How much is it worth to you? Your opinion please.

[Guest]

Ok, all you die hard flightsim fans out there, here's a question for you...If you had access to a full sized flight simulator that was of a commercial aircraft, say a B737-700, that was accurate in every detail (real flight yokes, throttle quadrant, seats, etc...) except it didn't have motion and it would run FS2004. You would also have access to the internet and VATSIM for weather updates and online flying with access to a flight planning center and pilots lounge. With all of the above listed (and of course all the legalities of doing such a thing were overcome), how much would you be willing to pay per hour of flight time on the simulator (Remember, you would be sharing it with at least one other person) or would you just continue flying at home on your computer? Also, what, if anything, do you think could be done to make an experience like this more appealing, such as flying clubs, a virtual airline, ground school, a free hour of simulator time after X amount of total flight hours on the simulator, etc...?Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated. Just curious what all you people out there think.Best Regards,Jim

[01pewterz28 117]

If such a sim was in my area I would say maybe $20-$30 per session (you the simmer get's to choose the flights and such) I figure it should be affordable for everyone :)JohnP4 2.53Ghz, ASUS P4S8X Mobo, 512Mb Ram PC2700, G4 MX 440 AGP, SB Live, Win98SE, (2) 80GM Maxtor 7200 RPM drives.

[Guest ba747heavy]

$20 or $30 like the poster above said.

[Guest pagotan]

How much one is willing to pay is only one aspect of the equation. Here you have a all-in concept (FS2004, VATSIM, TEC..) hooked on ONE aircraft. What about those serious simmers who are only flying specific aircrafts, maybe I should say dedicated to specific aircrafts. Think about a large number of simmers who are spending less time flying than downloading new addons, new aircrafts, new panels etc.. There is also a large number of simmers who are more interested in sceneries and "look" of the aircrafts than doing real flying. I think my point is that a simulator as described by Jim would be interesting to only a few simmers (although many may want to try it once). Therefore the per hour cost should be much higher than those suggested to make it work.Michael

[Guest Macs]

Michael, I really dont agree with that you said above.I mean if,for example, a 734 simulator was created, all the best scenery,tweaks,utilities etc and it was done well. EVERYONE would want it. I agree'd at first on what you said, but just look at the Dreamfleet 734-it is probably the biggest selling aircraft along with PIC767. As I said,if something is done right-it will sell.RegardsJohn Mc Avinuehttp://www.bavirtual.co.ukP 2.53 GHZ512 RAMWINXPGFORCE 4 128MB Ti4600http://vatsim.pilotmedia.fi/statusindicato...tor=OD1&a=a.jpg

[Guest pagotan]

John, I am not disputing the market value of well thought packages. The two you are referring to are the best example I agree. My point was more on a statistical level. I have spent sometime analysing Flight simmers habits. A very large percentage is more interested in sceneries and repainting of aircrafts. The real flying come only second ranking for those simmers. Thus the market you can tap for a highly sofisticated software - I guess close to the real professional training machines - is very limited. Therefore to cover your development and marketing costs you will need a much higher per hour fee structure.Having said that I personally would love to see more "high end" products on the market. I miss the time when I was flying the real thing.Michael

[Guest seev_39]

Hi Jim,I built my own desk-top cockpit based on a Hagstrom KE-72, 3 GoFlight modules (GF-45, GF-P8, GF-T8), a 3 axis 4 button controller and a normal joystick. This setup gives me 107 functions plus the basic functions of FS2002 A/P (including the possibility to dial frequencies). Now, all this is not enough for a 100% real simulation of a "heavy" flight. To get the maximum out of FS2002 (or FS2004 when it comes) you will need about 400 functions. I believe that will cost you (including hardware and software) something around $30,000 to $60,000, if you want the cockpit to look real!!!If you succeed in selling the units to clubs or place them in good locations you can expect a maximum of 1,200 hours a year, which results in a price of $40-$50 an hour (to cover the investment and operation costs).Considering the complexity and learning curve of flying such a simulator a "student" will need not less than 5 hours of flying, even if he will practice only take-off, approach and landings, which are the more interesting part of flying. Only after that the student will start to enjoy him (or her) self. Frankly, I don't believe many simmers will shell out several hundreds of dollars for such an experience.Therefor, your idea can work only if a club or airliner or flying school or any other institution, will subsidize the venture. For your specific question, I would pay $15 to 20 per hour, considering the need for not less than 5 hours.Wish you luckSeev

[crvm 0]

The question sir is not "how much it is worth" but "where do we sign up"?[h5]Best Wishes,Randy J. SmithSan Jose Ca[/h5][h3]" A little learning is a dangerous thing"[/h3]AMD [pink]XP[/pink] 2200 |MUNCHKIN 512 DDR RAM |ECS[/b ][i] K7S5A MB[/i] |GF3 64 MEG @ 215/545|WIN XP PRO |MITSUBISHI DIAMOND PLUS 91 19"

[Guest]

Wow, lots of great input, thanks for all your thoughts. The idea of a 'sim center' was spawned over the past weekend on a trip to Seattle's Museum of Flight. They have really cool exhibits, but with out exception, the commercial exhibits just sit there. Sure you can look into the restored cockpit of a B737 or a B707 (Air Force One), but that's it. What I would give to sit in one of those, and even to fly one on VATSIM, I think that'd be the 'cats meow'. You can sit in an F/A-18 or SR-71 cockpit (both have been pretty well trashed), but nothing commercial. They also had 2 motion simulators there, but they both are centered around flying an F/A-18, which of course makes sense, being that you can do manuevers in those that you couldn't commercially, thus making the 'motion' part more dynamic. Anyway, I was just wondering if there were such an 'exhibit' or center that catered more towards the commercial aspect of flying the heavy commercial metal if it would be of any interest to anyone. I agree that it would be complex and certainly more to learn than flying an F/A-18 around, zipping between valleys and lobbing missiles at whatever looks like it would explode, but personally, I would be more interested in the commercial aspect of aviation, and thus, I was wondering what other people out there thought. Obviously there is no right or wrong answer, just opinions.Thanks again for your thoughts,Jim