Hey Guys,

 

Im kind of new here but have been around reading threads for a while now. This is a post out of curiosity and to get some pointers.

 

Myself and two friends have alot of experience in fibreglass/aluminium molding/cutting and electronic engineering/computers and have been thinking it is possible to make a great/realistic looking 737NGX cockpit that is fully functioning for way less than the $150,000 price tag seen on many pre-built cockpits.

 

To judge interest, how many people would realistically buy a home cockpit (either 1:1 scale or just the Captains side (w/overhead and center panel still) if the price was say $20,000? The cockpit would be made from fibreglass and be open backed (or closed depending on preference) with all the framework being laser cut from aluminium to save weight. All switches and dials would function and everything would be wired up ready to go, we would probably give the option of purchasing the computers to run it or hooking it up to your own computers. The displays would be mounted LCD's in the window panels.

 

Now obviously, not taking orders for this or anything like that yet and we dont have any images to show you. I just want to gauge whether there is actually a market out there for this (which I believe there should be). We will be making one this summer to test out our methods and see if it works, if there is no demand then I get a great home sim (hopefully!) if there is demand then we can go from there and see if this can be done commercially.

 

So would you buy one? Or if you were thinking about it, what would you want in your sim for $20,000 (this probably wont be the actual price but is the ball park we are aiming for, and possibly a stripped down entry level one at maybe $5-7,500)

 

Would love to hear your opinions on this

 

Cheers

I have a solution to all of that. Do your PPL/IR/CPL/MCC-JOC, then a NG Type Rating then apply for an Airline that flies them (sososo much easier said than done I know). Instead of sitting in your house you'll be in the skies being paid flying a real Aircraft to real beautiful and not beautiful destinations. But of course there are reasons people cannot become Pilots. Things from Medical to just not having the ability to pass. Sorry but I'd never do any of that for Flight Simulator. But hey, if people have the money and want to then fair enough!

I have a solution to all of that. Do your PPL/IR/CPL/MCC-JOC, then a NG Type Rating then apply for an Airline that flies them (sososo much easier said than done I know). Instead of sitting in your house you'll be in the skies being paid flying a real Aircraft to real beautiful and not beautiful destinations. But of course there are reasons people cannot become Pilots. Things from Medical to just not having the ability to pass. Sorry but I'd never do any of that for Flight Simulator. But hey, if people have the money and want to then fair enough!

 

Yes - this is the perfect solution I agree. However with course costs of over £80,000 (and then £20,000 to type rate on an NG) with very very limited number of paid scholarships it is not an option for many people and if we can build an "affordable" sim for £15,000 then the savings is quite significant without the pressure and monetary constraint of being an actual airline pilot

_{http://www.jetmax.ca/packages/jetmax-737sktq/}

 

_{$6995 all in.}

 

_{Seems like this is similar to your proposition?}

_{http://www.jetmax.ca...jetmax-737sktq/}

 

_{$6995 all in.}

 

_{Seems like this is similar to your proposition?}

 

Yes but ours would be a full cockpit and it would be enclosed in a 737 shaped housing with 6 monitors for the simulation screens with the overhead and lower radio console too - but this is roughly our idea - a good quality 737 sim for home use

I have a solution to all of that. Do your PPL/IR/CPL/MCC-JOC, then a NG Type Rating then apply for an Airline that flies them (sososo much easier said than done I know). Instead of sitting in your house you'll be in the skies being paid flying a real Aircraft to real beautiful and not beautiful destinations. But of course there are reasons people cannot become Pilots. Things from Medical to just not having the ability to pass. Sorry but I'd never do any of that for Flight Simulator. But hey, if people have the money and want to then fair enough!

 

Even for those who do have qualifications its hard to find an airline is even hiring but that's who things seem to be in the US.

I was JUST looking at this website the other day:

 

http://www.flightsimulatorcenter.com

 

Sadly I don't have 300k to spend. Your project is very interesting though.

Depending if I have the space available for a simpit when you guys are ready for sales, I would seriously consider buying depending on the quality of the work and of course the final pricetag.

 

$20,000 is out of my range but I would most likely look at your entry level package if it's around $5,000-7,000 (or hopefully lower :P )