Sim2do

The phrase Sim2do meant nothing to me until the end of March when I retired and was presented with an envelope which contained a gift voucher for a Spitfire simulator flight experience. The experience is run by this company from their premises in Mildenhall. The main part of the experience is from a 'Spitfire' cockpit with a wrap around screen that gives wing tip to wing tip views of the aircraft and the cockpit is fully fitted with all controls from spade grip, with working gun button, to trim wheel, throttle, rudder pedals and dials.

I have no flight experience at all so there was an initial explanatory video and then a familiarisation flight in a Cessna with much more basic controls that well serves to demonstrate your short comings which ultimately led to a crash on landing.

After this you move on to the Spitfire which is just like sitting in a real cockpit right down to a bit of agility required to get in. My instructor Ken talked me through the controls and there is even a start sequence involving priming the engine.

Gradually applying some power I taxied out to the runway and after a few moments lurched in to the air and attained a degree of controlled flight. Then it was undercart up and instruction on the interaction of speed, trim and stick on flight control leading to left and right turns and a flight over London and buzzing Tower Bridge a couple of times. Ken was patient throughout but guided me through the headset when necessary and also complimented me on things done well.

Ultimately the experience ended with a landing at Biggin Hill. Not my finest moment certainly but a bent prop as we trundled over the threshold and down the runway meant the Spitfire and me live to fight another day.

This was a 90 minute experience that whizzed by and I would certainly recommend to anyone with a vintage aviation interest. I am told that flight characteristics are designed to make this very realistic and it certainly seemed that way to me.