A customer's 737 flight simulator experience ...

"Arriving at the premises I was warmly welcomed and invited to "check in" and choose the particular flight adventure that I wanted to "captain". Making this choice was in itself a challenge, when presented with an impressive array of scenic possibilities with varying grades of difficulty. These included scenic Hawaiian island hops, challenging Austrian Alps destinations, crowded skies approaching Heathrow, and the particularly famous skyscraper-scraping arrival into Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport.

Help was at hand in the form of Nic - a friendly staff member, and I chose to fly into Innsbruck, Austria, with just the minor matter of those majestic peaks on either side of the narrow entry valley to contend with!When my time arrived, armed with extensive aviation knowledge based on an experiment as a kid involving a sheet of plywood, a sand dune, and a windy day, I entered the aircraft cabin area and was incredibly surprised at how much more relaxed and confident I was feeling after the quick 5 minute information session. I was able to kick-back in the business class seats and enjoy my latte while taking in the short briefing video.

Entering the simulator was something else! No amount of pinching was enough to convince myself that I hadn't just stepped onto the flight deck on the real thing. Looking out the window at the airport with the Austrian Alps looming in the distance was completely convincing. The complex array of instrumentation was overwhelming, but my instructor quickly show me the basics of what was what, and helped me get a handle on the few controls that I NEEDED to know about.

Taking off was actually quite straight-forward, and although I was convinced it was going to get harder as we went on, the continual patter of simple instructions coming from the other seat kept me on the straight and narrow in the wide blue sky! As we skimmed some of those alps and started descending into one of the valleys, I had another moment to be hit again by the stunning level of realism.

As we circled the airport and lined up for a landing, the workload increased - but I still had time to mop some of the sweat off my forehead!. The instruction was clear and concise, and I managed to land that 737 beautifully - twice! - apparently just 1 bounce is sheer brilliance for someone with plywood based experience.

We climbed off cloud 9, came back to reality, and before I headed home I was presented with some flight mementos in and a DVD of the experience to prove that I actually flew a 737."

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The day I flew a 737 !

"It was a warm sunny day in January 2010, when I got my chance to fly a 737. After Neil, my instructor, briefed me on how the controls worked and what I was expected to do it time to was to push the throttle levers forward until they reached the stops. The thrust from the twin engines started to move us down the runway until it was time to "rotate" and pull back on the yoke!

As we accelerated down the runway what an experience to feel the power of those engines rushing us along and the aircraft lifting off the ground and to think it was me at the controls of a 737 passenger aircraft and we had passengers on board. At about 200 feet altitude I started to gradually push the yoke forward and turn slightly to starboard (right) until we were flying level, but still climbing until we reached 20,000 feet, when the instructor set the correct course and put us on autopilot for a short while. I could then sit back and look at the view out my side window, a few islands and lots of water and a few clouds, and enjoy the sensation of smooth flight. My instructor then briefed me on what I had to do to land this aircraft. It was not just a matter of going straight into the landing strip, we had to descend in stages, which we did, and as the airfield came into sight I had to correct our rate of descent and speed, wheels down, flaps up, a slight turn to port (left), keep the runway in centre, and down we came, a perfect three point landing. Back with the throttle and reverse thrust and the instructor applied the brakes and turned the aircraft around until we were facing the way we came in.

After a short break we were off again; full throttle, back on the yoke and up we went into the wide blue yonder. This time I was told to fly over the harbour as there were two cruise ships in port. The Department of Civil Aviation may complain, but we flew a 2000 feet directly over the two cruise ships and had to turn to starboard to miss the hills behind the harbour. We then flew around the island to view the buildings and the beaches that made up this island paradise. It was then time to return to our base where much to the passengers’ surprise, I made another perfect landing.

This was without a doubt a great experience and one I shall remember for a long time. Now I feel I must explain that we never really left the ground, and our flight was over the Virgin Islands, thanks to Simsation who have built a simulator of the 737 aircraft. It MUST be experienced to appreciate the knowledge and training a pilot must go through to get their wings. And my passengers on this flight, my wife Doreen, my two sons, one daughter-in-law and granddaughter with boyfriend plus another granddaughter. If you ever get the chance go for it, it is wonderful!"

Bill, Lauderdale