Located at Gloucester Airport, which is approximately 50 miles north of Bristol Airport is a real hidden gem ideal for the aviation enthusiast, and budding pilot. Known as SimAir737 the facility is a fixed base Boeing 737-800 simulator that completely recreates the flight deck of a real Boeing 737-800. Located next to the main terminal building at Gloucester Airport is SimAir737 flight simulators, where you will always receive a warm welcome.
Earlier in 2021 we were invited along to one of their open days to view the simulator in action, take some photos and even have a go ourselves. From the minute you walk into the building you feel like you are boarding a real aircraft, the “departure lounge” equipped with aircraft seating, departure style boards and aviation items is a real aviation lovers paradise.
Tucked away in the next room is the simulator itself, the moment you walk in you are amazed by how life like and real looking the simulator is, Chief Pilot Simon Burnham told us the simulator recreates every button and switch from the actual aircraft and can be used for familiarisation and training purposes.
Visitors to the simulator can sit on aircraft seating whilst their relative or friend spends their time flying the brilliant simulator. Sitting in the left hand seat you get a full 180 degree panoramic view of the simulated environment giving you the sense that you are actually flying, you do feel as if you are moving even though you aren’t.
The simulator accurately recreates over 25,000 destinations across the world thanks to it realistic scenery and expert instructors, quite often customers can attempt to fly into London Heathrow, St Maarten or Bristol Airports which are all accurately recreated in the simulator.
Previous customers have rated the simulator 5 star on reviews website TripAdvisor, with a recent customer commenting “Fantastic experience, so much fun. Our pilot was great, made us feel very welcome and comfortable. Explained everything really well and made the experience really good fun. My daughter was buzzing after doing a perfect landing at JFK and can’t wait to come back . Would highly recommend”
Flights start from just £149.00 for 45 minutes, with various of optional extras available, like filming, gate to gate flight and a photo of you flying.
We had a brilliant day visiting and trying out the Boeing 737-800 simulator and recommend it to anyone, visit their website at https://www.simair737.com/ and discover for yourself the thrill of flying the big jets, without leaving the ground, and for a fraction of the cost.
Simon has been writing aviation articles for nearly 10 years and is the senior article writer at Fresh Aviation, with a background in aviation and a commercial pilot Simon knows his stuff in the aviation world. Simon has spoken on BBC Radio, contributed to Bristol Post and has various aviation articles on various websites.