Get your chocks off

Riding in the UK's most advanced flight simulator

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we’ll be arriving back in Bluewater shopping centre in just a few seconds. I hope you enjoyed the flight as much as I did.” – that was the monologue going through my head as I safely touched down in the middle of Kent’s commercial paradise to complete my first ever piloted flight.

Confused? Buckle up and I’ll explain. Upstart virtual aviation providers, iPilot have introduced Europe’s first commercial high-street flight simulator in Bluewater, in order to offer Joe and Jane Public a chance to captain their very own flight. Following the success of its first shop, and a flurry of bookings, a second instalment has recently been created in London’s Westfield shopping centre. Needless to say, it’s not what you expect to find in the average shopping mall, but what it offers is something refreshingly different to the usual suspects of high street shops that dominate commercial centres.

Not entirely sure what to expect, and being a complete novice when it comes to flying planes, I was intrigued and went along to test it out for WideWorld.

Pre-flight checks

My initial thoughts were that pro flight simulators were solely for pilot training, and run by overly-expensive national carriers. Upon arriving at the simulator I was assured that no prior experience was needed. What the iPilot offers is essentially a ‘learn by doing’ approach, in an entirely safe scenario. In fact, a lack of experience is preferred in order to fully enjoy the experience.

I clambered into the vacant pilot seat, sweaty of palm and dry of throat. I tried my hardest to keep my nerves in check as veteran 30-year commercial pilot Captain Brian Summers slotted into the First Officer’s seat next to me. After explaining the ins and outs of the FMS (Flight Management System), the autopilot, the engine backups and every other flashing light possible, it was clear that I was in capable hands.

All that separates the flight deck, modelled faultlessly on a 737NG Boeing jet, from the shopping mall is a thin curtain, but the transformation that happens when it is drawn is staggering. Suddenly you are no longer in Kent, you are immersed on the runway at Heathrow, or Paris or Bermuda with 70 tonnes of machine purring underneath you. If you don’t turn around, there’s nothing to tell you that it isn’t frighteningly real.

Take off

Capt. Summers instructs me that takeoff and landing are the perhaps the most challenging moments for pilots, especially on shorter runways or those in the mountains. Even so, today’s planes are built to be as fail-proof as possible: they can even take off using only one engine.

After taxiing into position, and running through my pre-flight speech in my head, there was nothing else to do except take off. Under instruction, I pushed the throttle to 60% and the whole plane whizzed into life and we rapidly gained speed. Careful not to go past the point of no return (and run out of runway), I pulled the ‘yoke’ (the control column) back, and surprisingly executed a perfect take off. I was a natural. “Sign me up to the RAF right now! I will be racking up the frequent flier miles by the bucket-load as I cruise the tamed skies with my god-given abilities!” My monologue went into overdrive just as the plane soared. But alas, this apparently was where my talents peaked. The rest was awful.

For the next hour I obeyed everything Capt. Summers taught me. “Bank left!” I banked left. “Bank right!” I banked right. And, as he clenched the seat arm: “Try lifting the nose of the plane so we’re not spiralling downwards!” I obliged. The yoke’s controls were remarkably sensitive, and despite having a problem with over-steering, after finally reaching the cruising height of 24,000 feet I began – ever so slowly – to get the hang of correcting the plane.

Landing

Granted, there is a long way to go for those looking to get their pilot’s licence, but for prices ranging from £29 to £239 (for 15-60 minute flights) the experience serves a serious purpose as well as a fun way to pass the time. Previous clients have claimed that learning how planes and pilots work has helped remove their flight anxiety, and such is the standard that even qualified pilots have used it to familiarise themselves with the 737 cockpit.

After a rather bumpy landing, my time was up; in fact I was having such a good time ‘up there’ that we’d overshot the session by 10 minutes. I’m sure my petrified passengers would forgive the delay.
The beauty of the iPilot is that everything is in your control: the choice of airport you take off from, the destination you fly to, and most importantly, the handling of the aircraft. The ‘learn by doing’ approach by the pilots ensures that they are merely there to instruct you while you control the flight.

Everything feels authentic from the clunking of the landing gear to the bleeps and bloops from the controls. It was such an emotionally rewarding experience that is easy to see the potential iPilot has for shoppers looking to break up the humdrum of all-day shopping – and take a bizarre adventure in the midst of the crowds.