Ever since discovering the Microsoft Flight Simulator on floppy disk, way back in the early 1980s, I was hooked. The gray and white screens before me—accompanied by a “tick tick tick tick” sound of a mighty Cessna 182RG’s 180 hp engine—was intoxicating. I could actually fly a real flight from point A to B somewhere near Chicago.
From the bustling city (shown with two huge skyscrapers) down to the rural farmlands of Champaign, Illinois, I think it was a 30-minute journey. This adventuring was something I felt a great sense of accomplishment with, and it kept this teenager quite busy and engaged when other friends at that age were usually bored or lost doing nothing.
