The B-17 “Flying Fortress” — the U.S. workhorse of World War II — often returned to the ground after suffering severe damage. Blogger David Dobbs, whose mother had an affair with a wartime flight surgeon, recounts some of the aircraft’s closest calls.

Wired Top Stories

Among the list of undeniably fantastic things about a flight simulator download is the fact that you can access it straight away. No need to wait on a DVD that you need to order arrive in the mail, or take a trip to a retail outlet. Quite often, whenever you download games directly to your computer or laptop they’re less costly as well.

No need to worry about installation either. A few simple clicks of your mouse button and the software downloads itself. A young boy or girl could very easily get it done. Top quality software package providers will even offer comprehensive support if you happen to experience any kinds of glitches or problems.

Think of being in the seat of an F-18a fighter jet. Or maybe you wish to fly the Boeing Jumbo jet from LaGuardia Airport to Heathrow international Airport. A few of the high end flight simulators also allow you to navigate other varieties of aircraft like choppers, zeppelins as well as the space shuttle.

You’ll be encountering true to life climate conditions including thunderstorms, thick cloud cover, haze and vivid sunshine. Additionally, you will be traveling by air at all times of the day and the nighttime including sundown and dawn. Of course, the more genuine the experience, the more satisfaction you are able to get from it.

It is crucial that you make sure that your laptop or computer is up to date and can very easily cope with the simulator’s graphics and the sound requirements of the flight simulator download. If you have a relatively new computer, it really should not be an issue whatsoever.

Some software packages are so state-of-the-art that they will have multiplayer capabilities. Which means you are able to engage in dogfights with state-of-the-art military aircraft. Think about flying around in a World War I Sopwith Camel, or a World War II Messerschmitt.

It’s also possible to take off and land in and out of a large number of airfields around the globe. You have the green light for takeoff around the globe. This means you are able to fly straight into international airfields like Hartsfield, and small airstrips tucked away on rural landscapes and in communities.

In the end, of course, it is essential that you determine precisely what you’re looking for in a flight simulation program. This way you’ll know which flight simulator download is right for you.

Even though I’m not a massive fan of many television shows, there have been a number of great comedy programmes in recent times which are still as hilarious now as the first time I watched them and definitely stand up to repeated viewing. Thinking about it my absolute favourites are generally those which take place in a different era from now. I’ve formed the theory that the reason for this is that a series based in the present will look old fashioned in a few years time – the references which are current now will no longer be, fashions and hairstyles will have altered and the whole concept will appear to be a bit jaded.

Of course for those programmes which are not set in current times, that issue doesn’t exist. Those which are set in the past are already dated, but in a such a way that we don’t object as we know it’s meant to be. So it’s more like reading a history book as opposed to today’s newspapers. Programmes which take place in the future, of course, only need to appeal to our imagination. It’s impossible to know if their depiction of life many years from now is even a little accurate, but it’s not a problem because it’s realistic enough to keep us interested and at the same time, it’s strange enough to make us curious.

I guess my three favourite comedy programmes (though not necessarily in this order) would be Dad’s Army, Blackadder and Red Dwarf. Having parents who were alive during World War II, albeit as children, I suppose it was inevitable that they would relate to some of the situations that the gentlemen of the Home Guard got themselves into, and the gentle humour with little more than subtle innuendo once in a while would have appealed to their sensibilities.

From my point of view, looking at it from a child’s viewpoint, I loved the two younger characters, Walker and Pike. I guess it’s natural for a child to warm to the people you stand the most chance of being able to relate to. Having seen countless episodes as an adult, I now see how spot on the casting was for every character, and it’s fair to say that, maybe apart from Ian Lavender, all of those actors will always be best remembered for their Dad’s Army character. Every part within the programme was just perfectly written, from Wilson’s middle class politeness, to Fraser’s typical Scottish characteristics, Walker’s ‘wide boy’ behaviour and Captain Mainwaring’s pompous leadership style. (And I’m sure he would have been ordered to have Laser eye surgery if it was these days? It would have been a drag to be constantly fiddling with those glasses in a combat situation!)

The creation of the Blackadder character was a great TV moment. The medieval prince, who starts to name himself The Black Adder, and his descendents wreak havoc throughout history throughout the four series, and the viewer witnesses a more and more devious Blackadder character, together with a progressively intellectually challenged Baldrick in the time of Elizabeth I, during the Regency and taking part in the First World War. Again, the casting was outstanding, especially the main characters. I’d be hard pushed to choose a favourite series, much less a favourite character, and the presence of so many renowned actors in most episodes makes the task even more unachievable.

Red Dwarf, at the opposite extreme, is set way in the future on a mining ship on which nearly all of the crew perished three million years earlier after a radiation leak. One human survived having been in suspended animation when the accident took place. For any folk not familiar with the programme, the the events that follow are possibly not what you want to read here. To those who are fans, I expect you’re already quoting pieces of the script as you read this! Again, the cast is extremely important to the programme, a fact which was more than proven after two US efforts at pilots for the show flopped disasterously. The four leading actors really made the characters their own, and I really can’t imagine liking an episode of the show with anyone else playing Lister, Rimmer, Kryten or The Cat. The incompetence of the crew only serves to make their adventures more amusing, though I’ve always wondered why a comparatively sophisticated spaceship doesn’t actually possess the Laser eye weapons that The Cat kept saying that they should use. But all the same, they always come out on top in the end.

There are other comedy shows which I also love watching – The Mighty Boosh and The IT Crowd are both close to the top of the list. And although they don’t exactly fall into the categories of past or future, The Mighty Boosh most definitely takes place in some type of nearby universe – a planet where a talking ape and a man who consists solely of a pink head are considered quite normal members of the community and where almost anything might happen. The imaginations of writers Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt must be exceptionally creative. I await the next series with interest and am totally expecting more strange and wonderful characters to appear – perhaps one with Laser eye sight, or another with roller blades instead of feet. In the land of The Mighty Boosh anything is possible! I think that The IT Crowd also partly exists in an alternate dimension – a place in which someone blurs the line between what could really happen and what has to happen to make the show a success.

I suppose, ultimately, that the fact that all of these shows exist in places beyond my reality probably explains why they appeal to me so much – maybe I wish to be somewhere else too. (Most logically in an opticians finding out about Laser eye surgery if I don’t stop playing so many DVDs!)

From 1939 to 1949, children everywhere didn’t have to look far to find a hero! Captain Midnight provided them with the action of a military aviator who took on the bad guys.

From mid-October 1939, this classic Old Time Radio Shows was broadcast in places where the Skelly Oil Company had many of its customers. Children in the midwest and southwest regions of the United States tuned in every weekday to find out what their hero was up to.

Bill Bouchey and Shirley Bell featured in the lead roles of Captain Midnight. Eventually, Captain Midnight’s lead voice actors would be Ed Prentiss and Paul Barnes.

The show’s namesake, Captain Midnight, was of course the center of the show. He was a flying ace in the World War I and his true identity was kept a secret, even from his commanding officers. The nickname ‘Midnight’ was based on a mission he once had where he returned at midnight completely untouched.

The show style of hero saving others, bringing order and fighting the bad guys was extremly popular with the kids. Children were also engaged because of his two sidekicks: Patsy Donovan and Chuck Ramsey.

Soon enough, the Old Time Radio Shows gained so much momentum that Ovaltine took over as sponsor and helped the show spread its outreach area. As the years passed into the early-mid 1940s, following the US entering World War II, Captain Midnight kept up with the events of the time. The Nazis and Japanese soon featured in the show.

A special club membership, known as the Captain Midnight Flight Patrol, soon took off and was a big hit with the kids of America, as children would receive upon joining a junior pilot card and medal to add a level of excitement to the whole process of joining. The show’s hidden messages were frequent, and so the pilot’s ID card and the medal acted as a decoder of sorts, adding a further level of enjoyment and excitement that kids would enjoy when listening to the show, to figure out what any hidden messages meant.

The show also provided children with action-packed shows that they could tune into Monday through Friday. Captain Midnight was known for its amazing sound effects that brought children from their living rooms to the battle lines.

Children felt like they were literally taken right into the heart of a dangerous yet heroic battle. And because of the excitement, children couldn’t wait to become a part of the action.

The Flight Patrol club was soon a popular hit with millions of children. The major themes of the day meant that Captain Midnight enjoyed success in the heart of America’s World War era.