Perhaps already everyone in my close and not-so-close circle knows that I am incredibly obsessed and enthusiastic about civil aviation. But, there are nuances. Like with music, I prefer an American manufacturer more than a domestic one.

If its not Boeing, I'm not going!

Even in ordinary flights, I love flying on Boeings the most. Despite not being a pilot, though, judging by the experimental conditions on the flight simulator, I can take off and land a passenger Boeing 737.

Idea

I had long been eyeing flight simulators but couldn't think that not far from my home, there was a flight simulator in a shopping center for everyone interested. The pleasure is, of course, not cheap, but not too expensive – 10,000₽ for 1 hour.

And so, with my friend Lera, I was thinking about where to go for a walk, but I wanted to do something unusual, something that wouldn't happen every day but could be organized within a day. In the end, I decided to check out flight simulators and see how much an hour of flight costs. The budget for this event suited me, and we went there the next day.

But why a flight simulator? Firstly, it's my long-standing dream to try myself as a pilot of a modern passenger airliner in safe conditions. Secondly, Lera said she's also interested in aviation, so she was all in.

DreamAero

I had a choice between DreamAero and another company (can't remember the name), but in the end, I chose DreamAero as they were already familiar to me. Also, they are located in the shopping center next to my home in St. Petersburg.

I signed up, paid, mentioning my Aeroflot card during the payment process, as DreamAero is affiliated with Aeroflot's subsidiary airline – Rossiya. I earned 500 miles for this flight, not bad! Almost like a real flight.

Pre-flight Preparation

A very nice girl who welcomed us at the flight simulator reception explained how the flight would go, gave me an iPad to fill out an electronic Google form with my personal data and Lera's information. Later, it will become clear why this was needed.

In addition, the representative asked if I had a flash drive since the flight would be recorded, and then it could be transferred to a flash drive. Recording would cost 600₽. I said I completely forgot about recording, so I didn't bring a flash drive. I asked if I could quickly run and buy a flash drive at an electronics store, to which she told me they have a souvenir one, which also costs 600₽. Of course, I immediately canceled my decision to run somewhere and buy an ugly Chinese flash drive when there's a metal flash drive with the DreamAero engraving here. I couldn't resist and bought it. Now I have a souvenir flash drive that I carry on my keys – it's always with me.

Next, the pilot-instructor greeted us and led us to the cockpit of the flight simulator. The pilot was polite enough, albeit quite reserved. Apparently, working on a flight simulator, there are times when it's easier not to react at all.

As you may have noticed, I have a Boeing logo keychain – it's part of a Boeing lanyard that I put on for the ambiance that day. Since real pilots wear lanyards on actual flights, I wanted one too. For example, here's a lanyard from Boeing 737-800 pilot of Pobeda airline – Vladimir Sedelnikov.

Or, for example, from the same airline, my favorite Lesya Shelaeva, against the backdrop of her Boeing, which she flew from Reykjavik, also with the same Pobeda airline lanyard.

There are also airlines that don't necessarily brand their lanyards with the airline's logo. For example, Yuriy Yashin wears a lanyard with the logo of the aircraft manufacturer – Airbus.

And I decided to wear a lanyard like a true pilot.

Let's get back to the topic. Since I spent a lot of time in the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, although flying a larger and heavier bird – the Boeing 747, the controls are roughly similar, and I only saw an obvious difference in the number of control columns. In the 737, there are 2, and in the 747, there were 4, but there are also 4 engines there, and each of them is responsible for each engine, so it's all clear, logical, and understandable.

Seeing the lanyard on me, the instructor asked me how well I knew the airplane's controls. I began to list them, pointing to each one, showing what is where and what it is for. I went through the display, showed him where the altimeter is, where our speed is, where the vertical speed is, where the rate is, and so on. Naturally, in terms of handling the mechanization, it was easiest for me to explain. Here we have the landing gear, here is the parking brake, here are the control columns with reversers, and here are the flaps. Sometime later, I will write an article about the aircraft's controls, explaining where everything is and what, I think it will be interesting.

Seeing that I didn't need an explanation of where everything is, he only told me about the necessary information, at what speed we would have the V1 point (the point of no return) and the Rotate point (takeoff point), at what angle of attack we would make the climb and to what height and at what speed. In general, all the necessary information, which, in addition to directly controlling the aircraft, is important to observe, although essentially it is controlling the aircraft.

He also suggested that I enter our route into the onboard computer. He asked me where we would take off from, naturally from Pulkovo, I answered. We started entering the coordinates, and I began to recall attempts to learn how to use the onboard computer. After all, I'm not a pilot, and not everything is clear to me there, but the control in the computer itself is, of course, quite simple, as it turned out. We entered ULLI (Pulkovo), and the instructor chose the destination airport – URSS (Sochi) (I wrote about 4-digit ICAO codes here). We entered a few more details. Then we started the engines; traditionally, we started with the second engine, and here the instructor and I agreed. Both engines started, everything was correct. We started taxiing to the left on runway 10.

Before Takeoff Checklist

The before takeoff checklist was read by the instructor; I checked that everything corresponded to the takeoff configuration. Before takeoff checklist completed! Ladies and gentlemen, the commander of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft says we are ready for takeoff!

Takeoff

So, runway 10 left, I bring the engines to 20, brake, and push the engines to takeoff position, pushing both control columns forward. We start gaining speed rapidly, and I keep the aircraft precisely in the middle of the runway, controlling it with the pedals (rudder), we reach V1, and Rotate (takeoff point) is approaching. I start pulling back to maintain an angle of 10 degrees, taking a few degrees more, but it's not critical; technically, we can take off even at 20 degrees. The speed is 170 knots, and we continue to gain speed. The copilot says, "Positive rate," which I completely forgot about. Here I flash my knowledge, responding in English, "Gear up," pulling the landing gear control lever towards me and moving it to the fully upper position. Positive rate means that the aircraft has transitioned to a climb, and the vertical speed is increasing, so we need to retract the landing gear because we are already gaining altitude, and they interfere with it.

Now we have climbed to 3000 meters, and we can reduce engine power and smoothly continue climbing, making a turn following the trajectory indicated in the flight plan (approach chart). It would be boring to fly all the way to Sochi for real. So we agreed with the instructor to try a landing.

We made a circuit, and we will land on the same runway – 28 left.

Approach Checklist

We are on the final approach to the runway and start descending. The instructor tells me that we will approach visually. Oops! For me, this sounds like a test and a challenge. Flying landings in Microsoft Flight Simulator on a 747, I only approached by instruments and essentially know how to approach only by them. I have never made a visual approach unless it's in the same simulator on a Cessna 172.

The instructor starts reading the approach checklist; I check that the flaps are set to 15, speed brakes are armed (brakes are ready), and we start extending the landing gear. Approach checklist completed.

We continue the visual approach. Since we are still working with Pulkovo, those who have been there in real life know that it's always windy, this is St. Petersburg, a flat area, and that's why the plane shakes a lot, and there is a small periodic pitch. I try to counteract this, considering that I am controlling the real control column for the first time. After all, it's not just pressing buttons; it's completely different actions. In the end, we approach, I see the lights of the precision approach path indicator, all four are white, which means we are going much higher than needed. The instructor continues the approach with me and checks the landing checklist. But I say to him, "Go around," which in aviation language means that something is wrong, and we need to go for another circuit. In the end, we didn't go for the second round as I wanted, and the instructor just restarted us back on the straight trajectory in front of the runway.

Second Approach

We failed to land on the first attempt; I couldn't stabilize the aircraft before landing. The crosswind pushed us, and we ended up slightly to the left of the runway and much higher than needed. If we had continued the approach, according to my calculations, the touchdown would have been on the left edge of the runway. In real conditions, this would have ended in a disaster.

First Successful Landing

So, we are back in line in front of the runway. Again, Approach checklist completed, and we continue the approach. This time, following the instructor's advice, I attempt to steer the aircraft to align with the runway threshold. We approach, Landing checklist completed. The precision approach path indicator lights – 2 whites, 2 reds – indicate the perfect position of the aircraft before landing.

And then the aircraft, based on instrument data, starts announcing the altitude: 3 hundred, 2 hundred, 1 hundred... It's 300, 200, and 100 meters above the ground, respectively. Next, the countdown starts not by hundreds but by tens, 90, 80, 70... 10. Touchdown!

Overall, this time everything went almost perfectly. The only thing I didn't know was how to behave after touching down with the rear landing gear. Pulling the control column towards me would hit the front gear, and pushing it away would make us jump, possibly breaking all the gear. In the end, I decided to pull the control column slightly towards me to continue riding on the rear landing gear while losing speed due to engaging reverse thrust. But, as expected by the laws of physics, we jumped. Yes, in real conditions, this would be shameful for a pilot, but for my first landing, not crashing into the runway was already a success.

After making a small jump, I gently calmed down the bouncer and engaged reverse thrust with brakes. We braked and stopped on the runway. I asked Lera if she wanted to try, to which she replied that she was afraid, did not understand at all what language we were speaking, and absolutely did not understand what was happening but found it very interesting to watch, so continue.

The instructor again taxis the aircraft back to the starting point at Pulkovo, and we begin the second takeoff.

Second Takeoff

Since I already understood and felt the aircraft, more or less got used to its control, I executed the takeoff perfectly. In general, in my opinion, takeoff is the easiest part of the whole flight, considering that after reaching the cruising altitude on the assigned level, the autopilot takes over the aircraft's control. Therefore, the pilot actively works with the aircraft only during takeoff and landing.

Third Landing

The third landing was in Dubai. We didn't take off there; the instructor immediately switched us to the Dubai scenery. We flew super low over the city, admiring the wonders of 3D graphics, and headed to the runway for landing. Oh, it was challenging!

We were perpendicular to the runway, but much to the left of its beginning, i.e., to land, we needed to descend and then almost turn 90 degrees to the right and immediately start the landing. Quite challenging for a novice. But I decided to try.

This time, we reached the required point by instruments, smoothly turned and started the landing. Everything turned out not as scary and difficult as I imagined. And here we are, aligned with the runway, great, continue the approach.

We lower the landing gear, flaps are set, we are ready to land. I control the aircraft, defending against the crosswind, trying to be absolutely parallel to the center of the runway and at the same time trying to hit its threshold by lowering the nose. We extend the flaps more and more and approach the runway. Following the instructor's advice on piloting technique, I had already memorized the position of the aircraft visually, so it was much easier for me to do it again.

I look at the precision approach path indicator lights – 2 whites, 2 reds, we're doing well, I say. And here comes the runway, I level the aircraft almost slightly raising the nose and reducing engine power. Excellent, the touchdown point, touchdown! And immediately with all my strength, I engage reverse thrust. Slowly, without changing the position of the control column, I begin to push it away from me, and hooray, we gently fall on the front landing gear and brake quite quickly.

Welcome to Dubai, says the pilot instructor, smiling.

Conclusion

And so, our one-hour flight came to an end.

We exited the simulator, Lera went to take selfies in the pilot's jacket, and I went to the receptionist to collect the flash drive with the video and certificates that we had flown on the DreamAero flight simulator.

She asked if we enjoyed everything, and I said that it was insanely cool, and we would probably come again. In turn, she says, "I've already sent you a promo code for the next flight to your email, only this time on an Airbus." I say, "I love Boeings," and then we started a very long discussion about Boeings and Airbuses, and in the end, we discovered that we had different religions, haha.

Afterwards, Lera and I went to a restaurant to eat, and all evening we discussed and laughed about the whole aviation theme. Lera actually got interested in flying, just like me, so I suggested going to spotting spots at Pulkovo Airport to see airplanes flying right over you. However, we didn't make it to the perfect spots; you need to be better prepared to get there. Still, even without that, we were in a pretty cool spot that I had discovered for myself back in winter.

My love for airplanes turned out to be contagious. When you show and talk about these machines, you begin to see all their charm and genius. And most importantly, you look up at the sky, calm and so light and carefree.

And finally, here is the edited video from my flight.