07/27/2026
What Is a Full Motion Flight Simulator?
A full motion flight simulator is a life-size replica of an aircraft cockpit mounted on a moving platform. The platform tilts, rolls, and shifts the entire cockpit in sync with what you do at the controls — so when you rotate for takeoff, you feel yourself pressed back into the seat, and when you touch down, you feel the runway arrive. Combine that with wraparound visuals and real aircraft controls, and your brain stops asking whether this is real.
Airlines use full motion simulators to train and re-certify their pilots. What most people don't know is that you can fly one yourself — WeFly in Pasadena, CA operates the only motion-powered Boeing 737 MAX simulator in the USA open to the public, alongside a motion-powered Airbus A320. No license, no experience, no ground school. Here's how the technology actually works.
The Three Ingredients of Full Immersion
Every serious simulator is trying to convince three parts of you at once: your hands, your eyes, and your inner ear.
1. Real Controls — Your Hands
Step into the cockpit and everything is where a real Boeing 737 pilot would find it: the yoke, the throttle quadrant, the overhead panel with its fuel pumps and anti-ice switches, the Mode Control Panel for the autopilot, the flap lever, the landing gear handle. Every switch clicks. The trim wheels spin. In our Airbus A320 sim, you fly with the side-stick and experience true fly-by-wire logic, exactly the way Airbus pilots do.
This matters because flying is a hands-on skill. A desktop joystick approximates it; a full cockpit teaches it.
2. 4K Visuals and Surround Sound — Your Eyes and Ears
Outside the windshield, 4K projectors render a seamless panoramic view of the world — runways, city lights, weather, oceans. Surround sound fills in the rest: engine spool-up, wind, the clunk of the landing gear, radio chatter. Fly at dusk into Los Angeles and the city glows the way it does from a real flight deck.
3. The Motion Platform — Your Inner Ear
This is the piece that separates a full motion simulator from every video game setup. The cockpit sits on a motion system that delivers what engineers call motion cues — precisely timed accelerations that match what your body expects to feel:
- Takeoff: the platform tilts back as you rotate, and you feel the climb
- Banking: roll into a turn and your inner ear registers it before your eyes do
- Turbulence: the cockpit genuinely shakes — some guests grab the armrest
- Landing: the flare, the main-gear touch, the deceleration as the reversers roar
Your inner ear is extremely hard to fool. When the motion, the visuals, and the controls all agree with each other, the experience crosses a threshold: you stop "playing" and start flying.
Is It Really Like Flying a Real Plane?
Close enough that it's the standard tool of the airline industry. Professional full motion simulators are so faithful that airline pilots complete major parts of their training in them — practicing engine failures, storms, and emergency landings that would be too dangerous to rehearse in the air. Some of our own guests are licensed pilots who come in to keep their procedures sharp on days off.
The honest difference: a simulator can't sustain G-forces the way a real climbing jet can, and there's no 35,000 feet of consequence under your seat. For everything else — the workflow, the sight picture, the muscle memory, the feel of the flare — it's remarkably faithful. We wrote a full comparison in Boeing vs Airbus: what it feels like to fly both, and you can read what a first session is actually like from a first-timer's perspective.
What You Fly at WeFly
WeFly is a boutique simulator center in Pasadena, California, minutes from Old Town and about 20 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. Guests fly:
- Boeing 737 MAX — the only motion-powered 737 MAX simulator in the USA open to the public. Full-size cockpit, motion platform, 4K visuals, surround sound.
- Airbus A320 — fly-by-wire, side-stick precision, and the most modern automation philosophy in the sky.
- Formula 1 racing simulator — force-feedback wheel, triple-screen setup, up to two racers. A different kind of cockpit entirely.
Every flight session includes a real instructor who briefs you, sets up any route you want — LAX to San Francisco, an Alpine approach in Austria, a stormy night landing in New York — and talks you through takeoff to touchdown. You're in the captain's seat the entire time.
- Sessions: 30, 60, or 120 minutes
- Pricing: Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320 from $129 · Formula 1 from $49
- Who can fly: ages 10 and up (ages 10–14 with an adult) — from first-timers to real pilots
- Where: 1 W Mountain St, Unit 9, Pasadena, CA 91103 — by appointment only
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a full motion flight simulator cost to fly? At WeFly, a 30-minute Boeing 737 MAX or Airbus A320 flight starts at $129, a full hour is $229, and two hours — enough for multiple takeoffs, approaches, and landings — is $429. The Formula 1 simulator starts at $49. Use code MAYDAY for 30% off Monday through Wednesday.
Is there a full motion flight simulator near me? If you're anywhere in the Los Angeles area — Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, downtown LA, the San Gabriel Valley — the answer is yes. WeFly in Pasadena is the only place in the USA where the public can fly a motion-powered Boeing 737 MAX.
Do I need any experience? None. An instructor guides every session step by step. Most first-timers land the plane themselves within one session — read why 80% of passengers think they can land a plane for the fun science behind that.
Is it safe? Can kids fly? Completely safe — the motion envelope is engineered for comfort, and you can pause anytime. Kids from age 10 can fly (ages 10–14 with an adult present), and it's one of the most popular unique things to do in the LA area for families.
Does motion sickness happen? Rarely. Unlike VR headsets, the visuals, motion, and your body all agree here, which is exactly what prevents queasiness for most people. Instructors can soften or switch off motion on request.
Feel It for Yourself
Reading about motion cues is one thing. Feeling the runway drop away under you is another.
Book a session at WeFly and take the captain's seat of the only public motion-powered Boeing 737 MAX in the country — or see the cockpits up close in our photo gallery first.
📍 1 W Mountain St, Unit 9, Pasadena, CA 91103 💰 Use code MAYDAY for 30% off Monday–Wednesday 🎫 Book your flight at wefly.aero