Yorkshire Flight Centre
It was just over three years ago, when I was whisked away for a weekend by my partner to a small town in Yorkshire, UK. It was the eve of my birthday and all was set for a lovely weekend.
I had no idea at the time what she had planned for me to do, and this being the reason we had traveled up the motorway to the town of Knaresborough. We stayed in a small bed and breakfast establishment with good food and service.
On the Sunday at the breakfast table a large envelope was produced, inside was the reason for our visit. A solo 2 hour experience in a flight simulator, not just any simulator but a full mock up of a Boeing 737. My jaw hit the table, never in my wildest dreams had I ever expected to be actually sitting in a Boeing, it’s certainly very different from sitting in front of your PC. The excitement was there for everyone to see, but what the heck it was something very special that I was about to take part in.
We made our way to the flight centre A6055 towards Boroughbridge, at Ferrensby turn right to Arkendale. The Flight Centre is on the left after approximately 1 mile.
We were welcomed in and enjoyed a coffee while I awaited my real Captain to take me on what can only be described as a journey of pure adrenalin and excitement. My cup was now empty and it was time to head in. Firstly you are taken into a room where the captain gives you a briefing about the aircraft, controls and basic knowledge about what to expect when seated in the simulator.
I was itching to get in there, but found the brief very good with clear and incisive information about what we can and cannot do inside the simulator.
It was time to go, would I remember everything I had learnt over the past few minutes, or what about my own experience at home. Could this be the end of my flying career?
At first sight the cockpit seems very daunting, everywhere you look there are instruments, switches, knobs and of course your big hefty yoke, very much different to the one you have at home on your PC. We settled in our seats and belted up, did I forget to mention you feel every bump and turn in this thing too!
The real Captain now sat in the First officer seat and you in the Captains seat.
It was time to get my head together, listen and concentrate on the tasks ahead. While in control you will experience day and night landings, bad weather, air turbulence and if you're up for it, an in-flight emergency. My particular emergency was great fun for me, although in the real world could well have proved disastrous for my aircraft and passengers! The plan was to take off normally down the runway, what the Captain failed to tell me was that he was going to knock out one of the engines half way down our run. To be brief I ended up on a grassy field quite some way from the runway!
The whole session from start to finish is superb, if you are really wondering what the “as real as it gets” experience is all about, then I would urge anyone to partake in this. The staff were fantastic and every detail in making your stay as enjoyable as possible is taken into account. Maybe one day I will try my hand again at this, it was a day I won’t ever forget.
If passenger airliners are not your thing, the Yorkshire Flight Centre also have a mock up of an F4 Phantom which was built for the RAF, using the cockpit section of a once operational flying aircraft. The instrument display is therefore identical to the real aircraft! It is now mounted on a motion system to provide appropriate sensations felt by the pilot. This combined with day and night visual system, runway lighting and variable cloud levels, makes it hard to believe that you are not flying the real thing! Whichever you decide to do, you won’t be disappointed.
For further details on the Yorkshire Flight Centre AKA Real Simulation CLICK HERE
