Flight Review: Flying A Boeing 747 In A Real 747 Cockpit

In Manchester, United Kingdom, an actual 747 cockpit has been transformed into the world's first flying simulator.

Over the past few years, the Boeing 747-400 has gradually gone from service. Several of the aero planes have been rescued and kept for anyone eager to view them (and hopefully more will be later). However, the most recent to launch in the UK provides a lot more. The Deck 747, a Manchester-based business, has restored the upper deck of an ex-British Airways 747 and turned it into a functional flight simulator. Justin Hayward from Simple Flying visited to see how the 747 and simulator were progressing and to give it a try.

A 747 upper deck in Manchester

The recognizable and adored Boeing 747-400 is increasingly uncommon to see in passenger service. Many aircraft were prematurely retired during the epidemic and were quickly scrapped. Fortunately, numerous planes have been kept in the air. British Airways stated that all of its 747 planes would be retired in July 2020. (it operated up to 31 747-400s heading into the pandemic). A few of these have survived, including four that are on show right now in different parts of the UK.

Manchester offers one of the most intriguing and practical uses. The Deck 747, a business situated at Manchester City Airport (Barton), has purchased the cockpit and a portion of the upper deck from the former British Airways aeroplane G-BYGA. This was transported from Kemble to Manchester in August, where it was built up as a venue and flying simulator in the business's hangar.

The cabin is still furnished with the iconic Club World seats from British Airways, which are positioned 2-2 throughout the cabin in an alternate yin-yang pattern. These seats have been used on the 747-400 since their launch in 2000, although they are currently being updated with the new Club Suite offering.

It is wonderful to see the upper deck kept here - and in use. Many frequent British Airways travellers will recall it as their preferred seating space.

Inside the 747 cockpit

However, the front end is where the action takes place and where The Deck has been putting in a lot of effort since August. With almost no damage to the cockpit, G-BYGA arrived in Manchester. It appears and feels exactly as it would while in use. The two pilot bunks are still present behind the left-hand seat, and the seats still retain their fur covers. It sure seems authentic as I slide into the captain's seat for the J-rail!

Finding replacement parts and rebuilding the cockpit, according to co-founder Drew Hanna, has been one of the biggest restoration hurdles. All of the cockpit's primary controls were still in place, although some of the cockpit's components had been taken out before The Deck purchased the area. This is typical for aircraft salvage, and the team did an excellent job locating and reassembling pieces.

It is one thing to have an actual 747 cockpit, but it is quite another to get it to function as a simulator. So far, this is the only attempt that is publicly accessible. The team has developed a multi-panel screen specifically for the aircraft and connected all the primary flying controls (ailerons, rudders, elevator, flaps, and throttles) to simulator inputs. We'll go into more detail about how this was accomplished in a later piece.

The main goal has been to develop a functioning simulation of 747 flight using the actual cockpit. It makes no claims to be a fully complete flight simulator, but rather promises a realistic and enjoyable experience for all users. Drew described this emphasis to Simple Flying as follows:

Flying the 747-400

With flight simulator software, the aircraft can be positioned anywhere in the world and in every kind of weather, as one might anticipate. Before attempting a full trip from Manchester to Liverpool, we first practised using the aircraft controls over the Alps.

The handling and controls are superb. Naturally, they feel right since they are the actual deal. To guarantee a positive response, the column is sprung. It took some time to get used to using the trim correctly, as I suppose it would for any new 747 pilot!

Naturally, I was also eager to fly her to the former Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong. It's quite an experience to fly from Hong Kong International to Kai Tak, which takes a few minutes. As you make a low visual approach and line up for the tight turn onto the final approach using the renowned checkerboard, the detailed graphics hold up admirably. There is barely enough time to quickly scan the flats next to you through the side windows. And Kai Tak is a delight to land at because there is a tonne of simulated local traffic on the ground.

You are limited in what you can do because this simulator is not entirely functional. There are full flight controls and an autopilot, but no flight computer or use of the majority of the controls on the overhead panel. An engine fire, for instance, cannot be simulated, but many other scenarios may. For instance, we attempted handling and landing despite many engine failures.

More to come from the simulator

There is plenty to do since this is the first publicly available attempt to use a genuine cockpit as a simulator. The simulator already has all of the primary flight controls and the autopilot linked and working, but more will come. The team informed me that the next improvements would be to connect and activate the toe brakes, replace the current 737-based autopilot with a genuine 747-400 one, and add more genuine 747 overhead panels.

You are welcome to use the simulator if you live in the UK. Early in December, just in time for Christmas reservations, the Deck 747 became available for public booking. Experiences can be purchased beginning at ￡49.95.

The Deck and the Manchester Flight Sim Center collaborate. It also runs additional simulators, and these can be reserved together for prolonged flying sessions. This contains a top-notch Airbus A320 simulator and a Rockwell Commander light aircraft simulator.

The A320 simulator is an exact replica of the cockpit. This was a drastically different experience, but I still really liked it. Although the Airbus side sticks are real components, this cockpit, like other simulators, is a completely accurate recreation utilizing replica controls. This makes for more realistic flight experiences and is also employed in pilot training. This provided me with a wonderful opportunity to become a little more accustomed to the Airbus autopilot systems, ILS approaches, and even the TCAS system with simulated close traffic.

Source: Simple Flying