Flight Experience, Burlington

In the cockpit, amateur pilots guide their aircraft toward the destination of their choice, be it a familiar nearby airport or an exotic locale like the island airport of Hong Kong or the Alps-surrounded runways of Innsbruck, Austria. A highly trained instructor sits beside them, helping with any hiccups they may encounter. And thanks to 180-degree cockpit views, clients enjoy excellent sights—sunrises, sunsets, even banks of fog rolling in—between the highly technical takeoff and landing maneuvers. All told, it's an epic experience. It's also not totally real.

In reality, the cockpit is part of Flight Experience's hyper-realistic flight-simulator version of the Boeing 737NG. It sits stationary on the ground throughout faux flights, allowing clients to learn the ropes of aviation without leaving the world of normal-sized snacks behind. In the pilot's seat, they learn to juggle controls for airspeed, altitude, and flight path, which, combined with the cockpit's lifelike vibrations and digital visuals, create a believable airborne experience.