Steve's 737 approved by local police..

[steveeverson]

Yeah, was def a good idea to let them in- we should be doing all we can to show that we are not (entirely!)mad and safe to the community. I think it's better that our respective governments are looking after our safety and as i said before they were very nice and friendly in our typical british way..

if only they could have given me some advice on wiring up annunciators to pmdg!

steve

ps.am working on a solution to that using LDR's- bit out of the box but look at my gallery and you get the idea!

[andarlite]

No to "normal" people we look like fruits! You should see peoples expressions when I say what my hobby is but that does not compare to when I show them the cockpit.... Hmm is that a guy in a white coat at my door? Nice jacket he has there for me, but why are the arms so long?

Heh heh.... boy Bob, you don't know how right you are.... most of my friends think I'm nuts and then there are my wife's friends who really think I'm off the deep end. But, their tune changes when they come over and see the cockpit for the first time..... then they all want to fly it.

Regards,
Henry

[Gsey]

LOL, so true, so true. The first question is always "why" so now instead of trying to explain myself I tell those that want to know that Im colour blind so couldnt get into the airlines, works very very well, with no more of those your a fruit cake strange looks

Gary

[Bob Reed]

LOL, so true, so true. The first question is always "why" so now instead of trying to explain myself I tell those that want to know that Im colour blind so couldnt get into the airlines, works very very well, with no more of those your a fruit cake strange looks

Gary

HA!!!! That is a good one!!

[Tomlin]

"That kinda crap better not happen here (in the US) or there will be heck to pay"

Is this really that a big deal? The police knock on the door, you show them the sim, take a flight, chat about the hobby and have some fun in the process. The police are happy, the security agency is happy and your name is struck off the list.

I think its great that people are still being vigilant in our countries when it comes to security. God knows we need to be and outside of our community this hobby isnt normal is other peoples eyes.

Gary

Hi Gary,

I certainly dont mean to come across as 'John Wayne', but the problem is that I believe there are a certain amount of freedoms that each member of society in every country should enjoy. Having the cops show up without much reason to for checking up on a home sim, to me, is a bit invasive. Personally, I would have also let them in and probably fired it up and gave the boys a test flight. However, I believe that the war on terror is being abused to justify unneeded searching and here in the US it would not be very well taken to if they came knocking and had no warrant.

[Trevor Hale]

Hi Gary,

I certainly dont mean to come across as 'John Wayne', but the problem is that I believe there are a certain amount of freedoms that each member of society in every country should enjoy. Having the cops show up without much reason to for checking up on a home sim, to me, is a bit invasive. Personally, I would have also let them in and probably fired it up and gave the boys a test flight. However, I believe that the war on terror is being abused to justify unneeded searching and here in the US it would not be very well taken to if they came knocking and had no warrant.

Eric, Welcome to the changed world. Those that have to.... Hide things, those that don't.... wont.

Put your foot on their shoes, every day trying to figure out the unknown... It is not an easy task, and people that cause problems just make their job protecting us even harder...

Good on them, and it is to all of them that we owe our daily freedom.

[Tomlin]

Put your foot on their shoes, every day trying to figure out the unknown... It is not an easy task, and people that cause problems just make their job protecting us even harder...

Good on them, and it is to all of them that we owe our daily freedom.

I whole heartedly agree- as a MilSim organizer, working with LE in my profession, and as a conservative- I support efforts to keep everyone safe. However, political correctness is something I abhor and it's a shame when little old grey-haired grandmothers are targeted in security concerns rather than dodgy looking fellas carrying bulky bags and acting freaky suspcious. Now a perfectly 'normal' sim guy has the cops knocking on his door. That's all Im saying, and no offense to grey haired grandmas or dodgy looking, bag-carrying fellas!

To the OP- thanks for sharing your experience- I bet it was fun in the end to have them take a look at it all.

I also agree with the others, in that, it's much better to SHOW them the sim than to try to explain it. I remember back when I was still a sim 'planner'... I would try to explain it to people how I was going to do this and have that, and boy how cool it would be to have it all in the flesh. Now that I have it built, I kinda keep it to myself unless I know I will get a chance to show 'em a photo or have them come and sit in it!

Thanks to everyone here,

[magicaldr]

Hmm, as a UK citizen this makes me nervous. I must say you handle it with typical humor, and although I would have acted just as you did I personally would be unhappy afterwards.

Forgoing the waste of Police time, do they check every PPL in the UK personally? Will we be following home kids who buy FSX soon? I am not scared of us becoming a Police state, part of me thinks we are already there. We don't need whips to subjugate us, we will do it to ourselves.

I am not sure what 'suspicious' people are either. If you watched my flying skills most days you would not believe I like FSX. Also I would look totally lost in a heavy as I only fly GA. So would I be suspicious if we met? I don't know the jargon, I cant program an FMC, and straight and level is prob my limit in a 747. Still I would love to visit my fellow builders and have a go, I just would not be any good...

Think I will stick to my Piper Warrior, maybe being visited will be a mark of honor one day. Once your sim reaches a certain lvl you get inspected. That is of course unless the government sees this as the next target, they already going for my swords (I do martial arts), making them illegal. Is my sim next?

So I am scaremongering, I do just feel sometimes that our governments approach to solving crime is to make more people criminals and arrest them. Far easier than going for the real criminals who know the system and break the rules as a matter of course. Those of us who try to follow them spend their lives running to keep up with the law.

I am not blaming the Police, they trying to do an impossible job. I may not work in the security services, but I have seen what targets do to people and organizations. Our services in the UK are buried under targets, and I don't know how they manage to do the job they do.

[mpl330]

Wow - I'm quite amazed - but if you have nothing to hide then you get to spend a little time showing off your work... "Yes dear I am helping the police with their enquiries"!!!

2 new converts then?
Mike

[737NUT]

I had a govt. official visit my house awhile back. Had to show him the 737sim. He was impressed, took a few notes, then left.
Very courtious.