March 1st, 2012. Finally leaving the ground, Nick heads for Spain; his home and focus for the next 16 months. He has built a legacy and a reputation in the FS community during an incredibly short amount of time at Angle of Attack.
He takes with him the grateful thoughts and best wishes from those that have had a pleasure of working with him, and those that had the opportunity to learn from him.
In late Summer, 2010, Angle of Attack was struggling to get it’s MD-11 Training off the ground and onto the Flight Sim screens of heavy metal (aluminium) lovers everywhere.
Our team started a few times with failed attempts to really nail down a project strategy that would work. Besides, the MD-11 is not your typical Boeing. In fact, it’s completely different from almost all aspects of operation. That is both the beauty and the challenge of the MD-11.
Looking for a new team, and people out there that could potentially help, I put my feelers out there. An innocent Facebook post did the trick. I got a reply from a young gentleman named Nick, a speaker of the King’s Tongue, hailing from right near the Thames River in London.
Nick seemed genuinely interested, and a solid individual. I didn’t want to go through a typical hiring process. I’d done that before, and it was for the most part a waste of time.
So we talked a bit about it, and I said, “Here’s a script for this MCDU tutorial. Make it.” (with some pretty please attached)
Nick passed this ‘job interview’ with flying colors. His skills were so on par with what we had already done, that there was basically no transition. In fact, he was much better than I was at filming in flight simulator, putting things together, and so on.
Truly organized and motivated, I invited Nick to join our team. We then started producing the MD-11 Training together.
Over the next 6 months, we labored, but mostly Nick, to complete the MD-11 Training. What resulted was our most solid and complete training to date. A true masterpiece that has not only won an award, but has also been the standard for training videos in the flight simulation industry.
But there is more than meets the eye with the MD-11 project. Something personal and emotional for me to even write about.
On the outside flight simmers see the MD-11 Training videos and love this great series. However, I see it and remember that I had someone to back me up. Not an employee or a coworker, but a friend and a good man.
On an early October day, I got shocking news in my personal life. My wife was leaving me, and intended to be in Utah from then on, rather than Alaska. As this came as a shock, I knew I had to stop all work immediately and work on only my marriage, focusing 100% of my time and effort to her during this critical time.
Nick immediately accepted the unusual request to answer and take care of all my email, and handle all business matters in my indefinite absence. He didn’t hesitate for a moment. I specifically remember his english accent, “Yes, absolutely, anything!”.
I could completely disconnect and focus. And that’s exactly what I did for a time.
It may seem odd to mention such personal issues publicly on a company website, but I simply wish to point out that Nick has been much more than a coworker. He was my friend and wingman during a very difficult time in my life. He had my back every step of the way, no questions asked.
Most of you know Nick not for the background work he did on the MD-11 Training, but rather, his popular videos on the 737NGX, and his lessons in GroundWork on our 737NGX Training.
Also, many of you will know Nick from his tenure on FSBreak. Always a joy to have on that show.
Nick will now be living in Spain for 16 months, as mentioned above, completing his flight courses and preparing for his ATPL to follow. I want to mention that he won’t be gone from the picture completely, but the time he’ll be able to dedicate to AOA will be very limited.
And we don’t mind pointing out during this big time in his life just how much he’s meant to us (So far).
That said, on behalf of the entire crew at Angle of Attack and our many dedicated followers: Thank you, Nick. You’re a very bright light in the flight simulation community, and we all know that you’ve proved your potential will take you far beyond the limitations of flight sim and into the cockpit of any heavy jet of your dream. Because, you’re just THAT good!
Throttle On, my friend. Thank you for all your service, hard work, and most of all your friendship.
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