Time for takeoff!

Today started off with a surprising amount of rain!  It was supposed to rain earlier in the week and it never really materialized but this morning it was a lot more!  Anna did a great job driving in the rain, taking me and Olivier to his jiu jitsu class and as we were leaving we saw this amazing rainbow!  

Anna then drove us to the airport where Olivier got to enjoy his birthday gift, flying in a simulator!  Here he is as everything is getting setup!  

They started the flight by taking off from the airport in Paris and flying by the Eiffel Tower!  

They did a loop around the tower.  

The the simulation shifted and it was in the San Francisco area and the first thing they did was head toward an air craft carrier.   

And yes!  He touched the carrier and took off again!  

That went really well and set Olivier up to fly to the Golden Gate Bridge.  And the instructor had Olivier fly under the bridge because he was doing so well!  

Here is that video:

He then got to circle Alcatraz and fly at mach 2.2 (!!!) and then setup a landing at SFO.  It was interesting watching the landing because he started part of it using auto pilot and adjusted the weather a few times which was rather crazy how little visibility they have!  

This is the landing!

 

It was interesting to learn about all the different pieces and gives us a huge appreciation for all those pilots!  Happy birthday Olivier!