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NoahBryant

Compliments to the flight deck engineers

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Kyle, 

 

I know most of the team does not follow the forums so please pass on my message to anyone who has worked on any of PMDG's cockpits. 

 

I was given an Oculus Rift for christmas and naturally the very first thing I did was load up a PMDG plane (777-300). The moment the sim loaded I was completely immersed in the most amazing representation of a real plane I have ever experienced. 

 

I sat in the left seat and just looked around in awe as if I had never seen any of it before. The overhead panel was actually over my head. The radios were actually below and to my right. I leaned around to my right and could see all the detail put into the rest of the cockpit that I had never bothered to see before. I saw grit in places I didn't know existed. I found a few easter eggs. It makes me chuckle at the people looking at online screenshots and measuring angles and distances comparing them to some photo taken on the internet of unknown position and focal length and crying foul. 

 

I switched to night and turned up the lighting. Wow. The word magical comes to mind. Words, nor screenshots, can express what an amazing job was done by PMDG on the inside of this plane. I checked a few other planes and although they were cool the detail just wasn't there like in the PMDG planes. 

 

Then it came time to do a flight (in the 737 this time). Using the amazing FlyInside application I was able to import my flight plan and approach plates as a PDF window and 'place it' on the F/O seat for easy viewing. I did all my preflight routines so very fluidly. I found it easier to do my flows because it's so much more visual and real. 

 

Using the 2D popups inside the 3d environment I was able to easily program the FMC and put the popup back once complete. Taxiing the plane was like a completely new (and incredibly easy) experience. Having depth perception and having the ability to simply and quickly look over my shoulder,  or up and over the F/O seat while taxiing was so realistic. 

 

Approach and landing was went as smoothly as possible. Again, the depth perception makes timing the flare child's play. 

 

I am a (private) pilot myself, I have been in every type of sim from FS95 all the way up to a couple full motion sims at UAL. I can tell you, without a doubt, nothing else has made me feel more like I was really in the plane and flying. Thank you so much for what you do and continue to do. 

 

It's so immersive I have started having to fly from the right seat because my brain has a tough time comprehending that my throttle was visually on my right but physically on my left. I also find myself occasionally reaching for things in the virtual world. 

Although screenshots are obviously not going to convey what this experience is like, here's one that shows how I put my flight plan and charts on the F/O seat for easy viewing. 
 

 

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In case anyone is curious, yes the resolution is low on the rift. Personally, it's absolutely an acceptable trade-off. Being able to use the 2D popups and the ability to easily simply lean in to see things a little more clearly when needed are enough to counter the lower resolution (I'm coming from a 28 inch 4k display so I get it).

The only 2D panel I need is the FMC and even then the only time I use it is during pre-flight. 

 

 

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Noah Bryant
 

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Impressive! I have been unable myself to see the practical application of VR....until I read your post. Kind of seems like the future for flight sim, doesn't it?

 

Perhaps I should put that home cockpit project on hold......... 

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Yes it is.. But hold on till the next gen of VR only if it increases in resolution...

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I know most of the team does not follow the forums so please pass on my message to anyone who has worked on any of PMDG's cockpits.

 

I've passed it along. Thanks for sharing!


Kyle Rodgers

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Yes it is.. But hold on till the next gen of VR only if it increases in resolution...

 

Agreed. That had been my plan too. That being said, if I could go back in time and give myself advice, I would have gotten this a long time ago but there's also no doubt that I will be buying a Gen 2 as well for that reason. 


Noah Bryant
 

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I'm very curious about getting one of these. My only concern is actually flying the plane. Do you have a yoke and pedals in front of you or what is your input to fly the plane? and do you have any issues with operating the controls?

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i bought a used dk2 kit a week ago for 200, i was so amazed in the flight sims, the x-plane a330 was the most amazing to me as i don't have p3d installed, and curious if i should install it back now. anyway i sold my dk2 kit and bought the consumer version of the rift.after using vr, there is simply no going back to just sitting at a monitor anymore. i am gonna buy the leap motion as fly inside supports it.there is no need for me to go out and try and buy expensive hardware anymore. as each new generation of oculus comes out, people just won't be buying hardware accept for maybe rudder pedals. vr is gonna put them out of business in 5 years.

  i would like to add, absolutely no screenshot or video does the oculus rift any justice, it's simply that amazing, when i took my first flight in the 767 in x-plane i actually had a little motion sickness. i felt like i was flying that plane.

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I'm very curious about getting one of these. My only concern is actually flying the plane. Do you have a yoke and pedals in front of you or what is your input to fly the plane? and do you have any issues with operating the controls?

 

I have my pedals and my throttle on my left and stick on the right. No issues at all in regards to that (aside from what I mentioned above). I had previously mapped my flaps, gear, AP and AT controls to the joystick and continue to use sometimes...although I have actually found myself using the VR environment for flaps, gear and AP controls now more often than the joystick.

 

 

 

  i would like to add, absolutely no screenshot or video does the oculus rift any justice, it's simply that amazing, when i took my first flight in the 767 in x-plane i actually had a little motion sickness. i felt like i was flying that plane.

 

No doubt about it. The screenshot I put above just seems kind of silly compared to what it actually looks like. There's absolutely no way I will put a dime into any more cockpit hardware. 

 

The ability to fluidly look around (even stick my head out the window if I want :wink:  ) far outstrips having a few pieces of physical hardware. Even in a full motion sim you're just looking at tv screens. This is a complete game changer and I will never fly without it again. 

 

Being on a base leg and just looking to my left to time my turn to final feels exactly like flying my little bitty planelet in real life. 

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Noah Bryant
 

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