Reactions from our guests...

Hi Ejecto,

first of all, I must thank you for all that fun we had on BigBear meeting. It was really memorable day and your missions and briefings were main part of it....

Cheers, Phantom

Hi all you wonderfull people! :-)

I'm just getting used to being back on Mountain time again after about 16 hours of airports and airliners to get home. Wow...what can I say.....The meet was all I expected and much more, you Dutchies really did and outstanding job of hosting this unprecedented Flanker event but it was sure sad too see all the machines getting packed up and the crowd getting thinner on Sunday. Here are some of my thoughts on the experience...

First of all It was great to have such a warm welcome at Schiphol from Willem(Palerider), Bas(Chaos), Freddy(Pupski), and Sergio(Flix). Thanks to you Freddy and Marlyn for the ride and putting Flix and I up for the night and of course to John(Baco) for the ride to Apeldoorn! On to the meet.....

WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!!! What an amazing time...meeting everyone I have only either talked to via the O Club and seen on the RNLVF webpages. It was a great pleasure too meet you all finally!

Chera "Naplamski" Bekker made some fantastic LAN missions for us to fly...Thanks Chera! Michael Barnes, "Preflight" util was a huge success, and with the setting up Baco did to get us all parked and awaiting taxi instructions when we entered was too much....I was giggling like a little kid.

When I joined I went to an external view and watched the other 3 members of my flight join in right beside me on the grass and then I saw another flight of 4 join in across the taxiway at the same time. When I called for taxi clearance I was told to hold as the other flight was beginning to taxi out ahead so I joined in behind them in the line to take off with my 3 wingmen following.....this was tooo COOL!!!! Thanks Baco for all the logistics in getting the flight starting points planned!

Now...the CBs and AWACS controllers.....Unf**king believable!!!!!! The CB coms were the best....we had a channel for the AWACS controller and another for our specific flight and could even set another for just the 2 ship wing! This worked flawlessly and increased the immersion so much! These guys even had the push to talk buttons mounted on their HOTAS...I was in awe!

In between the planned mega misssions we managed some 4v4/2v2 BVR/WVR stuff for fun, but I spent a lot of time wandering around and visiting with everyone....then there was Pupski, Medved, and Flix and a few others who loaded up Action Quake everychance they could. :-) I'll never forget your laughing Sacha!!!! :-)

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The late night part of the meet always degenerated to Action Quake and we were busting our guts laughing and killing untill after 5am! Needless to say...I didn't get much sleep while with these guys. :-)

In closing......My last night in Apeldoorn was spent in the way I could only have imagined it....drinking beer all night with Marek, Adam, Taschi, Wicked, Dave, Jens, and Pupski.....mmmm....that yummy Dutch beer. :-)

I do have one regret.......The fact Willem (Palerider) was ill on the weekend and had the big exam to write he wasn't able to fly or stay long...CONGRAT'S on the great exam score Willem!!! Next time we meet will be better...in fact you'll be picking me up in you fancy new sports car!!!! :-)

Cheers, guys and untill we meet again....the precendent has been set now for the NEXT International Flanker meet!!!

Mark "Stinger" Shepheard Honorary member of the RNLVAF

Hi Wicked

and thanks to you for organizing this event. I had a blast during those four days. Special thanks to you for picking me up and Baco for letting me use his system. And to the rest of you guys for being such a nice bunch. Hope to see you all for the next meet.

JayCee

Yeah....

Allthough i had a !#$^!*&!$@&# early retirement it was really great to meet all the ones i hadn't met...and to meet those who i'd allready met :) Hope we can do this giant thing again sometime...then i hope to bring my PC and kick your butts off course ;)

Cheers and thanx, Willem 'PaleRider'

Gentleman,

It has been a very enjoyable meet for me. I'd like to thank you all for joining in the good atmosphere and making it a very good event. I am looking forward to our next normal meet in Februari (around the 26th if my memory is correct).

Chera (Napalmksi)

I won't give a detailed debrief of the antics at the Big Bear meet - I'm sure others will do that. I'd just like to say that I've had my faith in human nature and Flanker confirmed.

This was Sunday night madness at the O'Club extended to four consecutive days. The Flanker "mob" are truly unique. With only an ancient Russian flight sim in common, thirty or so odd individuals got together, got themselves organised and then proceeded to beat the sh*t out of each other . Well .. yes, [cough] we have to admit a bit of late night Quaking as well.

Many memorable moments. The lasting impression, though, is a warm kind of "glow" that I'd feel embarrassed in explaining to others - but I think most Flankerites would understand . Thanks to all concerned for all the generosity of spirit and effort - when I arrived, all was set up - all I had to do was sit down, grab a joystick and FLY!

To the uninitiated, I have to explain that this meant about 20 complete systems networked up, with almost one CB radio per PC, a giant map of Crimea and a scoreboard. No mean feat, this. Most missions had an AWACS per side, and were planned by non-flying Flankerites who insisted on throwing in missile-laden AI planes in gunso contests. Well, this was WAR !

Of course, it was an emotional event - seeing so many names from the ladder in one place - the personalities behind the mugshots and reports. It really does make the effort seem worthwhile. It was worth it just to hear Chaos's last words "Do you want to fly formation??" seconds before his seemingly cold turkey opponent (Quax) turned on him and gunned him down . I suspect Bas could have shot him earlier but declined the easy shot because that's what the meet was all about. Poetic justice, and a beautiful moment.

Thanks again to all the people that made it so particularly "Flanker" - they are simply the *best*.

Regards,

Adamski. Administrator - Su27 Flanker Challenge Ladder http://www.fl-air.co.uk