Hello Everybody,

  I'm a newbie to flight sims in general, but I was looking around at home built cockpits one day and I said to myself "I could do that". The rest is history. I want to build a generic glass cockpit and learn how to fly using flight sim in moderation. I have been doing research and looking at some home built pits I realized how much better the whole experience would be!


 Currently Im in the process of bench testing a three computer setup using FSUIPC and freeFD. Im pretty impressed with FreeFD and project magenta isn't within my budget. FsXpand will be included in the pit, I like how you can use gameports for encoders + they have a few more features the FreeFD

  Im gonna hack some keyboards for the basic controls and eventually build an MCP(unless there is a more cost effective solution). TripleHead2go looks like a more cost effective solution to wideview, still looking for one on ebay. And Im gonna implement 3 20" crt's for the display.

  I picked up 3 12.1 inch TFT displays for the glass cockpit, a bit large but should look ok when installed. Below is a current image of my "bench" I hope to post my progress here and I look forward to any input from the experts!!

http://masternerd.com/flight_sim.jpg

Thanks John,

   Ill keep that in mind when I decide to post pics! Yeah Im in the research stage right now my hanger(basement) is currently being used as a bedroom until I finish remodeling the master BR. But usually Ill rush into something without proper info so this is a good thing.

<<Update>>

   Was thinking that sharing my thoughts on the whole project could be helpful to some other newbies

Some questions I asked myself were:

1. Can I build a pit?
2. Could I do so without placing myself in bankruptcy?
3. Would my sim pit offer that feeling of true flight?
4. How far along could I get with my pit before my wife started bugging me about re-doing the bathroom?


Answers:

1. Back in 98 joined the army and went into a year long training course for medical equipment repair ever since the I have been involved in the electronics/technical field. Understanding electronics is great but actually developing something as technically complex as a simulator would be exciting!  I think with my foundation I could pull it off.

2. Research, research, research & ebay, there are tons of great resources on the internet and locally. If you find say a certain switch look around to see if you can find it cheaper. So far I think Im going with allelectronics for most of hardware. Plus Im going with FS 9 so my computer hardware requirements will not be as high. Research work arounds for say expensive controllers, displays, etc...

3. Looking at video and images of pits gives me the chills yep I do think most of us could accomplish this. The link below was what started my interest in this hobbie:

http://www.hanskrohn.com/

4. Ill keep you posted!

John