Hello Everyone,
On this very day, 5 years ago, I joined Infinite Flight Simulator on my iPad Mini (I never joined the community until April of 2020). Upon getting a reminder that I see 5 years ago, which was a random reminder I made for myself to see in the future, I remembered something. I remembered all of you.
Over the course of the years, ever since I joined Infinite Flight, and the community along with it, I have never been let down by anyone present here today. Looking back from this very day, it made me think about all of you, and the great things you all have done in my life, and for this community as a whole. It makes me happy in life knowing others are happy, and caring for each other. With the Infinite Flight Community, I could not have asked for more from it.
I had never thought some community from some app on the App Store would change my life, and that most of these ’random’ users I would ironically get to know. This makes me sorta emotional to say, and I hate being emotional if you all know me: I really want to thank everyone for the work they have done here, since it really does show, and rub off on others - I could not ask of more from all of you.
After not so much consideration, I thought I owe it to all of you to share my appreciation for all of you. Thank you goes to the following:
Infinite Flight Team:
I remember on the first day I joined the community, the first thing I saw was a messages from a significant amount of the staff team (@Trey @schyllberg @Balloonchaser in specific). You guys really do never fail to impress me with your activity, care, and maturity for this community. You always are there, and just doing yo stuff. I really can’t thank you guys and the whole team more for all the stuff you do, and I want you all to know, you made a difference in my life: truly for the better. Couldn’t have done it without you guys, and I in all honesty don’t know how to pay back the debt, so I’m gonna leave that up to you guys.
Infinite Flight ATC Team:
Man I got a lot for these interesting group of people… I am going to start with @Shane and @LordWizrak. You guys from day one, even before IFATC were some pretty cool dudes, and I honestly wasn’t really sure if you guys were being serious or kidding half the time - you guys got some good humor. In all seriousness though, you guys really made a difference in my early days on the IFC, with your guidance on certain topics, and just hanging out I guess in the retrospect. Yeah, unfortunately you guys are not as funny as Ezzie (don’t know user tag on the IFC), but you will get there some day.
Now, fast forward in time to more of my early IFATC days, and a little earlier. I don’t know who to start with, so I’m just gonna choose at random. @AsternAviation I am gonna be honest, I had my doubts and was scared of you at the beginning, lol. However, as I got to know you, I realized you were a pretty cool dude. I don’t even know how to explain it, but you just were such a cool person. You knew when to be serious, and knew when to be hilarious. To this day, I look up to you for that and you kind of helped shape my more blunt, and serious personality in the recent months. Man, I don’t know how, but you went from someone who was not as talkative with me to someone who was absolutely hilarious and just someone you really could trust in life. I hope this shows you how much you make a difference in others.
Okay, I’m gonna bunch the next ones together for the sake of space, so this doesn’t get to long. @ToasterStroodie and @Thunderbolt man you guys were a breed of your own. You got the gist of things, you were funny, you were kind, and I don’t know why or how, but you guys improved my jokes, humor in general, and made me more serious as an individual. I don’t know the specifics, however I think Danny we started to talk a bit more about random stuff and got to know each other more. @Will_A we just became homies almost immediately after we learned that we literally lived 30 mins from each other. Not to mention, we also had a lot in common in regard to our experience with KHPN. Will you’re just a cool dude and probably one of my closest friends here on the IFC. Keep thriving man. :)
@Tyler_Shelton I remember when I DMed you about something regarding ATC and we got into something along the lines of a 20 minute conversation, haha. I just wanted to say your natural kindness and care for others is very appreciated. It almost seems as if you are always happy, or energetic! I want to commemorate you on that aspect of you, because it really rubs off on others and promotes the culture in the community. Without you running IFATC, it wouldn’t be the same without you I swear. It’s good to have you with us, and I want you to know, you are not just doing a service by controlling in the air, but you are also changing lives down here. I forgot to add @Will_A you and I have talked a LOT about KHPN and cool aviation stuff about home! I really appreciate your kind personality, and the cool conversations we had. I really look up to you man.
@TaipeiGuru @CitrusAviatrix @Zachary @Suhas @Rhys_V @nicopizarro @NJ24 @DannyHL I didn’t meet you guys later until I joined IFATC, so I don’t have a lot to say besides thanks for being good friends or people in general.
@Evan @I_AM_KOREAN_FOX @JarrettFlies @JulietTango thank you guys for helping me out with VA stuff back then, and just being some good people. You guys really did clutch up for me a lot, haha. It was always a pleasure to work with any of you.
@Declan @KyleBoas @Chris_Hoss @Drew @Ezzie @Ecoops123 @Michael_Sides1 @NewZealand1Super @Magician @Captainflight @FireCracker and all the other IFATC controllers I might have forgot to tag, I appreciate all of you, and the difference you made in my life, and during my time here on the IFC. I really could not have asked for a better group of people to support and help each other including me. :)
IFVARB Team:
@Jon_H , @mwe2187 , and @Tajay I remember those days when I was the CEO of a VA, in the application process. It started with the nice convos and standard stuff. However, over time you guys grew to be some close individuals in my group of people I knew here on the IFC. @Tajay and @Jon_H it was amazing watching you guys go from just some causal people to some really cool people I got to know. @mwe2187 out of everyone here, I feel like there is something about you that makes you very funny, and very caring at the same time. It’s almost as if you don’t even know it, and you are just doing it all the time. Keep it up man, and you chillin.
@Thomas_G , @MDoor , @Yacht , @CaptainZac and all the other IFVARB Board Members I want to thank you guys for keeping the VA community stable. I’m being serious, without you guys it would be much less structured, and the work you guys put in every week behind the scenes is not going unnoticed. Keep it up and keep thriving in the VA community. :)
Final Words:
Everyone else out there who I did not mention specifically today, you all matter to me. Just because you were not tagged does not mean I did not recognize you. All of you out there, I couldn’t have done it without you, and I, from the deepest of my heart want to thank you all for a great 5 years here with Infinite Flight and the Community. I don’t know how I can repay all of you, and I hope you all know that it is you that made the difference in me. Each one of you had your own impact, and that is going to take you all very far in life.
If any of you want to reach out to me, feel free to do so. I really could not appreciate you guys more than I am here and now. All the good memories that were made possible by this community, I can’t imagine what life would look like without them. Laura, and all the executives that went out of there way to do this, know it was not in vein, and from the bottom of my heart, it changed not just my interest in aviation, but a life of an individual as well - that is one of the purest aspects of human life. I want this not to just be about me, but a celebration to all of all of you. You all should be proud of yourselves for what you have contributed to this growing community of individuals coming together as one positive team.
Thank you everyone, and thank you for coming this far with me for 5 years! Let’s make the next 5 something to remember forever, and for everyone. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for all of us. So let’s go find out, shall we? :)
Kind Regards,
Ian