After taking a break from the hobby for a few years I finally found the space to move one step up from the generic 3 screen setup to a simple home cockpit framework with a dedicated desk and box.

The last few months I’ve experimented with various setups and sims to get to where I am now. The last straw was the Costco sale of these 3 Chinese 55” TVs which finally allow me to have a 210 degree field of view with which it’s possible to fly proper patterns around the local airport.

After disappointment with P3D V5 with missing and misplaced airport buildings, incompatible add-ons and CTDs I went back to P3D 4.5. It might not look the prettiest and may be a few frames slower but everything works and it’s super stable.

The cockpit is meant to be generic using the small widescreen display for any kind of single or multi engine GA aircraft. I’m dedicated to GA since I acquired a real private pilot’s license decades ago, at the cusp of GPS going mainstream, so the GNS 530 represents cutting edge technology in my world. Since I cannot justify $200 an hour for a real plane, this is an incredibly cheap setup in comparison and much safer to boot.

The home cockpit cost me less than $100 in materials and a few hours of work. The GPS might be a bit crooked, but it’s overall a small price compared to those $2k for premade desk cockpits.

I just wanted to share the effort to show that in some homes P3D (4!) is very much alive and kicking!

MSFS is currently a no-go with break out panels killing framerate, no working AI traffic, messed up IFR ATC, the need for Air Manager for the separate cockpit display, no RealityXP for the GPS, etc.

 

I'm impressed.

Impressive, very nice ! I am sure it is very enjoyable ! Do you fly online or just by yourself ?

That looks great! Like a simracing setup!
How does P3D handle the appropriate adjustments for triple monitors?

Thank you, all.

4 hours ago, TopGun33 said:

Do you fly online or just by yourself ?

I only fly by myself. I recently started using Volanta to keep track of my flights. I'm not much of an online person, avoid social media like the plague. But I'm considering PilotEdge maybe sometime next year.

1 hour ago, level7 said:

How does P3D handle the appropriate adjustments for triple monitors?

P3D does an excellent job using View Groups having plenty of options for adjustments. So from my head position sitting in the chair it's more or less perspectively correct. The only issue with View Groups is the heavy impact on framerate. It would run way faster with NVIDIA Surround, but the perspective distortion is not acceptable.

The 'desk cockpit' gauges setup really improves immersion in comparison to using the VC. Someday, space, time and money permitting, I'd love to build a system with a real cut-off cockpit and a curved projected display on the outside. Lots of great inspirations on YouTube.

Considering how much work it took to get all the controls and displays work properly for the various planes, I see now how expensive professional/government simulators are reluctant to upgrade and often stick with rather outdated systems.

Very nice !

I've pro 4.5 myself.

Cheers

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by Rogen

On 12/22/2022 at 7:16 PM, Matthias1231 said:

After disappointment with P3D V5 with missing and misplaced airport buildings, incompatible add-ons and CTDs I went back to P3D 4.5. It might not look the prettiest and may be a few frames slower but everything works and it’s super stable.

Looks like I'm doing the same, because of the default sceneries and terminal buildings: Zinertek textures work fine in v4, but I never managed to make them work at all in V5. I'm keeping both sims (and MSFS), and I'm still tuning up v4. Let's see how it goes.