Can a non-pilot buy sim time in Phoenix?
 

Hi everyone, long-time lurker who's fascinated with commercial airliners and aviation in general. I had wanted to be a commercial pilot when I was out of college, but all kinds of other things got in the way, and here I am in my 40s with my own technology company and ~20 hours in my logbook (though a few of those on some commercial iron like 737-200 (United Airlines "Pilot for a Day" program) and 757 simulators (met an airline instructor once in the airport who took me for an hour in the sim).

I'm wondering if anyone knows how I would go about getting (obviously, paying for the privilege) access to a commercial sim, to explore and learn. Do airlines rent them out, or are there other outfits in town who usually train pilots, but also rent to whomever wants to use them? If so, are there requirements in order to rent time? I realize it will be fairly expensive, and I only would want a few hours to play, but I'm so fascinated by big jets, and dream of pretending to be a pilot for a few hours at a time in a sim. I also want to see how well my 20 hours + 100s of hours with Microsoft Flight Sim have prepared me for some landing tests. :)

Any thoughts or advice appreciated. Thanks!

- commercial jet lover in Phoenix

Check with whoever has sims, but the TSA will probably be involved. They are kind of picky about people learning to fly big airplanes without a good reason.

Pretty sad when 'Because I'd like to' is no longer a good reason.

maybe not in phoenix, but there are a number of "CONTRACT" places using airline sims. however, security as mentioned might be a concern. so be sure you are not a terrorist.

contact any of the airlines and ask to speak to the "CONTRACT" training department and start there.

can't think of one in phoenix though. maybe los angeles, seattle or atlanta or miami.

it will be cheaper to use a sim of airliners that have been retired like the 727 or DC9 or 707. Should give you as much fun

I spent quite a bit of time in a boeing 720B at San Carlos airport near San Francisco but don't know if it is still there or not. Very old type but quite good with a moving video camera over a model landscape. Helped me quite a bit in getting hired at a big airline...this well over 25 years ago.

Definitely yes. The requirement is cash and a tame sim. operator/instructor. Also, it's normal to have to book an entire slot which, depending on how the programme is put together will be something like 3.5 to 4 hours. The graveyard slots (after 10:00pm and those ending before 8:00am) are the cheapest but the instructor will be more expensive. A 737-800 slot costs approx €1,000. An instructor will be upwards of €250 (rather cheap if you compare their rates with those charged for spanner monkeys at Mercedes garages). The downside is this sim is in Europe.

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