Armchair aviator builds Boeing 737 simulator in his garage

[Kerlix 99]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/armchair-aviator-builds-boeing-737-simulator-garage-214453366.html

 

Saw this tonight on yahoo. Got incredibly jealous haha.

[PHXMD-11 86]

Son of a..., that is dedication.

[thefsxflyer 1]

Couldn't take the article serious after a statement like

Most flight enthusiasts are content having the latest version of Microsoft Flight installed on their home computers...

[Rocky_53 1,594]

Couldn't take the article serious after a statement like

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. It just goes to show how the average punter has a complete misperception of flight simming, and why would it be any other way I guess. Last week I dragged one of my mate's up into my simpit, he had been very sneering about me 'playing on my computer' When he saw my rig his jaw hit the floor!

[morganbass 10]

Yeah, I know what you mean. It just goes to show how the average punter has a complete misperception of flight simming, and why would it be any other way I guess. Last week I dragged one of my mate's up into my simpit, he had been very sneering about me 'playing on my computer' When he saw my rig his jaw hit the floor!

 

Same thing here in sunny Cardiff, my neighbours who I have known for 15 yrs plus often come in to my study to watch me on ATC, they think its amazing but all of them say, I could never do that. When I tell them, I said that the first time I saw ASRC working they refuse to believe me. When I tell them that ASRC was harder to learn than Euroscope they generally just sit there with mouths open gasping for air.

 

A few years back I once tried to teach a mate how to do simple circuits in a cessna 172, his hand eye coordination was terrible, after crashing four times he said, wow fantastic I'm going to buy fs 2004, and he did the very next day. He now has a mammoth i7 PC and is a great pilot flyinghis NGX all over the place, he still thanks me to this day for introducing him to flight sim and VATSIM.

 

Wycliffe

[Kerlix 99]

I realized immediately that the author (and probably 99% of people reading the article), don't have the slightest appreciation for things like PMDG and the set-ups that most of us have. But I really do envy the guy. I mean, he didn't just build a high quality simpit.....he built it inside a retired cockpit.

 

I WISH I had that time and money to do something like that. When the lottery here was at a record high ( a few weeks ago, here in the states), I bought more than a few tickets. If I had won, part of my plan was to do something like this. Of course, I didn't win. So, back to the boring 9-5, barely able to pay the bills.......I can always dream....

[Squishy 0]

I wonder how he did the window/screens/visuals?

edit: ah..he projects further away and it fits the windows perfectly :)

 

 

No more footage? :(

[777-Pilot 0]

Couldn't take the article serious after a statement like

 

Exactly!

[pete_auau 1,168]

lol wonder how his power bill is

[FBC57 1]

Most of the systems incorporated in cockpit building can be run off normal household electrical now. No more need for 3 phase (unless you are running dof systems and such).

 

I'd also say at a rough guess, his sim cost around 200 or 300 thousand. You can buy a cockpit shell for a bit over two grand now.

 

It's the ultimate boys toy, thas for sure...

 

 

 

 

Frank Cooper

[PMDG737 0]

The ultimate question is this;

 

If in a real life scenary, whereby a FO or captain fell ill or went out of it, could someone who plays FSX and understands most of the 737 NGX functions etc, could they take the reigns of a 737 and actually get the plane on the ground safely, with this knowledge? If so thats amazing and if not what functionality, besides instant motions, could fsx and the ngx as a computer and plane be missing?

 

Most of the systems incorporated in cockpit building can be run off normal household electrical now. No more need for 3 phase (unless you are running dof systems and such).

 

I'd also say at a rough guess, his sim cost around 200 or 300 thousand. You can buy a cockpit shell for a bit over two grand now.

 

It's the ultimate boys toy, thas for sure...

 

 

 

 

Frank Cooper

 

200-300k could easily have got him full pilot training, many times over.

[3-2-1-Now 126]

If in a real life scenary, whereby a FO or captain fell ill or went out of it, could someone who plays FSX and understands most of the 737 NGX functions etc, could they take the reigns of a 737 and actually get the plane on the ground safely, with this knowledge? If so thats amazing

This gets asked all the time. If you understand how an aircraft flies, and are familiar with the basic controls, all that is left in such a situation is to very quickly get the feel for the aircraft you're trying to fly. Imagine a real-world pilot going from e.g. an ATR-72 to a Boeing 777. They have to do exactly the same thing - take their general knowledge and apply it to a new aircraft and systems. To suggest it is any harder for a flight sim enthusiast to do is entirely down to how realistically they fly in the sim (and thus their level of knowledge) and what they understand about flight generally (e.g. aerodynamics, weather, etc..).

 

+1 regarding the comments about the unspeakable monstrosity MS came out with...

 

Best regards,

Robin.

[FBC57 1]

You're missing the point Chris.

 

Some people have higher disposable income than others, some people have a higher commitment level with their hobbies than others and some people build sims like this because they are medically unfit or too old to fly commercially.

 

For 300 k, you can have a cutting edge toy like this, fly it till you drop dead at 95, keep up with all of the pilot lingo and procedures.

 

For some of us, that is really living the dream.............

 

 

 

Frank

[PMDG737 0]

Thats true I guess, but for that price also he could have actually bought a cessna and got himself a licence, smaller engines and not a 737 yea but flying in all of its realism for sure.

[TheDanger 182]

He'll be ripping it apart when the PMDG 777 comes out,