Welcome to the pilot’s seat…
Absolutely no experience is required. Prepare yourself for the thrill of a lifetime as you take control of a multi-million pound, full motion flight simulator.
This is your opportunity to fly a Boeing flight simulator, normally reserved for the exclusive training of professional pilots.
First you will be given a 30 minute pre-flight briefing including flight deck instruments, controls and systems. Once your training is complete you will be at the controls from take-off to touchdown, including start-up and shut-down. All of this under the instruction of a British Airways pilot.
You may either enjoy this experience exclusively or have one additional guest accompany you. They can either watch or share the flying time with you.
British Airways Flight Training
http://www.ebaft.com/
Gift voucher for Boeing 737, Boeing 757 or Boeing 767
1 Hour Flight: £399
3 Hour Flight: £1,197
Gift voucher for Boeing 747 or Boeing 777
1 Hour Flight: £449
3 Hour Flight: £1,347
Flying a 747 simulator at British Airways
by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.
To my delight, I got to spend an hour flying a 747 simulator at British Airways’ facility at Heathrow. It was a stunningly good illusion—the best VR I have ever experienced. Rediffusion Ltd. built the simulator, which cost about $13 million.
The visuals appear on a spherical zonal screen about 12 feet from the pilot and copilot seats. The physical setup faithfully models the interior of the cockpit, and the instruments faithfully display the results of real avionics—the steering yoke seems to fight back properly.
The whole pilots’ cabin, plus room for the instructor, is mounted on a motion platform that gyrates within a three-story space. The vehicle dynamics and simulated motions appear to be of very high quality. The sound is superb: engine sound, wind sound, taxiing bumps in the pavement, radios.
Within a very few minutes I was not in a simulator, I was flying the airplane: taxiing, taking off, climbing out, circling the airport, and trying to keep the plane at constant altitude. (The 747’s dynamics differ markedly from those of the light planes in which I learned to fly years ago.) So compelling was the illusion that the breaks in presence came as visceral, not intellectual, shocks. One occurred when the instructor abruptly changed the scene, from circling above London to an approach to Hong Kong. The other occurred when I taxied up to a hangar in Beijing and looked back (to about 4 o’clock) to ensure that I would not brush wingtips with a parked aircraft—and the view was just empty gray! The projected visuals did not reach that far around.