Terrain, Terrain, Pull Up, Pull Up–Our Experience at Extreme Flight Simulation

Disclaimer #1:  My family received a complimentary Extreme Flight Simulation experience in exchange for sharing our adventure and opinions in my blog.

Disclaimer #2:  I shared several links in case you are interested in learning more about some of the airports mentioned.  Some of these links are to Wikipedia or other blogs. I acknowledge that these may not be the most ideal sources of information, but, since no life or death decisions are being made here, I figured that these sites would be fine in this situation.

During winter break this year, my family flew around the world!  It might be more accurate to say that we “flew” around the world, flying in and out of multiple airports but never disembarking.  To clarify and stop playing games, we had an experience at Extreme Flight Simulation. (Spoiler alert: IT WAS AWESOME!!)  

Extreme Flight Simulation (EFS) opened in Gurnee, IL in February, 2019.  I learned about the place by chance, and my pack rat “skills” came in handy (if you can call it that).  EFS had a booth set up at Gurnee Family Days over the summer. My family mainly went to that event because there was a car show as part of the event, and my husband is a big “car guy.”  (Although I am not into cars, it can be fun watching my husband talk to the owners of the various vehicles. It is really neat to see adults get so excited about their interests. It really is; I am not being facetious.)  I knew that there would also be a parade, and I am all about community parades. The rest of the family always enjoys seeing what local food is available as well. I digress. I briefly spoke with the people at the EFS booth and took a flyer.  Fast forward several months–I still had my flyer and decided to contact the company about a simulator opportunity. After a few emails, I had a great phone conversation with Mike, the owner. We were set up to have an ultimate flight experience!

As mentioned in the name, at Extreme Flight Simulation, you get to simulate flying a Boeing 737NG.  Per the flyer, “Our B737NG simulator is a 1:1 replica of the actual flight deck from every display, switch, and throttle quadrant.  Coupled with our 220 degree HD seamless screen will give you the look and feel of flying.” I can now tell you from experience that the statement in the flyer is NOT an exaggeration.

Mike had told me about some of the instructors and said that Jake would be our instructor for this session.  Jake is a high school senior with a private pilot license. He is currently working on his instrument pilot license.  If nothing else, I knew that having a 17 year old instructor might be inspiring to my kids. Mike thought that we would have fun with Jake, and he was absolutely correct!

When we arrived (as well as before we left EFS), we had a great time chatting with Angela at the front desk.  Shortly afterward, we met Jake and got set up in the simulator. To start, my husband and I sat in the pilot and co-pilot seats, Jake sat behind and between to guide us, and the kids were sitting in the back part of the simulator.  The flights we took were in and out of various airports (we flew out of and then back to the same airport). Where did I want to fly? I chose to start local–I said that I wanted to fly in and out of O’Hare, just to better appreciate my home airport. Jake set up the simulator up for O’Hare, and suddenly it really looked like we were on the runway there!  This was not a generic runway; it was O’Hare! He then walked my husband and myself through the set up of all the switches, buttons, levers, etc. (I honestly don’t remember what we were doing, but I did whatever Jake said.) Once we started going, it felt so realistic! That was a bizarre sensation. I received constant guidance and instruction, and it was a blast!  I successfully (maybe not perfectly) landed.

O’Hare airport currently has 7 active runways ranging in length from 7500 to 13,000 feet.  As of January 2019, there are 191 gates. Of those, American Airlines has 71, and United Airlines has 81.

My son was up next.  When I initially told him that we would be going to Extreme Flight Simulation for a new adventure, he was underwhelmed and honestly did not want to come along.  Well, THAT CHANGED! (When a teenager admits that he was wrong, it means a lot!) He had a great time! In a previous post, you may remember that I “took” him to Hawaii for a night to enjoy a meal and a show. Well, we are getting closer to the real thing.  His chosen airport was Honolulu. He, too, had a blast!  Under the tutelage of our instructor extraordinaire, my son flew us safely in and out of Honolulu.  Personally, as someone who could really use a vacation, just seeing water and islands and feeling as though I was on a plane heading somewhere tropical, even if it was all just virtual, helped me feel relaxed.   With all of the neat opportunities that teens have nowadays, this one was still something very new and different, and he really enjoyed it!

The airport in Honolulu was formerly known as the Honolulu International Airport.  It is now known as the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. Fun fact: In 1977, there were plans for a fourth runway, the Reef Runway.  This would have destroyed the bird habitats of the Ae’o bird and other water birds. Due to the joint efforts of several organizations, the Ae’o population was saved and grows.  Additionally, the Reef Runway has won engineering awards. https://hidot.hawaii.gov/airports/library/publications-and-statistics/

Next up, my daughter.  She decided that she wanted to “go” to Bora Bora.  Jake knew that this would be a challenge. Why? The runway in Bora Bora is approximately 5000 feet long.  Do you remember how long the O’Hare runways are? (Answer: approximately 7500-13,000 feet) The Bora Bora runway is a short one!  He got the simulation set up and helped my daughter hit all the right buttons, switches, etc. He also simulated “lightening the load.”  The airport is built on an island in a lagoon. If you go too far, you can end up in the water. In real life, 737s do not fly into this airport!  My daughter got us “up” into the air, and we had a lovely view (you will see in the photos below that it was very realistic!) as we flew around the islands before our descent.  She did a great job! The plane went a bit farther on the runway than ideal, but the landing was smooth, and we stayed on land!

The Bora Bora Airport is also known as Motu Mute Airport.  This was opened in 1943 during World War II. Once you get off the plane, you need to take a boat to get to the mainland.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bora_Bora_Airport,  https://boraboraphotos.com/bora-bora-airport-information/

My husband, Steve, received a private pilot license many years ago.  (He has not flown since before we were married over 20 years ago.) He did not come into the experience cold and clueless like the rest of us.  Jake helped provide Steve with a slightly different experience based on his previous training. Steve wanted a more challenging airport than O’Hare; he chose to fly in and out of Hong Kong.  Jake set up the simulation and was able to make some tweaks to the set up to make it more interesting and challenging such as altering the amount of weight on the plane and changing the weather, as well as purposely reducing the performance of the engines.  I actually feel as though we flew in and out of the original Hong Kong International Airport. The mountains by the airport certainly added a new level of excitement which was not present at O’Hare! As we flew out of Hong Kong, we also got a view of the newer, replacement airport that was built to make travel to Hong Kong a safer and more pleasant experience.

From 1925-1998, Kai Tak International Airport was the Hong Kong Airport.  It closed and was replaced by a newer, larger airport. The Hong Kong International Airport opened July 1998.  It has two runways which are approximately 12,500 feet long. In 2010, it became the world’s busiest cargo airport.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_International_Airport

I had one more turn, so I asked Jake for a suggestion of a fun airport to try.  He suggested Innsbruck in western Austria. Let me start with one word: mountains.  This was a very different experience than my O’Hare flight, but since I was a seasoned simulator pilot by that point, I was up for the challenge!  This was a lot of fun, and, fortunately for all of us, a simulation. I can summarize it best with a line from the Innsbruck Airport Wikipedia page.  “Innsbruck Airport is well known for having a difficult approach due to the surrounding terrain, prohibiting certain types of aircraft from operating at the airport.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innsbruck_Airport,  https://www.innsbruck-airport.com/en/company/numbers-facts/history 

After flying over islands with the kids, it was a nice change to fly around the mountains of the Alps.  It was also a bit nerve wracking (but in an entertaining, safe way) to hear the simulator say “TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP, PULL UP!” (many times) as I tried to maneuver around the mountains while preparing for heading back to the runway.  That has become a new catch phrase in my house if we want to make each other crack up–“TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP, PULL UP!”

We finished our time with Jake, and we all agreed that, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, THIS WAS AWESOME!  We had a blast, enjoyed something completely different (at least completely different for my kids and myself; a little less different for my husband), and hope to try it again!  As an aside, in the future, if you are on a plane and Jake is your pilot, you are in good hands!