HD video: take a ride in a Qantas flight simulator!

Thanks to everybody who entered our Qantas flight simulator contest! The contest is now closed - we loved reading what you enjoy most about flying with Qantas. We have a winner!

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This week Australian Business Traveller is running a contest for one lucky reader to win a ride in a state-of-the-art flight simulator at Qantas’ Sydney training facility.

And when Qantas suggested we take the sim for a spin ourselves, we jumped at the chance!

Australian Business Traveller editor David Flynn went for a virtual flight from Sydney to London in one of Qantas' Boeing 747 simulators (he's always been a fan of the majestic jumbo), and we shot the following video so you can see what it's like inside the same flight simulator that Qantas pilots train on.

Of course, this video will also give you a taste of what the winner of the Australian Business Traveller / Qantas flight simulator contest will enjoy: so  click through to our Facebook page and leave a comment telling us what you enjoy most about flying with Qantas.

The competition closes this coming Sunday August 14th. (And if you live outside Sydney, Qantas will provide a free return flight to Sydney from your nearest capital city.) We have a winner!

Five fast facts about the Qantas flight simulators

1. Qantas has 10 flight simulators in its Sydney training facility, with the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 simulators costing around A$30 million each (that's about one-tenth the price of the actual aircraft).
2. Airbus and Boeing provide the data and much of the hardware for each sim, but the simulators themselves are built by independent companies.
3. Qantas pilots initially train for over 80 hours on each flight simulator; they must also do 16 hours of sim training each year, during which the simulators are programmed to create technical problems ranging from minor instrument malfunctions to total engine failure.
4. Training on new aircraft types starts six months before the plane arrives. Qantas will receive its first Boeing 787 towards the end of 2012, so the airline will install a 787 simulator early next year.
5. The Qantas flight simulators are also hired out to other airlines and they're in use around the clock, even at 3am!