Well, my wife is away on a business trip for 4 days, the kids are at grandma's house while she's gone since I work some weird night shift hours.

So, I find myself sitting here in my empty house having just taken my after work shower. It's 5:30 am, and I sat down to relax a little while my hair dries before heading to bed for the day. I was browsing some old data Cd's to see what was on them, and came across some OLD scenery from back in my Combat Flight Simulator days. 

I used to run a specialized squadron in CFS 1. We were the Combat Search and Rescue Squad, a group of helicopter fanatics in a game where everyone else was flying the fighters and trying to shoot everyone else down.

Our Squadron Seal. 

   We were Rescue Specialists (pretty apparent from the name of the squadron, eh?) in that we didn't participate in the dogfights as combatants. My friends and I met almost every night on the old MSN Gaming Zone to play together, and one of the things we would do is a specialized match called MayDay.

   We would sit on the flightline on the ground in our helicopters while the combatants fought high overhead. For the combatants, the object of the game was to avoid being killed. Once they started getting shot up, they could dive for the ground. They were fair game until their wheels (if they had any) touched down. Once they were on the ground they could call a MayDay over the old Roger Wilco Voice Comm. (What we used to talk to each other before TeamSpeak came along.)  Once that mayday was broadcast, all attackers had to break off and leave them alone. Once their aircraft came to a complete stop without crashing, they would call for a rescue. One of our choppers would fly out to their smoking pile of wreckage, land and "pick them up". We would then transport them back to the flightline, where they could return to the Ready Room, refresh their aircraft, and rejoin the furball above. It wasn't uncommon for a pilot to land an aircraft that was on fire and call for a pickup, only to have his aircraft explode on the ground from the fire before we could get there. It was great fun.

   Anyway, the scenery I found was from our Squadron Base. Part of our base consisted of customised helipads for each member, with their nose art from their chopper on their pad.  I was looking in the texture folder at the pads, and wondering where are they now, and do they still sim in some form?  These textures were from the heydey of our squadron when we had 14 members, of which I only still have contact with two of today.

Our Members:

This was me. I was the Founder and Commanding Officer of the Squad.

 John Auger, Callsign Alert_1. A very good friend of mine that followed me from the fighter squadron we were both in (the 27th Sentai) when I decided to leave and form the CSR. John was my Executive Officer, and I still fly with him to this day as members of the Deer Valley Flying Club. I still fly FS9 while he as moved on to FSX, but I don't hold that against him, hehehe.

 Mark Reichard, Callsign Medic. Good friend and another member of the 27th that defected to us shortly after we left. Loved his Ian Standfast BK-117. Sadly we lost touch with Mark after a work accident left him with a bad back and unable to work. Last I ever heard from him, he was about to lose his house from mounting bills. Miss him to this day.....

 Charlie Armour (I think).Callsign Patrol.  Another friend from the 27th. Heck of a fighter pilot, death personified if you were on the wrong end of his guns. Last I heard from Charlie he was a rookie fighter in the UFC, but making waves and getting noticed. Called himself the "Hammer", if I remember right.

Steve, Callsign Guardian. Our first member not from the 27th. No clue what happened to him.

Scott Norris, Callsign Darth_Mutinus. He was our virtual aircraft mechanic. Even had a scenery built just for him, with workshops, parts warehouses, the works. Scott's Aircraft Sales and Service. Real good guy, he just got busy with real life and kinda faded away. Kept in touch for a while, but eventually lost all contact with him.

 Never knew his name, he was just Lar. An informal member, I don't think he ever officially joined the squad. he was a member of the H_Squad, the premier cfs helo squad. He just liked to come hang out with us, and play our game. He was always around it seemed, so we made him a members pad, even though he wasn't an "offical" member. Quirky guy, but lots of fun.

Our first member from outside the U.S., Bear was from Australia. He joined up about halfway through the 2 1/2 years we were a squadron, and was with us to the end. I used to see him occasionally over at Deer Valley, where he finally tracked me down. But, he had to move due to job relocation, and no internet faster than dialup where he went. Haven't seen him for about a year now, I guess.

Geoff Lovegrove, Callsign Ambo. Our second member from Oz, Geoff was a paramedic, also known as an AMBulance Officer, hence the callsign. He tried a stint with DVFC, but it was short lived. Last I knew he was one of the big wheels in the Virtual RAAF in FS9.

Ron Justus, one of my Buddies from work. Callsign Razmatazz. Ron and I still keep in touch. We have gamed a lot together over the years, through different flight sims, first person shooters, racing games, motocross games, you name it. Ron works maintenance now at Freeman Hospital about 45 miles away from me, so I see him in real life occasionally, whenever I can get down that way.

Red_Knight, Mutinus' son. He played with us when his dad was too busy to get on.

Jim Crockett, callsign Jester. Another buddy of mine from work. Lost contact with him after the manufacturing plant we worked at closed down.

Dan something, callsign Shaky. Another friend from the plant. Everyone called him Shaky in real life as well, due to a health condition that caused his head to constantly shake from side to side. I sometimes thought he prefered Shaky to his real name, hehe.

In our heyday, there were always 6 - 10 of us on the Zone every night, flying around for hours at a time. Shooting each other, Playing Mayday, challenging each other to landings on

H-Squads mountain scenery which was really ahead of itself for the time. Was a great time in my life, and being here alone stumbling across this scenery really made me wish for the "Good Ol' Days".

   Now time for bed, the sun's coming up. Better get some sleep, another night at the salt mines awaits in about 8 hours.

Ta-Ta!!

Joe