Princess Anne strapped herself into the pilot’s seat of a flight simulator in Singapore, experiencing a virtual journey as part of her official visit.
The Princess Royal buckled into an Airbus A350 simulator at the Airbus Asia Training Centre, sharing a laugh during her safety briefing with the captain.
Overhead, loud claps of thunder accompanied her tour, which also included admiring huge Rolls-Royce jet engines at the Seletar campus.
Her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, simultaneously prepared for his own simulated flight in a separate unit.
Both simulators, displaying a runway through their screens, soon rumbled to life and began to move.
The royal couple’s engagement on Thursday marked the second day of their visit, celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Singapore.
Anne had previously recalled a flight simulator experience, and was reassured the A350 would be “gentle”.
Trade commissioner for the Asia Pacific region Martin Kent was at the entrance to the Airbus facility, which is currently the largest Airbus flight crew training centre in the world and is home to nine full simulators, when the princess arrived.
Anne, who wore a beige buttoned-up jacket and trousers with a striped shirt, was later driven through pouring rain to the nearby Rolls-Royce facility, where she met staff and peered between the large engines’ blades to see them up close.
She leaned down to sign a visitor book which was laid open on a table in front of the Trent XWB engine which powers the Airbus A350 – the plane she had simulated flying about an hour before.
Anne was told the book had been signed by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2012 when they visited the Seletar campus as part of their tour of Southeast Asia and the South Pacific in celebration of the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
William and Kate had taken up the offer of testing a multimillion-pound jet engine during their visit to the facility more than 13 years ago.
Anne and Sir Tim received a round of applause from dozens of Rolls-Royce staff before they left the building.
