hours, it's nothing like I did as a Nobel Air captain. Also I spend a lot of time building and updating my cockpit, currently on the fourth rebuild. There is so much great avionics hardware out there, and while some is very expensive, there is much that is reasonably priced. And since I returned to my old job, part time now, I don't have as much time as when I was fully retired. But it's a major part of my life (and a major drain on the cash flow), and a great source of pleasure, as well as intellectually challenging. And, yes, Ken H, flying on line and reacting with other SIM pilots and with controllers does add so much. Ken Q Edited January 29, 2023 by Ken Q 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingfish55 Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 After a number of years doing a lot of flight simming including being a Director of a major VA, I basically gave it up for a year however I have got back into it in a big way, normally doing a daily short haul flight (< 2hours) around Europe. However that is about to stop because my wife and I are heading for some winter sun to Spain for several months. It will be interesting to see how I cope whilst away and how much I will return to it when I get back. I intend to keep up to date with the forum so I am not disappearing altogether. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillwater Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 I also spent less time on simming as I did some time ago. Interesting to read all your experience and thoughts about the same phenomenon. To my mind two possible thoughts make a lot of sense: - The loss of enthusiasm with the multiple sims, that splits between "as real as it gets" flyers with A2A and PMDG-like planes, who need the frequently released Orbx sceneries and "eye candy", which is provided by MSFS and which can only be shared here in a limited way. - The (slow) leaving of Covid, which makes us all work on the backlog of meetings, celebrations, travels -you may call it "real life". Let´s see how this develops. 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaseman007 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 On 1/29/2023 at 11:30 AM, Ken Hall said: I am flying way more than I used to, I blame this on the ONLINE COMMUNITY, I have made so many friends doing this, I joined MassiveSim32 on discord and there are so many talented interesting guys to fly with, We fly tours in GA, Tours in warbirds, Bushflying in some great scenery, DC3's Tubliners, anything an everything, you would be surprised how it opens the world up, simmers from all over the world join in and share experiences from their real world flying days, If I need help there are more than enough 1st officers or co-pilots to help out, I still enjoy doing my own thing but sharing the experience with a top notch bunch of pilots adds so much to the experience. We get in touch through discord and everything from flight plans Flyins, tutorials, recommendations on new aircraft and add ons. Flight simming is so much more than just making a flight plan and flying that route. Online multiplayer in MSFS is awesome , if you have'nt tried it Please give it a go, the worst you could do is make some new friends . cheers Ken Awesome Ken and thanks for the note about our community. Love having you part of it. If anyone would like to come along and fly with us, you're more than welcome to. You can join our discord here -> https://discord.gg/B4buuHGhcr Jase 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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