Why Simulated Aviation You Ask?

[Flying Trucker]

Good afternoon all...

Thought some of you folks out there would like to see just what it costs to have a few accessories for the aeroplane you are going to purchase some day.   ;)

Take a look at the winter skis and you can choose the make and model of the aircraft from the box. 
ex.  DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter
      Cessna 185

Now take a look at the floats and also the amphibious one's as well.  Use the same aircraft if you like. 

Here is the link:

http://www.wipaire.com/customers/winter10.php

Now do not forget the installation cost as well, we can talk about insurance later.   ;D

HMMM...it is a wonder the wife and kids still speak to me and I have a roof over my pointy little head.   

Oh well I am spending our little darlings inheritance and enjoying retirement.   ::)      :P    

Hope the old girl does not read this or I will be standing in the corner of the barn for a week.   :o   

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[DaveSims]

Yep, I can spend $85 an hour flying for real, or just the few cents of electricity it takes to power my PC and TV to run Flight Sim.  Needless to say I get in a lot more sim time than actual time.

[Fozzer]

When you sit down quietly, and really think about

[BSW727]

I does depend on what you're using for a simulator. There's no cup holders aboard this one.

It's not hard to lose one's self in a full size simulator with a wrap-around full size view.

[Flying Trucker]

Thanks for those shots BSW727...nice looking office...

I manage to get in the C130 Hercules Simulator a couple of time a year and now they are adding a C17 Simulator amongst several others. 

It sure does spoil a person when they come home and look at their desktop.        

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[Flying Trucker]

Hi Dave, gosh what can you get now for $85.00 a hour and is that wet or dry?
I do believe a Cessna 172 is more than $135.00 a hour wet here.
You are right though about the cost of simulated aviation, it is the way to go for those who do not have a licence.

Now I have always preached to our children, do not rent, buy.  One does not usually loose on boats and aircraft.  I have not. They actually listen to me and they are all very very lucky because their offices are cockpits. 
That puts them in locations and with folks who have information of what is on the market or going to be sold privately so they can make a deal.   ;)

Paul after reading your post I just had to go do a circuit, wonderful post, you hit the nail right on the head.   ;)

Thanks all...

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[Fozzer]

[quote]

Paul after reading your post I just had to go do a circuit, wonderful post, you hit the nail right on the head.

[BSW727]

The cost of flying is the main reason my 727 exists at all. Yeah, it was a lot of money that could have been spent on my ATP or multi-rating, but then what?

I'm too old to ever get a flying job and by the time I'd have enough hours I'd be ready for retirement.

As for the sim, it's always there no matter the weather, and it doesn't cost one additional cent to power it up and go anywhere in the world.

I do miss flying, but in the long run a sim is much cheaper.

[Flying Trucker]

Hi BSW727...

Could you tell us all a little bit about your simulator?

Any special wiring or floor support?
How large of a room is it in and how did you get it into your home and still keep the wife?   ;D

Where would one purchase one of these or something similiar?

I know the approximate cost of what they want for a C130 or C17 simulator and that is in the millions.  I have also looked at multi-engine motion simulators and they are worth a million or so.
Does your simulator have a "Kill Button" which will settle it down and stop everything if the simulator goes into a spin or unrecoverable situation so that no one gets hurt?

I have heard of several folks who have their motion simulators built in a mobile trailer and it is for their own use.  Not sure of the reason other than the cost of locating the unit in a home.

Feel free to supply any information you would like as I am sure we all would find that most educational and interesting.

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[Fozzer]

[quote]Hi BSW727...

Could you tell us all a little bit about your simulator?

Any special wiring or floor support?
How large of a room is it in and how did you get it into your home and still keep the wife?

[BSW727]

Well thanks for asking.

It's a fixed sim and doesn't move, though it does give you that feeling from time to time. Especially coming down in mountainous terrain or windy conditions.

Most of the parts are from an actual 727, some of which came out of the airplanes that the owner of the parts place himself flew as a Captain for American Airlines for 30 years.

All of the panels are interfaced through input cards to the main computer using a program called FSUIPC. Some functions are not supported by the flight model, so the Mouse Capture function of FSUIPC comes in handy for a few items. The nice part of that program is that the virtual panels do not have to be visible for the function to work as in the Key to Mouse program that was FSUIPC's predecessor in the mouse capture department.

The sim was built in-place and not moved in. It is attached to the rest of the room structure and would be a real PITA to have to remove. Not married, so no problems there. Only took me twice to learn the lesson, but I won't forget it now.

The scratchbuilt components include the throttle quadrant and control stand, the glareshield (not the fire control rack though), the seat, the control column, and the shell structure. There is one real window in the sim and that's the #4 eyebrow window. The triangular ceiling panel (the one with the emergency escape rope and overhead lights) is also real. I based the entire shell construction on these two pieces and extrapolated the rest.

The air vent and the O2 mask and hangar are real as well as the map light. It plugs into the O2 regulator just as it should, and if I had an oxygen tank, could hook it right up. Forced air for the vent is supplied by a hair dryer motor and fan through dryer ducting and is controlled from the overhead along with the map lights, overhead lights, and instrument panel and instrument lights.

The sim runs on four computers ranging from a P-IV loaded up, to a Dual-core setup for the main system, all running XP or XP Pro. The entire aircraft functions off of the main computer with the other three providing the WidevieW outside views, and one supports communications on the IVAO network. (They're always asking me to "Say speed please" because on the client systems, there is no instrument readout and Mode C reads '0' speed!)

The radios don't work and they are only installed to fill up the holes. Comm radios and a transponder still need to be purchased, but the nav radios are real and come from Open Cockpits in Spain. Oh, and I still need an ADF head too which will also be coming from this company.

The only pop up panels that I still need are for the APU and engineer's panels to get the bird started up, and I occasionally still have to open the overhead to change a frequency on the ADF head. Kills me to do that when I'm so close to not having to open any main panels.

It's great fun. I've been working on it going on six years now and it's nearly complete except for what I noted above and a few other small details.

[Flying Trucker]

Hi Paul...

Well I used to hunt several months of the year, duck, bear, moose and deer.

[Flying Trucker]

BSW727 you have done a wonderful job I must say.

[TacitBlue]

That is amazing 727! Ever thought of using projectors for the outside view?

I'm more into small planes, and I've often thought of buying a scrap C172 or 152 fuselage and converting it into a sim. a projector or REALLY big monitor would be a must have for me.

[DaveSims]

[quote]Hi Dave, gosh what can you get now for $85.00 a hour and is that wet or dry?
I do believe a Cessna 172 is more than $135.00 a hour wet here.
You are right though about the cost of simulated aviation, it is the way to go for those who do not have a licence.

Now I have always preached to our children, do not rent, buy.