Ever wanted to fly a Boeing? Be a real airline captain? Early this year, I finally found some time to visit the team from Pacific Simulators in Christchurch, New Zealand, who specialise in the building of fully functional B737 cockpits. Having grown out of homebuilt cockpit solutions, their simulators are simply phenomenal - they are approved for pilot training and qualify as FAA level 4 trainers. Some of their simulators are built especially for their Flight Experience franchise which allows simmers like you and me to spend some quality time in their B737 sims. I visited two of their franchise outlets, one in Christchurch and one in Wellington, to learn more about what Flight Experience really is and how much fun you can have in one of their sims.

In Christchurch, I was greeted by Steve Clarke, one of the founders of Pacific Simulators and self confessed flight sim nutter. As Steve opened the door to the simulator, I felt like I was entering the wardrobe to Narnia. One minute in a not so exciting shopping mall, next thing I'm in an amazingly realistic replica of a Boeing 737 cockpit. Better things were yet to come. I took seat in the pilots chair and buckled in, as Steve agreed to step down from command and be my copilot - mind you, not that I have given him a choice. Good thing that I was tightly secured in my seat, because now was the time to confess that I mostly knew squat about all the fancy Boeing systems. My enthusiasm for GA aircraft and complete and utter ignorance of the heavy iron had finally caught up with me. I was lucky to have such a good copilot in Steve. Patently, he gave me a crash course in how to operate the aircraft.

The sheer detail in the cockpit is amazing. Of course, I have never sat in the pilot's seat in a real B737, but to me the whole thing looked very realistic. The overhead panel is packed with switches, including the always fascinating 'fasten your seat belt' and 'no smoking' ones, which by the way make a really nice 'bing' sound when flicked. Steve had to concede that the 'call for coffee' button does not work at all, but apparently the crew is working on it. These nice extras simply illustrate the attention to detail, and best of all, you get flick most of the switches during your experience as well. All system switches are in the cockpit and they work. And nothing feels tinny either, everything gives the impression of solid workmanship. For example, the control columns are made of steel and have a real heavy feel to them, as has the throttle. The Flight Management Computer (FMC) buttons aren't flimsy touch buttons, but need to be pushed in firmly and feel very sturdy. And the knobs and switches feel solid and durable as well.

After some quick cockpit familiarisation, we were ready to program our flight into the FMC. The flight we agreed on was from Christchurch to Wellington. Steve took me through the individual steps, which was a good thing as you almost need a university degree to operate the FMC. The display responds to all your inputs, again everything works like the real thing, including a fully functional alphabetic keyboard. We went through the necessary pages and set up all the needed flight details. Once the plans were programmed and the radios were set, we were ready to announce our plans to Air Traffic Control (ATC) and ask for pushback.

Taxiing is done easily with the tiller - a handle to the side which controls the nose wheel. After some taxiing, we were finally lined up on our runway. We enabled the Take Off/Go Around (TOGA) system, which controlled the auto-throttle during takeoff. And yes, auto-throttle means that the thrust levers will move all by themselves! All systems were running just fine and we were off. Steve announced our speeds as we were blasting down the runway and I pulled our ship up into the air. From here it was all easy cruising.

With the autopilot on, I finally got to take in some of the views. The Flight Experience setup in Christchurch runs on a three screen wraparound setup and I have to say it's amazingly immersive. You can almost feel the aircraft moving even though the B737 simulators are fixed platform setups. To create the matching graphics on the displays, Flight Experience is using the Sim Pilot Experience Mountains and Roads & Rivers of New Zealand sceneries which give you an ultra-realistic view of New Zealand in the sim.

Before I knew it we were ready to descent into Wellington. We were running through the checklist again and getting the plane ready for approach onto the Wellington runway. We intercepted the ILS and I went for a manual landing, again with the TOGA system enabled. Staying on the glideslope using the displays in the B737 is easy as - or it might be if you're not used to the convoluted way the instruments in a GA aircraft work.

The virtual passengers behind me were getting a bit edgy, but when you land in famous windy Wellington the plane is just supposed to swing back and forth - at least that's what I told myself to keep the calm. Despite the slightly unorthodox approach the plane made it just fine and touchdown was almost perfect. Steve firmly working the rudder pedals may have contributed, but hey, after all he was my copilot, wasn't he? We quickly taxied off the runway, shut down the engines and called it a day.

The franchise in Wellington equals the one in Christchurch in almost every detail. The idea behind Flight Experience is that it doesn't matter which one you visit, you get the same deal in each one. The only noticeable difference is that the older sim setup in Wellington only has one screen, rather than three. Since it's really all about the cockpit and sitting in a true to life B737 cockpit, this is not a big deal.

The final question is, do I believe that the Flight Experience is worth it when ticket prices start at NZD125 (USD85/EUR65). The question really is: how badly do you want to experience a real jet cockpit? I would say that nothing much comes closer to the real thing, except the real thing. If you love flying jets, and want to experience flying one for yourself, I can only recommend Flight Experience. For most people this is a one in a lifetime opportunity. The only downside is that it's over so fast!