Online flight simulation is taking off in Ireland, with virtual pilots and air-traffic controllers working in collaboration to keep the virtual skies safe, writes Eamon McGrane.

I was late (as usual) for my flight. A short trip from Frankfurt to Düsseldorf was leaving in minutes and I had just arrived.

Moments later I was in the air. No check in, no security verification, all baggage brought on board without being given the once over by airport staff.

This was not some sort of executive check-in. This was a flight simulation and I wasn't even in Germany . . . I was in Swords, north Dublin.

Flight simulation has always been a popular pastime, but many people take it as seriously as putting a real aircraft into the sky. It has a sizeable community in Ireland, with virtual pilots and air-traffic controllers all working in conjunction to keep the virtual skies and airports safe and the traffic running steadily.

Terry McGee and Ian Broni are the two men behind PC Pilots Ireland, a real-world and online community that has more than 200 members, including enthusiasts from Britain, mainland Europe, Canada and the US.

McGee, who is my pilot tonight, first met Broni in the early 1990s when they were working for the same computer company. McGee saw Broni using a flight simulation on his PC and started asking him about it. From that point on he was hooked.

McGee has an impressive setup for his flight simulator. Besides huge computer screens, he has a yoke and throttle, pedals (for controlling the flaps etc) and instrumentation banks on his desk. All of this hooks back into the PC's software to control the aircraft. To all intents and purposes, it's as real as it can get in a three-bed semi in suburbia.

Most of the extra equipment has cost McGee thousands of euro. Despite that, Broni says getting involved in flight simulations is quite easy. All that is required is a powerful high-end PC, flight simulation software and possibly a joystick. A broadband connection is not needed unless you want to hook up and fly with the online community.

Broni sees flight simulation as "a very personable thing and no two people get the same satisfaction out of pursuing the hobby".

"Some people like to fly helicopters, some B25 bombers or DC3s. Some love flying throughout places such as South America and throughout the world."

Broni flies a virtual executive jet while McGee captains a Boeing 747.

According to McGee, it takes a couple of years to learn how to fly an aircraft such as a 747. Navigation, take off and landing are cited as the most difficult aspects of flight simulation to master - and remember these guys are using proper navigational charts and instrumentation.

McGee and Broni recommend starting off with a light aircraft to get the knack of landing and taking off. "Once you have that, you then need to learn the flight characteristics, the flaps, the stall and understanding what the instruments are telling you," says McGee. The learning curve becomes steeper when you decide to fly online.

According to McGee and Broni, online flight is the ultimate experience for the virtual pilot. When you are online, you can interact with other flight jockeys under air-traffic control (ATC). You can see the other pilots and their aircraft and hear their communications with ATC.

As in the real world, the pilot must file a flight plan and be able to fly IFR (instrument flight rules) or VFR (visual flight rules); in short, you must know what you are doing.

According to McGee, if you are able to fly on "instruments" using MS Flight Simulator, then you should go online and fly on the virtual air-traffic simulation (Vatsim) network.

For those people interested in being ATCs rather than pilots, Vateir is the Irish air-traffic control service of the Vatsim network. Vateir provides what it describes as a "realistic air-traffic control service in Irish airspace making the virtual pilot's experience as real as possible".

Real-world procedures (departure, approach, en route, emergency) are implemented at each virtual airport. In addition, all air-traffic controllers undergo training and must pass examinations.

The Vateir website contains all the information required by virtual pilots for flying in Irish airspace.

Interestingly, some of the virtual flight club's members are pilots and ATCs in real life. Some even switch roles, with pilots becoming ATCs and vice versa.

Broni says the ATCs are vital for the reality of the experience. "I flew into an airport last night and, because of adverse weather conditions, we had to circle the airport for 35 minutes and descend in a stack. Each plane was 1,000ft apart, which is quite close. We take flying very seriously and they're the same about controlling."

Flight simulation gained some notoriety in 2001 when it was claimed that the terrorists who attacked the Twin Towers and the Pentagon had used simulation to teach them how to control the aircraft.

McGee and Broni wince at the mention of this, pointing out that there was no evidence to verify such claims. Indeed, McGee says that, although he has been "flying" a 747 for years, there is no way that he could just walk into its real-world counterpart and pilot it. "It couldn't have happened that way and, in fact, those guys went to proper flight school. It's a bit of an urban myth that they learned to fly using a simulation," he says.

Arriving at Düsseldorf, McGee goes through the entire procedural lingo with the German ATCs, and then we've arrived.

McGee takes off his headset, exhausted. "It takes a lot of concentration . . . you're using your brain all the time. That's what makes it such as enjoyable hobby," he says.

For more details on online flight simulation, log on to www.pcpilotsireland.com or www.vateir.com