DIY Flight Simulator Cockpit

This is by far my Favourite  Project  it 's my Second Build. The 1st Was all wood and Very Small.

Playing MFSM X using a Key board,Or aJoystick, Gets a bit Boring.....

So  I Decided to Build A Cockpit To House All of the Instruments

I took the Measurements From a Cessna 172  , Trying to keep all as Real as possible.

The Cockpit is 40  Inches Wide  By 20 Inches Tall.  The Base is 40 Inches W  by 9 Inches Tall.
The 1st Thing to do is Make a Drawing How Big How Tall ETC.... My Set up Seats On Top of A Small Table.

Make a Template For the Instruments , Cut it And Place Instruments  / inside. Once you are Happy With the out come
Then Transfer all to a PVC 5 mm Think  Any Thinner And things Will Just move As you Press Buttons Etc.

Make Sure To Label Each And Every USB Cable Once All the Cables are In place This Will make it Easier to Reconnect  If You have to Remove And Installed New Items.
All The Instruments Are By a Company Called Saitek  

List Of Instruments .
Saitek Pro Flight Yoke
Throttle Quadrant  X 2
T,P,M System
Multi Panel,
Switch Panel,
Instrument Panel  X 6
Rudder Pedals,
Cessna Trim Wheel,
GPS 500  By VRInsight
Hand Brake , This was Purchased From DeskTop Aviators,  The Case & Connection Done By Me.
Small Keyboard.
A Dedicated Computer Something Fast And Powerful To run All the Instruments  Two Monitors 
3 Powered USB HUBBS  Buy Good ones The Cheap ones Will Burn out.
Do Not  Over load The Hubbs  Connect 3 to 4 Instruments On Each Hubb.

If You Play MSFSX  its Better this Way.   
Now Go And Build Something And Hey Hey     Have Fun.

NOTES.     If  You Build Yours ,Leave Room On your Cockpit , For Upgrades. And Label All the Cables To make it Easier 
If You have to Unplugged Things Later.

Make Sure That You are Able to Reach The USB Cables Easy. Don't Place them Deep inside your Cockpit.

Comments

[JamesB904]

Hey can you send me your plans

[NearCoSprings]

Screen scrapped the image to give an idea of the cockpit.

[DaveH200]

This is what I'm looking for - something I can build but looks real enough! Do you have the measurements for the PVC panel that houses the instruments? I have a good amount of Saitek equipment and I think if I had these measurements I can use the pictures to build my FP! What tool did you use to cut out the panel openings? I'm thinking that if I had a solid template I could maybe upgrade to aircraft aluminum and build the rest around that. What do you think?

[NicholasC83]

I'm thinking about using my 3d printer to build a custom cockpit for a futuristic space simulator I want to build. Any Ideas for where to get supplies to make buttons that will interface with a raspberry pi?

[DougL1]

Do you have an approximate total cost of the build?

I like the idea, for sure, I just need to make sure I can afford it!

[stevenarango]

all the instruments cost me about 1500 plus

frame Wood 80

front pannel PVC Cut.. 60
monitors 200 computer 1700

Hope this helps…..

[LunaEros]

That is pretty cool!

Are those instruments and flight controls from a real plane?

[prosper.urban]

Check saitek.com , at this moment they are the top of the line for affordable pro flight gear to make your flight sim go further beyond your wildest imaginations. Never forget that it`s the combination of PC, software, screen and controls that makes Flight simulations more interresting. within your financial goals you can create a world to enjoy. In this configuration you will see six small instrument panels. These small screens eat your frame rate. So be carefull with what you buy and what you build. Make sure that your pc is up for the job. For the rest you can increase your flight simulator with scenery packs (www.aerosoft.de) or other planes (www.justflight.com). On the internet there are far more plans for your own cockpit. Let`s just say: the sky is the limit!!!

[myoung5655]

What is the device positioned between the radio stack and the saitek instruments?

[stevenarango]

its a GPS by a Company Called VRInsight.

[Tom_G_2010]

Steven, GREAT WORK!!! I like it.

It's too bad you're so far from this upcoming event, but Flight Sim Con 2014 is being held in the US in Hartford Connecticut this June and the theme is cockpit building. Check out http://www.flightsimcon.com Would you be ok with the conference team putting up some info about your pit build? Or, maybe making yourself available via Skype during some overlap hours in the timezones?

I'm a pit builder myself http://www.mycessnasim.info and will be attending with my sim pit on display. The event organisers are hoping to get a variety of pit types from desktop setups like yours all the way up to full scale 737 flight decks. But the bigger pits present a lot of logistical challenges to transport so they are still on the hunt.

Like I said, Great Build! Enjoy the virtual skies!

Tom G.

[stevenarango]

sure if you need pictures

or info just let me know. i have checked your website and your set up looks great.

email me if any questions etc. i would love to make a moving platform for my set up.

cheers mate.

[stevenarango]

No it's fine. I could email you more pictures of the build up.

[stevenarango]

Thanks. R Lane

[RamblinLane]

looks great. well done.

[stevenarango]

Yes they do. It's awesome

[Antzy Carmasaic]

wow. that is so cool. do the instruments display realtime data?

[stevenarango]

No they are from a company called Saitek