My 2021 started with more than three months of long Covid (meh). The rest of the year worsened the pattern of the 2020, namely much less spare time, resulting in both less and more rushed content.
On the other hand, this is the year when I finally completed the study of the Intercept Geometry (besides the 50s and 60s – I do not have enough relevant material at the moment).
This is the year when I launched the first drafts of the book about the F-14 Radar Intercept Officer. I plan to add a few more chapters and then move to a general review phase, fixing contents, grammar and lexicon, and then, finally, release the first, polished version.
The timing cannot be better: the F-4 hinted a few days ago by Eagle Dynamics pushes me to grab and read again the 6-7 books I have about the F-4 Phantom II.
Thank you for your support!
In primis, a huge, heartfelt Thank You to all of you that supported me through the last four years, via Buy Me A Coffee, PayPal, or Patreon.
I honestly wish DCS was not such a niche, and making a living out of it was a reliable and tangible possibility. Unfortunately, this is not the case, at least when it comes to the type of content I make, and DCS and this website are doomed to remain “only” the hobbies I love.
Stats time!
If you are not new to these shores, you probably like numbers. Let’s have a look how FlyAndWire did in this quarantined 2021.
The number of views is up 29% (about 111,000; +25k compared to 2020), but the views per visitor ratio is down to 2.95. I expect this numbers to decrease in 2022 as a good part of the contents is now flowing into the “Virtual Backseaters” series.
Contents-wise, I wrote fewer articles, but on average longer. This is mostly due to the length of the Intercept Geometry study (note: this article is not included in the stats):
The most popular articles are quite unexpected (I removed the home page / archives / articles collections):
I’m not certain why the article about the A-6 is doing so well; it is probably due to the hype that the majestic A-6 Intruder generates.
The Simplified Timeline is always there, probably because it is simple to use and flexible, and I released the more complex version only recently.
The article about latlongs baffles me, but apparently the Back to Basics series is fulfilling its purpose.
…and lastly, the part you are all waiting for: Visitors by country of origin. Or, in other words, where is Goose actually from?
The US, as expected, lead the way, but the total of EU visitors (considering only the top 30 countries) is ~47%.
Looking forward
The probable arrival of the Phantom II, either in 2022 or 2023, urges me to get back to my books, studying the “new” airframe. However, a considerable amount of content is already applicable to the future module, since the syllabus of the F-4 in the 70s is surprisingly similar to the contents of the 825/02. Nevertheless, the primary objective is completing the first Virtual Backseaters book about the F-14 RIO, before moving to a second volume dedicated to the F-4 Navigator.
A final thought goes to Eagle Dynamics and all they work and effort they put into this game: I played LOMAC; I play the now-called DCS since the very first release of Black Shark I in 2008. I remember what an incredible experience was marking targets for Flaming Cliff 2 Warthog pilots with S-8TsMs, flying with human wingmen, using the PRTz to share contacts, and monitoring each other on the ABRIS. However, I would have never imagined what 13 years did to this game: DCS is now such an incredibly detailed simulation that is reaching well beyond the boundaries of what is considered “just a videogame”. Well done ED!
FlyAndWire 