Aging Veterans Are Using Oculus Rift To Fly War Planes Again

Flying days do n’t have to be over for aged vets . Thanks to Reddit userJwsimmons , who ’s been inspect assisted living homes with Oculus Rift for the past year , these former pilot get to have the plane from their glory days all over again .

To take the experience to life story , Jwsimmons tweak the massively multiplayer flight and struggle sim game War Thunder . He simplified the control condition and he disarmed the airplane so there ’s no actual fighting . That , with the key add-on of Oculus Rift , lets these aged dude feel like they ’re wing once again . And they ’re piloting exactly the same planes they flew back in their combat days — Wildcats , Hellcats , Corsairs , Mustangs , and a crew of other helicopters and planes from WWII and beyond .

Simmons has been doing this every month for nearly a year at two assisted living facilities in his area . He say it ’s somewhat much just a hobby . He ’s not looking for any Johnny Cash support or anything like that , even though other Redditors have provide it up : “ They were my hoagy growing up , and so much is owe to what they sacrifice . It makes me really happy to be capable to give a petite bit back , ” heexplains . And he ’s sour on other VR activities to bring into assisted support rest home . What a guy . [ RedditviaThe Verge ]