For the first time I had had a visitor in the simulator. Of course I have been showing the project to visitors in the house. But this was the first time that one of my friends with a real interest in aviation came by just to fly the sim.

He is very interested in aircrafts; is flying large RC-planes in his spare time and has also been using flight simulator quite a lot. So it was not all new to him.

But it was a joy to be able to sit in the first officer seat and let Thomas do all the flying. We took the aircraft from cold and dark and fired up the beast using my flow list (An much extended check list). We ran through the different systems, the layout of the cockpit, and every now and then Thomas asked questions about systems that I was not able to answer.

We took off from Århus (EKAH) on a short flight to Copenhagen (EKCH). Preparation and takeoff was smooth. In the air things were a bit hectic at some phases as the time from climb to descend was only a few minutes; so we had to prepare the descend and arrival shortly after departure. But we layer the aircraft on a long approach. 6nm out Thomas took manual control of the B737 and landed it (almost) safely.

What a succes. So we took another flight – this time online on Vatsim. Thomas in the captains seat flying. Me assisting, explaining, and taking care of communications with the ATC. Again the flight was smooth. Good quality ATC. It really takes it to a higher level with the ATC. Thomas lives just next to the approach in to Aalborg, so we tried to spot his house on the way in. But Thomas was too busy flying the tin by hand. Smooth.

So I had a great time yesterday in the first officer seat, guiding and assisting.