I started building this simulator in December 2021 after I acquired a full cockpit section from a 737-800. The original airplane last flew for the Indonesian airline Sriwijaya Air (MSN 30636) and was dismantled in Arizona in 2020.
The cockpit was picked up and transported to my home in Orange County, California where I named it the Orange County 737 sim (very original! š.
As it normally happens with these aircraft, most of the interior parts were removed. Over time I have been able to acquire about 95% of the real OEM parts and have been working late nights interfacing it. Even adding Active Control Loading to all 3 control axis using the software that I wrote.
The goal is to rebuild this aircraft 100% using real parts and make it 100% functional with the simulator software. Building this simulator and having the full support of my family has allowed me to mix my passion for engineering and aviation, making it an extremely rewarding and fun project. Meeting a ton of great people in my journey who have been extremely helpful. Iām looking forward to making it more and more functional and spending lots of hours with friends and family flying it. Looking forward to doing WF in 23 and having an amazing group of friends and people with skills and passion for aviation.
Ā
Ā
Fabian Betancur
Shane Tillekeratne
“Captain Chemtrails”Ā
Iām just a long-time simmer and AV geek who turned hi
s dreams of becoming an airline pilot into a reality. My āsimmingā experience goes back to Microsoft Flight Simulator 95. Flight Simulation has been not only a hobby but also a passion that led to pursuing an actual career as an airlineĀ
pilot. Today I have been fortunate enough to earn the title of āCaptainā at a Real-World US Legacy carrier on the Boeing 737. In addition, I also hold type ratings in the A320, B757, B767 & CL65 aircraft as wellĀ
as being a currently certified flight instructor (CFI/CFII/MEI). With approximately 7500 hrs of real-world time and countless hours on the sim, itās my pleasure to be able to participate in this yearās World Flight with Team Cali Crew. Outside aviation I enjoy the thrill of driving sports cars and riding motor
cycles. After participating with one Worl
d Flight event previously I definitely look forward to using my experience and knowledge to help again in such a charitable cause.
Anthony Gimenez
“Shadow”
Hola, my name is Anthony āShadowā Gimenez . I have been a flight attendant for 7 years, and a sim pilot since 2004. My passion for aviation is unlimited, especially when I meet people who talk about it. I am in the process of completing my PPL and then will be working on getting the rest of my ratings. I am a new father to a beautiful 8 month old named Violet, and my amazing wife Arieanna has been very supportive on my passion and love for aviation. I have always been part of World Flight from my home and tried to following along as much as I could. Last year I finally had the chance to join in on a team and help with building the PCās for the sim, help calibrate the screens, and meet amazing people who shared the same passion for aviation as I do and fly the event with a real scaled full sim. I am super excited that I have the opportunity to help build this team from the ground up and a great honor to be part of the team for many more years to come!
Ā
John Porter
āPilot Porterā
Hi, my name is John and I definitely have āthe bugā. Ever since I can remember I have always been interested in everything aviation. I was told by my mom that at a very young age one of my first sentences was āwoah! big plane!ā. Seems fitting! With the help of family I was able to turn that first sentence into my first flight lesson, only it wasnāt what I would call, a big plane. After a few years of on and off training, I was able to pass my Private Pilot checkride! Since then I have logged a total time of over 200 hours, mostly PIC. However this isnāt the end of the line for me, as Iām working towards my Instrument Rating and Commercial Certificate. You can bet that CFI, multi and ATP are not far after that! My dream is to fly for a major airline, and give back as much as I can to the aviation community. I love the community we all share in aviation, it is a home beyond a home. Joining this World Flight with the Cali Team is a true blessing and a nice way to build connections, grow and learn, all the meanwhile itās for a great cause!
Quinton
Ā “Shaq”
My names Quinton AKA Shaq. I work as a AA ramper in Charlotte NC, Father of 3 beautiful girls and future pilot. When Iām not working Iām either with my family, cooking/ eating, sleeping, flying or simming. Aviation is a part of my life as it runs in my family. Itās allowed me to meet my wife and make amazing friends. I look forward to this team we all are on a journey to do great things. Stay Dangerous everyone!
Ā“Ā“
Angelo Cosma
“ZLA_Pilot”
Angelo Cosma, 32 years old. Had a passion for aviation since my teenage years, got my Private Pilots license over 15 years ago and havenāt stopped flying since. I work for a major North American Aircraft Manufacturer and my specialty is in Flight Simulation and training. My prior career I was with the FAA in Air Traffic Control training. I have been simming since Flight Simulator 2000, and still enjoy the hobby to this day. I have an IT background, love to cook, and travel any chance I get.I am fortunate enough to get to share my life with beautiful wife Melissa, and two muts Chewie and Maci.
Ā
Ā Hadley “Sheer Insane” W
Hadley has loved aviation since he was a little kid. From his uncle taking him flying to spending thousands of hours in all type of simulator games. Hadley hopes to pass on his love of aviation to his two kids. Hadley did his first world flight event in 2022 with Team SoCal. For the year 2023 he will be apart of CaliCrew. He is looking forward to having another successful event. From providing his Technical knowledge from being the lead technician for Team SoCal to just providing onstream entertainment. Hadley is excited to be apart of it all.
Ā
Robert “Douggy Doug” D
Since my first flight on a Southwest 737 in 1990, I have been bitten by the aviation bug. I began flying flight simulators starting with Microsoft Flight Simulator (FS95). In 1997, I got my first taste of flight with an intro flight with the Young Eagles program flying a Cessna 172 at KWJF. In January 2001, I began my career in the airline industry as a flight attendant. After more than two decades in the airline industry I have held numerous roles including security, safety, operations, stations, and more.
In January 2020, I reached one of my goals and received my PPL. As I continue my career in aviation, I look forward to enjoying the camaraderie of Cali-Crew.
Ā
Ā
Ā
“How do planes fly? How does it stay in the air for hours at a time?”, wondered while quietly sitting at the window seat on a flight that seemed to last forever. These questions were enough to intrigue me and my journey in aviation began! From watching videos on YouTube to try and get my questions answered, came across flight sim videos and discovered a whole new world. I quickly got myself P3D and started flying. The rest is history! Deep into flight simming, I decided to share my passion began streaming! Someday, I hope to become a real-world pilot and continue my passion! With World flight, I intend to inspire more people and be a part of this huge charitable cause.
Ā
Ā Mariano Flores
As a kid in 2006, after a trip to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, I returned home with a fresh copy of FSX and got to playing as I was fascinated in these flying tubes of metal. Fast forward a decade later and I finally began digging further and further into the world of aviation and have developed a new love within it. I enjoy travelling the skies all over the sim world and flying all kinds of planes, although exclusively the 737. Outside of the sim world I enjoy playing/watching soccer/football which I am also very passionate about. Here in Cali Crew I am excited to share the passion of aviation with others and create memorable moments with each other. I am extremely thankful to be given the opportunity to be here and participate in something that is for a good cause all while having fun. Keep climbing š
Ā
Ā Luke (FOGoAround)
Currently full time stay at home dad to two wonderful kids 1 and 3. Long time aviation enthusiast flying planes from GA to the big jets ATPL. Flight simming since 1994 after I was in a plane crash as a 12 year old. Deathly fear turned into an interest, interest turned into a hobbyĀ and that hobby turned into a passion.
Ā
IEFlyingRamper
Ā
“I’m Aaron, also known as IEFlyingRamper (IE: Inland Empire). I got my start in the flight simulation world back with FlightSim 95 and it really kicked off with Microsoft Flight Simulator 98. I’ve worked on the ramp for various contract vendors since 2003 and airlines that no longer exist like Great Lakes Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines ‘Branded’ operations in 2008. I was last with Southwest Airlines in DEN, SNA and ONT from 2015 to 2022 when I left and went to ATP Flight School. I’m a commercially rated, multi-engine pilot volunteering my talent and time with Civil Air Patrol as well as Mission Flight where I fly Cessna 172s, Piper Cherokee 6 and SIC typed in the Metro III flying doctors, dentists, nurses, other supplies and staff to conduct clinics throughout Mexico. I’m glad to be here, serving, learning and having fun with other like minded individuals.
Ā
Hi, my name is Charles Gray. I work as an IT Analyst and I’m a father of 2 amazing children. I have been fascinated with aviation since I was a child. Growing up, my family went to countless air shows and air races, fueling my passion for flight and motivating me to learn and experience as much of it as I could. Since then, I have strived to expand my knowledge and experience by obtaining a Student Pilot’s License and owning each release of Flight Simulator since Flight Simulator 95. I have dedicated a large amount of my life to aviation and can’t wait to take my next steps with the amazing people here at Cali Crew!
Felicia “CaliSimmer”
Hi everyone! My name is Felicia aka CaliSimmer, and Iām super excited to be a part of this amazing World Flight team! Iāve had a passion for aviation for a very long time! Ever since I was a litle girl and my mom worked for Continental Airlines and I got to fly in the simulators that pilots trained in, I was hooked! Ever since then, Iāve had a love of aviation. Iāve traveled globally and throughout the states and every time Iām a passenger, Iām always amazed at the technology of flight! Being able to flight sim, gives me some of that thrill when Iām not actually flying in real life. So now that my youngest child is about to start college, Iām ready to fulfill my dreams and pursue my PPL. Until then, I love to flight sim! So I’ll see you in the skies! Iām thrilled to be here!
![](https://cali-crew.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CaliBio-scaled.jpg")
Jimmy
Ā
Though working in the IT industry, my passion into aviation and flight siming has never decreased ever since getting a copy of FS9 many years ago. I have always been fascinated by how efficient the modern-day air transport system has become thanks to the tremendous amount of engineering in it. Being a flight simmer allows me to experience these engineering masterpiece of modern aviation (including airliners/planes, for sure) on the firsthand while being able to virtually travel and do sightseeing (MSFS is really a masterpiece in Computer Graphics). I’ve been regularly flying on VATSIM and is now willing to take a step forward in my passion with World Flight this year. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to be here. I’m so excited to work with like-minded people with the same passion, while being for a good cause!
Robert Perez
Robert Perez , 29 years old, Orange County , CA. Had a passion for aviation since as long as I can remember and always dreamed of becoming a pilot one day. Iāve been a flight sim user for over over 15 years now going back to the early days of FSX and now currently enjoying MSFS 2020. In the real world Iāve been flying for roughly 15 years and have over 5,000 hours of flight time.
Through the use of flight simulator I was able to aid my real world flight training and by the age of 17 I earned my Private Pilots License. Shortly after that I attended ATP Flight School and by the age of 19 I was an Instrument and Commercial rated pilot also holding full flight instructor certifications (CFI,CFII,MEI).
Iām currently fortunate enough to be flying for a real world US Legacy Airline flying the Boeing 737-800 and 737-900 aircraft. In addition to the 737 Iām also rated on Airbus A320 series aircraft as well as Embraer 175/190 series aircraft.
Ā
Mike Gurga
Hello everyone, my name is Mike Gurga. Got bit by the flying bug as a kid at our family reunion flying a Cessna 177 Cardinal with my uncle. From the ground to the sky was the ultimate goal, Been flight simming since 1994, currently own and operate a Sim center “Extreme Flight Simulation” with a Flight Deck Solutions Boeing 737 in the Chicago area. When I’m not working, I’m out on the water boating during the summer with family and friends along and traveling during the winter to escape the bad word “SNOW” . Truly grateful to be a part of The Cali-Crew for this year’s world flight to help raise money for Angel Flight West charity.
Gavin “Ghonco69”
I’m an aviation enthusiast with a fervent passion for flight simulation and all things aviation. From the first moment I sat and took offin a boeing 737 , I was captivated by the world of flight. This passion has led me to explore the intricacies of aviation, from understanding aircraft systems to mastering navigation. In this lifelong journey, my passion for flight simulation and aviation continues to grow, taking me on new adventures and thrilling experiences. It’s a passion that keeps me grounded in my dreams and always reaching for new heights in the world of flight.
Coming Soon
Ā
Ā WorldFlight Team Cali Crew (Nosotros)Ā WorldFlight Team SoCalĀ WorldFlight Team USAĀ WorldFlight Team Virginia
Ā WorldFlight AustraliaĀ WorldFlight Team MangroveĀ WorldFlight Team PerthĀ WorldFlight Team AirbusĀ WorldFlight Team Illawarra
Ā WorldFlight Hamilton NZ
Ā WorldFlight Team SimfestĀ WorldFlight Team Velocity
Ā WorldFlight Team Germany
Ā WorldFlight Team TurkeyĀ WorldFlight Team JeeHell A320
