The Joy of Flying

For years i knew there were different types of flight in SL (Second Life).  Hover craft, hot air balloons, helicopters and shuttles are one type, tho most helicopters have a sensitivity that makes them more challenging and realistic to fly.  Then there are the mouselook fighters, which as the name says you fly in mouselook mode. These are the most popular flight craft in many Star Trek sims, as well as the hover type shuttles.  Finally,  the most popular and widest variety of flying craft created, sold and flown is what is called physical flight.

Physical flight are all the planes and jets that are flown in SL.  This includes just about every type of flying craft since the beginning of flight in RL (Real Life).  The SL builders use their expert abilities to recreate RL craft in SL.  Planes like the Wright brothers flyer, WWII fighters and bombers, current design small pleasure craft, WWI biplanes, racing planes, passenger planes and jets, sea planes of all  types and novelty craft, like flying bathtubs and flying beds.

Why am i writing about aircraft? Why did i detail the physical flight planes more than the other types?  Simple.... since my beloved Kaori  introduced me to physical flight, i have found the joy of flying in SL.

So, you say, "Flying in SL huh? Big deal. Whats so special about it? And how difficult can it be?"

Well, let me answer those questions in reverse order.  It is very easy to get in the air, but to fly to various locations that may be 20 or 30 sims away, or to fly within the borders of one sim without crashing, or to land on a runway smoothly and again without crashing, takes hours and hours of practice. But, once you have trained and are able to do these things and more (like acrobatics), flying becomes fun, a joy, and a positive feeling of accomplishment.

Additionally, you become part of  large, growing, unique community of people...pilots of SL.   Some of the Groups in SL that i belong to and i really enjoy are The SL Ninety-Nines, SL Aviation and Blake Sea Control Area. But there are many more groups founded by individuals, airplane creators, Airports and many more.

I think one of my favorite groups is The SL Ninety-Nines, an all female fliers group based on the RL organization, The Ninety-Nines.  The RL organization was begun by 99 women including Amelia Earhart who was their first president, in the 1920's.  In SL, the 99's is a no profit SL group which aims to recreate the early years of women  in aviation and is inspired by the RL organization, still in existence today.  Being part of the 99's makes me feel great because i am part of a great group of women.

Another favorite SL group, and one with hundreds of members is SL Aviation.  It is a very active group where discussions cover all things aviation and more, both in and out of SL. It is a group open to everyone  for the exchange of ideas and information concerning aviation.  It is a fabulous group. i love it.

Little Goose flying over the Hollywood Airport, Blake Sea area

I could go on and on about the various aviation groups and the various airports and airfields dotting the SL mainlands which are the best places to fly since the various mainlands are many sims connected that form probably the majority portion of the SL grid.


But before i sign off, i do want to tell you about my favorite planes to fly.  Most of them are vintage WWII aircraft. i started out with a few free planes, which fly as good as some of the expensive planes.  Here is a short list of the planes i fly most in SL.
* Vintage WWI biplane
* CAC CA-16 Wirraway, WWII fighter/trainer
* F4U-1D Corsair WWII fighter
* Little Goose Navy JRF-1 WWII seaplane
* HU-16 Albatross Flying Boat civilian edition this is also a U.S.Coast Guard plane and is used by other    countries like Japan

Little Goose Navy JRF-1 WWII seaplane

I hope my little blog about flying and aviation in SL will light a spark in you to give it a try.  You may find it to be a new and fun experience that will make coming into SL more fun than you have ever had.

F4U-1D Corsair WWII fighter

MCPO

MCPO .... what does it mean?  If you are a member of Galaxy Fleet Command you know it means being an enlisted member of Starfleet.... the highest rank achievable without being a commissioned officer.... Master Chief Petty Officer.   It means working your way through the ranks,  by the blood, sweat and tears of  hard work.  And not because you sat in a classroom and listened to someone not necessarily more qualified than you drone on about what it means to be a Starfleet Officer...qualifications non-comms achieve thru experience and as i said before hard work. Anyway, I am a MCPO of Starfleet in Galaxy Fleet Command, a Star Trek Role Playing organization in Second Life.

There Are Trill, and There Are Trill

There are Trill, and there are Trill. Most of the Trill population looks almost identical with humans.  But there are a small percentage, a select few of the Trill population who co-exist with a sentient symbiotic organism known as a symbiont, living within their bodies.  These “joined” Trill have personalities which are a combination of the two beings, Trill and Symbiont, which includes memories and emotions.  Since the Symbiont is very long lived, the joined past experiences and some of the traits of previous hosts are evident and remembered in the current host.

Joined Trill have distinguished by two rows of spots going down each side of their bodies from forehead to toe.  Some Trill also have spots from the neck along the spine to the buttocks, though no Trill has disclosed just how far between the buttocks the spots go.  A very few female Trill reveal spots in their cleavage between their breasts which circle under the breasts and join the rows of spots running down their bodies on both sides.

When asked about Trill romance, jadzia Dax joked that Trill do not look for romance the way humans do.  Most consider romance a nuisance and view it as a weakness of the young.  It is the Simbiont’s wish to live on a higher plane and to rise above those temptations.  Even Trill law suppresses romantic encounters by forbidding reassociation between hosts whose symbiont’s were romantically involved in their previous hosts.  It is to experience new things in life that the joined pair are to strive for.

I am Starr, a female host and the most recent Trill joined with my symbiont, Jetaime, Jet for short.  The Jetaime symbiont has had numerous hosts during its long life.  These hosts include most recently Kaldur, Blissfully, Sammkit, Penelope, and Zasma. All of these hosts with the exception of Sammkit and Starr have not had any prolonged romantic encounters and have been celibate, exploring the more cerebral side of their personalities.  I, on the other hand  am far too headstrong and too much in love to let the symbiont direct and force my life into one without love and romance and the joy and happiness that comes with it which I have found with my most precious jewel, Kaori Juliesse, a beautiful, caring, emotional woman from Bajor.