Thank you from Jim Bourke on sale of RealFlight
I am indescribably proud of the work the Knife Edge team accomplished developing the RealFlight simulator over the last 25 years. With this sale I am leaving the R/C industry, perhaps not forever, but it allows me a chance to reflect on the many people I've met during my journey. I set out as a young engineer full of vim delirious about my dual loves of aviation and computers and desirous of bringing these loves to as many people as possible. Looking back, at times I was downright obnoxious. But success sometimes favors the peculiar.
It's impossible for me to thank everyone who has been involved in RealFlight. From an original idea by Scott Kemp in the mid-90s, the software developed over two and a half decades through the involvement of many talented artists and software engineers. We loved making this software and we loved each other. Even when we fought, we fought over how to make RealFlight the very best it could be. We suffered through some lean years. We had some joyful and some sad partings. We worked many long hours, often to the detriment of our personal lives and relationships, but with each release we celebrated and recovered, and we never wavered from our goal of building the best R/C simulator that technology would allow.
I leave this amazing software in very capable hands. Horizon Hobby has secured more than the rights to the software, they’ve hired the RealFlight development team from Knife Edge and will continue with them in new directions. I retain Knife Edge's core technology which will allow me to refocus the company and continue to make best-in-class flight simulators.
The other day I went to a hobby store and bought a gift for a friend: an entry-level Horizon Hobby R/C plane. The person working behind the counter exclaimed, "You should get a copy of RealFlight!". I didn't say anything. I just silently enjoyed the moment. It's a moment I'll miss.
Jim Bourke
