He called for pushback—mentally. No human copilot tonight. Just the silent ghost of a first officer in the right seat. The tug jerked the 737 back, and Hitch set the parking brake. Left engine start. N1 rotation, fuel flow, EGT rise. The low rumble bloomed into a stable idle. Right engine followed.
He clicked the battery on. The standby instruments flickered to life with that familiar, soft whump . Then the IRS display: ALIGNING – 7 MINUTES . Hitch didn’t cheat. No fast-forward. He worked the overhead panel like a surgeon—hydraulic pumps, packs, isolation valve, APU start. The faint whine of the Auxiliary Power Unit, sampled from a real 737, vibrated through his studio subwoofer. -P3D FSX- PMDG 737 NGX Immersion
Hitch leaned back and exhaled. No passengers clapped. No first officer said “nice landing.” But the replay mode was already loading—external view, wing flex, spoilers rising like startled birds. He called for pushback—mentally
He pulled the throttles to idle. The RAAS callout— “Two hundred… One hundred… Fifty…” —and then the main gear kissed concrete. A gentle puff of tire smoke from the PMDG effects. Reverse thrust. The deceleration pressed him forward in his seat. The tug jerked the 737 back, and Hitch set the parking brake
Three hours later, descent into Honolulu. He hand-flew the arrival, ignoring the autopilot. The PMDG’s flight model was a masterpiece of compromise—not full motion, not true CFD, but character . Heavy on the flare. Sensitive in roll. The kind of plane that demanded respect even in a simulation.
Tonight, he wasn’t chasing seniority. He was chasing the feeling .