How to conquer your fear of flying! Pilot launches Boeing replica so passengers with phobias can learn to LAND a plane

  • Captain Andy Wilkins, 56, has built a replica Boeing 737-800 
  • Simulator has an aircraft cabin, cockpit and flight simulator
  • Nervy fliers receive counselling and then get to 'fly' the plane themselves 
  • Features windows, overhead lockers, limited leg room and a narrow aisle 

By Luke Salkeld for the Daily Mail

Published: 06:39 EST, 19 August 2014 | Updated: 19:28 EST, 19 August 2014

Coping with a fear of flying might require counselling, therapy or even just getting aboard and gritting your teeth until you’re back on terra firma.

But pop down to a rather unremarkable industrial estate in Devon and you might be able to conquer your terrors for good.

At least that’s what former pilot Andy Wilkins, 56, says. He has recreated the interior of a Boeing 737-800 in one of the estate’s units to help fearful flyers.

Emma Kaye, 38, left, piloting the Boeing 737-800 simulator as it is on final approach

Prepare for take off: Pilot Andy Wilkins has created a replica Boeing 737-800 to help people with flying phobias

The high-tech simulator is located in an industrial unit near Exeter in Devon

The high-tech simulator is located in an industrial unit near Exeter in Devon

There’s a fully equipped cockpit and, behind it, a cabin with the familiar small windows, overhead lockers and seats with little leg room. The simulator also features announcements from the ‘crew’ and the sounds that terrify nervous flyers.

Mr Wilkins, who took redundancy after 20 years with Thomson Airways, counsels  clients and discusses the flying process with them. Clients then use the simulator to ‘fly’ the plane themselves.

Since launching the Virtual Jet Centre in Newton Abbot, he has already helped eight clients beat their fears. He said: ‘People have left saying that instead of feeling nervous about a flight they were excited.’

 

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Mr Wilkins also offers pilot training, educational trips and corporate events at the unit. It costs £100 per hour for a three-hour Fear of Flying session.

One client was Emily Kaye, 38, who had to be prescribed Valium to fly. Since doing Mr Wilkins’s course she has been on holiday to Greece and didn’t need medication.

She said: ‘I became more afraid as I got older. But I felt 100 per cent better after the course and was able to fly to Greece with no problems.’

The sky's the limit: A piloting the 737-800 simulator with Captain Andy Wilkins on the life changing course

The sky's the limit: A piloting the 737-800 simulator with Captain Andy Wilkins on the life changing course

BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833) Pic: Collect/BNPS The unassuming industrial unit near Exeter in Devon from which Capt Andy Wilkins runs his revolutionary course. The sky's the limit... A pilot has launched a state-of-the-art virtual aeroplane to help people tackle their flying phobias head on. Captain Andy Wilkins, 56, has built a replica Boeing 737-800 complete with an aircraft cabin, cockpit, and flight simulator. It has been made to look exactly how a real aeroplane would with tiny windows, overhead lockers, seats with limited leg room and a narrow aisle. The model also features example messages and announcements from the crew and sounds that can often terrify people such as the hydraulic system. Andy shows members of the public who suffer with flying fears - otherwise known as Aviophobia - into the cabin and uses counselling techniques to calm their nerves. They then enter the cockpit of the aircraft where he shows them exactly how it works and discusses the process in detail from taking
BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833) Pic: Collect/BNPS Nicki Chalk and Emily Kaye visit the unassuming industrial unit near Exeter in Devon from which Capt Andy Wilkins runs his revolutionary course. The sky's the limit... A pilot has launched a state-of-the-art virtual aeroplane to help people tackle their flying phobias head on. Captain Andy Wilkins, 56, has built a replica Boeing 737-800 complete with an aircraft cabin, cockpit, and flight simulator. It has been made to look exactly how a real aeroplane would with tiny windows, overhead lockers, seats with limited leg room and a narrow aisle. The model also features example messages and announcements from the crew and sounds that can often terrify people such as the hydraulic system. Andy shows members of the public who suffer with flying fears - otherwise known as Aviophobia - into the cabin and uses counselling techniques to calm their nerves. They then enter the cockpit of the aircraft where he shows them exactly how it works and discusses

Customer Emily Kaye and friend visit the industrial unit near Exeter from which Andy runs his course

The nervous fliers take to the skies in the replica Boeing 737-800 as part of their Fear of Flying course

The nervous fliers take to the skies in the replica Boeing 737-800 as part of their Fear of Flying course

At the end of the three-hour long course, the client will then have the opportunity to use the high-tech simulator to fly the plane themselves.

Since launching the Virtual Jet Centre in an industrial unit in Newton Abbot, Devon, four months ago, Andy has already helped eight people, including nervous flier Emily Kaye, 38, overcome their fears. 

Captain Wilkins has 30 years’ experience flying Airbus and Boeing passengers jets for a leading holiday airline. 

Take control: The course, which costs £100 per hours finishes with the chance to 'fly' the virtual aeroplane

Take control: The course, which costs £100 per hours finishes with the chance to 'fly' the virtual aeroplane

He build the simulator at the Virtual Jet Centre to train pilots, offer flight experiences and corporate training days, as well as helping people overcome their fears of flight.

The father-of-one said: 'The fear of flying is all about loss of control. When you go on an aircraft it is the one time you have to sit there with total lack of control of everything.

'What we are doing is empowering people through knowledge.' 

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