Which aircraft to build Simpit for?

[sclearman]

My basic question is which aircraft would be 'easiest' to build a realistic cockpit for?

I've been 'flying' sims for many years, since the late 80's, early 90's anyway.   I have always loved them.  Now that I am in a position in life where I have both time and some funds, I want to do what I've always wanted....build a sim pit to fly.  But I don't know which one.  things I would like in a pit in no particular order:

• single pilot aircraft, want to be able to play alone
• "realistic cockpit", meaning it looks right. No stickers and fake panels like the old Thrustmaster cockpit or arcade games.  I would love to be able to flip switches for aircraft functions instead of using a keyboard for commands. 
• Having said that, I'm not going to be upset it my cockpit is not perfect.  For instance if the real thing has a front panel that is 27" wide, im ok if mine comes out 25-30".  But I want it to 'look right" even if not to scale.  Hope that makes sense.
• in addition to analog switches, I would love to be able to have working displays in the panels.
• I dont want to have to switch between views while flying, not wanting to have to pull up a command screen while on a mission.
• Of course sound 
• I would love wrap around displays with short throw projectors, or something similar.
• and whichever aircraft I choose I want to have plenty of missions and chances to play and fly.

Just from what little research I've done it appears an F35 would be great for a build since one large display handles most of the controls.  But, F35 is not a playable aircraft in DCS which seems to be the best supported environment. 

I know some will ask what abilities I have to pull from.  In the early 90's I worked as an electronics tech for a few years. I'm good with soldering and wiring boards, and power supplies.  I am not familiar with how to program Arduino but from talking with my son who is an engineer, I think it's totally within my capabilities after some reading.

So, if you have made it this far, I'm open to suggestions for which aircraft, and which cockpit to build. And I would be really interested to hear your reasoning for your suggestions.

 

 

[Spitty]

Sopwith Camel?

[sclearman]

6 minutes ago, Spitty said:

Sopwith Camel?

Well played, I walked into that.

New additional criteria:

• 'modern' aircraft, circa 1970's to present
• Military aircraft
• open to helicopter as well

Edited May 6, 2024 by sclearman

[Biggus]

8 hours ago, sclearman said:

• and whichever aircraft I choose I want to have plenty of missions and chances to play and fly.

 

Do you own any modules?  This and one of the other points give me the impression that you don't, or that DCS hasn't been your main focus.

If you do own DCS modules, build what you enjoy flying the most.  If you don't, then buy or trial ones that you like.  Then build the one you enjoy flying the most.  No point having someone tell you to build a Hornet pit when you spend all your time in a Phantom or an Apache.

[Nightdare]

A dedicated pit better be Module one with a lot buttons, axis and rotaries left and right if you want to use it for various modules

Regardless, you'll never achieve 1:1 operation unless it's switching between the F-14 A and B 

 

If more generic, I'd see if you can incorporate a keypad (A10 / AH64 tend to use one) and couple of MFD's, or simply a WinWing MIP since that kinda covers everything possible

Get (something with) a lever left and right since gears/flaps/hooks can swap places between modules

Edited May 7, 2024 by Nightdare

[sclearman]

5 hours ago, Biggus said:

Do you own any modules?  This and one of the other points give me the impression that you don't, or that DCS hasn't been your main focus.

If you do own DCS modules, build what you enjoy flying the most.  If you don't, then buy or trial ones that you like.  Then build the one you enjoy flying the most.  No point having someone tell you to build a Hornet pit when you spend all your time in a Phantom or an Apache.

No, I dont own any yet. I haven't had a flight sim for a few years.  I was hoping to decide which to build first, then buy the module and play while i build.  I only plan on having one, unless I also do a helicopter, and then I think it's hands down a KA-50

[Hiob]

A good compromise of "rather" easy to build, single seat and tons of content would be the F-16.*

Personally though I would spend the money and dedication to build a motion platform/ffb- environment but that is personal preference.

 

*And you have the benefit of plenty of replica stuff for panels and input devices to choose from!

Oh, and welcome here in the forum! 

Edited May 7, 2024 by Hiob

[LaunchAlert5]

Check these guys out. An established community with public CAD files to 3D print a Hornet cockpit in 1:1 scale. 

 

https://discord.com/invite/openhornet

 

If the Hornet isnt your jam, most of the techniques directly translate over to other airframes. 

 

There's also the Wathog Project. Check him out if you want to go wrap around projector.   

https://thewarthogproject.com/

 

https://www.youtube.com/@thewarthogproject

 

On 5/7/2024 at 1:27 AM, sclearman said:

My basic question is which aircraft would be 'easiest' to build a realistic cockpit for?

I've been 'flying' sims for many years, since the late 80's, early 90's anyway.   I have always loved them.  Now that I am in a position in life where I have both time and some funds, I want to do what I've always wanted....build a sim pit to fly.  But I don't know which one.  things I would like in a pit in no particular order:

• single pilot aircraft, want to be able to play alone
• "realistic cockpit", meaning it looks right. No stickers and fake panels like the old Thrustmaster cockpit or arcade games.  I would love to be able to flip switches for aircraft functions instead of using a keyboard for commands. 
• Having said that, I'm not going to be upset it my cockpit is not perfect.  For instance if the real thing has a front panel that is 27" wide, im ok if mine comes out 25-30".  But I want it to 'look right" even if not to scale.  Hope that makes sense.
• in addition to analog switches, I would love to be able to have working displays in the panels.
• I dont want to have to switch between views while flying, not wanting to have to pull up a command screen while on a mission.
• Of course sound 
• I would love wrap around displays with short throw projectors, or something similar.
• and whichever aircraft I choose I want to have plenty of missions and chances to play and fly.

Just from what little research I've done it appears an F35 would be great for a build since one large display handles most of the controls.  But, F35 is not a playable aircraft in DCS which seems to be the best supported environment. 

I know some will ask what abilities I have to pull from.  In the early 90's I worked as an electronics tech for a few years. I'm good with soldering and wiring boards, and power supplies.  I am not familiar with how to program Arduino but from talking with my son who is an engineer, I think it's totally within my capabilities after some reading.

So, if you have made it this far, I'm open to suggestions for which aircraft, and which cockpit to build. And I would be really interested to hear your reasoning for your suggestions.

 

 

Lllll

[agrasyuk]

good luck with your project. choosing an airframe can indeed be daunting. I think my build answers a lot of your asks. 
 

Spoiler

Since you insist on playing alone then F-16 or F-18 could be a good match since they are somewhat simpler then A-10 from the standpoint of panels. With that I'd suggest not focusing solely on ease of build (all will be complex enough) but rather on what kind of missions you want to run. do you want to launch from carrier? Then it's the Hornet. Do you want to be a ballerina? Then it's the Viper. Harrier can be a good candidate too. russian and French stuff has perhaps a simpler cockpit, but of no interest to me.
I own all the F planes DCS has to offer and some helos. I can fly them reasonably ok from my pit (built custom profiles to fit through my instrument panel). with that I'm not regretting building an A-10-focused pit one bit.

• I dont want to have to switch between views while flying, not wanting to have to pull up a command screen while on a mission. - that one is unfortunately not possible. at the very least you will need to get to rearm screen and that is done via the ingame F menu. you can somewhat workaround with voice plugin such as VIACOM , that has it's own complications. the server of our v-squadron runs missions that require the use of the in-game F menu to trigger target areas and such.  
• and whichever aircraft I choose I want to have plenty of missions and chances to play and fly. - that one will not be a problem  once you get there I highly recommend joining some sort of virtual squadron. it's super fun it and it helped me immensely to understand what devices in the pit should be focused on.

Edited May 9, 2024 by agrasyuk

[agrasyuk]

On 5/7/2024 at 8:33 AM, sclearman said:

I only plan on having one, unless I also do a helicopter, and then I think it's hands down a KA-50

we do have a bunch of strange airframes in this game, such as Christen Eagle, yak52, viggen etc. In my opinion, KA50 is one of these. I do not mind having them in game, whoever flies them please continue having fun by all means (we don't have slots for them on our server  ). Unless you are for some reason a fan of that particular airframe I don't see why it is "Hands-down" build for a dedicated pit. 10 years back, when KA was the only helo module, sure. but now I'd say Huey or Apachie is much more of a "Hands-down" choice if we are talking rotary. 

[Qcumber]

I'm thinking about building a simpit for the I-16.

 

Edited May 9, 2024 by Qcumber

[sclearman]

Thanks folks, really mean it.  With ongoing research I've really started leaning towards the hornet.  It appears to be well supported in both software and components. Flight model appears to be easier to a degree as well.  And of course can play with the carrier ops.  If I understand correctly thr hornet has air to air as well as air to mud.

[Hiob]

1 hour ago, sclearman said:

Thanks folks, really mean it.  With ongoing research I've really started leaning towards the hornet.  It appears to be well supported in both software and components. Flight model appears to be easier to a degree as well.  And of course can play with the carrier ops.  If I understand correctly thr hornet has air to air as well as air to mud.

Yes, the Hornet is a jack of all trades in the best sense.

[Rapti]

After building a A-10 pit with a friend, I started a F-18 pit. The A-10 pit is much more complicated interms of the panels. But the cockpit structure is complex in the F-18.

I think both planes are cool.

Gesendet von meinem SM-S928B mit Tapatalk

[TED]

@sclearman did u decide what to build yet? 
I went through a few iterations of this myself, however s a 100% vr player who enjoys several modules I’ve thrown more effort into vr and immersion. As the tech is rapidly evolving and augmented/mixed reality becomes more of a thing, more options open up. For me, is really hard to beat the immersion vr gives you. I settled on a winwing setup with their phoenix MIP setup, Orion HOTAS and their PTO panel. I can easily switch between aircraft and still use the mfds and just swap out the stick from f18 to f16. 
I would also suggest building your own frame out of aluminum 8040, as u can make it exactly how u want and then it’s very customizable and easy to bolt on other things as and when u want. Check out panels from the likes of tekcreations and hispanels, then u can easily build extra panels and wire them yourself. 
As far as which plane, that’s a really hard one! The f18 is certainly one of my favorites too, but the a10c is also very hard to beat for pure ground pounding fun. The advantage of vr here is again that immersion as u switch aircraft. It’s pretty straight forward to make a few accurate usb controller panels and enclosures for them which you could switch in and out as u change aircraft. I made quite a few with my very limited skills and it’s fairly inexpensive. I didn’t bother printing and cutting myself and just ordered the panels and switches. 
good luck with whatever you choose and it will be a great fun project no matter what you go for. 

[Bucic]

I don't know man. No idea!