Now I am just starting out in making a cockpit...I am in the planning stages really. I am planning on making a generic fly-by-wire fighter aircraft cockpit.
The thing that always seems to get to me when I look at some of these great cockpits you are all building is...the front view screens.
Most are using CRTs or LCDs to display what they see out of the front of the aircraft (or to the sides if they have multiple video cards setup), but I always thought that it seemed...less realisitic.
Now does anyone remember the old movie "Project X" (1987) where the government was training chimps to fly, and then exposing them to radiation to see how long they could fly?
Well, never mind the movie's contents, that's not my point of the post. What caught my attention is they used a Projection Screen!
Has anyone though of using clear windows in their cockpit and then flying by using a screen that was projected on a wall or screen?
I would think it would give you more of a feeling of depth...the only down side being that if you flew, it would need to be in a darker room.
Now I know a $800-$900 dollar projection unit for your computer is a bit much for some, but I threw one together for less than $250.
What I did was buy a surplus overhead projector from a local office supplies surplus store (Costs me $50). Next I bought a 15" LCD computer monitor (cost me $150).
I disassembled the LCD, following some instructions I found off of the internet...namely from Tom's Hardware
http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20041113/I placed the disassembled LCD screen on top of the Overhead projector. Bingo! Instant big screen for FS9!
The thing is I found bulbs for this Projector were cheap...$16 a pop, and they last 1500 hours each. Concidering that a new, store bought projector on average costs $1500 and then you are paying $300-$500 for bulbs that only last 5000-10000 hours, I am STILL getting a better cost. I would pay (at most) $160 for 10 bulbs..for the same usage that one bulb from that store bought system would give...and you would be paying at least $300 to replace it!
Anyway..on with the pics..
Not a great image as it was during the day.
Like I said for $200, I have a nice 15 foot screen to watch TV and movies on. Sure I only get 1000-2000 hours off each bulb, but really if you think about it, that is 500-1000 movies you would have to watch to burn that bulb out, or hundreds of flights.
What do you guys think? Would a projection screen be the way to go? I mean it's all in how you arrange the projector in relation to your cockpit...And if you do a multiple setup, you could literally put the edges right next to each other to give a seamless look to the screens. Perhaps a curved screen when using multiple projectors to eliminate any streatching?
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