Yes! All of our flight simulators are professional standard and many (especially the airliner sims) are indeed used by licensed pilots. The quality is second to none and it's a very realistic experience. You'll soon get immersed in the whole sensation of flying and forget you're in a simulator!

Yes and no. You can indeed learn to how to fly a plane by clocking up time in a simulator, but it doesn't give you any qualifications to actually fly a real plane.

Definitely not. Many of us have tried the flight simulator programmes on games consoles and computers and they are nothing like these high-powered simulators. Even if you have a fairly decent home set up with joysticks and a seat, you probably won't have anything like these full cockpit set-ups.

Yes you can. Several of our flight simulator centres offer 'fear of flying' experiences as part of their programme. It's a really good way to get over the anxiety you feel when taking a flight and should help you be able to fly off on holiday without the panic.

Yep. The software is so sophisticated now on simulators that many have an impressive database of over 24,000 different airport and airfields around the globe. What you'll do and where you fly is usually discussed with your instructor as part of your pre-flight briefing.

Ah yes. These are legendary airports for various reasons. St Maarten's is the one where you fly in straight over the beach, Innsbruck is a very narrow valley in the Austrian mountains and Kai Tak is the former Hong Kon airport that meant a final approach in amongst the skyscrapers. They are often mentioned as they are by far the most popular airports (alongside local UK ones) that participants want to try.

Whilst many of the cockpits used for our flight simulators are highly accurate replicas, some are actually real, in the sense that they are ex-airworthy airframes used to create the cockpits. So you could be sitting in an ex-Romanian Air Force L-29 Delfin, or on the slightly worn seat of Airbus A320-111 that has flown hundreds of thousands of miles on commercial routes for GB Airways.

Yes. Often there's room inside the airliner cockpits for one or more in the 'jump' seat. Some sim operators have a cabin set up with several rows of airline seats where friends and family can be 'passengers' on the flight. In the case of the fighter jets and smaller aircraft simulators, there's usually an area where you can spectate and watch screens that are showing what is happening inside the cockpit.

No. If you want to go for a Private Pilot's Licence (PPL) you'll need to take flying lessons in real aircraft. If you're keen to find out what it's like flying a light aircraft, you can  buy a trial flying lesson  from us. We've got flight training schools onboard around the UK so you can get a feel of what flying for real is like.

Many of the instructors who host these simulator sessions are indeed qualified pilots. On the Boeing and Airbus simulators, many are working commercial pilots. Others are retired, whilst some are ex-RAF working in pilot or avionics capacities.

Most of the flight simulators we offer are fixed base. That's to say the cockpit doesn't move, but you do get all the very realistic noises that the plane makes. We do have some premium simulator sessions on fully hydraulic flight simulators, which means the whole pod moves, simulating the way the plane moves in the sky.

Of course! You don't have to fly in calm sunny weather. If you want an extra challenge, the flight technician can add in some fog, a bit of turbulence or even lightning strikes. Maybe a snowy final approach to Geneva Airport would be your thing?

We can't stress how realistic these sims are. Just sitting on stand at London Heathrow you'll see everything a real pilot in a real airliner would see, right down to the gate numbers, baggage trucks, tugs and refuellers whizzing around the apron. We're talking high quality HD graphics on wraparound 180 degree screens in the majority of cases.

No. In fact, most of the people who go on our flight simulator experiences have no previous flying experience, in either a real plane or a simulator. All sessions are geared to your level and what you want to do as well, so if you're a bit of a sim buff there's a challenge for you do as well!

Most definitely. You will be sitting in the left-hand captain's seat, so you'll be the one in command at the controls. Help is there when/if you need it from your expert pilot instructor, but the whole idea of these experiences is that you get to see what life is like as a pilot.

Yep! Believe or not, this is the first thing that people ask if they can do when they get inside the simulator. Of course, there's none of that on the civil or military aircraft simulators, but in those cases you might have extra challenges like mid-air refuelling, aerial dog fights and aerobatics to tackle.

Yes. Several simulator centres are based in or near actual airfields, with others dotted around the country at various venues. We even have simulators in city centres, including central London. Locations include:

• London
• Newcastle
• Devon
• Hampshire
• Suffolk
• Norfolk
• Cheshire
• Manchester
• Scotland - Perth
• Scotland - Glasgow