However, the MH59. Virtual Air Base is a newly organised online community, most of its members came from the famous 42nd Red Hunters Tactical Fighter Wing online squadron. The MH59. is not the successor of the 42nd Red Hunters, but its traditions and beliefare still alive within the confines ofthe Air Base, thats why we feel it’s necessary to present the story of the 42nd Red Hunters.

 The idea of establishing an online squadron, arose in the minds of Reaper and Seaweed independetly before the millenium, but actions were only taken in 2001, when they fortunately met each other. Bird also joined the founding activities. The affinity of the founder members to russian technology and russian-built aircrafts made it clear that the squadron will be built around a russian-oriented simulator. That was Flanker 2.0 from the developer group Eagle Dynamics, which was prominent with its high-realistic flight model. With the creation of a homepage, arrival of new members was inevitable. Many of those, who joined in the beginnig, are still with us, however some members also left due to private reasons, or expereinced technical difficulties. Establishing the 42nd Red Hunters VFS (Virtual Fighter Squadron) was a milestone for the hungarian simulator society, since this is the exclusive online fighter squadron in Hungary, specialized in jet fighters. Nevertheless, IL-2 World War II flight simulator also played a significant role in the squadron’s life. An article in the magazine Aranysas (Gold Eagle) also boosted our popularity.
  Organized flights, attendance in online wars and arrival of new members made it necessary to set up a strike squadron, but that would introduce major changes for the 42nd Red Hunters VFS. Seaweed’s leave, who was one of the founding members, and the arrival of the Lock On: Modern Air Combat – successor of Flanker 2.0 – made the squadron members to make their long postpointed decision. Thats how the 42nd Red Hunters TFW (Tactical Fighter Wing) was born in September 2003. The Wing was composed by two squadrons: the 51st Foxhounds – renamed to Vultures after a while – flying with MiG-29 Fulcrums, and the 33rd Lawnmovers striker squadron, equipped with Su-25 Frogfoot attack aircrafts.
   The Wing’s first contacts to István Koncsik and JETfly were established at these times. The product of this relationship was the I. Hungarian Flight Simulator Cup, which was partly co-organized by the Wing. At that time the real fighter pilots were able to use their superior knowledge, so the wing’ s members were only able to secure the second and third place. The situatuion changed dramaticly during the II. Hungarian Flight Simulator Cup, where the first six places were taken by Wing members. This achievement was commendable for the wing, but also scary, because it showed how far the hungarian simulation community was lagging behind.Sadly the Wing alone was not strong enough to change this situation.
   After the Cup, István Koncsik had the idea, that the prospering cooperation in the civil sphere could also be introduced to the aera of online combat flightsims, in form of a cooperation between a virtual and a real fighter squadron. Considering, that some of the Wing members are real fighter pilots or technicals at the Kecskemét Air Base, (MH59.) the choice was not so hard. The Air Base’s commanding staff had a good response on it, so until the spring of 2005, all obstacle were removed, the MH59. Szentgyörgyi Dezső Virtual Air Base was founded. Since the 42nd TFW had now an official connection to the real MH59, the members of the Wing decided to start this adventure with a clean slate With the emergent of the MH59. Virtual Air Base, the 42nd Red Hunters TFW ceased to exist. The Virtual Air Base tries to provide a place for those, who would like to fly online in a friendly community, where they can improve their exsisting knowledge, and experience the joy of flying together – although it is of course only virtual. On the other it aims to promote the aviation simulator branch of the hungarian online society.
   Beside flying online, the Wing has set up many communal engagements, like visiting airshows and airfields, sailing and uncountable cheerful LAN parties – where collective flying is less important, then being together. Thanks to all these, relationships between members are growing tighter, so now we are not talking about an online community anymore, but about a fellowship. We hope, that our endeavour encourages more and more people to develop interest in simulators, and maybe some of them will also join us.
 

Névadónk, valiant Szentgyörgyi Dezső

Dezső Szentgyörgyi born in 1915 in Kőkúttapasztó. He finished his studies in Enying, and was 18 years old when he voluntarily joined the Royal Hungarian Defence Forces, and graduated exquisitely at the two year long aeroplanedriving-school in Székesfehérvár. In his first technical status he was attended by his superiors, and because of his intelligence, efficiency and as a man of grit, they found him capable to be a fighter pilot. He finished the curse on high-grade. In the World War II he fought in the battles over Hungary as a trained fighter pilot. At this time he was operating at the 1/2 fighter squadron.

   By May 1942 he was moved to the eastern front as a pilot of the legendary 1/1 „Dongó” (Wasp) squadron from Szolnok. He flew on RE-2000 and the Messerschmitt Bf-109. He spend nearly 18 months in the operation zone, where he grew to the most efficient fighter pilot, with 141 actions, and 7 air to air kills. After the frontline, he moved to the home airforces into the „Puma” (Cougar) squadron which was deployed in 1944 to defend the state. Until the end of the war, Dezső Szentgyörgyi had passed through more than 300 missions, and had 33 air to air kills.
  In 1945 he became a prisoner of war. One year after he was employed at the MASZOVLET as a passanger-plane’s pilot in Li-2 until 1950. The political riots of the fifties don’t spared him. With charge of perfidy he was arrested and jailed. He released in August 1956. Thaks to his fortitude, diligence and strength he could get back to MALÉV. He was talent, so he moved up on the echelon. As a captain of IL-14 and IL-18 planes he was one of the best pilots.
 In the front of Kastrup airfield of Copenhagen, during a landing maneuver hi plane fall into the sea. The legendary pilot had only three weeks unti retirement. The causal of the accident is still unknown. He was a kind of man that after die, doesn’t matter that he lived 55 yeras, but he flew 5 million kilometres. Modesty, austerity, helpfulness, high skills and comradeship described him during his career.
  To really know who was Dezső Szentgyörgyi, we must conjure up the small but important moments of his life. One of this moments was in the war, when he was in Austria and could gone everywhere he wanted. Rich countries would welcome him because he had enough knowledge. But he came home, because he believed that he has to. His first application to the MASZOVLET was denied. But the soviet leader was cloved to him, in face of the conscience, that Szentgyörgyi had shot down 27 soviet airplanes. He knew , that this man isn’t a fascist, but a perfect pilot. All of the veterans had respected him. The gloss is simple. His was a MAN, all with large letters. In a dogfight, when the Mustang’s pilot couldn’t response the fire, Szentgyörgyi gestured him: Go home! He thought the war is for two things: first to defend your country, and the second: that still alive, who shoot at first. So if someone can’t shoot, he couldn’t even be dangeorus right there at the right time, and so far as, not an enemy. His encourage was near grim. In the war, the Puma squadron stayed in the field of Wiener Neustadt for some days. They lived in wooden barracks, the planes were in the boxes. One day, Dezső Szentgyörgyi was preparing for making pancakes, but an air raid was coming. Everybody was running, the comrades were taking cover. The „visitors” had gone after twenty minutes, and the guys had went back to the barracks. Much to their surprise, Szentgyörgyi was spinning the pancakes, while whizzing, and joking his friends laughly. He wasn’t mulled by anything during the war.
   His whole life is an irony of fate, because he fought in the war successfully, survived the political persecutions, did one’s a bit on the hungarian civil flight’s expansion, but he couldn’t live his retire.

  „Our leader is courage, luck is our wingman” – is still the slogan of the Pumas, which described the whole life of Dezső Szentgyörgyi.