Welcome to AvGeekHangar. I’m Liam, and I would like to introduce myself as the writer behind the add-ons and liveries section of this community. I have a fair bit of history with flight simming, starting quite young. That came from always having a love for aviation, which has now led me into a job in the industry.
My first flight simulator was FSX; I still remember the days of FSX and how aviation really pulled me in. FSX was full of some chaotic moments, especially multiplayer. I’m 19 now, so I certainly don’t remember, nor lived, the much older flight simulators, and honestly I don’t think I would have coped looking back at how primitive they were. However, I give Microsoft and Laminar Research credit for working with what they had back then.
When I look at the history of the flight sims, you can really see just how far they have come. I will admit, I have never really played around with X-Plane, although I do remember dipping my toes in X-Plane 10. That’s where I learned how to fly a Cessna, correctly, for the first time. After that, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 was my next stop. That simulator impressed me; I think it impressed everyone. If you ignore the state it launched in, MSFS 2020 was a massive step up in flight simulators, and it’s where I got even more into the hobby. It was also where I began using checklists, charts, nav data and buying some of my first add-ons.
The only thing I regret is opening up my wallet every time a new aircraft was released. I have probably spent hundreds of pounds across MSFS 2020 and 2024, and that’s just on digital add-ons. I’ve spent £600 on a new GPU, £300 on a new CPU, another £200 or so on joysticks and MCDUs. It’s an expensive hobby; if you ask anyone, they’ll say the same thing.
I now fly exclusively on MSFS 2024, and I love it. Some people still have issues, and if you do ignore the very rare crash or WASM crash, then simming on MSFS 2024 isn’t all that bad in 2026. I use frame gen just to achieve playable framerates, but I am happily content with hitting 60FPS. Others prefer to hit over 100, but as long as I’m not stuttering or freezing, then I can accept 60FPS. Combined, I have almost 1000 hours of flight time on both MSFS 2020 and 2024. I don’t fly as often as I would like, but I do try whenever I have time.
This hobby has taken me quite far; I went to FSExpo for the first time last year, and that was daunting. Mostly because I flew to the US on my own, a few days after I turned 18. Sounds crazy, but I met some great people, got to see New York while I was there, and enjoyed myself. I am also a writer and editor for FSNews, and have been for over a year. That in itself is a great community of writers, all of whom enjoy the same hobby. I would say I have been simming for about 6 years now, and I do love it. It’s expensive, at times complicated, but it’s amazing once you get into it. I don’t fly in real life, nor do I have any desire to, but being able to fly across the world from the comfort of my room is something I can’t miss out on. I hope you all enjoy the content that will come out of AvgeekHangar. Happy simming!
