I want to float the idea of a FT outing to a simulator some time later this year. I have been thinking about this for a while but was just waiting to post to see what others thought and whether anyone might be interested, and if so how many.
A bit of background on my own experience so far. I am very enthusiastic/geeky about flying, and I know a few others on here enjoy what happens in the cockpit as well as just being sat in the back enjoying the champagne.
I have one hour in a Cessna 172 which I did last year, and which you
can read about here. I do plan to go for a PPL at some stage, but money and time needed mean it won’t be for at least a year or two yet.
I have also been for a couple of
Emirates sim sessions at their Aviation Experience near the O2 arena in London. This is very much at the more fun end of simulators. The only things that work on the cockpit are the throttle (inc. reversers), yoke/side stick, rudders, foot brakes, and gear. The primary and navigation displays work but you can't adjust anything on them. There is a speedbrake lever and a flaps lever, but neither work. All the buttons shown are just graphics, there are no working buttons. So basically it does feel like a very sophisticated home simulator, kind of FSX but sat in a simplified cockpit. It is not equivalent to a full simulator, and there is no motion. However, if you accept these limitations it is actually very enjoyable.
I also went to
Virtual Aerospace near Northampton in February on their 737 simulator. This is basically a fully workable fixed base cockpit with fsx graphics projected in front. More absorbing and real than the Emirates experience, but still not a full motion or fully wrap-around graphics.
I am also due to go to the
737 iPILOT simulator at Westfield in London in April so will see what that is like.
The
Virtual Aviation simulators at Cambridge seem to look good as well, and I would like to try them at some stage.
Lastly, the most realistic would be the BAFT simulators at Cranebank. I haven’t tried them, but
GodAtum has and
did a report here. This would be the most expensive and hardcore option - btw, have a look at
GodAtum's
A320 home cockpit he is building - very impressive!
So options might be
- Emirates Aviation Experience, London
- Virtual Aeropsace, Northampton
- iPILOT, Westfield London
- Virtual Aviation - Cambridge
- BAFT, Heathrow
Cost depends on what we choose and the level we would want to pitch it at. To give an idea, Emirates is very much at the fun end and this is reflected in the price of £45 for 30 minutes, whereas BAFT at the most serious end is £399 for 1 hour in a 737-400, or £449 for 1 hour in a 747-400 or 777-200. The other options are somewhere in between. I haven’t contacted any of them to see what they may offer for a group.
I realise we have a wide spectrum of experience on these things, but hopefully it would work. Maybe a group of 6-8 might be ideal. Anyway, if enough of us do want to do it we might look at a suitable date in summer or autumn, probably a Saturday afternoon since we can do this and head off for a few drinks in the evening afterwards.
Let me know what you think.