Flight Experience

[Tony G]

Has anyone tried out this 737-800 flight sim. I believe it is a franchise. Being from Sydney i know one is located at Darling harbour. I have yet to try it, but i am very tempted. I hear it is quite pricey as well. Money might be better spent on a GA flight. Would be interested to hear some stories from anyone that has tried it.

[Daniel M]

Used to work at the Melbourne one. It's ok, nothing overly special though...just an oversized home built flight sim really. Graphics are basic flight sim 2004, flight model is a bit dodgy...cockpit setup is not bad, but yeah, as you mentioned, extremely pricey.

[Radi K]

Good fun and worth the money.

[Rod Sloan]

Did it in Tauranga, NZ. Worth every cent. Time flew if you'll s'cuse the pun.

[andrew evans]

I think it is worth doing atleast once.I had a ball.

[Philip Argy]

Disappointing in some respects; better than expected in others.

Things I didn't like: aircraft taking off and landing oblivious to what I was doing (including take off rolls head on whilst I was taking off in the opposite direction!! Hardly realistic and more than a little off putting. Similarly aircraft taking off from behind you and rolling 'through' you after you taxi into position and hold). Rudder pedals not suitably damped so that only miniscule movements will give substantial deviations from centre tracking. Unrealistic glide slope - for example, approaching on 16R into YSSY still at 3,000 feet crossing the Parramatta River - about twice the altitude of a 'real' aircraft. No ATC. No idle reverse thrust. No stick shaker. No cockpit movement at all - only projected visual scene and instrument changes in response to control input changes. Terrain and ground improvements were not hi res or rich colour. It was not always easy to spot well known landmarks due to poor quality 'scenery' display. And no seat height adjustment for either pilot forced a suboptimal seating position!

Things I DID like: very realistic instrumentation including engine spool up lag and good auto pilot performance. Apart from the abnormally sensitive rudder pedals, very realistic yoke resistance and general 'feel'. Accurate flight deck control layouts for 738 were impressive. Comprehensive airport database so that, in addition to Aussie favourites you can try your hand at places like Kai-tak, St Maartins, and other notoriously 'challenging' airports.

For the price of a 60 minute flight, a photo and/or DVD of your flight should be included instead of being a $69 extra 'package'.

[Scott L.]

The best one in Sydney, with 6 degrees of hydraulic motion and effects is at The Edge Cinema in Katoomba. See http://www.vsjet.com.au. Any other sim is a waste of money, in my view.

[Torin Wilson]

At one point I worked for the company that produced these sims - Pacific Simulators. It went under a few years ago as the franchise was expensive to by and the returns typically minimal.

It was interesting how they did some things. It originally started with a 767 sim that one of the guys made.

I enjoyed flying them to much around at work and in one of the franchises out of hours, but certainly wouldn't even consider paying the very high prices.

[James S.]

Originally Posted by Philip Argy

Things I didn't like: aircraft taking off and landing oblivious to what I was doing (including take off rolls head on whilst I was taking off in the opposite direction!! Hardly realistic and more than a little off putting. Similarly aircraft taking off from behind you and rolling 'through' you after you taxi into position and hold). Rudder pedals not suitably damped so that only miniscule movements will give substantial deviations from centre tracking. Unrealistic glide slope - for example, approaching on 16R into YSSY still at 3,000 feet crossing the Parramatta River - about twice the altitude of a 'real' aircraft. No ATC. No idle reverse thrust. No stick shaker. No cockpit movement at all - only projected visual scene and instrument changes in response to control input changes. Terrain and ground improvements were not hi res or rich colour. It was not always easy to spot well known landmarks due to poor quality 'scenery' display. And no seat height adjustment for either pilot forced a suboptimal seating position!

A majority of those issues relate to limitations within the Flight Simulator engine that they use.

[Philip Argy]

They said their simulator is approved by CASA for 737-800 training. If it is, I hope it's for little more than cockpit layout familiarisation!