This Second Life Pilot's Machinima Shows the Surprising Details of Virtual Flight

 
Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

File this one in the "Huh, I had no idea" box. I knew that people drove and raced all kinds of vehicles in Second Life, and that there were airports and landing strips specifically for a more realistic experience when flying virtual planes, but I'll admit that I had no idea that it went as far as controlling the articulated jet bridges passengers would be boarding through. But that's exactly what SL pilot Kevin McLaughlin does in the video above as part of his take-off procedures.

Just as interesting as this detail, however, is how the flight's take-off and landing procedures take twice as long as the flight itself. The flight from Second Norway to Hollywood. It's a notoriously short route, you know, what with all the jetstreams and such. 

I guess it's a testament to how much is possible in Second Life that almost 9 years since I joined (March 12th, 2006) I can still be totally surprised by what other users are getting up to. So far this video is the only one on Kevin's YouTube channel, but with any luck he'll post plenty more of his flights in the future.

Tweet

Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart on Twitter, Iris Ophelia in Second Life) has been writing about virtual worlds and video games for nearly a decade, and has had her work featured on Paste, Kotaku, Jezebel and The Mary Sue.

Comments

[Rin]

I have a nice helicopter I like to fly ... only that sim borders present a mortal danger to anything that moves faster then walking and even then it tends to be a gamble on how good the chances are to survive it when sitting in a vehicle.

Sim border crossings might have improved a bit over time, but are till faaaaar away from making an enjoyable flight (or drive or any vehicle based movement) possible :(