Haha Taranakian - I'll let you know in a few years if I'm getting the same gifts!
Well what can I say, the lesson was amazing!
The instructor was brilliant and has been flying for around 37 years, so was able to answer a lot of questions.
Of course, in many ways, it was totally different to VR and flight simming generally, with the biggest difference to me being the sense of gravity and the feeling in your stomach as you push and pull on the yoke.
One thing I will say, is that sim experience definitely made a major difference. The biggest one being that although they explained, I had a pretty good understanding of flight controls, mixer, batteries, lights (and when they should be on or off), avionics, rotate & approach speeds etc.
As a result, very quickly into the flight I was able to trim myself without explanation and bank left or right/increase and decrease altitude quite comfortably, without the instructor having to grab the yoke and make adjustments (which I was quite surprised at).
We flew from Elstree out to Watford and Aylesbury, then circling back past Luton Airport (just outside of the controlled airspace area), and then out towards Potters Bar, where we had extremely clear views over the whole of London - I tried to take a picture which came out blurred, however, it shows how amazing our eyes are.
We only flew up 2,500 feet, which was below the cloud layer, however, I was shocked to learn that a private pilot without instrument training has a life expectancy, whilst flying through clouds/without any visibility of just 178 seconds!
A few things I've learnt:
1. VR resolution has a long way to go!
2. I loved it and have booked two more lessons
3. Being mindful of other planes around you, when they are extremely small is an art, and one that I imagine takes a very long time to perfect
4. When you're flying for real, there is no room for serious mistakes and a flight sim can never project real fear or panic, which is essential for learning and developing your reactions
5. Using a flight sim in VR for practice is definitely useful and I think amongst many other applications, it's a great tool for circuit training (learning where to turn and when to start slowing down), start up sequences and instrument training
In summary, it was an amazing experience and one that I'll never forget.
I've tried to add a couple of videos I took whilst in the air but they're too large - I'll try to make some google drive links for them a bit later on.
Thanks again for your tips and I'll keep you posted as I start to have more lessons.