George wanted to be a fighter pilot for as long as he can remember. At the age of 13, George discovered he was colorblind. At 17 he discovered he had no depth perception; two factors that took his dream of being a fighter pilot away from him. It didn’t take away his passion for aviation, however. He joined the Air Force at 17 as a sheet metal mechanic and worked on the McDonnell Douglas F-15 as well as other airplanes. While stationed in Holland in 1981, he saw his first flight simulator at a computer show. George hasn’t looked back since. He has flown just about every simulator ever produced. He still owns most of them including his first, Jumbo Jet Pilot for the Atari 800. George conservatively estimates he has over 15,000 hours in the virtual sky but believes it is more than 20,000. George attempted to learn to fly helicopters when the first ones were produced for sims. He failed miserably for years, not being able to control or understand them. Then virtual reality came along and with 2 hours of instruction from an Air Force helicopter pilot, George was flying the UH-1 all over Nevada in the DCS simulator. George now owns several pay-ware and freeware “choppers” which he spends 80% of his time flying, but he has a special place in his heart for that Huey! George works at a library. Monday through Thursday George is a graphic designer, but on Friday he is a flight simulator instructor at one of the library’s idea labs, where he teaches people how to fly the library’s simulator. He introduces S.T.E.A.M. (Science Technology Engineering Art Math) to kids through aviation. He allows pilots the opportunity to practice flights before they depart on their real journey. He also gives people who otherwise can’t get a pilot’s license the chance to learn what it would be like to fly.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.helisimmer.com/news/now-hear-this/