Community Spotlight: Hawkeyededic

Pilots!

Every week we've been spotlighting some of the exceptional beta testers we've met on the forums and in-game. This week we're speaking with hawkeyededic. He's ex-USAF, worked to restore an old warbird, and owns some of the slickest rides around! Come get to know him a bit!

An Interview with Hawkeyededic

How long have you been a gamer? 

I started out playing video games on a Pong console, then Atari and Commodore 64. I did not really become a true gamer until the 1998 release of Combat Flight Simulator and the Zone game site from Microsoft. I was heavily involved in the CFS2 community for several years developing missions, campaigns and eventually building aircraft. I also put together the Korean Skies website and assembled the Dogpatch Crew to add Korea and the Korean War for CFS3.

What are some of your hobbies?

When I'm not playing computer games I'm mostly playing with my four young sons. I also enjoy fly-fishing and fly-tying in what little extra time I have.

What was your first MMO experience?

Everquest, I started playing EQ a few years after it was released. EQ will always have a spot in my heart as it is where I met the woman that became my wife.

Where are you from?

 Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA, within a stone’s throw of the Missouri River and Omaha, NE.

Do you have any military or aviation experience?

U.S. Air Force, worked on KC-135R Stratotankers during the early 1990's. Was also a volunteer crew chief with the Air Force Museum annex at our base helping to care for a B-25J Mitchell.

Tell us more about your service and museum experiences!

Having been a mechanic there is not really a lot tell about my time in the U.S.A.F, I spent most of my time in a repair shop fixing components or doing periodic inspections of the aircraft. I had several overseas TDY (temporary duty assignments) including Moron AB, Spain, Howard AFB, Panama, and RAF Mildenhall, UK, as well as a deployment to Riyadh AB, Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm.

It was during my time in the Air Force that I became interested in World War 2 aviation and I volunteered as a crew chief for the care and static restoration of a B-25J Mitchel that was on display at the bases US Air Force Museum annex. The plane was suffering from years of neglect from being on static display outdoors, and as a result was succumbing to sever corrosion. I helped with getting most of this corrosion under control and sealing the airframe to prevent water from entering the interior. It was at this time the announcement was made that the base was to be closed and the museum pulled out and dropped the funding for the annex. The museum was taken over entirely by volunteers and ran on donations. The B-25 was painted in a mixture of olive green and tan, her nose art being preserved, but almost all work on her ceased.

How long have you been playing WoWP?

I joined Beta on October 5th of 2012 and have been hooked ever since.

-What are some recent accomplishments you had ingame?

There are a couple that really stick out to me. First was getting jumped by two tier X's while flying a ME.262, managed to make myself a hard enough target that both T-10's broke off and went looking for easier targets. The other happened a few days before writing this; I chased a ME.410 to my teams HQ over the Pacific map with a P-51A, when we got the target area I found a ME.210 and a P-40 already there attacking the HQ area. A three-on-one dogfight developed, in which I shot down all three enemy aircraft, but had less than 25hps left afterwards. My team went on to win in both of these battles.

-What are your favorite planes?

In WoWP my favorites are the Bf.109G and I-16 (Late), in real life my favorites are the B-25 Mitchel and the F-86 Sabre.

What are your favorite aspects of the game?

The visual models of the planes and the overall graphics. Also a large part of the community that has already formed is passionate for the game and warbirds in general.

What about WoWP appeals to you?

The warbirds, I've always had a soft spot for the old warplanes from the late 1930's through to the mid-50's. Also the action and skill required to play.

Do you have any advice for new players?

Stick with it, WoWP like any flight game has a steep learning curve. Use the team training rooms to learn your aircraft; otherwise just stick with it, WoWP takes practice to get reasonably good at.

What’s your favorite and why?

National Park, it takes more than just flying skill, you have to keep an eye on the terrain below as you can get into trouble very easily if you’re not paying attention.

You can't talk about hawkeyededic without mentioning our player-made repaints repository!

What story would be complete without crediting the rest of your team! Hawkeyededic has two adorable copilots, and a very awesome wingman! “Yep all boys, wife says she feels outnumbered, only girls in the house are the cat and her.”

Thanks, hawkeyededic, for your contributions to the forums and for your beautiful artwork! We truly appreciate all that you do!

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