The team at Microsoft Flight Simulator would like to take a moment to pay our condolences and provide tribute to a beloved member of the flight sim community – Anton Logvynenko, who passed away while carrying out a combat mission in the Kharkiv region on November 27, 2023.
You may not recognize him by his real name, but you may recognize his work. He breathed life into many beautiful Ukrainian liveries and sceneries in Microsoft Flight Simulator through freeware contributions, such as Kyiv City Landmarks under the alias TedStricker.
A passionate aviation enthusiast, he used Microsoft Flight Simulator to develop his own talents with creating various Ukrainian liveries and scenery and to practice his flying skills while waiting on his dream to go to Budapest to obtain a pilot’s license. He would often lend a hand to Pyreegue, a fellow Ukrainian 3rd party developer, on his projects as well. Pyreegue notes, “Anton also collected a lot of photos of the Odesa International Airport, which helped me tremendously during development and greatly contributed to its accuracy.“
Before finding his love for aviation, Anton was an avid maritime colorization and digital artist, meaning he spent a lot of his time researching ships like the Titanic and colorizing old photos, eventually forming the website https://www.history-in-color.com/. Along with this, he co-published multiple books on maritime history.
Anton also worked as cabin crew for AeroSvit, AtlasJet, and YanAir for more than 15 years combined before joining the Ukrainian combat efforts in April 2022. He explained his involvement in the battle with these words:
“I would be lying if I said I’m not afraid. It’s scary for everyone. I’m nervous. But I’m a man, and there’s a war going on. When we win, how can I possibly look our veterans in the eyes after our victory if I hide? Guilt and shame would eat me from the inside. It’s scary for everyone, no one knew how to fight when the war started, but we are learning to defend (our homeland), and fight the enemy.”
The flight sim community, as well as all the other communities he so whole-heartedly was involved with, suffers a heavy loss from the tragic passing of Anton Logvynenko.
He aimed to complete a flight around the world in Microsoft Flight Simulator and promised himself to finish it once he returned from the war. Unfortunately, he never had a chance to complete the route. If you would like to take a moment to memorialize Anton, we encourage you to download Kyiv City Landmarks, or any of his freeware products, and fly low and slow over Kyiv, Ukraine in Microsoft Flight Simulator to honor his life.
We send our deepest condolences to his loved ones and thank him for the countless hours he gave our community. His gifts enriched the lives of many and will continue to do so for a long time to come. Blue skies and tailwinds.