I recently flew to Perth and back within twenty four hours (for work purposes) with Virgin Australia.
Travelling economy on this occasion was more pleasant than most. Although the flight was about two hours late in leaving Melbourne (allegedly due to bad weather over the past couple of days) and the in-flight entertainment system was not working, it was a pleasant surprise to be offered complimentary beverages and then a hot evening meal (which was reasonably nice). I commented on this and was told that it is standard practice on transcontinental flights. The flight attendants were polite, friendly and helpful.
It was also nice that an announcement asking people to raise teir seats to an upright position was made when the meal was about to be served.
The return flight the next day left on time (and arrived early), the (free) entertainment system was working, and we had the same crew and same food and beverage service. It was nice to be remembered by the friendly flight attendant from the previous day!
Well done to Virgin for making our long trip as pleasant as possible.
Having had a lifelong interest in matters of aviation and space travel, one of the post-graduate qualifications that I have done as a doctor is in the area of aviation medicine, and although I have never had the funds to 'learn to fly' I did enjoy the experience a few years ago (whilst undertaking the Monash University Australian Certificate of Civil Aviation Medicine in order to become a "Designated Aviation Medical Examiner") of having some time in a Boeing 737 simulator associated with Melbourne Airport.
Recently Amber Aviation Academy has been offering $99 vouchers for a flight simulator experience through a number of outlets, and I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to get a feeling of what is involved in piloting a small aircraft (helpful knowledge from a medical assessment perspective).
Amber are based at Essendon Airport in Melbourne (right near the terminal building) and have a single simulator which offers two options - a Virtual Cessna 172 and a Virtual Piper Seminole Twin Engine. I thought I would try both. Now let it be said that flying these contraptions is not as easy as you might think! Not only do you have to use the rocking steering column to keep the 'plane going up or down at the right angle, but also to turn and/or keep the wings level with the horizon, and when you are on the ground there are foot pedals to turn left or right (not the easiest thing to adapt to when you are used to driving a manual car!). There is also a time lag between performing an adjustment and seeing the response, which can easily lead to over-correction if you think nothing is happening. The Piper required tension on the steering column (like fighting an elastic band) to keep it in the correct position! I also found it challenging sitting so close to the screen as the focal length was too close to feel comfortable, even with reading glasses on.
Do not expect a lesson tailored to your individual learning needs - you will only get standardised scenarios which involve takeoffs and landings and flying around a bit. However, the staff were very polite (if uninclined to casual conversation) and the simulation was run by a qualified flying instructor. I would also not recommend booking for two consecutive hours as I did as the amount of intense concentration was too great and I was pretty washed out at the end and not performing at my best. Bearing in mind these limitations, I would still recommend the experience as a taste of flying - it was fun but there would be a lot of serious effort involved if you wanted to progress from this to becoming a competent pilot.
Belated birthday presents can be fun, and I finally caught up with one of mine recently - an aerobatic sightseeing flight in a WWII Chinese two-seater fighter trainer. http://www.flyingwarbirds.com.au/index.php
The flights run out of a hangar at a tiny airport at Barwon Heads, near Geelong. Actually getting there proved to be the biggest drama of the day. I allowed two hours to travel by car from Melbourne and was familiar with the old freeway to Geelong, having travelled it many times as a medical student, but it has been complicated by a new ring road, the exit signs for which had no mention of Barwon Heads. Travelling on through Geelong there was still no mention of Barwon Heads, only Ocean Grove and B110, which on my map appeared to be the feeder road. As Barwon Heads is very close to Ocean Grove, I took that exit, which ended up being the long way around, as you then have to cross back over the Barwon River. Apparently there is a signposted exit a couple more km down the road after the Ocean Grove exit! VicRoads has clearly failed on this one, so be warned if you are travelling from Melbourne - be sure to check the detailed directions first! On the way back from Barwon Heads I followed the signs to Melbourne via the M1 (rather than going into Geelong), which ended up being quite a long detour westwards which then connected with the new ring road. I guess you would need to look at a current map to appreciate which is the better option.
The proprietor/pilot was a personable young man. No special gear required, and as it was the first (and only) flight of the day we had to wait in the 'plane outside the hangar for about ten minutes while the engine oil warmed up etc. Needless to say there was a lot of fumes! My microphone was only working intermittently but it was deemed a case of 'see how it goes'. Eventually we taxied off over the grass onto a dirt track down to the runway. While we were waiting we could hear air traffic control chattering about a helicopter heading for the Geelong Hospital, which brought back memories of my days working there in the Emergency Department. After a while we taxied down the far end of the short grass runway, turned around, picked up speed and took off. After a bit of sightseeing up and down the Bellarine Peninsula west of Barwon Heads we tried out a few 'G-force' packing aerobatical manoeuvres including barrel rolls and loops. It was of course fun looking at the world upside down and hanging safely suspended from the four-point seat belt but there was no headrest and my neck was whipped back violently a few times (human neck muscles being insufficient to counter the gravitational forces). The headset also kept falling off my head! The pilot had advised me to clench my stomach muscles when going into a turn to reduce the risk of blacking out. I did this initially but then just concentrated on deep diaphragmatic breathing to control some feelings of nausea. I also instinctively found myself 'spotting the horizon' as a landmark during the turns.
Upon reflection I think the nausea was probably due to a combination of fuel fumes (quite strong at times), unaccustomed unnatural movements, the pressure of the headset around my face, and mild whiplash. At the time I was quite glad when the flight came to an end as I was not feeling that great but pleased there had been no hint of black-out and that I had not thrown up in the aircraft (a 'sick bag' is provided). After arriving back on terra firma and exchanging pleasantries I drove off but stopped for a rest at the first wayside stop as I was feeling quite drowsy and had started to nod off a couple of times whilst driving, which is never to be recommended! I think I actually went to sleep for a while in the back seat of the car and then received a lengthy 'phone call, so it ended up being a very long day by the time I got home.
All in all an interesting experience, but not for the faint-hearted, those with long necks or issues with fumes or travel sickness. I wouldn't mind trying out a jet flight if I ever get to be extremely rich one day but I think I would make sure it has head rests first and maybe consider some anti-nausea precautions!
An edited DVD of the flight and the scenery is available for $135 (takes ~6 weeks for delivery). When I received mine, I was able to see just how violently my head and neck were being thrown back and hyper-extended. No surprise that I became ill afterwards!
