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Something A Little Different


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I landed at Swampypoom on 23 Dec, flew out on 4 Jan.

 

During that time, I did the usual rounds.

 

I also did something different.

 

I logged 8 hours on a Boeing 737NG Advanced Aviation Training Device. This is a high-fidelity flight simulator, without a motion base.

 

I originally heard about the company a few years ago, when we thew the Sunday afternoon get-together in the bar&grill on Convent Road. They'd since moved to Ekkamai Gateway mall. I was in there in September, flew a 1/2 hour and 1 hour casual session then.

 

This time, when I went back, it was with the specific intention of learning to fly the 737. Seriously. They asked what I wanted to do, I said "stick-and-rudder flying, to master the airplane". They smiled and said "We can do that."

 

I flew an hour a day every day for four days, and then I flew two hours a day for two days. You can't help but learn things on this schedule, and some of them will be things you never expected to learn. Things about leadership, and teamwork, and how you respond under pressure.

 

I did things I never dreamed I would do. I learned things I never expected to learn, I made memories, with their help, that will last a lifetime, and then some. And I had more fun than I ever dreamed possible.

 

At one point, taking off from Hong Kong, for a night hop to Macau with the company chief pilot, I was mildly surprised to realize that the takeoff procedure had become both familiar and comfortable. Once we were at cruise altitude and speed, sitting back, I realized just how incredibly beautiful a night flight in that part of the world could be.

 

At another point, flying in the San Francisco area, still with the company chief pilot, he had me working harder than I'd ever worked in my life. I never would have believed I could handle that workload, and I would REALLY never would have believed I would be having the time of my life doing it. That man is destined to be one of the great flight instructors of this century. He has a gift, for knowing EXACTLY how hard and how far a student can be pushed.

 

And that's another thing. Flying with him never felt like instructor and student. It felt like team, like very senior captain and very junior first officer, and part of the captain's job is to make the first officer a better pilot. And he did.

 

The 737 is a beautiful airplane. She is demanding. She teaches you very quickly that you have to pay attention to her, learn to feel what she is feeling. She is also incredibly responsive and incredibly rewarding, and, within the above, both easier and more fun to fly than a Cessna 172.

 

I will be going back next trip.

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Ekkamai Gateway mall, 2nd floor.

 

Ride the skytrain to Ekkamai station, exit on the south side of Suk, walk into the mall, ride two escalators up. As you get off the second escalator, on the second floor, turn to your right and work your way around the atrium. You will see what looks like an airliner nose section. That's the entrance to Flight Experience Bangkok.

 

Website

 

The website has their old address, off Convent Road, but they moved to Ekkamai Gateway early in 2016.

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My pleasure, Coss. I want them to get plenty of business. I want them to stay open, so they'll be there when I get back in a few months.

 

Dear Sir ,

 

I am virtually in tears of joy since I realise the positive impact of your report on my forthcoming 3 weeks river-based sort of family holiday in Khungthep which normally demand complex concepts to submerge for an hour or two . Additionally , I have been planning to use a simulator for years now without ever coming close to a suitable opportunity .

 

This very moment,Sir , did I write a mail with details to them and shall report accordingly . This sounds all very very good .

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