We’ll admit something.
Until we became involved with FSimUK, we hadn’t heard of Authentikit.
And that’s actually one of the reasons we wanted to feature them.
Flight simulation is enormous. Yet depending on the creators you watch, communities you belong to and aircraft you fly, it can sometimes feel as though we’re all talking about the same aircraft, same products and same handful of subjects.
Then something comes along that reminds you just how much more there is to discover.
For us, Authentikit was one of those discoveries.
Authentikit has developed a range of flight simulation controls aimed particularly at people interested in recreating the experience of flying classic and historic aircraft.
It’s a pretty specialist corner of an already specialist hobby.
And we like that.
The project takes a community-led, not-for-profit approach and has built a following of thousands of people around something that many mainstream flight simmers may never have encountered.
It isn’t necessarily going to appeal to everybody.
It doesn’t need to.
That’s part of what makes communities interesting.
Personally, classic aircraft aren’t the part of flight simulation we spend most of our time flying.
But AvGeekHangar was never supposed to be a website containing only the things we like.
If we’re serious when we say community first, we need to look beyond our own simulator, aircraft and interests.
There are people building complete home cockpits.
There are Virtual Airlines recreating airline operations.
There are people flying military aircraft.
There are developers building scenery.
There are groups flying together from village halls around the country.
And there are communities recreating the controls and experience of aircraft from another generation.
Individually, some of those groups might appear niche.
Together, they’re flight simulation.
The problem is that they don’t always know about one another.
Authentikit’s involvement with FSimUK came about relatively late in the planning for this year’s event.
When the FSimUK team asked whether there might be a way of accommodating the project, we took another look at the layout of the Community Hub.
With a little rearranging, we found them a home.
And actually, we think they belong there.
The Community Hub isn’t intended to represent one particular type of flight simmer. It’s supposed to demonstrate just how broad this community really is.
So alongside the creators, community projects, modern simulators and everything else happening throughout the weekend, visitors will also have an opportunity to discover something they perhaps didn’t know existed.
Just like we did.
The more people we’ve spoken to while building AvGeekHangar, the more we’ve realised just how fragmented flight simulation can be.
There are thousands of people gathering in individual Discord servers, clubs, specialist groups, developer communities, Virtual Airlines and countless other corners of the internet.
Often they’re doing fascinating things.
You just have to find them.
One of the jobs we want The Hangar to do is make that discovery easier.
Not everything we feature will be something you’d buy.
Not every aircraft will be one you’d fly.
And not every project will be aimed at you.
But perhaps occasionally we’ll introduce you to a part of flight simulation you didn’t realise was there.
Authentikit has already done exactly that for us.
If you’re joining us at FSimUK, come into the Community Hub and discover them for yourself.
You might find another corner of this hobby you didn’t know existed.
