Build a Flight Simulator

…from a real aircraft!

This is the remarkable story of Jonathan and Peter, who found a derelict Jetstream 41 aircraft, cut off the front and turned that into a flyable simulator.

They had to make many parts, especially all the flight instruments. They had to overcome many puzzles to connect all the controls to their computers. They also had to teach themselves how to delve into software to get it all to work properly. And, although it works extremely well as it is at the moment, there’s even more improvements to come.

I’ve had the pleasure of flying this simulator and I think it’s amazing. As you’ll see in the video, I’m a bit rusty. It’s been over four years since I’ve flown anything - my last type being the Embraer 175 - and it shows. But, it certainly brought a smile to my face and brought back memories of the many hours I flew on these aircraft in the late 1990s. Indeed, it was the first type I qualified on as a First Officer for Manx Airlines in 1994 and was the aircraft I first flew as a new Captain in 1996. During the video there’s a picture of GMAJC in Eastern Airlines colours, and a flight deck photograph of GMAJB, also of Eastern Airlines. I flew both of those when they were operated by Manx Airlines.

Jonathan and Peter are working to prepare the simulator to offer the experience of flying to the public. When they get that far, I’ll put more details here.

My thanks to Jonathan and Peter for letting me film them and their incredible machine.

Thank you to Ian Tate for his kind permission to use the photograph of GMAJC.

Thank you to Moritz Borstell for his kind permission to use the flight deck photograph of GMAJB.

Production Notes:

I’ve been teaching myself about lighting and colour temperature and all that malarkey. This “on location” video was a real challenge from that point of view. However, I’m really pleased with the result. Let me know what you think in the comments.