My (Kind of Rare) Hobby: Flying Airliners From My Room ✈️

I have a hobby that usually catches people off guard. I spend a lot of time flying airliners from my room.

Not in real life, obviously. I mean in a flight simulator, where I do the whole flight properly from startup at the gate all the way until shutdown at the destination. And yes, I also fly online while talking to real people acting as air traffic controllers.

How It Started

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot. I used to watch planes take off and land and just stare at them like they were magic. Every time someone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always the same. A pilot.

Life just took me somewhere a little different. After my foundation in physical sciences, I ended up choosing Computer Science (Software Engineering) at Universiti Malaya. It was not because I stopped loving aviation. I just found another thing I genuinely enjoyed, and software felt like the more practical path for me.

Even so, that interest in flying never really left. It just found another place to live. Flight simulation became that place. It lets me stay close to aviation, learn how things work, and get a small taste of what flying an airliner actually feels like, while still building a life in tech.

Why Flight Simulation?

I know from the outside it sounds like I am just playing a game, but that is not really how it feels to me. What I enjoy most is the realism. A normal session is not just take off, fly around, and land. It starts with a cold and dark cockpit, setting everything up, planning the route, programming the aircraft, getting clearance, doing the takeoff calculations, and then managing the flight properly all the way to arrival.

That whole process is what makes it fun. The checklists, the flows, the radio calls, the little habits and procedures. It scratches the same part of my brain that enjoys systems, structure, and details. Which probably makes sense if you know I am also into software engineering.

Flying With Real ATC (VATSIM)

Most of the time, I fly on VATSIM (Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network), where the controllers are real people. That changes everything. Instead of clicking through some AI menu, you actually talk to humans handling clearance, ground, tower, departure, and enroute control.

It makes the experience way more immersive. You have to pay attention, use proper phraseology, and stay sharp. It can be slightly intimidating at first, especially when the frequency is busy, but that is also what makes it exciting. When everything goes smoothly and you manage a full flight with real ATC from start to finish, it feels weirdly satisfying.

My Usual Route: Kuala Lumpur ↔ Miri

My favorite route is Kuala Lumpur (WMKK) to Miri (WBGR)WMKK ✈ WBGRDIST745 NMTIME2H 10MALTFL370ACFTB738, and the reason is simple. Miri is my hometown, so that route feels personal in a way the others do not.

There is something nice about departing from Kuala Lumpur and making your way back to somewhere familiar, even in a simulator. Seeing the route come together, setting up the arrival properly, catching the localizer, and taking the aircraft down for landing at Miri never gets old for me. Sometimes the landing is smooth. Sometimes it is only smooth in my head. Either way, I still enjoy it. (I keep more cockpit captures and route photos in my scraps collection.)

It's More Than a Game

For me, it is more than a game. It is part technical challenge, part escape, and part childhood dream finding a different form. It also forces a kind of focus that is hard to get from a lot of other hobbies. You cannot really rush it. A proper flight can easily take a couple of hours, and during that time you are locked in.

That is probably why I like it so much. It slows my brain down in a good way. You follow procedures, stay ahead of the aircraft, and pay attention to small details. It feels calm, but it also keeps you engaged the whole time.

I know it is a pretty niche hobby, and maybe a slightly nerdy one too, but I honestly love it. There is just something special about sitting at your desk at night, headset on, engines in the background, checking in with ATC, and cruising above the clouds on the way home to Miri.

For a few hours, it feels a little less like a simulator and a little more like flying.