FlightSim Magazine i9 | Page 14

182 WiN ME! A2A: Contest Code: ata182i9d24 *1 A2A Cessna 182 for FSX/P3D to be drawn. Delivered via digital download. Winner to be drawn January 24th, announced January 25th. From Sim to Skies. Cory James I grew up with a pretty big interest in airplanes and most things mechanical. I was always very interested in becoming a pilot and owning my own plane when I was young. My family and career path took me in a different direction, however. My older brother got his private license when he turned 16 and he then went on to become a commercial airline pilot for his career. He owns a Mooney M20C and has many thousands of hours of flying time flying his Mooney and many other types of aircraft from small Cessnas to airliners. My experiences flying with my brother were always very exciting times for me and I was always amazed at how much fun it was to fly - especially small planes. My interest didn’t really lessen as I got older and I decided I would try some flight simulators to see what that would be like. I couldn’t believe the graphics and huge amounts of scenery, but more importantly, I couldn’t believe how amazing the planes were and how close they were to real life. This was Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 and I thought it couldn’t get any better. Well it did when the newer versions came out, and then I could fly just about any plane I could imagine and with amazing realism. I logged many hours in front of my computer flying all over the virtual world in countless different airplanes. We bought all of the gadgets to go along with the computer - flight yokes, rudder pedals, throttl B