Flight Simulators - Farnborough Air Sciences Trust

Farnborough Air Sciences Museum

Flight Simulators

At the FAST Museum, we offer a variety of different flight simulators, with options for all age groups, both military and civilian operations. The simulators are all supervised by knowledgeable volunteers who will do their best to ensure that you have a great experience. The simulators are all free to experience, however, donations are most welcome from those who are able to contribute towards their ongoing running and maintenance costs.

NB As the simulators are supervised by volunteers we cannot guarantee the availability of individual Sims during all Museum opening hours. If you are planning your visit around particular simulators, therefore, you are advised to call the museum prior to travelling to check availability. The simulators are available on a first-come, first-served basis and for roughly 15-20 minutes. However, these times may vary depending on demand on the day. If not busy, durations may be extended and you are free to re-queue for another turn. We endeavour, however, to ensure all get a fair go.

Please inform your instructor before commencing your flight if you suffer from photosensitive epilepsy, or other conditions that may be exacerbated by flickering screens. Height restrictions apply to some simulators due to the need to be able to reach some of the required controls to operate them effectively.

Plan Your Visit

English Electric Lightning F6

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Dating from the 1950s and in use until the 1980s, the British-designed Lightning was renowned for its awesome acceleration, breathtaking manoeuvrability and sheer speed (Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound). It was developed to be deployed at short notice as an interceptor pending a possible nuclear attack during the Cold War.

Your instructor will talk you through the controls and required operational procedures for your flight before you then take to the skies from RAF Manston, Kent. Climbing to 15,000 feet, you will intercept the river Thames by the docks at Tilbury before attempting various low-level manoeuvres around some of the numerous sights in and around the City of London. For the flight you will be seated in a genuine Ex-Lightning Martin-Baker ejector seat fitted into an ex-Lightning Weapons Procedure Trainer cockpit.

A flight to remember you will be taken from ‘zero to hero’ in a matter of minutes.

Harrier II (“Jump Jet”)

The museums latest and most technologically advanced simulator, the Harrier II simulator came into service in September 2023. The Harrier colloquially known as the “Jump Jet”) was renowned as the worlds first Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) and Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft. It managed these feats by way of two thrust nozzles located either side of the single Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine, the position of which can be adjusted by a single lever in the cockpit to divert the thrust through up to 98½ degrees from directly rearwards, as in conventional aircraft, to slightly forward of downward vertical, making backward flight achievable.

Our Harrier is based in Georgia, just north of Turkey. There are a variety of missions that visitors can experience, from a conventional land-based take-off and landing, low level flying in the mountains, flying past, or even from a moving aircraft carrier, to name but a few. Your instructor will guide you through which sortie is most suited to your skills and experience.

Physically, the simulator features a unique design, allowing visitors with mobility issues and wheelchair users full access to the cockpit, making it one of the very few flight simulators worldwide completely accessible to those with mobility challenges.

Concorde Simulator

The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde made her very last flight in November 2003. For those of us not lucky enough to have experienced her in person, here at FAST you have the opportunity to pilot this magnificent pioneering aircraft.

An example flight would see you taxi onto runway 27R at London’s Heathrow airport before climbing to cruising altitude, then turn and fly just south of London before heading back towards the airport. You pass over several of the capital’s landmarks, including The 02, Tower Bridge, the City of London and the former Battersea Power Station, before beginning a descent back into LHR using the Instrument Landing System (ILS).

Full instruction and briefing will be given prior to take-off and an instructor will be in the captain’s seat to provide assistance during the flight. The rear of the flight deck has room for a jump-seat passenger or engineer and family and friends can take their seats in the passenger cabin and view your flights progress on their own screen.

Spitfire (suitable for younger children)

The Spitfire is an iconic British fighter, widely credited with having helped the Allied forces win the Second World War. Our simulator is specially designed for our younger and smaller visitors and allows them to take the controls of this legendary fighter and engage in air-to-air combat against enemy aircraft. No previous experience of flying is necessary – so just how many enemy planes will you take down during your mission?

Our simulators are extremely popular with visitors of all ages and abilities, so don’t be shy, have a go, the only thing you can injure is your pride, but our instructors will do their best to ensure you leave with that intact also.

Finally, we are always in need of more instructors. So, if you are local and can regularly spare some time at weekends, please make your interest known to one of the instructors during your visit. All training is provided; all we look for is regular commitment and somebody who enjoys giving visitors a great experience.

Plan Your Visit

Simulator Graphics

At the far end of the gallery in Hall 2 is a 2000:1 scale model board of the Wiltshire countryside. Find out how simulators generated outside world visuals prior to the invention of computer graphics now so commonplace in use in PlayStation, XBox or similar games consoles.

Below are video still snapshots of the outside world view from a flight simulator, generated from a camera ‘flying’ over the model board. This was a typical method used to provide visuals for research simulators in the 1980s, before the power of computers was such that real-time computer-generated scenes could be employed.