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For realism and immersion, it would be nice to have the remaining unclickable switches (i.e. AVTR Selector, Video Recorder Switch, Nuclear Consent and Harness Lock Lever) animated and completed with sounds. It would also be coherent with the choice of animating other non-functional switches (e.g. AB MAX, TFR ADV etc.) in the Viper, plus their equivalent is already animated in the Hornet despite being purely cosmetic and not needed for aircraft operation. The ECM control switches are clearly not included in this list as they will be implemented alongside jammer pods.

What DCS really lacks for VR Pilots is an update to the out-dated knee board. A real make-over! DCS needs a virtual EFB on our virtual lap. Like we do in the real world - we have an iPad on our lap. (EFB=Electronic Flight Bag). On that EFB we can run whatever apps we want. Here are some examples: Be it an aerial maps app (one that lets us slew the map around, zoom in and out, display or remove data layers such as different coordinate systems [MGRS,LAT/LONG], waypoints, terrain, Satellite imagery, terrain data, obstacles data, points of interest, Navids, routes, SAM and threat rings, weather data (dangerous thunderstorms, severe turbulence, winds aloft, etc..), and even mark something on the map freehand with an apple pen our finger, and much more. To that app you can add sensors like GPS, thus turning it into a moving map app, and even ADS-B data that turns it into a portable TCAS and updates the weather in real time. Be it a mission computer app or a portable data link app Be it a documents managing app that let us view PDF’s with our checklists, lists, aircraft manuals, mission data such as intel, objectives, coordinates, frequency lists, airport and approach charts, you name it. Be it Weight and Balance apps that would help us decide how to load the aircraft with payloads. I would suggest it to allow us to run real world apps on the virtual tablet (sort of like a virtual machine), for example ForeFlite, and be open to the public to write apps to this virtual tablet.. this could open up a market of apps for the virtual EFB, and lead to devs from the community write amazing apps for it. This EFB can also be linked to a real world iPad that would run a DCS EFB app on it that will allow us to freehand on the real life iPad with a real apple pen, and see it appear on the virtual tablet on our virtual lap in-game. Although the pilots in the 70’s didn’t have tablets and EFB’s in the cockpits, and it’s not realistic, they did have real hands and real maps and real pens and real knee boards that they could use to get all of this data that VR pilots just cannot access once the VR “helmets” goes on and limits our world to the DCS eco system. A virtual EFB could compensate all that and help us immerse into that virtual world. And of course one could limit the use of some of the EFB’s features through the mission editor, so WWII pilots won’t be able to cheat with a moving map or a portable data link app…. I also see an opportunity for Eagle Dynamics to make more income out of this - selling apps for the virtual EFB (a virtual App Store?), collaboration with real world vendors such as ForeFlite subscriptions, Navigraph subscription, and much more, even selling the real iPad app that would interface our real iPad/Tablet to the virtual EFB.. VR is the future of simming and It’s time for a makeover of that knee board. The sooner ED improves the immersion in VR - the better. The sky is the limit!

I think I've finally gotten my rig to a place where I'm reasonably happy with it, and wanted to show off! I come from a family of aviators, but myself never got past soloing. The work + expense = payoff equation for IRL flying just never added up for me, but I never could sahke the 'itch' either. Thus, I got into simming. I've had a forever-project simpit for about the last 12 years or so, making incremental advancements to it every couple of years. For the vast majority of that time I've focused on space, but made the leap to DCS about two years ago and haven't looked back. While at this point I spend the majority of my time in DCS, I do enjoy a good general aviation romp every once in a while. VR has been an absolute game changer, and I've been "investing" in headsets since the DK2. One of the under-appreciated powers of VR--to me--is it's flexibility. The ability to slide into any cockpit and be present is unmatched, and I wanted my physical rig to take advantage of that. I also tend to be a bit fickle with my aircraft, and often find myself swapping between modules. Thus, while I have massive admiration for the detailed replica cockpits on this forum and others, I can't justify building out so many physical buttons for a platform that I may get bored of in a month. Wanting to up my immersion game even more, and with the onset of the pandemic, I decided to start going down the motion-rig rabbit hole, and was able to design and complete a compact motion G-seat in the style of Bergison's. The whole build thread can be found over on Xsimulator if you want more info on that. The next piece of the equation was getting really good, immersive cockpit interaction. I love the elegance of the PointCTRL solution, but after sitting on the waitlist for more than a year I decided to take matters into my own... hands... and stumbled on the fingers app. A relatively quick round of programming and prototyping my own finger buttons (affectionately named 'Roosterhands') and I was good to go! Finally, the OpenKneeboard project has been ported to OpenXR, which means my rig is now in it's final form! Until next month when I figure out how I want to tweak it again... Without further ado, a cold start of the F16 with takeoff:

For CSAR this would be amazing. Now that rotorwash is added, It would be incredible if smoke interacted with rotor wash vortex. Anyone heard on this, news or plans? The little details always add such immersion. I love CSAR, always hated hovering in or above the smoke and it just lays there. Or is there a mod? Arma added this a decade ago and it was always exciting to see it work during helo extractions. https://youtu.be/HK1FB3-ugZM?si=XcJszxmoCvQgUsbF