Gloucester Flight Simulators raise £6,500 for air ambulance charity

A team of pilots who have been flying non-stop around the world in a flight simulator have finished their week-long challenge.

Gloucester-based Team Velocity have been flying a professional Boeing 737 simulator at Velocity Flight Training in Churcham.

It is part of a global fundraising event. The team have been raising money for the Great Western Air Ambulance.

They began on Saturday 4 November and finished flying earlier.

In total, the team raised £6,500 for Great Western Air Ambulance.

The air ambulance operates across Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, North Somerset and parts of Wiltshire,

Emma Fawcett, from the charity, said: "We are so grateful to [Team Velocity] and all their followers for their generosity and support.

"The money raised will help us to provide critical care to those who need it the most - saving more lives in our community."

Pilot Duncan MacKellar, owner of Velocity Flight Training, said the team have "traversed around the world" on their simulator, which is a mixture of real and replica 737 parts.

"It's a close as you're going to get," said Mr Mackellar.

"We've recovered parts from retired airliners from the states and in the UK and then integrated them into one big unit, which really does give you the sensation of things happening and flying.

"We've got systems in the seats that move them slightly so you feel the rumble as the engine's starting. The floor shakes a little bit, so it really does give you the all up body experience of actually doing stuff in the aircraft."

Mr MacKellar says there are a group of 15 flight simulators around the world under the WorldFlight group who take part in the challenge every year.

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