Hi Everyone,

I am thinking of building a home simulator for my 75 year old dad. He flew recreationally for most of his life but ended up surrendering his medical. Recently he’s been going to a local airport to fly a sim because he likes the mental challenge. Unfortunately next week he starts on a more aggressive cancer treatment, putting him at much higher risk than he already is for COVID... so his days of going to the airport to fly the sim are over for the time being. 
 

Which brings me to the title: 

If I were to build a sim from scratch, where would I begin? I know Microsoft and Xplane are a couple of options, others? Pros/cons?  He can still work his way around a cockpit but working his way around a PC is another matter. 
 

There seems to be a lot of options out there and getting a sense of what works and what doesn’t and what hardware plays well with what software has been a bit of a challenge. 

I know he likes the busy mental work of instrument flying and is probably less interested in VFR, but the graphics in some of the online sample videos are pretty impressive and he may enjoy it with the right setup. 

My initial thought was a budget of about $5,000 for everything. But I may be dreaming. I dunno. So I thought I’d start here, see what people in the community think. 
 

Thanks,

DJ

Have you considered using a VR headset (+ PC)?

Advantages:

.) Less expensive than a home cockpit;

.) More immersive than a home cockpit;

.) More suitable when using multiple aircraft.

Disadvantages:

.) More suitable to VFR than IFR;

.) Probably harder to setup and startup, especially for the non-tech savvy.

 

10 hours ago, Murmur said:

Have you considered using a VR headset (+ PC)?

Advantages:

.) Less expensive than a home cockpit;

.) More immersive than a home cockpit;

.) More suitable when using multiple aircraft.

Disadvantages:

.) More suitable to VFR than IFR;

.) Probably harder to setup and startup, especially for the non-tech savvy.

 

Thanks Murmur, I have not considered it, but only because I didn’t know it was a thing. Will take a look, see what I can find.