I'm heading down the looooonnnnnngggg path of building my own twin GA cockpit (modeling, very roughly, the beech b200). Any suggestions on what I should be spending my $500 on with goFlight to get the most realistic twin GA flying experience?Current set-up:p4 3ghz1 gig ram120 gig HD256mb GeForce 6800 AGP (monitors 1 & 2)256mb GeForce 5500 PCI (monitor 3)Monitor 1 - Main viewMonitor 2 - GPS, Weather, Radar, etcMonitor 3 - Project Magenta's GA PanelP3 Laptop that I don't know what I'll do with at this point. (suggestions on how I could add it to my set-up are welcome)CH YokeCH PedalsCH Throttle Quadrant.Any and all suggestions are welcome!! I'll be starting the wood frame in the next couple of weeks once I have all the electronic components for the flight deck.Thank you,Robert

My Suggestion... Start with electronics first such as componets, interfaces and etc. Gain your fundmental into that before going ahead with frames, rudders and etc.

I have a number of GoFlight panels... With a budget of $500, and assuming that you're going to build your own enclosure, I would start with a GF166 radio (although I don't have one myself, due to using another brand for radios), a GF-RP48, a T8, and the LGT module for gear/trim/flaps. That said, the GF panel that I use more than any other is the MCP autopilot panel. I tend to fly FS airplanes (almost always, GA-type craft) with the autopilot a lot while in the climb/cruise/descent phases due to what I consider to be excessive sensitivity in pitch and roll in FS (or, alternatively said, I find it really hard to get the airplane trimmed out for any phase of flight - much harder than in real life). Using the autopilot greatly reduces the pilot's workload, especially for IFR work (just as it does IRL, although some pilots apparently think that it's Not Manly to use Otto at all).My GoFlight setup consists of an MCP, LGT, two RP48s, two T8s, and a GF46. I use the T8s for electrical items (Batt, Alt, Avionics master, fuel pump, pitot heat, de-ice, lights, etc.). I use the buttons on the RP48 for audio panel stuff (COM1/2 selection, marker beacon mute) as well as NAV/GPS selection. (The GF46 is somewhat redundant in my setup... I typically use its display for altimeter setting readout, since it's pretty hard to read this on most analog instrument panels in FS.) I am not currently using all of the RP48s' knobs, but I have a few of them set to things like altimeter setting, OBS2 (OBS1 is handled by the MCP), attitude bug adjust, and decision height. If you don't spring for the MCP, you could use RP48 buttons/knobs for autopilot functions.With my setup, which does fall outside your budget, I can control almost all non-COM/NAV radio functions. My Precision Flight Controls stack does that, although of course GF modules can be employed to do the same things.Dave Blevinshttp://fswidgets.com/img/beta_banner.jpg

Dave,Was there a reason you went with Precision Flight Controls instead of goFlight?Robert

The answer is very simple - I got a screamin' deal on my PFC hardware, and only later decided to supplant the stack with GoFlight gear.But, if I had it to do over again I'd still pick the PFC stack as the #1 choice for simmers (that have the budget). Pete Dowson's amazing driver for it (freeware!) makes it behave very much like the real world avionics that I'm used to (as a private pilot) in many respects. Although I really like GoFlight's products in general, I feel the GF166 does not have the same realism as the radios in my PFC stack (for one thing, the controls are laid out differently than any real-world radio) - BUT we have to remember that the PFC stack is about $2000 or so, which will buy a big heap of GF panels.By the way, I will mention this: a while back I was toying with the idea of getting the Simkits radio stack, which (at least physically) is almost exactly like the equivalent Bendix/King products. But, having read a recent review of that stack on Avsim, I am glad I stuck with the PFC one. It has performed flawlessly in almost all regards - as a matter of fact I can't think of a single instance of it getting hung or hosed up - and that is high praise for flight sim hardware in my experience. I'll close by reiterating a point here: the PFC hardware has a decent feel and fit'n'finish, but Pete's driver is what makes that hardware "sing" (sorry). If you can afford it, the PFC stack will not disappoint. You will have COM1/2, NAV1/2, DME, ADF, transponder, basic autopilot functions, and also some "GPS" buttons/knobs *and* a row of switches on the bottom row that can be configured to do any control function that is possible in FS9.have fun,Dave Blevins