During every event, me and the team have attended since we have started working on FSElite in 2016 has always been something incredibly special. I am lucky enough to work with a passionate, dedicated, and engaging team of people who stop at nothing to provide great content for the community.
Flight Sim 2018 was no exception. The team didn’t let me down and 7 of them dropped everything to come spend a few days in England to meet the community, shake hands with their favourite developers, and even spend 4 hours discussing a past review. It’s just incredible how, after how all these years, it was the first time I’ve met some of these guys face-to-face. Even more incredible is the fact that these events really do allow us to meet the community in person, hear what they think about the website, what our future should be, and give us feedback on what we could do better. Shaking their hands, talking to them and giving them free biscuits is what we thrive on; and for that reason, I feel Flight Sim 2018 was another success for the flight sim community.
Of course, we weren’t the only people there representing our virtual hobby. There were plenty of developers including Orbx, projectFLY, FSLabs, Aerosoft, and of course, the organiser of the event: Just Flight. It’s also important to remember the smaller guys there too like Pilot Plus (excellent X-Plane developer), Virtual Flight Experience (737 Fixed Base Sim) and Fulcrum Simulator Controls (upcoming new yoke system).
There were also plenty of other exhibitors at the event who really impressed us such as the guys at Infinite Flight and Remex Software (the developers behind Deadstick Bush Flight Sim). With so many different developers, publishers and hardware makers participating, there was always something to see and do.
One of my favourite parts of the show was seeing such a range of people there. From the casual simmer who came to try new stuff, to the family man who has very little time for simming and just wanted to catch up on what is going on in the community. There were the enthusiasts who were there to spend money on new add-ons, and ready to buy the next piece of hardware for their £10,000 garage simulator. Children, families, groups of friends – every type of person was there – and everyone felt like they belonged there. The official word on numbers is that just shy of 2000 people attended the event this year – breaking any previous record.
Despite the typical rainy English weather outside, the whole place was buzzing and full of smiles. The stunning backdrop of the RAF museum also helps give the show a feeling of more than just a few exhibition stands set up for people to try new technology. There’s some incredible aircraft positioned around the area, all rich with history and detail. Even without the show full of flight simulation enthusiasts, it’s a great place to visit for anyone interested in aviation’s rather brutal past.
Exhibition stands are just one element of this jam-packed event. Throughout the day, numerous seminars took place. Infinite Flight started by showcasing what their simulator is all about, and giving people a reason to visit their busy booth. OldProp (FSFX Packages at the time) followed in epic fashion by releasing not one, but TWO products, along with previewing some new technology coming to X-Plane.
projectFLY, despite some technical difficulties, provided insight into what was happening with their future (though some things may have changed since then), and Orbx took people’s breath away with their featurette on TrueEarth Great Britain South. There were plenty of other announcements at the show including Laminar Research promising X-Plane 11.30 would be out soon and a few other tidbits from Aviotek.
What I would like to see next year is a bigger space for these seminars. The hall itself is pretty dark, small, and gets quite hot very fast. I also know that many people were turned away from attending some of the larger events due to overcapacity. When there’s nearly 2000 people there all keen to see the latest announcements, it’s going to fill up pretty quickly.
I was unable to attend the seminars as I was busy meeting members of our community. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great meeting everyone and being at our stand is always a fun place to be. I just feel that having all these great things to see and do in the main hall, along with a day full of interesting talks starts to give people this feeling of having a lot to do in a very short time frame. I said this last year and I’ll say it again: Flight Sim Show is now big enough to be a 2 day event. It gives people a chance to breathe, experience everything in far deeper detail and actually provides developers attending the event much more value for their time and energy. One day is great – it’s fast paced, always busy and thriving, but a two-day event will just allow for more time to experience everything that is offered.
I was lucky enough to also try out some new stuff including Orbx TrueEarth in X-Plane, the Fulcrum Simulator controls and also sit in the Pro-Sim A320. I’ve also got an article coming very soon on Infinite Flight, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Not only were we busy trying other people’s cool new stuff, but we were busy showcasing DCTRY (pronounced ‘Directory’) as well as giving away hundreds of raffle tickets for some excellent prizes from Aerosoft, Pilot Plus, MK-Studios, SimMarket and a whole lot more. All the winners have been emailed and a complete list is down below. We even set up a custom Snapchat filter for people to use during the day.
For some people, it was a bit like a two-day event. Many people in the development community drove up on Friday to set everything up and make sure everything was tested and ready to go. Then afterwards, many people stayed in The Mount Hotel – a small countryside village hotel with some stunning surroundings and quirky rooms. It was extremely pleasant and was the backdrop for a great social evening on Friday with lots of people from the community enjoying a drink or two amongst friends. It was a fantastic way to engage and share ideas and I was lucky enough to meet people I’d been eager to meet in person for many years.
It’s always bitter-sweet on the evening of the event. It’s exhausting, tiring, yet very rewarding. Seeing so many enthusiastic simmers express such a desire to learn more about our hobby is so motivating and encouraging. From a community perspective, it’s also a super cool way to just chat to people with the same interests as you. It really is events like these that make the difference.
If the show goes on for next year (let’s hope!), then I encourage you to come along. The tickets are insanely cheap for the enjoyment you get from it, plus you get to experience it in a environment full of aviation history.
Don’t just take my word for it, here’s what some of the other FSElite team members had to say:
It was my first time visiting Cosford, or any flightsim show, and I really loved it. I enjoyed seeing the amount of interest in the flightsim hobby, and the amount of work that is put into the hobby every day. The large amount of stands made sure the whole flightsim hobby was represented, including a lot of different simulators. Seeing the different virtual networks represented (IVAO, VATSIM, POCSON) and their different approaches to online flying was very nice to see.
What made the event a memorable experience for me was that I got to see the faces behind all the names online. I met a lot of people that I only knew the username of and that was definitely a very cool experience. Meeting and talking to the people that enjoy our website and receiving good, constructive feedback was definitely one of the highlights of the show.
Tjeerd
It was my first time visiting Cosford, or any flightsim show, and I really loved it. I enjoyed seeing the amount of interest in the flightsim hobby, and the amount of work that is put into the hobby every day. The large amount of stands made sure the whole flightsim hobby was represented, including a lot of different simulators. Seeing the different virtual networks represented (IVAO, VATSIM, POCSON) and their different approaches to online flying was very nice to see.
What made the event a memorable experience for me was that I got to see the faces behind all the names online. I met a lot of people that I only knew the username of and that was definitely a very cool experience. Meeting and talking to the people that enjoy our website and receiving good, constructive feedback was definitely one of the highlights of the show.
Patrick
Flight Sim Show at RAF Cosford brings our passion, and community together amongst some of the world’s rarest aircraft. This was my second time attending the show. It was incredible to see the jump in attendance from just one year ago. You could feel the excitement buzzing in the air as Hangar 1 began to fill with flight sim enthusiasts. I enjoyed meeting new friendly faces, and trying out simulators that I otherwise would not be able to try. One of my favorite booths was Deadstick Bush Flying Simulator. I enjoyed it so much I went back twice to try it.
Daan
A huge thanks from us to the guys at Just Flight for putting together yet another exciting show and we’re excited to see you next year!
Max
For me, it was the first flight simulation related event I had attended and that made it extra special. The atmosphere was incredible and I can’t wait to go back next year. Being able to both meet and stand alongside the rest of the FSElite team during the event was a pleasure and being able to speak with a large amount of simmers and developers is an experience I’ll never forget.
