Weird Wednesday: Canadian Man Creates Boeing 747 Simulator in His Basement

Most of us have hobbies—whether that be knitting, cooking or running, we find our niche and retreat to it in our downtime. Most of these activities can be performed in the comfort of our own homes, but what about flying an airplane?

Calgary resident Marco Governali proves that you can, indeed, fly an airplane out of your basement…sort of. This hobbyist developed a love for flight, and used his computer expertise to construct a flight simulator in the lower level of his townhome.

However, this simulator is more than just a computer screen and some controls. Governali has invested more than $25,000 to construct a detailed replica of a Boeing 747 cockpit. Complete with TV monitors and switches from real aircraft, this simulator also accesses air traffic control systems from airports all around the world, and receives flight information in real time.

Governali has been working on the basement aircraft since the 90’s, and throughout the years has flown many virtual flights, one of his longest being an 11-hour flight to Tokyo. While he’s confident he could be fly the plane in real life, Governali says he won’t be quitting his day job at the computer store he owns any time soon, and will stick to pretend flight as a hobby.

As a basement-waterproofing company, we can’t help but think worst-case scenario about what could happen to all of the expensive equipment in the simulator if this basement weren’t waterproofed…