In my job I get to do some cool things. Like pilot a flight simulator.
That is not an actual runway – it’s a computer screen. But all the details of the airport and the surrounding landscape are bang on. The SIM is set up to exactly replicate the flight deck of a jet and the whole thing moves, so all the motion feels really real. Which is especially fun when you’re taxiing down the runway at a good clip (and are pregnant and already nauseated).
Did you know you can do a barrel roll in a 737? Apparently you can. Who knew?
Well…you can if you don’t over-correct and clip the wings off.
Whoops. I guess we’re done here.
(Yes, the tech is laughing at me.)
But he gave me another chance. The magic of a flight simulator is that you can bing yourself back up into the air and position yourself wherever you want to be. Groovy.
That’s me getting ready to land in Vancouver. (Or YVR in airport lingo.) We buzzed downtown, scared a few office workers and then landed nicely right in the middle of the runway. Or slightly to the left. Or whatever. (Hey, at least I didn’t end up on the grass, and I didn’t take out any landing gear.)
Our lovely tech decided to give my colleague a challenge – landing in “weather.”
Can you see the runway? Yeah, me neither. (It’s not visible until about 100 feet, or, you know, right before you’re about to hit the ground. Fun times.)
Conclusion: totally fun but I am never going to be a pilot.
If you want to see a video of a 737 doing a loop de loop, you can see one on my Facebook page.
