OzFlight 2007 Flight Simulator Show "Down Under" |
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October 29, 2007
Flight Simulation is alive and well in Australia and New Zealand, at least if the OzFlight 2007 Show is any indication.
Organized by Ross Farquharson the show was held at the Conrad Jupiters Pavillion Convention Center located in Gold Coast, Queensland, a lovely coastal resort town an hour's flight North from Sydney. The town, the convention center and OzFlight 2007 were all bustling last weekend.
Exhibitors included retail stores, hardware manufacturers, software publishers, virtual airlines, and others.
PC Aviator and The Flightsim Store, the two retailers in attendance both told me that sales for the Saturday and Sunday show far exceeded their exprectations. In fact, both were worried that they did not have enough stock on hand to satisfy the demand from the very loose pocketed crowds.
Garry J Smith coordinated the speakers which included about 15 sessions over the two days. Sessions included introduction to virtual airlines, hardware discussions, online combat and software presentations. I peeked into a few of the sessions which were greeted enthusiastically by the audience.
Below are some photos of the happenings at OzFlight 2007.
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Here's a shot of organizer Ross Farquharson flying an F/A-18E Super Hornet at the RAAF virtual booth. This is one of the few times that I was able to see Ross seated. The rest of the time he and his staff were dutifully tending to the details of the show. I was invited to attend OzFlight 2007 as part of the media by Ross and I'd like to thank him for his hospitality. |
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At the Transload Virtual Airlines booth, we have Joe of Melbourne, Garry J Smith and Joe Pouliot of Centenniel, Colorado minding the fort. Transload is run by one of our pals Ken Paulick back in Colorado, USA. They have many route systems and are always looking for additional pilots. Garry is a noted, professional aircraft painter. You can see some of his work at www.gjsmith.net |
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These two mates are Adrian Lazarotto and Dean Bielanowski of PC Aviator, based in Melbourne. You can see that they were selling both flight simulator accessories and add-ons. PC Aviator also publishes well-known Computer Pilot magazine.
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The FlightsimStore was the second retailer at the show. Proprietor Adrian Lehmann (hidden behind one of the shoppers), told me that his sales far exceeded his expectations. He brought a very large variety of titles which drew interest across the entire spectrum flight simulation categories. |
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Thi is Steve Laggerroth at the controls of an F-16. Steve is part of the 62nd Virtual Fighter Squadron, a networked gaming arena. Their impressive setup included four aircraft consoles, a viewing server and a control server which they used to demonstrate their very detailed missions.
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Melbourne Flight Simulators was demonstrating the Simkit line of flight instruments for home cockpit makers. They were showing a large variety of easy to install "drop-in" gauges. |
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This setup was from SimWorX. The chair was as comfortable to sit in as it looks in the pictures. This version is fitted with a 3-monitor setup to provide a wrap around feel. In addition to this one, SimWorX has a variety of flight simulator setups. |
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Home Entertainment Suppliers were featuring the Saitek line of flight simulator controls. HES is the official distributor of Saitek products in Australia. This gamer is seated in front of a Saitek setup to comfortably fly a light plane. |
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At Orbx Simulations they were showing highly detailed scenery enhancements for Flight Simulator dubbed Flight Terrain X. Their demo featured new ground terrain at super high resolution of 1 meter per pixel! They plan to have add-ons for sections of Australia by December.
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Next year, Ross has told us that OzFlight 2008 will take place at RAAF Base Amberly in October. For information about this upcoming show, please visit OzFlightSimExpo
As a side note, Abacus took advantage of the OzFlight 2007 venue to officially launch the newest version of the aircraft carrier add-on Flight Deck 5
One last note. When I first walked into the show on Saturday morning, I couldn't help but notice the two electronic ticket machines at the check-in station. Apparently they both got a good workout. I am told that the official count of paid attendees for OzFlight 2007 was just shy of 1200. Very impressive, Ross.
And one final thanks again to Ross for the invitation to the show.
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Author: Arnie Lee
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