Aviation in Second Life…a novice pilot reports:

When somebody talks about flying in SL, it is not automatically assumed piloting an aircraft. Although I had seen planes for sale at in-world shops, I had not particularly in mind to have one of my own: what’s the use if you already can fly like a bird?
However, when I was taken on a flight by a friend I was immediately hooked and bought a two-seater steam powered Ornithopter. (An Ornithopter is an aircraft that has no propeller, but flapping its wings like a giant bat. The one I bought was created by Miss Virrginia Tombola, Aviatrix and Proprietress of La Bicyclette, Port Caledon)

My first SL flight as passenger in a steam powered Spiral Wing

Flying an aircraft (whether it be an Ornithopter, a Spitfire, flying carpet or a jet plane) is much different to a PC Flight simulator if you happen to know it; easier in a way, but a bit awkward when passing a sim border, as the plane tend to drop to the ground or even crash if the next sim is full. It takes a bit of time to get a grip on the controls, but once you have mastered this it is real fun to manoeuvre through the virtual air. When you have acquired an airplane or any other craft you need to find a place to rezz the thing and of course a start and landing strip, both usually provided at numerous Second Life aerodromes. Well known and recommended places are:
- Abbotts Aerodrome, Abbotts (160/160/75) Flying, skydiving, dirigible balloon and much more. The home of Cubey Terra, maker of the DIY plane.
- Connolly Aerodrome - Penzance A, Caledon Penzance (93, 37, 40) the base of the famous Royal Caledon Air Force.
- Minaki Aerodrome Rezzing Platform, Minaki (78, 37, 21) This is one of my favourite airfields (Well done Atashi Toshihiko), lots of space around, no nasty high buildings and a separate rezz platform. However…..But that is for a next BLog entry…be prepared to shiver my SL friends when I tell you about my recent nasty flying experiences in the adjacent sim….
- SANDBOX @ FlyinTails Airfield & , FlyinTails Airfield USF (95, 140, 51)
- Blue Airstrip, Blue (133, 30, 38) Actually two airfields in adjacent parcels in the sims Blue and Grey.
A very nice feature of flying in SL is that you can take your friends on a tour in the virtual air. When there is no place in the cabin, just let them sit on the aircraft wing and let the slipstream curl their hairs, a great experience.

How to start aviation on a low budget
A very good start into SL aviation is the Terra two-seater aircraft ‘Do It Yourself kit’ which can be obtained for free in the Meta Art Factory (boxed along with landmarks to the above noted aerodromes, and as a bonus the Terra Flying Carpet 5). The kit is comprised of a number of ready made sub-assemblies, such as wings, propeller, landing gear, seats, stabiliser, body, and wait, there is more: flying scripts and as a special bonus the famous Terra Flying Carpet is included
A comprehensive and well illustrated building manual (on a note card) is also included in the box. The best thing about this kit is that everything you receive can be modified, copied and transferred to create your own flying craft and even sell it if you think that you made something special. (A big thanks to Cubey Terra - http://www.cubeyterra.com/ who made this kit freely available to the SL community)

In this picture Lord Lisle is assembling his second plane (intended for modding into a different model). A copy of his first DIY plane with custom colours can be seen in the background. If you are looking for a nice ready to go learning project, which includes building, texturing and scripting, the TERRA DIY PLANE KIT is something for you. And when you successfully have completed the project you can pilot the thing as well.

My second plane
After some time flying around in the Ornithopter (which has good flying capacities!) my eye fell upon a replica of the famous Spitfire fighter plane. Flying in this plane is quite a change as it reacts differently to the Ornithopter and a couple of other free planes I acquired at the time.
Once I had mastered the controls I like to take a ‘dawn patrol’ flight, just cruising along the waters and grounds of Caledon, listening to the sound of the mighty ’Merlin’ engine in front of me....

Taking off for a night patrol at an aerodrome, somewhere in Second Life…

Lord Lisle returning from a flight with his Spitfire Mk.I.. Note the contemporary outfit, including a parachute

Life in the air and the RCAF
Although my time to stay in Second Life is limited and generally filled with chatting and visits to friends, I have found that the flying community in Second Life is a pleasant and friendly one which welcomes heartily anyone who is interested in this matter. Sin Trenton, a reknown aviator of the RCAF put it this way “..we flying people stick together..’

Sin Trenton and Lord Lisle discussing a mission at Minaki Aerodrome. Both their Spitfires are parked at the end of the runway.

Recently I joined the Royal Caledon Air Force, a group with many active members and weekly gatherings. Anyone interested in aviation in SL I recommend reading the RCAF Wiki at http://www.caledonwiki.com/index.php/RCAF and the BLog of the RCAF founder Zoe Connolly at http://zoeconnolly.blogspot.com/

Fair skies!

Shameless act of sabotage towards Linden Lab!

This unknown young lady has photographed in the act! If you have heard or seen anything suspicious around Guvernor Linden's manor last night please contact Linden personell asap!

She must be stopped !

Caledon,Oh Caledon! Happy 2 year Anniversary!

If you haven't been to Victorian-steampunk themed Caledon-sims (officially Independent State Of Caledon) yet now is the good reason to visit. Caledon has growed in size (33 sims, 2 62 688 m2) and population (700)more than anyone could have dreamed during last two years. Caledon is the place I go to relax ;to just ride around on my horse or sail in the Caledon Firth. You can start your tour in Caledon anywhere, but let me suggest Caledon On Sea, my personal favourite because of it's beauty. (I wish I could use windlight to see it, but my graphics card does not like WL). The events (and there is a lot) are listed in Caledon Events Calendar.

Caledon On Sea

More Wicker! Oblonski Garden Swings

Swings really swing and look pretty in your garden or patio. What is there more to say? :D

Model A is for a couple's together moments.

Model B with 2 sitting positions.

Maar Auer's Metaversal Greetings

Right then. I guess I should present myself also. Maar Auer, Metaversal designer. An artist: musician, dancer, graphic designer, a hopeless geek...

In June 07 I was contacted and asked if I'd be willing to give a live net interview during my first steps in Second Life. The bait on the hook was to attend an SL live ballet performance. My insatiable curiosity immediately raised its ugly, hairy head. SL? What the heck? I happily plunged straight into trouble; after a few careless mouse clicks, Maar Auer found herself clumsily bumping into pixels under SL the sun. Maar is a shortening of my RL name, and Auer means 'morning light in the horizon' in old fashioned Finnish.

No, I didn't make a habit of it at once. I grew roots like a persistent weed: kept returning every time I was yanked out of SL soil by merciless grid crashes. From the very beginning I was fascinated by the possibility of building things in a virtual world. Here was my chance: I had always admired acoustic instrument builders in RL. So why not build a lovely, fat ass double bass, a true big mama. I can't play that one in RL - but feel sympathy for those poor, apologetic musicians negotiating their huge basses into jam packed rush hour buses. Took me a loooong while, I can assure you, but boy, was I proud of my first creation, even before finding out how to add sounds or animations to it...

Dar's and my paths crossed earlier. Yolanda followed Darleez to take a look at my newly built house and all my creations. Well - we understood and befriended each other at first glance, and not only because of that bizarre burst of grunts called Finnish. These two powerful ladies asked if I'd be interested to join Metaversal Arts. As you might have guessed, I didn't see any point in hesitating this time either: head on towards trouble once again. (In general, I've noticed it's much more interesting to say yes than no, so.... >;)

MaarBaZaar has been a proud member of Metaversal Arts Shop since November 07. Instruments, animations, furniture... My passion lies in acoustic instruments (those beauties!) as well as animations. Being much too busy and very, veeery much too unorganized in RL, I'm not able to spend a lot of time in SL. Can't release new stuff often. But when I do, I do it with heart involved. MaarBaZaar's best selling article is Maar Auer Concert Grand, an antique grand piano, the result of endless hours of effort. So all the praise received from satisfied customers feels heart-warming and truly encouraging :) I had a scripter helping me with the awesome scripts in the lid: Moundsa Mayo, who since then has become a close friend also. I do script some, but only simple stuff, whereas he's a script artist. Yeah, better stick to where your talent really lies, isn't it.

Next release? I'm working on a lovely mechanical piano, with automatic music sheet rolls. It's almost ready now - so soon, soon! It will be released in two colour options, rosewood and ivory. Also I have a menuet dance coming along, intended to be used as an antique style ballroom dance, for multiple dancers. Fit for a king, so to say. Well, that's the goal at least...

What else? I love witty chats, playing music and performing, traveling, computers and green apples. I hate getting up early, cockroaches, shopping, money, cooking and spam. To mention a few.

To know more u just gotta IM me.

Metaversal Arts News

by Yolanda Hirvi
New Release from Oblonski: Wicker!
In some sims spring is already arrived...so it is in Metaversal Arts. I have been twisting some wicker lately and the results are shown here; wicker furniture for your garden or patio. The set is sold separately so you can mix and match as you wish. You can find the wicker furniture in the yard of Metaversal Arts Shop and in New Oblonski, Antiquity Township East.(Thank you to Lord Lisle for modeling with me in these pics)

The Grand Opening of Cherish-Metaversal Arts Island - sim scheduled to April 12th

The new larger Metaversal Arts Shop will be open late February or early March. The rest of the sim will be finished after that and we are celebrating grand opening of the sim in April 12th.

We are proud to present UKDproject with a amazing live performance of theirs.

Grand Opening of the New Oblonski was a hoot!

The Grand Opening of my branch store New Obonski in Antiquity sims was a succes. Thank you for the lovely people of Antiquity and Metaversal Arts Insiders who showed up!

Dancers from left: NosMo Beaumont, Hope Coakes, Starry Dreamscape, Yolanda Hirvi, Darleez DeCuir, SadieRose Beaumount and Ti Laval

Talented Creators Part 2 : Mechanical Toy Store of Jenne Dibou

by Yolanda Hirvi

This series of posts are written because I am just a fan of these creators. I dont gain anything by posting about them. I just like to point out the beauty there is..in our Second Life.

I have seen Jenne Dibou's work lately around SL in Caledon and Wastelands. Yesterday finally visited her main shop ~JD~Mechanical Toy Factory in SOL Solutions Island. She also makes apocalyptic stuff under the label .:Sine Patria:.

The Toy Store floats in the air..and yes I did fell..twice.

Her creations are really steampunky yet realistic in way that just makes my heart flip. (Yes it does that everytime I see something ab fab). This toy factory of hers and her associates products also prefabs and custom builds and designs of the whole sims.

Sculpture by Jenne Dibou

There is one that starts from Lonsdale Hungarian Center. It may be gone soon says the rumour so if you want to play the game and win great stuff of Mechanical Toy Factory you better hurry. And who knows.. I have a feeling we may play an adventure game in Metaversal Arts Island too in the near future...
PS. To read more about Steampunk visit The Heliograph .