Bushmaster78FS
02-03-2006, 01:54
Hey there folks,
Long time no see, how's everyone doing? It's been a while since those days I was very active in this forum, though I always considered I had quite a bit supporting friends here. I am kind of going through some emotional cycles of life so I thought I'd drop by and give some of you a headache, bear with me.
Well, here I go, as some of you out there might know, I am an old-timer hardcore mil-spec flight sim fan who started business with his C64 F-16 CP, later transferred to Amiga and practiced and learnt with stars of the day such as Fighter Bomber, F/A-18 Interceptor until that July day in '91 when I met the Amiga version of the F-16 Combat Pilot and was literally blown away with its details, in the following years this particular sim was going to carve the passion of flying and love towards the "viper" pretty deeply.
The more I got familiar with this sim, I realized that I had to lay my hands on this bird and get it into the air in reality, and slowly worked on this goal, years later moved to my dream country, went to flight school, etc. Day in and day out, I was living for my goal of driving a viper one day. However, everytime I felt I got closer, it was moving further away from me. Then came Sept.11. Some of you might remember the ordeal I had to go through. This event put a huge dent in my dream and the timelines, I was never able to recover and get on track again. Finally, when I was turned down for enlistment in the USAF in 2003, it was time to say good-bye to my life long dream, although I wasn't ready. I looked around, shopped around to see if I could do it in the Navy, but that was too far fetched... I knew I could fly in the US Military and I went ahead to realize this dream in the Army. Again I know, I have the ability to get selected and do it (unless my eyes quit on me which they seem like to get worser everyday). Though, this progress has been extremely slow, I started losing patience and motivation.
Couple weeks ago, I was attending a convoy live fire exercise near the DMZ with my unit. It was a pretty boring one until everyone heard that thunderous gun of an A-10 firing at the range ahead ... By the time I looked up, I saw the smoke trail and up ahead the Warthog pulling in a 90 degree bank, rejoining his wingman. That instant, I thought about the pilot flying her, what he was doing, what he was seeing, what he was thinking, I imagined and put myself there, and sadly realized I was trying to kill this passion of flying a military jet deep inside for years and it was not ready to be dead. This passion was not something to be killed or suppressed, even if the chance for me to become an F-16 pilot in this life have passed. Over these years, the dream of being an F-16 pilot has meant to me "terms that sound more like true love or helpless addiction”. It is still there, flaming hot... As some of you might know I have a strong spiritual background, and I am tying this passion of the viper I have to the way I was put together, it feels like I was made to love this aircraft, this profession, however it was never meant to come to me in this life. I have faith in an after life, which I believe includes the part of me that responds to the thrill of being an F-16 pilot, which in my belief, will finally find its fulfillment. I was made in such a way that I respond to the thrill of what F-16 pilots experience in its power, maneuverability, sense of freedom, and the sheer beauty of the machine. This desire is part of my unique makeup. Guys, I know you are calling me a nutcase, I might be...
Well, what to do now? Interesting, this past month was my cut-off age for meeting the USAF OCS board. Funny almost forgot about it. Nowadays, flying Army does not really sound exciting to me anymore, I will still give it a chance, and try it but ... it is just not the same. Like Chief Shephard (may His memory be eternal) said in one of his posts, it is not hot rod jet fighter jock feathers that you get in the Army.
I decided to get back to Falcon which I left in Feb. '03. I am going to dust those old books, CDs, and documents, and that CWU-45 flight jacket with its ACC, F-16 Swirl and Bushmasters patch on it. So help me out here guys, it has been so long I was out of the Falcon circles. What do I have to do to get back on track? I have already ordered F4:AF and thinking about getting a Cougar HOTAS. I have a pretty decent 15.4" screen Vaio Laptop with a GeForce Go 6400 and a 1.86 ghz P4 M.
Most importantly, thanks for taking time and reading. It matters a lot. I was on duty last night and haven't slept for 34 hours, just wanted to pour out what I had inside. Thanks again.
http://www.quebecairforce.com/falcon/Album/RichardGirouard/F-16_Shaw/F-16_Shaw_PilotReady_Bagot_1.jpg
Note: I also posted this on Frug's but for those who don't go there, I thought posting here would be a good idea since I have friends here.
Long time no see, how's everyone doing? It's been a while since those days I was very active in this forum, though I always considered I had quite a bit supporting friends here. I am kind of going through some emotional cycles of life so I thought I'd drop by and give some of you a headache, bear with me.
Well, here I go, as some of you out there might know, I am an old-timer hardcore mil-spec flight sim fan who started business with his C64 F-16 CP, later transferred to Amiga and practiced and learnt with stars of the day such as Fighter Bomber, F/A-18 Interceptor until that July day in '91 when I met the Amiga version of the F-16 Combat Pilot and was literally blown away with its details, in the following years this particular sim was going to carve the passion of flying and love towards the "viper" pretty deeply.
The more I got familiar with this sim, I realized that I had to lay my hands on this bird and get it into the air in reality, and slowly worked on this goal, years later moved to my dream country, went to flight school, etc. Day in and day out, I was living for my goal of driving a viper one day. However, everytime I felt I got closer, it was moving further away from me. Then came Sept.11. Some of you might remember the ordeal I had to go through. This event put a huge dent in my dream and the timelines, I was never able to recover and get on track again. Finally, when I was turned down for enlistment in the USAF in 2003, it was time to say good-bye to my life long dream, although I wasn't ready. I looked around, shopped around to see if I could do it in the Navy, but that was too far fetched... I knew I could fly in the US Military and I went ahead to realize this dream in the Army. Again I know, I have the ability to get selected and do it (unless my eyes quit on me which they seem like to get worser everyday). Though, this progress has been extremely slow, I started losing patience and motivation.
Couple weeks ago, I was attending a convoy live fire exercise near the DMZ with my unit. It was a pretty boring one until everyone heard that thunderous gun of an A-10 firing at the range ahead ... By the time I looked up, I saw the smoke trail and up ahead the Warthog pulling in a 90 degree bank, rejoining his wingman. That instant, I thought about the pilot flying her, what he was doing, what he was seeing, what he was thinking, I imagined and put myself there, and sadly realized I was trying to kill this passion of flying a military jet deep inside for years and it was not ready to be dead. This passion was not something to be killed or suppressed, even if the chance for me to become an F-16 pilot in this life have passed. Over these years, the dream of being an F-16 pilot has meant to me "terms that sound more like true love or helpless addiction”. It is still there, flaming hot... As some of you might know I have a strong spiritual background, and I am tying this passion of the viper I have to the way I was put together, it feels like I was made to love this aircraft, this profession, however it was never meant to come to me in this life. I have faith in an after life, which I believe includes the part of me that responds to the thrill of being an F-16 pilot, which in my belief, will finally find its fulfillment. I was made in such a way that I respond to the thrill of what F-16 pilots experience in its power, maneuverability, sense of freedom, and the sheer beauty of the machine. This desire is part of my unique makeup. Guys, I know you are calling me a nutcase, I might be...
Well, what to do now? Interesting, this past month was my cut-off age for meeting the USAF OCS board. Funny almost forgot about it. Nowadays, flying Army does not really sound exciting to me anymore, I will still give it a chance, and try it but ... it is just not the same. Like Chief Shephard (may His memory be eternal) said in one of his posts, it is not hot rod jet fighter jock feathers that you get in the Army.
I decided to get back to Falcon which I left in Feb. '03. I am going to dust those old books, CDs, and documents, and that CWU-45 flight jacket with its ACC, F-16 Swirl and Bushmasters patch on it. So help me out here guys, it has been so long I was out of the Falcon circles. What do I have to do to get back on track? I have already ordered F4:AF and thinking about getting a Cougar HOTAS. I have a pretty decent 15.4" screen Vaio Laptop with a GeForce Go 6400 and a 1.86 ghz P4 M.
Most importantly, thanks for taking time and reading. It matters a lot. I was on duty last night and haven't slept for 34 hours, just wanted to pour out what I had inside. Thanks again.
http://www.quebecairforce.com/falcon/Album/RichardGirouard/F-16_Shaw/F-16_Shaw_PilotReady_Bagot_1.jpg
Note: I also posted this on Frug's but for those who don't go there, I thought posting here would be a good idea since I have friends here.