We’re going to start out just joining servers together, but if enough people are interested we may set up our own server. Desert Combat is played more online than BF42, and good jet and helicoptor pilots own the maps. But we will try and find maps with only a few people as crowded maps can be unforgiving to noobs. The idea is to have fun. We could try some team tactics together like attacking enemy bases together in a helicoptor, or capture the flag tactics, and alot of other stuff. For those of you really into BF42 mods, we could try some other good ones like Battlefield 1918 and Forgotten Hope. So we will post a time next week when we go on.

Congratulations Ben- History was a wise choice for you, much more interesting than just majoring in journalism which I know is what youre shooting for.

Im wondering also if someone could briefly describe how a virtual airline works. Are there scheduled time you have to be at your computer to fly a route? If your on an international airline, do you have to fly the whole route in real time, say like for 10 hours?

Ive got a Sidewinder, but thats all they sell here in Mexico is Sidewinders and cheap Saiteks since flight simming isnt big here. If you go into a CompUSA or BestBuy in the US, they have about 30 joystickes all lined up of all different brands. But I only go for look and feel of the stick and would never need to spend more than $50 bucks for one. So my Sidewinder does the job pretty well.

I will eventually be buying a new computer and want to outfit it for the very best flight sim games, and combat sims too.

Would people recommend 512MB of RAM right off or even 1GB? I know it is cheap now.
And for the CPU, P4 or Athlon?
And the 3D card? 128MB or 256MB? What is currently the best you can get?
And for the screen? LCD flat or large CFT?

Get a gig of RAM, 512 is just the bare minimum. If you have a harddrive full of programs, they take up RAM even when not running. Id even get more than 1 gig if your getting a high end CPU. Athlons are by far better for gaming, the Athlon 64s currently the top of the line for gaming performance. For a monitor get a 19 inch, 17 doesnt support the high res that the latest graphic cards allow. I personally like flat screen CRT monitors over LCD screens because I feel the colors just look more natural (as well as being alot cheaper), but its a matter of preference. As for graphic card memory, thats not the only factor involved in performance. A higher end 128 card can out perform a 256 card. The two top of the line graphic cards are the Nividia GeForce 6800 Ultra and the ATI Radeon X800 XT. Both cards are about the same in price and performance, but the Geforce requires a 480 watt powersupply which is an extra cost. My recomendation is either get a lower midrange card like the ATI 9200 128 mb which will handle any current game, or splurge on the aforementioned top of the line cards for ultra high res and not waste your money in between.

Lets not forget the Folland Gnat, this fighter proved itself in combat as the Sabre Slayer for the IAF. It is still a very potent fighter and can still hold itself against most anything at low level. I believe should be put back in production as a low cost point defence fighter, as well as for pilot flight time to reduce cost and wear on front line fighters.

MS has stopped making joystickes.