It's crazy to think just over 8 years ago Stuka and I (and the departed Founders) had this crazy idea to start our own organization. When we stood up/went "live" with the 476th it was around the same time that ED was moving from stand alone games (aka Ka-50 & A-10C) to the DCS World platform. Although we have flown joint ops with Hawgs and Hornets multiple times within the 476th to me yesterday's anniversary LFE was really the first time that I sat on the virtual ramp and thought "we're close to what we had hoped to have in the 476th" 8 years ago.
Yes the VEAO Hawk turned out to be a disappointment (no lets call it a disaster) but I can remember sitting around talking with all the founders and our vision to add more airfames in the 476th. Back then we hoped (obviously blindly) that the Hawk would turn out great and we could add that and offer specialized training. We didn't know officially at the time the Hornet was on the way but everyone basically guessed back then it was coming. Yeah it took a while but it's finally here. And I can remember many conversations over the years about how much we all hoped ED would produce an F-16, only to basically say "it ain't gonna happen." Glad it did (even if both the Hornet and Viper are no where near finished).
Look at this ramp, it's a thing of beauty!
We've had over 100 pilots have walked through the virtual door of the 476th with 33 pilots currently on our active roster. To those 33 that are still here, I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU for sticking around and my gratitude to those members (past and present) that have contributed over the years to the group through mission making, document creation/contribution, and flying over 33,000 virtual flight hours!
Lastly Thank Your Stuka, Trigger and Kampf for planning LFE Eight Ball!!! Yes DCS (and SRS) gave some folks some issues, some had to RTB due to terrible FPS but overall no one crashed into anyone, watching the departure and approach of tacview looked awesome and everyone that participated learned and will improve from it!
Here's to another 8 years (and beyond)!!
Snoopy