I was just thinking about my first mission in Flanker in 1996. That was my first flight sim and my first half hour was amazing to me.

I have no idea how I got off the ground or kept the plane in the air. But somehow there I was flying along and taking in the scenery.

Suddenly I looked down and there were two SU-27's at about my 9 O'clock low in perfect formation and going my way. They were at about 2000 meters and a little faster than me.

So I pushed a little throttle and tried to keep up and welcoming company in that lonly sky.

I was extremely curious about their destination and purpose --they appeared to have something in mind as they did not waver.

It was a beautiful formation by two beautiful fighters. Made me want to be a part of whatever was going on. So I did my best to stay up with them although it was no easy task for me at the time.

Turns out they were going back to base. I followed as best I could and slowed down to watch them land. What a sight

I wondered for a long time how they knew where the base was. I had followed them for quite a while and knew they could not see a base any better than I could. I was anxious to learn how to locate a base --- even though it appeared at the time to be somewhat mysterious.

My first ignorant flight was probably the best flight I ever had. I was in wonderment experiencing this new and almost mystical world I had entered.

How could this be --- me flying a jet fighter and seeing things from a high perch and high speed view. Even did a few rolls and almost wet my pants.

I hope all of you will never forget your first flight and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did mine.

One more story if you guys can suffer through it ---

I was flying the F-16 in Falcon 4. The mission was to fly high cover for a group of B-1 bombers attacking a rather large port facility.

After several uneventful minutes over the target area I decided the attack was over and the bombers had done their job. AWAC's declared there were no enemy fighters anywhere near the area so I lead my flight back to base.

I had called the tower and got vectors to land on the right runway on the two runway base. Falcon 4 was excellent with their tower instructions.

After I turned onto base leg I noticed a B-1 coming straight at me on an apparent base leg for the left runway. We were both at exactly 2000 feet and closing straight at one another.

I puckered and sat up straight and realized I would have to trust this guy to make a good turn onto final as I intended to do ---the tower instructed us when to make the turn so I just sat there waiting. As we got closer there were only two things that could happen ---we could collided into each other or this was going to be quite a show.

As luck would have it we both got instructions at the same time and made great turns onto final. I was sitting there with my jaw droping over this scene.

We both had the same speed and slope angle and were flying along almost wing tip to wing tip in perfect formation. What a sight.

I spent the next minute or so watching the runway and panning around to watch the B-1. Back and forth I panned trying to absorb the scene.

We both touched down at exactly the same moment he on the left runway and me on the right.

I wish I had a recording of that --it was absolutely amazing.

Thats what I love about flight sims --you never know what can happenh next ---fly the same mission twice and it never repeats itself.

i have been flying flight sims as long as i can remember and as so i have no memory of my first flight!

however i have one memory from first day i was online with Lock on, i had been flying IL2 online for several years but this was different!

i was steaming over the ocean towards the enemy in my F15.

on my far right i had a friend i think.
at some point we reached BVR combat range and missiles started flying, it had icons on so i could see their positions and the missile comming (i am a rookie) i had fired of 1 or 2 Aim120's and started at steep dive at full throttle to evade incomming missiles. Max G pullouts and frantic rolling forth and back and i evaded the first missile intended for me.
now i pulled my nose to the nearest bandit, a Su27, quickly locked him up short range on my radar scope and fired off 1 or 2 aim120
another wave of missiles came my way,i think there ware 2 R27's, i started a sharp left turn away from them and then back into them combining with a wild barrelroll...i was very surprised when i missed me again.
once again time to fire off weapons i pointet towards an enemy Su27 and fired off Aim9's. hit home almost instantly as he was very close to me.

i decided that here it was time to turn tail but before i could do a full 180 i was hit and began burning.... it was only when i then bailed out that i realised that i had evaded 4 or 5 missiles and shot down 3 enemy fighters...
on my first day online

afterwards i realised how intense it had all been, it happened in about a minute and my heart had been beating like crazy..i was almost sweaty but it was an awesome experience.

of course i had been practicing Lock on offline but only for like a month.

Not quite my first mission ever flown, but very early on in my Lockon "career". I was starting to fell a little more comfortable flying the A-10 (the aircraft I had decided to learn first). I'd downloaded an A-10 mission from a Community website, so I decided to have a stab at it. You know what they say about folks with a few hours experience - "they know just enough to get into trouble, and not enough to get out of it"

So I'm in my trusty A-10, flying this Single Player mission high in the mountains North of Sukhumi. Had taken out most of my targets, I get complacent and lose concentration for a second. I fly over enemy defences, take an Igla up the *ss and get some hits from a Shilka too!

What's the damage? Damn, lost the HUD and still one truck to deal with. Switch to cannon, come in at a dive angle that seems roughly correct, hose the target, BOOM! That felt good, never had to do that that before.

Pull away - chaff/flares... Feeling good about the last truck kill. Turn away and suddenly see blobs of yellow flashing past the cockpit. Something big fills my view and i narrowly escape a head-on collision. Oh Sh*t, I've hung around too long and an Su-25 has turned up looking for revenge.
I turn and try to keep my eyes on him.
Don't panic, don't panic! No HUD, but maybe I can hit 2 on the keyboard and use my ears and see if my trusty Sidewinder can lock him up. I get a tone - Blam! I toast the sucker...
Now all I have to do for a mission success is fly back to the coast and land.

FUEL 1500.
What the f*ck ??

Quick look to the fuel indicator and I realise I am the Exxon Valdez re-visited. Damn, I was so wrapped up in losing the HUD that I never noticed that I also took hits in the fuel tanks.

Fuel 800.
CLIMB CLIMB CLIMB.......

In a VERY short space of time, FUEL 0 and I am half brick, half glider. Luckily I can see the lights of Sukhumi in the far distance. I'm literally shaking with nerves as I attempt my 1st ever no engine landing. Manage to put her down in one piece - fanastic!

Whooping with joy, jumping around the room yelling "Did you see that??!!" to the cat,

No computer game has ever given me that level of satisfaction before. Maybe I need to get out more......

Show me a dedicated simmer who has never jumped out of his chair screaming for joy and excitement.

Hahaha guys, best thread ever!!
(and poor cat)

I had quite a few such experiences, 2 that I remember well was engaging =AH=FLANKERATOR and =AH=m108s on 169th server last summer just after I started flying online. I flew my favourite fighter wich is the Su-27; and suicidally blasted towards them both, missiles blazing.. I managed to kill flank, just before m108 got me. I said "GK!" and "woooow, I killed the great flankerator!!!" He was top ranking TCL bvr pilot and top ranking 169th pilot that month.. He responded in such a cool way that I'll never forget it... Something about him liking my style and politeness and etc, and next thing I know he invited me to join AirHawks.. Amazing moment for me! Next moment was a few weeks later when I was training under him, and managed to kill 4 enemies in one flight on the 169th server in a single flight with the su-27. The fourth exhausted my missiles, and I went agressive on #5 and was swithing to cannon, just as lasck of SA made me hit a mountain crest.. Amazing feeling. Normally at that time my ratio was well below 1-1. Another time was when I went for red awacs for the first time (also on the 169th server) in a mig-29s, and the server was crowded! I made terrain-following approach the first 70 km, then it becomes more open. A guy intercepted me and we merged. I managed to kill him with an ET, and headed onwards to the awacs. 2 more guys failed to intercept me, I managed to climb enough to fire 1 ET and 1 77 at the awacs inside NEZ (it died a fiery death,) and get back down. I kept managing my fuel, constantly flying below 20 meters. after maybe 20 km on the return, I got intercepted again, and we merged again. My last 77 missed and I only had 1 73 left. I managed to damage him with it, and had to finish him off with my cannon. When I landed, it was one of the most rewarding experiences in fromt of a screen ever! If I had a cat it'd get radardude's cats treatment

What I'm trying to say is that I love lockon.