Many Many Blue Moons ago, I was flying a P-51D in AirWarrior (this was around '94/'95 in the Full Realism ETO arena)... I was flying CZ and Damned Chick had been flying CZ but switched to Az without me noticing....
Anyways, probably the most important thing to know about Chick just like most all of the old Damned members like NB, SB, GE, PT, SM, FOOL, add infinium...is that it was very important to help train/teach others and everything that players who needed, wanted to learn how to be better....with that said, it had nothing to do about being a score-w----- or ego boost... It was how to use BFM/ACM, Energy Management and SA as your "roots" ... Knowing one's own strengths and weaknesses including their plane's...
I thought I had shot the moon, when I got into this long drawn out knife-fight in a phonebooth with this Az Spitfire which was one of the first 10+ minutes palms sweating dogfights I had the joy of being in and after I finally found my way of using all the training that the Training Staff (which was basically of members from the Damned, The Musketeers and the 4th FG mostly with a few others) had drilled into my brain, I managed to get the upper hand/angles on this pesty Az Spitfire and shoot him down.... To my astonishing surprise and delight flooding thru me the screen text buffer popped up:
TC shot down Chick - A kill has been recorded!
At that point in time / moment, my view of the game would completely change and all I ever wanted to do was to learn everything I could and to pass it on to any and every player that played and would listen....
It is not about winning or being a chest thumper.... It's about all the players/squadmates/family/friends/community members that took the time out of their own "Fun Time" to help me out learning to be a more positive and capable player and in doing so led me to realize that the only proper thing to do was pass on that which was taught to me...
Damned if you do, No Fun if you don't!
When PT founded our squad "the Damned" over 30+ years ago (we turned 30 yrs old this past year), I wonder if he ever thought about if it would still be around for 30+ years....
The only thing that ever bothered me about Aces High which basically includes players from WarBirds, AirWarrior IL-2 and FighterAce with others from wwiionline, Jane's etc....
Is that we never brought over or continued to keep with the traditional way of Training that AW, WB, FA and 1 or 2 other WWII aircombat mmog's offered.... I tried to bring it here but for some reason something changed and it is easy to see when you play in the game these past few years/days....
HiTech wanted a Training Academy/Course way back in 2000, and it's a shame that we could never get others interested in the concept and how much it would have helped over all the way, these past 19+ years of Aces High
Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way and to all the volunteers that stepped up to make this game more than just a great game...
~S~ & Cheers
TC
