British Airways flight simulator “trip” report
Jan 25, 2018, 8:51 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 140
British Airways flight simulator “trip” report
I know the subject of the flight simulators has been covered here before, and that there are periodic group outings there, but thought a greenhorn’s impressions may be interesting.
I had one hour in the 747 simulator in late December last year.
We had an ex-pilot as the instructor who showed us around the other simulators prior to starting. As part of this we got to meet the head of flight training who happened to be doing a pilot assessment and watched pre-takeoff drill in the 787 simulator. It was very interesting to see the different approaches and evolution of the cockpits from some of the older aircraft to the more modern. I have to say the graphics on the modern simulators were very impressive compared to the poor old 747 ones also.
The briefing prior to the simulator session was very interesting, going into a good amount of interesting detail about the instruments, basic aeronautics and landing procedure. I wasn’t expecting this so much, but it was a really key part to the day and added great value.
From the start, the experience in the simulator was excellent. We took off from Heathrow, flew low over central London to see the sights and buzzed my house (near London Bridge). After that we explored the collision warning system with the help of canary wharf and the banking ability of the plane — much more manoeuvrable than i expected it to be.
As we were in the right place, the first landing we attempted was one at London City — ending up with a touch and go for obvious reasons!
Over the next hour of landings i slowly took over more and more of the controls and added slight wind etc to increase the challenge. All of this was done in an excellent manner, really building up confidence. One of the things i remain surprised by is the tiller! I can’t believe that a whole jumbo can be directed by what seems initially like a manual car window opener.
The realism of the simulator is (unsurprisingly i guess) incredible in terms of feel and sound you get. When landing and applying the reverse thrust while bumping over runway lights the experience feels exactly like that in real life.
In addition to landings, we explored the collision avoidance system (ignoring our instructions so getting a nice close view of the underside of another place), the navigation system and did what i think was a category 3 landing — we saw the runway about a second before hitting it!
In summary, great fun from start to finish and I can’t recommend it highly enough to anyone of any ability that may be thinking of booking.
I had one hour in the 747 simulator in late December last year.
We had an ex-pilot as the instructor who showed us around the other simulators prior to starting. As part of this we got to meet the head of flight training who happened to be doing a pilot assessment and watched pre-takeoff drill in the 787 simulator. It was very interesting to see the different approaches and evolution of the cockpits from some of the older aircraft to the more modern. I have to say the graphics on the modern simulators were very impressive compared to the poor old 747 ones also.
The briefing prior to the simulator session was very interesting, going into a good amount of interesting detail about the instruments, basic aeronautics and landing procedure. I wasn’t expecting this so much, but it was a really key part to the day and added great value.
From the start, the experience in the simulator was excellent. We took off from Heathrow, flew low over central London to see the sights and buzzed my house (near London Bridge). After that we explored the collision warning system with the help of canary wharf and the banking ability of the plane — much more manoeuvrable than i expected it to be.
As we were in the right place, the first landing we attempted was one at London City — ending up with a touch and go for obvious reasons!
Over the next hour of landings i slowly took over more and more of the controls and added slight wind etc to increase the challenge. All of this was done in an excellent manner, really building up confidence. One of the things i remain surprised by is the tiller! I can’t believe that a whole jumbo can be directed by what seems initially like a manual car window opener.
The realism of the simulator is (unsurprisingly i guess) incredible in terms of feel and sound you get. When landing and applying the reverse thrust while bumping over runway lights the experience feels exactly like that in real life.
In addition to landings, we explored the collision avoidance system (ignoring our instructions so getting a nice close view of the underside of another place), the navigation system and did what i think was a category 3 landing — we saw the runway about a second before hitting it!
In summary, great fun from start to finish and I can’t recommend it highly enough to anyone of any ability that may be thinking of booking.
Jan 25, 2018, 9:36 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Jan 25, 2018, 9:42 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 140
Jan 26, 2018, 1:14 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: London / Hong Kong
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 56
When I saw the word 'redeem' on their website, I thought they meant we can use avois. Then realised it meant vouchers. I am sold by all your comments though, will look into booking one for summer.
Jan 26, 2018, 6:37 am
#8
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: London
Programs: *A G, OW S.
Posts: 996
The price tag is IMO well worth it - although I've never had to pay! I have a mate who's a training captain on the A320 fleet and there is a way in which they can take family and friends in at quiet times for a very reduced rate so I've had quite a few chances to have a go mostly on Sunday evenings or in the middle of the night.
On the last occasion he threw in an engine fire on approach to FNC in high winds and by the time we landed having had to abandon the initial approach and go round for a while I was probably sweating enough to put the fire out. It's certainly real and can be totally exhilarating and scare the sh*t out of you all within seconds.
Go for it.
On the last occasion he threw in an engine fire on approach to FNC in high winds and by the time we landed having had to abandon the initial approach and go round for a while I was probably sweating enough to put the fire out. It's certainly real and can be totally exhilarating and scare the sh*t out of you all within seconds.
Go for it.