Last Thursday I took up the opportunity to fly a Boeing 737-800 (albeit in a flight simulator) and what an amazing experience it was. Thank you Tess, Adam and Lucy for the gift. The simulator, based at Darling Harbour, is used by genuine pilots to get more hours towards their various qualifications, and it feels like the real thing.
The process involves pre-flight instruction re the controls before taking off and landing four times, a total of 45 minutes. The first airport was Queenstown, and the second option involved the two Hong Kong airports (the old Kai Tak airport and the new international airport) which were both much harder to land at. Overall 3 of the 4 landings were great and after the remaining one I’m sure the plane would have still been usable. It’s much easier to take off than it is to land!
Less than 48 hours later I’m climbing onto the real thing to get us from Sydney to Melbourne (737-800) and I believe I could have got the big bird into the air. I knew that the plane was sitting at 20% power at the beginning, when the shift to 40% started and when the park brake was released. I could tell when full throttle was made, wing flaps at 15 and also when the captain pulled the yoke towards himself for lift off at 20° and finally the landing gear tucked away. On arrival into Melbourne I knew when the landing gear was going to come down, that we were coming in at a speed of 150 with the nose up 2.5°, the wing flaps were at 30 and reverse thrust was engaged on touchdown. I also got to repeat it all again the following day returning to Sydney – maybe I should have been a pilot…
My Fear Share 