Thankfulness within SL

It's Thanksgiving Day in America. I've been reflecting on my 9 years in Second Life and today it dawned on me: In addition to being thankful for the many wonderful things in my Real Life, I'm also very thankful for the friends, experiences and memories of my Second Life.

Lately I've been thinking about the many happy years I've had in Caledon and the fun I had with the Royal Caledon Air Force.

The photo above was given to me by my SL friend and RCAF supporter Samantha Poindexter.

Throwback Thursday # 4 - October 2007

October 2007 - The photo below was taken at Desmond Shang's estate in Caledon. It captures the moment I placed a "deposit" on my part of what would be known as Connolly Aerodrome in Caledon Penzance.

I didn't know it yet, but I was about to have my best year in SL ever.

What's my second best year? I'm guessing it's this one. I'm almost two months into this great year using Second Life with SLGo.

Congratulations and Special Thanks

I would like to take this opportunity to give my special thanks to Dan Gervasi for taking care of RCAF Connolly Aerodrome for most of the second half of 2010, and also to congratulate Wrath Constantine as he now takes over management of this historic Caledon site.

Well done, gentleman!

~ Zoe Connolly
Group Captain, RCAF

Royal Caledon Air Force Bake Sale?

A suggestion from Samantha Poindexter...

Hi, everyone. I know my involvement with the RCAF has been minimal at best, but I'm a fan of the group, and of the aerodrome, which is one of my favorite places on the grid.

So. Stupid question...

Caledon sometimes seems to be the land of a thousand fundraisers. When the Cavorite Mines were on the verge of closing down, the Caledon Games were born, raising money for their continuance. I personally don't care for the mines at all, being claustrophobic, but I still took part in a couple of the events, picking up a bronze medal along the way.

As far as I can tell, the RCAF's fundraising so far has pretty much been confined to the members of the RCAF themselves. (And visitors who notice the donation balloon.) Why have we never had a bake sale, as it were?

Perhaps an air show would be a possibility, open to Caledon at large, with appeals for donations made at some point? Perhaps some other events? I will admit that I have missed most of the RCAF's major activities, such as the repulsion of the attack on Steam SkyCity, but I wonder whether anybody ever passed the virtual hat during that event? And if not, couldn't we have, to support Caledon's defenses?

For my part, I'd be willing to host a monthly trivia game with all tips going toward the rent, such as could be promoted both inside and outside Caledon. (I created http://tinyurl.com/sltrivia , and have connections in that community.) Or maybe yet another regular dance party...

Anyway. Possibly all this has been considered and rejected, possibly it's all a pipe dream, but I figure I needed to at least ASK.

Sincerely,

Samantha Poindexter
Chaplain, Royal Caledon Air Force

SkyPirate Attack on RCAF Connolly-Messmer Aerodrome

Recent reports from the ever diligent men and women of RCAF Intelligence were correct. SkyPirates were planning a vicious attack, and their first strike of the new year was given to us directly at our headquarters in Caledon Penzance during the late hours of January 27th.



By Divine Providence, no civilians or RCAF personnel were hurt in the attack.



Rest assured, the Royal Caledon Air Force is on full-alert and will bring these scoundrels to justice for their evil deeds.



Prime suspect in this incident: Zabrina McMahon, leader of the "SteamLand HellCats."

Financial Update - January 12th - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

Financial Update - January 12th - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

RCAF Meeting on 10 January 2010 - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

RCAF Meeting on 10 January 2010 - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

Our next scheduled meeting will be Sunday 10 January at 9:00 AM SL time. The meeting will be held at the officers club located 1000 meters above Connolly-Messmer Airpark Lot 2 in Caledon Penzance.

Attendees will explore a single topic at this meeting: Roleplay

Be ready to brainstorm ;)

RCAF Meeting on 10 January 2010 - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

Royal Caledon Aircraft Company Vendor now at Connolly-Messmer Airpark - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

Royal Caledon Aircraft Company Vendor now at Connolly-Messmer Airpark - Royal Caledon Air Force (RCAF)

Skyboarding back...

I'm happy to report I'm not leaving SL or SL Social Media.

Mind you... I'm not going crazy with it either.

But I feel great after meeting some like-minded aviation friends at the aerodrome today, and by-golly it just might all work out for the best!

I'll see you around the Grid and the SL Social Media Bubble.

more Connolly Aerodrome news....

First of all.... my sincere thanks to those of you who have offered assistance since my announcement yesterday. Your support is extremely helpful as the specter of a General Motors bankruptcy looms ever larger for our family.

Offers of donations are coming in and so far, we're on safer financial ground for both aerodrome parcels. What happens in a few weeks I can't say, but we're still in business for at least 44 52 days.

About the Aerodrome parcels:

The larger parcel is a 2048. Weekly Tier Fee is $1900 and as of today the meter is good for 44 57 days.

The smaller parcel is a 1024. Weekly Tier Fee is $950 and as of today the meter is good for 52 days.

Thanks to Josh Noonan for so generously offering 100% of his onsite aviation vendor revenue to keeping Connolly Aerodrome open.

Thanks to Excalibur Longstaff for his generous donation and also for creating a new tipjar. My old tipjars are gone. So if you're inclined to donate, please use the new balloon tipjar in the welcome-gazebo. The new tipjar is deeded to the RCAF group. Funds will be received from the tipjar, transfered to the RCAF group fund and then distributed to the RCAF Marshal (For financial convenience sake, since I manage the aerodrome parcels, the Marshal position is back in my hands from Phineas Messmer).

I cannot thank you enough. Pilots, Caledonians (and Pilot Caledonians) are a special group of people who come together in a crisis.

Our avatars may be prim and pixels but we're RL people on the other side of the screen. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your friendship and support.

Clear Skies....with love and friendship,


Zoe Connolly

Connolly Aerodrome and the Current Financial Crisis - Royal Caledon Air Force

Connolly Aerodrome and the Current Financial Crisis - Royal Caledon Air Force

My RL family is from Michigan in the United States. Michigan is one of the hardest hit states in the current economic crisis we're facing and has been in a recession long before the rest of the nation.

My RL sister (known as Uhura Markova in SL) has already been unemployed for months and my RL brother (Phineas Messmer) and I have been supporting her when we can.

My brother's job is on the precipice, and just needs a shove over the cliff from a General Motors bankruptcy for his job to be gone. When that happens, I cannot justify spending RL funds on virtual land when my siblings are in RL financial peril.

This is one of the saddest moments I've had in my SecondLife, and I've shed more than a few RL tears over this one....

It's entirely probable that I will need to sell the two parcels that comprise the virtual land known as Connolly Aerodrome in Caledon Penzance.

If anyone within RCAF has any suggestions about how we can save the Aerodrome, please do not hesitate to contact me as soon as possible.

Connolly Aerodrome and the Current Financial Crisis - Royal Caledon Air Force

We need a "RCAF Wants You!" poster

Guv'nah Desmond Shang is looking for a 19th Century themed Royal Caledon Air Force poster for Caledon Oxbridge. Your work could be one of the first things a new Second Life resident sees in Caledon ;)

If anyone would like to volunteer on this project, please contact Phineas Messmer or Zoe Connolly.

Aether Chronicles: A Guide to Caledon's Airfields

Aether Chronicles: A Guide to Caledon's Airfields

Many if asked will tell you the glory days of flying in Second Life have gone the way of the Dodo. While to a certain degree this might be true, flight in one form or another is still thriving in Caledon as evidenced by the many airfields spread through out our fair land.

My intention with the following primer is to highlight some of my favorite landing spots and perhaps aid you in keeping the shinny side of your flying machines pointed toward the heavens.

Part 1 Connolly Aerodrome.

Connolly Aerodrome

Aether Chronicles: A Guide to Caledon's Airfields

RCAF Pilot Briefing - Changes in January 2009

Attention all Royal Caledon Air Force pilots:

I will hold a pilots meeting at the Connolly Aerodrome following Sundays Dogfight (November 16th). All concerned SL residents are welcome to attend.

Reason for the meeting:

Due to upcoming changes to OpenSpace (VOID) Sims, our Organized Dogfighting Days will come to a close in January 2009. Come out and celebrate our last few weeks of multi-aircraft combat in November and December. I plan to capture as much video of our dogfights as possible between now and the end of the year.

We will still engage in one-on-one dogfights -- and with the growing number of super-villains, our roleplay within Caledon will most certainly increase ;)

We will also discuss our plans to use IL-2 as an offGrid air combat game platform for our dogfighting.

TEOTGAWKI

TEOTGAWKI = The End Of The Grid As We Know It

We have a few weeks left to enjoy some of the beautiful Openspace sims in SL.

Changes related to SL Aviation....

As long as present Openspace sims exist, I'll continue to schedule air combat dogfights until the end of 2008. There will no longer be any organized dogfights for us beginning in January 2009.

Although our main events will obviously change, EDF and RCAF will still exist.

Our communities live on in both the EDF and RCAF Nings, and for those of us who wish for an air combat experience there is a discussion on the RCAF Ning on how we may continue to dogfight on the web. There is still hope for us die-hard pilots, but SL is no longer a friendly place for our activities.

My own outlook....

I am profoundly saddened with the news from Linden Labs.

I will make some subtle changes to the Connolly Aerodrome in Caledon Penzance as we move away from traditional flight scripted aircraft to hovering-scripted craft. No need for a runway.

Far less spending on aircraft for Zoe and her alts. Good for Zoe's purse. Not so good for aircraft builders.

I imagine a less-active pilot Zoe after the New Year. But Zoe does so many other things and really enjoys machinima production. So I imagine Zoe and her alts accomplishing great things in 2009 and beyond.

I'll make a purchase of IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 in the near future. I've been chatting with Cornelius Fanshaw and Phineas Messmer about how we could create an active online EDF/RCAF presence in a combat flight sim away from SL. IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 seems to be a good combination of historic and alternate history aircraft that appeals to so many of us.

IL2-Sturmovik : Retribution

Air Combat and Celebrations for November 1st and 2nd

Everyone is welcome as we celebrate our Openspace (Void) sims and SL Aviation on Sunday the 2nd of November 2008....



On October 24th the Royal Caledon Air Force celebrated our first anniversary. RCAF was created prior to the Opening of the Caledon Penzance sim and The Connolly Aerodrome on November 4th, 2007.

Please note: November 1st and 2nd is a special weekend. On Saturday we have 2 scheduled dogfights. On Sunday we celebrate the past year and look forward to a happy and fun-filled future (In spite of the recent Openspace Sims Civil War).

The Schedule....

This weekends scheduled EDF and RCAF Air Combat will be Saturday the First of November at 9:00 AM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia, followed by another dogfight later on Saturday the First at 10 PM SL time, Combat system TCS, Location: Skies of Tomorrow in Extropia.

No official Dogfight on Sunday the 2nd of November, instead....

On Sunday the 2nd of November, instead of our official air combat, we celebrate RCAF, the Connolly Aerodrome, the Opening of Caledon Penzance, and in light of recent news about Openspace sims. We celebrate our Void Sims.

Location: Connolly Aerodrome in Caledon Penzance

If you would like to contribute as a DJ or offer free items for the celebration, please contact me via notecard or email * zoeconnolly [at] gmail [dot] com *

Many thanks to all the pilots and supporters of the RCAF, the aerodrome, and openspace sims.


~ Zoe Connolly

RCAF celebrates 1 year!

I'm proud to announce that the Royal Caledon Air Force celebrates our first anniversary today, October 24th. A year ago it all began!

RCAF was created prior to the Opening of the Caledon Penzance sim and The Connolly Aerodrome on November 4th, 2007.

An official celebration for both anniversaries is currently in the planning stages.

Many thanks to all the pilots and supporters of the RCAF and the aerodrome.

You make logging into SL a pleasure ;)

~ Zoe Connolly

RCAF Incident Report - Pirate Activity by Congalach MacMoragh

To Marshal Connolly
From: Group Captain Sumie Kawashima

========================================
Incident Report on Congalach MacMoragh
========================================
Date: 15th of October 2008 SL time, 2:30 PM

I was flight testing a prototype heavy-lift VTOL craft above Caledon Middlesea when I noticed a small airship circling below me. I made a mental note and continued my flight testing. As part of the flight, I wanted to take the craft to Caledon Highlands and get some engineering input from SimplyAmy Iwish.

I noted that this airship was headed on a similar flight path, seeming to shadow my movements. I turned my craft to face it, and was fired upon and then the airship fled across the Firth. The prototype is well armored and sustained only superficial damage. I pursued the craft and called for support. I chased the airship to the Lionsgate runway, where it had landed. I landed my ship and demanded to know why I was attacked. The pilot had dismounted his craft and commenced small-arms fire against my ship. Upon further demands from me as to why I was fired upon, the pilot stated that I had been following him. As I was discussing this matter with him, Wing Commander Cornelius Fanshaw arrived in support. Upon his arrival, the airship pilot boarded his craft and took off. Wing Commander Fanshaw engaged the airship in combat over the Firth, but the enemy craft eluded him at that time.

Thinking the danger had passed, I took my ship back to Middlesea, when I saw the airship pilot was now piloting a small boat across the Firth. I took a Yokokaze to do an overflight and was fired upon as I pursued him through the straits in Morgaine. A lucky shot disabled my plane's engine, requiring that I ditch it in the Firth. I swam to safety and managed to return again to Middlesea.

I next found the boat's pliot running on foot through Morgaine and into Brigadoon. I met up with Wing Commander Fanshaw (now with a jet-pack) along the western coast of Brigadoon. We cornered the enemy in a cave and I asked for his surrender. He promptly transmorgrified into a magpie of some kind before our eyes and flew out of the cave.

Seeing that we were dealing with a paranormal situation, I morphed into my Risen Demon form and attempted a pursuit. Fanshaw and I split up and tried to find the individul we know suspected as a pirate.

Thinking he had fled for good, Fanshaw put out another call that he was coming across the Firth in a small boat again. I sank this with a combination of demon fire and ice. The pilot then swam to a waiting mini-submarine and made a run into a small cavern in Caledon Wellsian. We exchanged rifle fire in the cave, but he escaped over the Firth again (flying).

I spied him running (in human form) in Penzance and pursued him through the commercial district and into the Gaiety Theatre. Gunfire was exchanged and we pursued him out into the streets once more. On several occasions I used some of my demon powers to hold him, but we could never quite capture him. He seemed to have the ability to break my power after several minutes.

Eventually he fled and I could not locate him again. I left the Firth after a brief talk with Elrik Merlin, who was patrolling the Firth by airship. I was later sent a photograph by the pirate that depicted a pirate flag planted on the runway of Lionsgate airfield.

END OF REPORT

Further Reading here at RCAF Ning Group

Where do you Rez?

This is where I rez after I login to SL. My home turf is Caledon where I have a skybox above the Aerodrome.



What do you see when you first rez inworld?

Dogfights in Extropia

Pilots of the RCAF and EDF will meet at the Skies of Tomorrow sim in Extropia on Saturday 02 August 2008 at 9:00 AM SLT for dogfight.

We'll have air combat for approximately 45 minutes.

Our theme is : "Fly Your Favorite"

As always, one-on-one dogfights are welcome in Extropia and select void-sim duchies in Caledon.


-- Phineas Messmer (filling-in for the vacationing Zoe Connolly)