Sim pilot flies a real Cessna 172! My whole story and experience

An hour costs 300 Euros (INR 27,000), but if you are an aviation enthusiast, this is a must-do activity.

BHPian govindremesh recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hey Reader! If you're curious to read about the flying lesson experience, skip to the second post. For the backstory, continue reading.

Prologue: Late 90's, Early 2000s

Year 1998, my family moves to Vadodara and the then 8-year-old me is enrolled in a school that was located right under the final approach of Runway 04 at Vadodara airport (BDQ). A small aerodrome combined with an airforce base, I was exposed to a variety of aircraft flying low, hence providing a detailed view of each of those.

In the year 2003, National Geographic launches "Air Crash Investigation". To fulfil the "Minimum 30 mins of compulsory National Geographic/Discovery channel on TV" diktat set by my parents, my brother and I pick this show as our weekly watch.

Years pass by and the school arranges a trip to the local flying club located within the airport. By then I had flown a few times during summer vacations in the years gone by. I've made up my mind to become a commercial pilot.

"You have glasses, you cannot be a pilot. Have you ever seen a pilot wearing glasses?" - say my expert classmates at school. The timid me believes that as a truth, as I had never seen a pilot wear vision correction glasses. Oh wait, I had never seen a pilot in real life at all!

The curiosity about aircraft was well ignited within the minds of both brothers, though mobile phones and computers (later classified as "electronics") also were competing for their rights in our minds. This was further skewed by the fact that while our dad worked with the non-aviation version of the Rolls Royce RB211 he being an electrical engineer could explain our questions about how an aircraft worked, but not much about how pilots fly one. The fact that he could explain more about electronics than flying meant that the electronics were slowly winning the battle.

During one of our flights in 2005, my brother (then a small kid) asked the cabin crew "Can I please see the cockpit?". The crew couldn't refuse the cute boy and replied "We'll show you after we land!". They kept their promise and I tailgated to follow him into the flight deck. I was amazed by the variety of screens and buttons in the flight deck; it was an Airbus A320 operated by Indian Airlines. The first officer madam was explaining different screens and buttons to my brother while I was observing her eyes.

My friends were right. Pilots don't wear glasses.

The 2010s

A decade passes by and in 2012, I graduate from my engineering course, having pursued electronics and telecom (computers and mobile phones won the battle with aviation in the mind of the then young me). However, I was more informed now. I knew that anyone with a vision that can be corrected to 6/6 with glasses could apply for a commercial pilot training course. I was also made aware that becoming a pilot would cost close to a crore Indian rupees and that was the end of my pilot dreams.

Nonetheless, there was still a space for commercial aviation in my heart, and both me and my brother would satisfy our thirst for it by using the then available Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Running it on mid-spec laptop meant that we quickly lost interest in the sim because it would run at it's lowest setting- leading to application crash and a sub par experience. Nonetheless, it gave us a rough idea of what flying looks like and how an aircraft reacts to control inputs.

A chat with a senior IndiGo pilot in 2014 re-affirmed the fact that commercial aviation was not for me. His words were "As a young man, I used to enjoy flying and travelling to new places. Turning 50+ now, having to miss family events, festivals and not able to maintain a sleep routine, it can get boring and tiring as the years pass by".

My parents think that the actual reason that I do not pursue a career in commercial aviation is because it has no place for laziness - for which, yours truly will win the first prize if there was ever a competition.

The 2020s

Having moved away far from Electronics and Telecom engineering in the decade gone by, the victory of electronics was short-lived. That void was quickly filled in by the still-burning embers of aviation in my mind.

I started studying more about the engineering behind aircraft, which was further accelerated by a visit to the Airbus Final Assembly Line in Hamburg, Germany as a part of my Operations & Supply chain study tour. I self-educated myself with available sources, which included (re)watching all episodes of Air Crash Investigation, Reading up on websites like Wikipedia, Aviation StackExchange, PPRuNE, Airbus SafetyFirst and talking to a lot of pilots to clarify my doubts.

Circa mid-2020 and Microsoft launches its Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, and the av-sim world goes crazy. The "proper" logical successor of their own Flight Simulator X, this simulator promised "near real world" flight models, real world scenery and amazing graphics.

Using the sim created a deep desire to experience the feel of flying a real aircraft. The Netherlands had some flying schools offering trial flying lessons, mostly for leisure. In short- all the infrastructure for me to take a trial flying lesson was in place, but remember my note about me being lazy? The trial lesson never happened.

Not until my brother gifted me a flying lesson in November 2024 as a birthday gift. The fire inside my mind about aviation that was slowly burning, now got its full tank of petrol (or should it be avgas?)

Cessna 172 Pre-flight

In mid-November, is when I got an appointment for the trial lesson. The location was a flight training school in Lelystad- a town that's 60 kilomters north of Amsterdam.

On the appointed day, I set off to the airport to arrive well in time and accounting for any delays. The "check in" process was effortless- I showed them the gift voucher and my passport (for ID check). I was asked if I'd like to record the flight and it was a no-brainer to say yes. Once the request formalities were completed, I was directed to the "briefing room" where they had an informational video about the basics of flight.

The video explained the control surfaces and the basics of flight (lift, thrust, etc.) but I soon lost interest due to the information being redundant. My instructor (Rik) soon joined me in the room and he reminded me that the video was important. I told him that I am an avgeek and a simulator pilot. Fortunately, he too was using the same simulator and spared me from watching the (boring) video.

He briefed me on the flight plan using a map, explaining that we'll be following VFR (Visual Fight rules) and staying under 5000 ft. He also showed me the Terminal Control Area (TCA) of Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol) on the map, which for us was a "do not enter under any circumstances" zone for this flight. He further briefed that unlike in the Microsoft simulator, we'll be flying an Old Cessna 172 without the glass cockpit ("with steam gauges" in his own words). After the briefing, it was time to head out to the aircraft, after wearing our high-visibility safety vests.

My first flight was going to be this Cessna 172 registered PH-AHJ (nickname: Alpha Hotel Juliet)

While every pilot is supposed to do a walk around and perform a pre-flight inspection, Rik explained that he had already done it, so a preflight inspection by me wasn't required. I trusted him, as I was too excited to waste any time performing the pre-flight checks (another reason why I probably shouldn't fly passengers!)

So we entered the aircraft, with me being on the left seat (captain's seat!). This is what the view from the pilot's seat looks like on a Cessna 172

Like cars, this Cessna comes with a key to start the engine, which is logical, considering that it's a piston engine that powers the Cessna (My guess is that it is the Continental O-300). We put on our headsets and adjusted the seat to ensure that I can operate the rudder pedals and brakes properly. The yoke is the "steering wheel" equivalent in this case. The seat belt was worn and the entire process of finding a comfortable flying position was similar to how one would do it in a car. No electronic adjusts here, everything is manual. Both of us used noise-cancelling headsets for communication with each other, while Rik said he would be the sole one to communicate with the ATC while making it clear that the aircraft controls during final approach and landing is going to be exclusively his.

It was now time to insert the key into the key-slot (seen at the bottom left of the controls image, close to the yoke) and turn it two notches (just like we do in a car!). The electronics fired up and I could see some lights and the fuel gauge come alive. We verified the fuel quantity and I performed a control check. The controls felt very heavy, but Rik mentioned that it will be fine once we're on the move.

Starting up the Cessna and taxiing to the runway

It was now time to crank the aircraft. I don't remember a "startup clearance" communication with the ATC, but that might be my bad memory. Nonetheless, I cranked the engine by turning the key to the ignition position (again, just like a car!) and the piston engine sputtered to life. It goes without saying that one must release the key once the engine has started

Given my experience with the flight simulator, my passion and theoretical knowledge of controlling a Cessna 172, Rik said he'll allow me to taxi to the active runway and take off. I was super excited and my instructor shared my excitement.

Once we had the clearance to Taxi, Rik increased the power and moved the aircraft out of the parking spot to the taxiway and with the command "Your controls", he gave me the controls. What was about to happen can also be related to the first driving lesson for a lot of us- I started over-controlling. Like how some newbies turn the steering a bit too much to left and right to maintain a straight line at slow speeds, I did the same by pressing my foot on the rudder pedal a bit too much. The aircraft was now zig-zagging on the taxiway and it didn't take too long for Rik to say "My controls" and take back controls. Strike 1.

"You must not push the rudder pedal too much. Be gentle on the controls! Try again". Rik said and I remembered that the simulator also used to warn me for the same thing. Nonetheless, I followed his command and could then control the Cessna right upto the runway hold short point. It wasn't too long of a taxi distance, maybe 300 meters or so.

"I was thinking of letting you take off, but I am not so sure anymore!" said Rik. Oh boy, this is not good. I asked for a second chance by asking "How about you control the rudder to keep us on the centre line and I'll control the yoke and the throttle, if that's OK with you?".

He agreed. So far, very similar to a driving lesson.

The airport we were at is not yet operational for commercial traffic, but multiple flying schools were active. We had a Piper Archer ahead of us while a Cessna 172 was on short final for landing. While we were waiting, Rik briefed me about the upwind pattern. "Take off and maintain runway heading to climb till you see a set of trees on your left, that's our cue to turn to the left and continue our climb to 1000 feet. Do not use the rudder- just bank left about 10-15 degrees using the yoke to make the left turn."

After waiting for the Cessna to land and the Piper to take off, it was our turn to fly. Rik requested takeoff clearance and aligned us with the runway centreline.

"Now, push the throttle lever all the way in and at 60 knots, we'll rotate". said Rik. For reference, the throttle lever is the black knobbed stick, to the left of the red knobbed stick at the bottom right of the controls image attached above.

Continue reading govindremesh's experience for BHPian comments, insights and more information.