Less Is More : From full 737 home cockpit to dead simple PC + mouse as yoke flying

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Very interesting post, and some very good points raised.

 

As much as I think those full blown cockpits are neat, I do indeed like to see the wonderful VC on the plane I'm flying, and I would find it far too restrictive to have a home cockpit that is only meant for a certain type of plane.

 

However, I do very much appreciate the hardware controls I do have.  Having a gear lever, throttle levers, and a trim wheel (in addition to my yoke/stick & rudder pedels) adds immensely to my sim experience.

 

And as a user of a touchscreen these days, I do find on some planes that it adds a ton to the experience.  However, the more complex the plane is, the less it's of use.  There are a few however, like the AN-2 for example, that I can fly a complete flight with and never have to touch a mouse.

[bennyboy75 91]

I kind of agree with the OP. I know a chap with a home built 737 in his garage and have flown it plenty of times. It looks pretty decent and he's spent an absolute fortune on hardware for it but sadly it's pretty temperamental and if you can imagine the tweaking and heartache a single FSX install can bring, times that by six or seven in a network configuration for a full size cockpit. A lot of odd things tend to happen during flight and it's also quite hard to fly. This is partly because it runs on the default 737 FDE which flies like crap, very poor visuals from the projector which distorts the image so much it makes it really hard to see what's going on outside compared to my pin sharp 2560x1440 IPS screen and then it's tied to those nasty default MS sounds.

 

As nice as it is to play with the buttons and have a real yoke in your hands, I much prefer my minimal setup of a really good gaming rig, 27inch IPS screen and the barest of peripherals. Flying from the VC with the room in darkness is actually more immersive than the full size flightdeck. 

[GodAtum 69]

perhaps Oculus Rift might increase immersion?

[jtwhite 36]

My whole perspective changed the minute I added headtracking software. It was as if I went from being outside the sim (real panels, extra monitors, switches, etc.) and seeing it through a small window, to being inside the sim looking around. Also, all that "outside" stuff limited me to one aircraft... boring. Now that Im back "inside" the sim and looking around, I fly more aircraft and the immersion factor is actually greater.

Also, it takes less time to set up (only one powerful PC) and I fly more often.

It really is true, at least for me, that less is turning out to be more.

Now, if I can just sneak a bigger monitor into the basement without you-know-who finding out.... ha ha.

[JimmiG 244]

The OP situation sounds like it was temporary solution that had to be setup each time he wanted to fly. That is not a good way to build a home cockpit. To do it properly it needs to be permanent. No exceptions. My setup  can be flying within 5 minutes from computer startup and that's with 9 computers in total.  Proper planning during the build  is the key. If your not in a position to do it properly your only going to be disappointed. That unfortunately is a fact with anything in life.

 

Cheers

 

If you're going to have a serious home cockpit, that's the way to go. With a single PC used for work, general gaming, browsing the net etc. as well as flight simming, you have to transform the desk from PC to virtual cockpit every time you want to fly. If you have a dedicated flightsim PC/desk, you can leave it in "cockpit mode" all the time.

 

Since I only have the space and money for one good PC, I make do with just pedals, yoke and throttle quadrant. Takes less than a minute to set up. Just shove the keyboard to the side, mount the yoke to the desk, mount the throttle to the desk, grab the pedals from the shelves behind me, plug everything in

[Azapata87 173]

Interesting read! I have been wanting a more complex cockpit but have been keeping it simple to please the wife. I keep a simple joystick that I can hide underneath the desk when not in use. I guess more is not always necessary.... But it sure looks cool!