Flight Simming like a Pro with Virtual Aviation

Flight Sim Daily has now moved to the Flight Simulator Network. To continue receiving the very latest flight sim news, visit the News section on the Network.
All previous articles will remain here on Flight Sim Daily for you to search.

I was recently fortunate enough to be invited by Virtual Aviation to go for a 1 hour “flight” in their commercial Boeing 737-800 NG simulator located near Gatwick Airport (EGKK).

Although it was going to be a 650 mile round-trip, there was no way I was going to turn down this fantastic opportunity. Having driven for 5 and a half hours, I arrived at what I assumed must have been the incorrect location, as I was facing a modest looking 2 floor building and was thinking there was no way they could house something this big inside. I was very wrong. Not only do they house the NG, but no less than 8 full size, full motion simulators!

(Note: all photos in this article are from the Virtual Aviation web site. For security reasons, no photography is allowed on site).

I was greeted by Andy Morris, a commercial 757 pilot, who took me through to the briefing room for the 30 minute pre-flight. Thanks to many hours spent in PMDG’s 737, I was pretty familiar with the cockpit layout. Andy took me through some of the basics, such as interpretation of the CAPI landing aid, radar altimeter etc. I was pleased to find there were no real surprises and that my PC-based simming had actually prepared me pretty well. So well, in fact, that we’d pretty much finished the briefing after about 10 minutes and, having decided that we’d start off with a take-off and landing using both runways at Funchal (LPMA) (which I chose because we were there for a holiday last year and also because it’s a pretty tricky airport), Andy took me on a mini tour of the facility.

Most of the simulators were in use (the facility is open 24 hours a day), but we did manage to sneak a look inside the fabulous “steam gauge” DC-10, which looked magnificent. This is the oldest sim at this location (it was built around 1984).

Let’s get airborne!

It was time for my flight, so we made our way to the simulator. The sim itself has a “tail number” of GE-234B. It’s a 6-axis sim and is fitted with (virtual!) CFM 56-7B engines with 26,000 pounds of thrust. Coincidentally, it was also certified for use for commercial pilots for our first airport – Funchal. This means that pilots can practice in the sim, then fly straight into/out of Funchal without first having to go in as second-in-command, which gives you some idea how realistic this is going to be.

It was still in use when we arrived and we had time to admire the technical aspects of the simulator, watching this frankly enormous machine being thrown around on its hydraulic struts.

Andy explained what we needed to do in case of any problems, one of which was the possibility of shimmying down an escape rope to the floor! Luckily, we didn’t need to make use of it.

When our time arrived to board, the “draw bridge” lowered to allow us access to the simulator. Although I’ve been in quite a few “real life” cockpits, I’m always amazed at just how much stuff is squeezed into a pretty small space and entering the NG cockpit was no different.

Whilst I strapped myself in and admired my surroundings, Andy configured the sim, placing us at the threshold of runway 5, lined up for take-off. Andy configured the flaps for me (5 degrees) and set the course for me to follow on the Flight Director. I have to confess here that I primarily use the auto-pilot for my home-simming, but I figured that kind of defeated the object here, so decided to go fully manual. I applied 40% power and let it settle to make sure everything was in order, then applied full throttle. I’m not used to using “real” rudder pedals, normally relying on the “twisting the joystick” method, so this was a new experience for me. I’ve had some rudder practice in light aircraft, but this baby took a lot of foot travel! I was over-compensating quite a bit, but managed to eventually straighten her up and, after the Rotate callout from Andy, gracefully lifted in to the sky. The feeling of actually being there is astonishing. You can “feel” the power coming in and every little bump.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the feeling of responsibility. Although Andy assured me he’d take the controls if it looked like I was about to wreck it, there’s still the knowledge that you’re in control of a £10 million piece of hardware and you’d rather not break it! In some respects, I guess that simulates flying a real aircraft, as I’m sure most pilots would rather not wreck their office!

We made a 180 degree turn and flew parallel with the runway at around 3,000 feet, then made a gentle 180 towards the runway. At Funchal, there are a series of lights on the side of the mountain that you’re heading towards that pulse in sequence, the idea being that you follow the pulse and hopefully end up nicely lined up for the runway. I was fairly happy with the approach, but I was coming in way too low, so Andy took the controls from me and got our height back, then allowed me to land, with something of a bump, but nothing too severe.

We taxied to the end of the runway, did a U-turn using the tiller and lined up on runway 23 for a take-off and landing in the opposite direction. This was an interesting take-off and one that I don’t believe takes place in real life. The end of the runway appears to drop away from you, straight towards the sea and, to make things even more interesting, you’ve got that mountain right in front of you! So, plenty to think about, but I managed another smooth take-off and was starting to get the hang of the amount of effort required for the rudders, so didn’t over-compensate quite so much this time.

We did another 180 degree turn and climbed to around 4,000 feet when Andy told me that ATC had advised him there was a chance of some light turbulence. Sure enough, we started to feel a little buffeting, but nothing too severe. I followed the Flight Director (Andy was looking after setting the course, as I was having a busy enough time as it was) around to a rather sweet landing back on 23.

Bad weather at Heathrow!

At this point, Andy said he thought I was doing rather well, so asked if I would like to try a CAT3 take-off and landing at Heathrow. I was certainly up for the challenge, so he promptly set the sim up at runway 27 at Heathrow with 125 metres visibility – in the dark! I was getting used to the take-off roll now, so that went without a hitch. I gently pulled back on the yoke at around 143 knots and the runway quickly disappeared from site. The only thing visible was the sight of the external lighting bouncing off the fog – a very eerie feeling. This flight was instruments only, with no external references whatsoever. Andy set up the course for me to follow once again on the Flight Director. I found it pretty hard to not get completely fixated on the FD with nothing to see out the window for reference.

We circled around and headed for a landing back on runway 27 in the same conditions, so it was all down to following the FD. Andy once again looked after the flaps and throttle for me. I was delighted when the runway suddenly appeared out of the gloom – we were perfectly lined up

For a more relaxing experience, Andy changed the weather to dusk (or was it dawn?), with some light snow, still at runway 27 at Heathrow. The snow effect is terrific!  Another nice smooth take-off and we did a little sight-seeing around London, spotting the London Eye and Canary Wharf before our return.

You want me to do what?

We only had 3 minutes left, so Andy decided to set up a nice challenge for me. He set the sim up about 7 miles out from runway 27 and set a 35 knot gusting crosswind! I managed to set the crab up pretty well and was almost looking out the side window at the runway! When it was time to apply full left rudder, I completely messed it up and we were all over the place! Andy took over and straightened things up for me, and we managed to land, but with a slight over-shoot!

Graphics

One thing I found interesting was the quality of the external graphics. It’s all pretty sparse, with hardly any 3D objects. The runways and runway lighting are  – as you’d expect – modelled with precision, but any FS9 or FSX simmer would probably be wondering where all the rest of the objects were! However, it just proves that a richly populated external world is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to simming. What provides the feeling of realism here is the cockpit itself, which uses the same components used in the real aircraft, the motion and the feedback from the controls. The feeling of inertia was uncanny, as was the feeling that you’re in control of a very large aircraft.

I did it!

A few days after your sim experience, Virtual Aviation send a certificate through the post. Handy for when your mates don’t believe that you’ve done it!

Conclusion

This was one of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had. If you’re even remotely interested in aviation and/or simming, do this if you can. You won’t regret it! As well as being tremendous fun, it was a rewarding learning experience.

An hour doesn’t sound much but, as you can see from this review, they can pack a great deal of action into that one hour.

Experiences

Virtual Aviation offer a number of training and experience courses, ranging from full pilot training to “Fear of flying” flights. The flight I took was a 1 hour Exclusive Experience.

Thanks

I’d like to say a big thanks to James Stevenson for arranging the flight for me and to Andy Morris for making it so enjoyable.

You may also be interested in these posts

• The Independent tries out Virtual Aviation
• Unity Virtual Aviation Community Relaunch Flight
• Virtual Aviation launches operations at Southampton, UK
• Greenbrier Virtual Aviation
• Optimise your PC for flight simming

Tagged as: commercial, motion