Originally Posted by
trf0412
Also, just how authentic does it feel? A friend suggested a more worthwhile enterprise, if I want to get a sense of flying, would be to take a real flying lesson in a Cessna, but surely flying a Cessna is a completely different experience to being at the controls of a huge passenger jet (albeit a simulated version of one, but something I would otherwise never get the chance to experience)?
It is absolutely correct that flying a light aircraft is a very different experience. If you're interested in what it looks and feels like to fly a large airliner, there is no substitute for doing the sim experience (given that it's almost certain that you won't ever get to fly a real large airliner!).
I imagine that unless you actually have some experience of flying a real large airliner, it's very difficult to know quite how authentic the sim is. However, my personal experience has been very satisfactory: doing reasonably normal things in the sim has looked and felt much like my passenger experience would lead me to expect, and I've also had to cope with handling features which I'd hear a little bit about in theory but which are different and quite surprising in reality (eg the strength of the pitch/power coupling on a 747). I don't know how much the BA sims are dumbed down for us, but for realism they have been in a different league from what's on offer at the
Emirates Aviation Experience in North Greenwich.
However, don't expect the "outside world" to look like real life. The visuals are good enough for you to get your head into the correct frame of mind for trying to "fly" the aircraft properly, as fits the machines' purpose, but they aren't intended to provide entertainment. I know some people who've been slightly disappointed by this.
Personally, I would highly recommend it. £320 for the hour isn't a steal, but any discount at all is relatively rare.
Context: Over my lifetime so far, I've done something like 7 or 8 hours in these sims, and a little less than that in real light aircraft.