Dream Aero teaches hopeful pilots to fly a Boeing 737NG at a D.C.-area mall
If you’ve always dreamed of piloting a jet airliner, Dream Aero now allows visitors to a D.C. Metro-area shopping mall to do the next best thing and take the controls of a realistic Boeing 737 simulator.
Dream Aero recently opened its Boeing 737NG Flight Simulator on the third floor of Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, Maryland, bringing the most realistic full flight simulation for civilians to the Washington, D.C. metro area.
The Dream Aero simulator replicates a genuine cockpit and precisely reproduces all the control functions of the Boeing 737NG. The simulator is so authentic, in fact, that it almost meets International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirements for flight training that aspiring commercial pilots are required to complete (D level according to JAR-FSTD classification and level 7 according to ICAO 9625 classification).
During their “flights,” customers can get the full sense of piloting a 737 including taxiing, take off, cruising in all kinds of weather conditions, and safe landing in any of the 24,000 airports on the globe.
A movable platform replicates physical flight dynamics, a panoramic visualization system provides realistic cockpit views and an advanced audio system creates true-to-life flight sounds. The simulator also replicates difficult weather conditions and models non-standard situations for customers with enough training.
Dream Aero has programmed the simulator’s computer for hundreds of routes and destinations, including visuals of specific terrain, runways and local geographic features, so customers can “fly” almost anywhere in the world. For example, they can choose to takeoff from Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., and land at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, London Heathrow, or even Male International Airport in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
“We’re delighted to offer this exciting and highly realistic Boeing 737 airliner simulator to flight enthusiasts, families and groups in the U.S. capital,” said Dream Aero’s CEO Dimitry Kornyshkov-Murin. “Our professional flight instructors will take our customers to the skies as ‘co-pilots’, and they are going to experience all the sights, sounds and feelings of a real flight. It is as close as you can get to being an actual pilot without being in the air.”
In addition to providing the thrill of piloting a commercial airliner, the simulator also can help people cope with the fear of flying, also known as aerophobia or aviophobia. “This isn’t just an entertainment complex. It’s an opportunity to realize childhood dreams and become a pilot of an airliner,” said Kornyshkov-Murin. “With experience on the Dream Aero simulator, more and more people will be able to enjoy not just virtual air flights, but real flights, as well.”
Founded in 2012, Dream Aero operates simulators in 10 major cities across the globe, and plans to open several more locations in metro areas throughout North America and the Asia-Pacific region.
Simulator time starts at $175 for 30 minutes, and goes up to $695 for 3 hours. To book a reservation, or for more information, visit dream.aero.
