Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
SAS263

Tactile feedback for skids and the slip indicator

Recommended Posts

Like most simmers, I get a kick out of getting myself into situations I'd never dream of getting in when my real butt's on the line. But overall, I see the simulator as a training and practice aid to my occasional weekend joyrides, and so I constantly try to make my sim time as realistic as possible by following the same checklists and procedures I'd do in an actual site-seeing tour or $100 burger run.But one of the things I've found lacking in the sim world vs. real-world flying is the difficulty I've had with coordinating my rudder inputs to keep the ball on the slip indicator centered.In a real-world Cessna, the same forces that swing the little ball around, exert their presence on the body, so I can 'usually' get enough queues from the seat of my pants.However, when flying in FS, I find myself glancing at the slip indicator much more often then normal just so my Pro Pedals get some play and aren't just heavy doorstops (Hmmm, or turn on auto-rudder!) My last flight instructor would have cringed if I kept my eyes in the cockpit as long as I do when playing flight sim.Recently, I decided to put more realism in the picture by strapping two buzzers (pager motors) to my legs and interfacing them to FSX. As the ball moves side to side, the corresponding motor buzzes with progressive intensity, whenever the ball is not centered. I love the realism this simple add-on has given my rudder control. Now I spend the same amount of time looking out the sim cockpit as in real-flight, and my feet do their thing without my eyes having to stare at the little ball.So naturally, I'm seriously toying with the idea of releasing it as an add-on device. But, before I invest too much money and effort, I wanted to get the feedback of some of you, on whether this has a potential market, and help me answer what price others would be willing to spend on it, and make it a worthwhile venture. I'm ball parking my USB buzzer device in the neighborhood of $30-40, depending on how easily I can get it manufactured in volume (Realistic?).I hope this is the right forum for this topic. Thanks for the constructive feedback.-BagoBagyo

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Cool thingy with a very good purpose. I


/Tord Hoppe, Sweden

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

While it's true un-coordinated flight won't kill you in flight sim, I wouldn't bet against it in the real-world, especially for low time students (and some higher time) on the base leg who've just got a little behind the plane, and suddenly find themselves yanking and banking to make the final turn before crossing into the path of another plane on final of the parallel runway.By the way, I decided to make the concept available to anyone who wants to build one of their own for under $30.Here's the website: http://geocities.com/slipnbuzz@sbcglobal.net

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest scottmm73

Bago, Check your forum inbox. I sent you a private message.Scott

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Redvan

this aughta be stickied somewhere so that people can find it if they're interested! Quite the interesting idea!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

>this aughta be stickied somewhere so that people can find it>if they're interested! Quite the interesting idea!Redvan,Thanks for the kind words and thanks to all who've recently visited my website. By popular demand, I'm making fully assembled (plug n' play) units available for the same price as the kit ($27 + $3 S&H).Here's the website again:http://geocities.com/slipnbuzz@sbcglobal.net

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is a really good idea. Thanks for sharing it and good luck with your sales.


John
My first SIM was a Link Trainer. My last was a T-6 II
AMD Ryzen 7 7800 X3D@ 5.1 GHz, 32 GB DDR5 RAM - 3 M2 Drives. 1 TB Boot, 2 TB Sim drive, 2 TB Add-on Drive, 6TB Backup data hard drive
RTX 3080 10GB VRAM, Meta Quest 3 VR Headset

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

>That is a really good idea. Thanks for sharing it and good>luck with your sales.>jmig,Thanks, it's a tall order, but I'm always looking for ways to make the sim more like the real thing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...