What is better than owning a copy of Microsoft's new FSX? Some people may argue their FS9 setup does just fine, but how does FS9 in a fullblown Boeing 737-800 simulator sound? Early this year, I finally found some time to visit the team from Pacific Simulators in Christchurch, New Zealand, who specialise in the building of fully functional B737 cockpits. Having growing out of homebuilt cockpit solutions, their simulators are simply phenomenal - they are approved for pilot training and qualify as FAA level 4 trainers. Some of their simulators are built especially for their Flight Experience franchise which allows simmers like you and me to spend some quality time in their B737 sims. I visited two of their franchise outlets, one in Christchurch and one in Wellington, to learn more about what Flight Experience really is and how much fun you can have in one of their sims.

First impressions

In Christchurch, I was greeted by Steve Clarke, one of the founders of Pacific Simulators and self confessed flight sim nutter. As Steve opened the door to the simulator, I felt like I was entering the wardrobe to Narnia. One minute in a not so exciting shopping mall, next thing I'm in an amazingly realistic replica of a Boeing 737 cockpit. Better things were yet to come. I took seat in the pilots chair and buckled in, as Steve agreed to step down from command and be my copilot - mind you, not that I have given him a choice. Good thing that I was tightly secured in my seat, because now was the time to confess that I mostly knew squat about all the fancy Boeing systems. My enthusiasm for GA aircraft and complete and utter ignorance of the heavy iron had finally caught up with me. I was lucky to have such a good copilot in Steve. Patently, he gave me a crash course in how to operate the aircraft.

The sheer detail in the cockpit is amazing. Of course, I have never sat in the pilot's seat in a real B737, but to me the whole thing looked very realistic. The overhead panel is packed with switches, including the always fascinating 'fasten your seat belt' and 'no smoking' ones, which by the way make a really nice 'bing' sound when flicked. Steve had to concede that the 'call for coffee' button does not work at all, but apparently the crew is working on it. These nice extras simply illustrate the attention to detail, and best of all, you get flick most of the switches during your experience as well. All system switches are in the cockpit and they work. And nothing feels tinny either, everything gives the impression of solid workmanship. For example, the control columns are made of steel and have a real heavy feel to them, as has the throttle. The Flight Management Computer (FMC) buttons aren't flimsy touch buttons, but need to be pushed in firmly and feel very sturdy. And the knobs and switches feel solid and durable as well.

Boeing 737 cockpit operations crash course

After some quick cockpit familiarisation, we were ready to program our flight into the FMC. The flight we agreed on was from Christchurch to Wellington. Steve took me through the individual steps, which was a good thing as you almost need a university degree to operate the FMC. The display responds to all your inputs, again everything works like the real thing, including a fully functional alphabetic keyboard. We went through the necessary pages and set up all the needed flight details. Once the plans were programmed and the radios were set, we were ready to announce our plans to Air Traffic Control (ATC) and ask for pushback.

The ATC feature is one of the many points that demonstrate just how professional the whole Flight Experience is. During the whole flight you get to talk to ATC and they respond, again just like the real thing. The messages are prerecorded, but it's done so well that you get the impression that there is voice recognition running in the background - or someone with a mike sitting in a black box behind the panel. After we were pushed back, it was finally time to start the engines and fill our cockpit with the calming 'swoosh' sound these engines make. Once our engines were up and running, which we confirmed by monitoring the primary engine display, we were ready to taxi across Christchurch airport. Well, first Steve made me run through the checklist.

In the air

Taxiing is done easily with the tiller - a handle to the side which controls the nose wheel. After some taxiing, we were finally lined up on our runway. We enabled the Take Off/Go Around (TOGA) system, which controlled the auto-throttle during takeoff. And yes, auto-throttle means that the thrust levers will move all by themselves! All systems were running just fine and we were off. Steve announced our speeds as we were blasting down the runway and I pulled our ship up into the air. From here it was all easy cruising. Steve explained more systems, while I was playing with the Primary Flight Display. The displays are controlled by an Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS), again, the whole functionality is as real as you can get. We were mostly using the Flight Director mode, so all I needed to do was pointing the airplane into a cross. Easy as. The EFIS lets you select different modes, switch displays, zoom in and out, and whatever else. It's simply mind blowing how well the hardware works. The displays show the speed bugs and other info they gets from the FMC and they even show AI traffic. Steve took me through the operation of the autopilot and the different modes. Suddenly, the trimming wheels came to life and were spinning forward and backward. It almost seemed like a ghost had taken over the cockpit. This demonstrates yet another aspect of how real this experience is. The controls, buttons and switches don't just interact with FS on the display screens, they also drive the cockpit itself. Lift the gears up and the gear lights come on, turn on the autopilot and the trimming wheels turn, it all works just as it's supposed to.

With the autopilot on, I finally got to take in some of the views. The Flight Experience setup in Christchurch runs on a three screen wraparound setup and I have to say it's amazingly immersive. You can almost feel the aircraft moving even though the B737 simulators are fixed platform setups. To create the matching graphics on the displays, Flight Experience is using the Sim Pilot Experience Mountains and Roads & Rivers of New Zealand sceneries which give you an ultra-realistic view of New Zealand in the sim. The Sim Pilot Experience scenery is complemented by the highly detailed RealNZ RealNZ airports. In fact, Godzone's Robin Corn is commissioned by Flight Experience to capture New Zealand's airports.

Before I knew it we were ready to descent into Wellington. We were running through the checklist again and getting the plane ready for approach onto the Wellington runway. We intercepted the ILS and I went for a manual landing, again with the TOGA system enabled. Staying on the glideslope using the displays in the B737 is easy as - or it might be if you're not used to the convoluted way the instruments in a GA aircraft work. In the B737 you simply have to aim for a cross in the middle of the display. It a good thing they keep it that simple, because it does get a bit hectic and due to the increased speed compared to a small aircraft things happen much faster. Steve kept me busy with the speed break, flaps, and landing gear, while I nervously kept focussing on the glideslope indicator. On top of that, I couldn't quite resist doing the approach visually. Not being able to decide between focussing on the instruments or the runway outside certainly didn't help. The virtual passengers behind me were getting a bit edgy, but when you land in famous windy Wellington the plane is just supposed to swing back and forth - at least that's what I told myself to keep the calm. Despite the slightly unorthodox approach the plane made it just fine and touchdown was almost perfect. Steve firmly working the rudder pedals may have contributed, but hey, after all he was my copilot, wasn't he? We quickly taxied off the runway, shut down the engines and called it a day. The next customer was waiting in anticipation for his experience. To wrap things up, I got a DVD onto which the whole flight was captured. This is now my essential training material to learn more about flying the B737 at home - although my home setup surely is a lot less sophisticated!

Deja vu in Wellington

The franchise in Wellington equals the one in Christchurch in almost every detail. The idea behind Flight Experience is that it doesn't matter which one you visit, you get the same deal in each one. The only noticeable difference is that the older sim setup in Wellington only has one screen, rather than three. Since it's really all about the cockpit and sitting in a true to life B737 cockpit, this is not a big deal. I was greeted by George Georgiou, one of the professional instructors, who took me through the sim. While we did a small loop around Wellington airport, he told me more about himself and his work at Flight Experience.

George is a real life pilot who sees his work at Flight Experience as a great opportunity to hone is skills and one day fly the real thing himself. His job mainly involves around giving the customer a great experience. Mostly, customers don't have a clue about flying a B737 (who would?), so he spends a lot of time explaining switches and procedures and making sure the plane doesn't crash. But, believe it or not, real pilots also find their way into the sim. George had pilots from Air New Zealand, Qantas, Virgin and British Airways - all very impressed with the sim. And Flight Experience also gets visits from prospective pilots who are preparing for their job interview at an airline. Finally, George expressed his amazement about the Sim Pilot Experience Mountains and Roads & Rivers of New Zealand scenery. He says that you can fly from Wellington to Auckland and it almost looks like the real thing, he finds the realism is simply unbelievable. Every mountain, every river, every road is just like the real thing. This is great for tourists as they can explore areas they didn't get to see for real.

The final verdict

The final question is, if we at Sim Pilot Magazine believe that the Flight Experience is worth it when ticket prices start at NZD125 (USD85/EUR65). The question really is: how badly do you want to experience a real jet cockpit? We would say that nothing much comes closer to the real thing, except the real thing. If you love flying jets, and want to experience flying one for yourself, we can only recommend Flight Experience. For most people this is a one in a lifetime opportunity. The only downside is that it's over so fast! If you live in New Zealand, you can visit Flight Experience in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown or Tauranga. If you don't live in New Zealand - what a reason to visit this uniquely beautiful country. Alternatively, you can wait until one opens in your local mall. If you're an Aussie, chances are you'll get to visit one locally very soon. If you live in Europe or the US you still have time to save up - maybe if you're good this year Santa will bring you a special gift, or next year. Then again, if you have plenty of cash and you don't want to buy another fancy car for your garage, Pacific Simulators also sell to private customers, so a B737 sim could be all yours to enjoy. But really, New Zealand is a country worth visiting...

We like to thank Steve and George for giving us a tour in the sim, especially Steve who took time out of his busy schedule to teach me all about flying the B737. If you want to learn more about Flight Experience visit their website here: http://www.flightexperience.co.nz/. In the next issue, we bring you an in depth 'behind the scenes' of Pacific Simulators. Meet the team, find out how they build the simulators, how it all started and how they make the magic happen. Don't miss it!