Show Notes: In this episode Nicolas talks about their recent flying and why you don’t have a report at Leg 9 yet. They also talk about getting the ratio of respect and feedback right both as a customer and someone that editorializes in this small community of ours. While Nicolas remains critical of certain developers (the recent CaptainSim controversy comes up) they also recognize the fragility of reputation in this community. They conclude with a reminder of Wheaton’s Law and an acknowledgement...
May 27, 2021•18 min•Season 7Ep. 16
Show Notes In this episode Nicnac identifies the major components of their personal psyche; best articulated as an internal battle between Mr Spock (autism like) vs Homer Simpson (bipolar like) and how that battle impacts their struggle for wellness. Links Donate Twitter
May 25, 2021•19 min
In this episode Nicolas reviews their psychological history with a working Bipolar diagnosis and Autism Spectrum diagnosis (high functioning pre-DSM V Asperger’s Syndrome) and the highlights of their physical health history and how that impacts their path to wellness today. It’s going to take a lot to move those boulders in the road! But never give up. Keep trying Donate
May 23, 2021•16 min•Season 15Ep. 3
Donate Blog Posts Screenshots and Docs Show Notes: In this episode Nicolas pushes their flight sim skills as they continue their way northeast along Hudson Bay and across The Hudson Strait in The TS SR22 in XP11 from La Grande Rivière, Québec to Iqaluit, NU Canada. With the cold northern weather not abating. Nicolas considers the challenges that lie ahead with their planned North Atlantic landmass/island hopping across to Greenland, Iceland and Great Britain. With over 2,000 miles remaining will...
May 17, 2021•20 min•Season 7Ep. 15
Show Notes: In this episode Nicolas returns to the classic production style and muses on issues in their personal life and their system design skills which they have recently been trying to apply to personal life harm reduction. Links: Donate Flight Sim Services Twitter...
May 16, 2021•25 min•Season 15Ep. 2
Donate Blog Posts Screenshots and Docs Show Notes: In this episode Nicolas experiences “engine roughness” while on Leg 7 of their trip from Chico to Newcastle over James Bay in northern Canada. They talk about what they learned from their second in flight emergency and what they will be studying to make the rest of the trip go better. They also mention the incredible learning potential of The TS SR22 and their never ending quest for better flight sim hardware configurations that take up a more m...
May 13, 2021•14 min•Season 7Ep. 14
Show Notes: Nicolas starts out Season 15 of The Nicnacjak Podcast noting the early physical symptoms of middle age despite being over 2 and a half years from the theoretical mid life point and trying to get their head around the concept. Nicolas notes their recent efforts at life improvement and a perceived lack of progress but reports being reasonably prepared for this phase of life given their current circumstances. They outline their hopes and ambitions for the “other side of the hill'' notin...
May 10, 2021•11 min•Season 15Ep. 1
Donate Blog Posts Screenshots and Docs Show Notes: In this episode Nicolas makes a series of very questionable decisions while flying The TorqueSim Cirrus SR22 in the remote wilds of central Canada contending with icing conditions, poor weather and an instrument failure. While this virtual airplane can be used again and no pixels were harmed, Nicolas tries to use the experience as a learning opportunity as they continue their increasingly foolhardy virtual SR22 trip from Chico, CA, US to Newcast...
May 08, 2021•27 min•Season 7Ep. 13
Show Notes: Over the past 3 legs Nicolas has flown from Lewiston, Idaho to Thompson, Manitoba with stops in Lethbridge, AB and North Battleford, SK. In that time Nicolas has covered 1,095 nm complete with a harrowing crossing of The Rockies over Montana along with some nice easy stretches over The Canadian Plains and the beginning of vast stretches of lakes and tundra. Listen to ride along and hear what Nicolas has learned and the things going through their mind as they consider the challenges t...
May 06, 2021•42 min•Season 7Ep. 12
On Leg 2 of Nicolas’ virtual SR22 trek from Chico, CA US to Newcastle, UK Nicolas runs into weather, X-Plane transition pains and the ground at 208 fpm with a jarring G force of 1.69 gs. Fortunately no one gets hurt or dies in a pixelated world. Lessons were hopefully learned, and 636 nm have passed beneath the nose with 3,908.8 nm of learning to come. Leg 3 should see Nicolas cross into Canada and spend more time considering the challenges ahead. Come ride along! Links Donate Nicnacjak’s Flight...
May 02, 2021•23 min•Season 7Ep. 11
I’ve been flying The Torque Sim model of the normally aspirated Cirrus SR22 G3 in X-Plane a lot lately. What I haven’t done is taken advantage of the unique online virtual flying club that is Simply Magpie . So, to rectify this and improve my skills in The SR22 I am embarking on a crazy journey. The goal is to make the 4,300 nm (GCR) trek across North America and The North Atlantic from my home in Chico, CA, US to The Simply Magpie Hub in Newcastle, UK. This will require some careful flight plan...
May 01, 2021•29 min•Season 7Ep. 10
In this episode Nicolas talks about their attempts to manage life with 3 simulators on one computer while trying to decrease their sim time and improve G1000 and hand flying skills. They go over the vitals for their last few legs which took them from SFO to Crescent City via Seattle, Juneau, Sitka, Port Hardy, Seattle, Portland and Corvallis. No eventual destination. Just aimless simulated wonderings across 3 simulators in a mix of airliners and general aviation aircraft. Come ride along! Featur...
Apr 29, 2021•21 min•Season 7Ep. 9
In The Nicnacjak Podcast Season 14 Finale Nicolas reflects on their 15 years in podcasting and broadcasting. An unplanned career move that turned out reasonably well. Still, Nicolas expresses concern about the future of the medium as big tech tries to tighten their grip on content producers like themselves who have enjoyed relative freedom in an increasingly corporately controlled internet environment. Feedback Donate Flight Sim Services Nicnacjak.net...
Apr 27, 2021•18 min
On a whim Nicolas installed MSFS again. And, after doing a few flights with the Working Title G1000 over the past few days and hearing the news that Working Title is now part of the MSFS development team, Nicolas is finding themselves feeling more optimistic about the platform and it’s future prospects. Maybe once should let go of their bitterness at a certain point? Recent developments and Asbo streams about The SDK only adds more fuel to this newfound optimism fire. Hardware shortage considera...
Apr 25, 2021•24 min•Season 7Ep. 8
In this episode Nicolas shares their thoughts following their first month of membership in The Flight Sim Association . There seems to be ample potential to build a good educational and avocational online community so long as the goal of the organization is to maintain financial viability by educating and connecting people passionate about flight sim technology and it’s many potential applications. Other Sim Activities: Flying less: 7.31 daily average block time. Average flight length 4.69 hours...
Apr 20, 2021•22 min•Season 7Ep. 7
This episode finds Nicolas living in a very confused mixed reality surrounded by technology in an effort to obscure their own vulnerability to shelter issues. Still haunted by their brief experience with being shelterless half a decade ago, Nicolas attempts to process their feelings about the eviction of shelterless camps in Chico and Los Angeles and the limited paths to resolution. While taking the legal approach to challenging these evictions is the most viable it requires a massive amount of ...
Apr 18, 2021•23 min
In this episode Nicolas talks about what they’ve learned from building their own computer over the past years and their future technical aspirations. Links PCPartpicker Build List nicnacjak.net Donate
Apr 10, 2021•20 min•Season 14Ep. 23
In this episode Nicolas talks about their recent sim purchases (Orbx Juneau, The CaptainSim 767 and Air Hauler 2) and their reasons for choosing these add ons. They also talk about the real world aviation industry and their dream airliner for current conditions. Finely they mention changes they are making to their aviation social media and their ongoing entrepreneurial aspirations relative to simulation. https://twitter.com/AlongFs
Mar 11, 2021•23 min
In this episode Nicolas emphasizes the educational potential of flight sim and expresses a desire to work to further legitimize serious consumer simulation to the aviation community and industry.
Mar 04, 2021•27 min
In this episode some work flow issues with flight preparation cause Nicolas to think about the untapped potential for increased fidelity in flight ops simulations no matter what developers it ends up coming from (sim devs or companies that already produce flight operations software support packages for real world ops). Nicolas also talks about their desire for an updated performance calculator utility and airline financial management utility. Finely, Nicolas discusses getting back into online fl...
Feb 19, 2021•26 min
In this episode Nicolas goes back to the basics with General Aviation in MSFS 2020 and X-Plane 11. The limited functionality of the default G1000 in MSFS 2020 left Nicolas wanting even after trying a few mods. XP 11 was 1000x better stock and stock content can easily be supplemented with payware add ons. More importantly, though, X-Plane’s flight dynamics feel much more realistic and there is a seemingly endless selection of good freeware scenery.
Jan 18, 2021•44 min
In this episode Nicolas tries to get their head in a planning space for 2021 and the continued limited possibilities of living and working in the virtual world.
Jan 18, 2021•24 min
In this episode Nicolas talks about their recent exploration of General Aviation Aircraft in X-Plane 11 including The TorqueSim Cirrus SR22 and X-Aviation/Leading Edge Simulations Beech Sundowner. Both airplanes have been enjoyable as Nicolas looks X-Plane. Nicolas tried MSFS (2020) but gave up due to the limitations of the default G1000. Check out Nicols’ Sim Support Services @ nicnacjak.net
Jan 02, 2021•21 min
In this episode Nicolas updates listeners on their new Ryzen 3600 + Geforce 1660ti build. Nicolas commits to a future upgrade to The Ryzen 5000 series along with a 3000 series Nvidia GPU. Nicloas covers their recent experience with X-Plane 11 and The FlightFactor A350. Thinking ahead, Nicolas is waiting till their hardware improves before moving to P3Dv5 and MSFS 2020. Currently, Nicolas is struggling for v4 optimization and flight continued control failure.
Dec 04, 2020•54 min
In this episode Nicolas does their best to come up with a coping and survival mechanism for the times ahead. They conclude that the best approach is to develop a tight knit group of people that one can support and get support from. They also talk about their vote, the problematic mechanics of representation and the potential of the sociocratic mechanic. Finally, they mention their new flight sim service offers.
Oct 27, 2020•22 min
In this episode Nicolas ponders technology. Why do we have it? What are the resultant societal implications? Nicolas also ponders taking a trip to Seattle to visit the ghost of their adulthood.
Sep 08, 2020•20 min
In this episode Nicolas has a tepid reaction to the impending release of Microsoft Flight Sim concluding that the success of the franchise reboot will depend on 3rd party developers. Nicolas goes on to recount recent simming experiences including the conclusion of the 2001 Australia trip recreation with The PMDG 744 V3 and TFDI 717
Jul 13, 2020•15 min
In this episode Nicolas recounts and simulates their Spring 2001 flight aboard a Qantas Boeing 747-400 flight from Sydney, NSW to Los Angeles, CA. Nicolas also recounts their recent sim flights in The Aerosoft A330 and PMDG 747-8i. Recent stops have included Imagine Sim’s ATL, Latain VFR’s MIA, DD’s ORD, Aerosoft’s EDDF, FS Dream Team’s CYVR, Wing Creation’s RJAA and FlyTampa’s YSSY.
Jul 11, 2020•37 min
In this episode Nicolas renews their effort to revitalize and improve the show by focusing on detailing a simulated flight they made of their first flight as an airline passenger. The flight from KSMF-KONT was made special by Orbx’s Northern California and Southern regions along with the relatively close proximity to terrain seen on the Ziggy7 Standard Terminal Arrival Route into KONT. Please email Nicolas nicnacjak@gmail.com and let them know what your favorite sim route is!
Jul 04, 2020•12 min
In this episode Nicolas talks with Danielle Allen, a black woman organizer who wishes to share her story. Many thanks to Justice For Desmond for their hard work and dedication and for arranging this interview. For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/Justice4Desmond
Jun 05, 2020•41 min
