For those who ever looked to the skies and dreamed about leaving gravity behind, a leading Florida flight training academy welcomes civilians to take the controls.

Located not far from the runway at the Orlando-Sanford International Airport sits the Aerosim Flight Academy.  Here, future commercial airline pilots from around the world flock for training. Students from the United States join those from Europe and Asia, many with hopes of working in commercial aviation.

"Our hope would be that they would come to experience what we get to experience every day,” said Rodney Hurley, a flight trainer.

Founded by Comair Airlines, the Aerosim Flight Academy first opened in Sanford in 1989.  By 2000, Delta Air Lines had purchased all of Comair Airlines and its subsidiaries. The Delta Connection Academy merged with Aerosim Technologies at the end of 2009 and the school’s name changed again.

Today, day students step inside a mock cockpit and settle into high-tech simulators modeled after a Cirrus SR 20, where Rodney begins hands-on instruction.

“Ready to go fly?” he asks with excitement.

The simulated cockpit inside is an exact replica of the more than 70 planes in the Aerosim Academy fleet outside, right down to the glass cockpits.

"Pull back on that yolk and maintain that nose,” he gently asked before taking control.  In the simulated world, I have not dropped enough altitude and thus landing the plane will be difficult.

For many like myself, experiencing the miracle of flight is a dream come true.

My 97-year-old grandmother got her pilot’s license as a member of the Civil Air Patrol during World War II. At the time, she was the only female in her training class.

I, too, am going at it solo, since the teacher to student ratio is one-to-one.

“The airplane will go into a spin, so let’s pull back,” Rodney said as my first attempt in the Cirrus SR 20 flight training device is not coming in for a smooth landing.

"Hit the brakes” he instructs after I touchdown on a giant screen in front of the model aircraft.

How hard can it be to transfer what you learn inside to outside?  Students here will take what they learned and then apply it in a real Cirrus SR 20 aircraft outside with a flight instructor at their side.

Headed outside, Rodney leaves me in the hands of Flight Instructor Marco Brambini.

“I think flying is awesome. It’s great to be up in the air,” Marco exclaims.

Marco takes visitors participating in the daylong “Aerosim Experience” and makes them his co-pilot. To date, Marco says more than 1,000 have flown with him.

Getting his own pilots license meant Marco had to learn another language.

“Would you like to go for an airplane ride” he asks in Italian.

After a walk around the Cirrus SR20 aircraft, we load up for takeoff.  We taxi to the runway with the doors open to enjoy a breeze before takeoff.

“We’re going to depart to the west,” Marco says on his headset.

Clear for take-off, it’s throttle up… as we leave the bonds of gravity behind.

It’s not long and we have permission to maintain a safe distance over Central Florida icons like Space Mountain and Epcot.

“We’re going to do a circle around Disney,” Marco says.

There’s even a fly-by in store past the tower at Orlando International Airport.

On the way out to the Space Coast, Marco hands the controls over to me for the first time.

“You did great. You just have to look outside and keep your wings level. It was awesome,” he says with confidence.

Not to worry, when you’re shoulder to shoulder with a flight instructor, he’s ready to take back the controls in an instant.

After a following the Beachline Expressway East, we spot the peaceful waters of Merritt Island to practice touch and goes.

“It’s a way to practice take offs and landings so a student can get more proficient at landings,” Marco explains.

Once back in the air, we head west.

“We’ll circle over Orlando Executive, downtown, make a touch and go and then we’ll come right back.”

All too soon, we return to Seminole County skies, as Marco sets up a smooth landing.

Once on the ground, participants receive a warm welcome back and a certificate and a great story to tell.

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