(Amman) Sitting in his cockpit built in his basement, his eyes riveted on the on-board instruments, his hand on the handle, Mohammed Malhas is preparing to take off: at 76 years old, this Jordanian realizes his childhood dream of piloting a plane line.
Retired after 35 years at the head of a hospital in Amman, Mr. Malhas can finally enjoy his true passion, during his many virtual trips around the world, with his wife as co-pilot.
“My dream was to become a pilot (editor’s note), but circumstances prevented me,” he told AFP, near his cockpit, a replica of a Boeing 737-800.
For three years, with scrap metal and used parts, he assembled this cockpit. The seats are those of a bus. The total cost of this homemade simulator reached 6000 Jordanian dinars ($ 10,800).
His friend, Ahmad Fares, 25, helped him install the electronics for the on-board systems in the cabin to give the illusion of “real airplane piloting,” says Malhas.
PHOTO KHALIL MAZRAAWI, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
His friend, Ahmad Fares, 25, helped him install the electronics for the on-board systems in the cabin to give the illusion of “real airplane piloting,” explains Mohammed Malhas.
On his screens, he enters seas of clouds and flies over rivers and forests. He can even choose the outside temperature.
“Since the dawn of time, humans have looked at birds in the sky and dreamed of flying,” he said.
As a child, he flew his kite and wondered how such a fragile object could go so high.
“That’s when the urge to fly started to obsess me,” said Malhas, who graduated in 1969 with a degree in hospital management from the University of London.
PHOTO KHALIL MAZRAAWI, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
For three years, with pieces of scrap metal and used parts, Mohammed Malhas assembled this cockpit. The seats are those of a bus.
Throughout his working life, Mr. Malhas spent his free time reading books on aviation, aircraft engineering, and even guides for learning to fly. In 1976, he enrolled in the Royal Jordanian Air Academy.
Every morning, at dawn, he attended flying lessons aboard a small piper plane and obtained his pilot’s license two years later.
It was in 2006 that he started virtual piloting, using software downloaded to his computer.
And with other flight simulator enthusiasts, a “group of 30 to 40 friends, aviation enthusiasts from different countries”, he flew in front of his computer “to Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad … and even to in the United Kingdom and the United States ”.