Technology Information

Do you want to build a home cockpit to do your flight simulator flying but do not know where to begin? It can be confusing if you are new to the flight simulator world. The realism of flight simulators has improved significantly in the last few years. If you build up your own set of controls for your flight simulator you will have great enjoyment and have the most realistic flying experience possible in your own home. The following 5 steps will guide you to building your own home cockpit.

1. Check and Upgrade Your Computer

The latest flight simulator software needs more processing power from your computer. If you will be using a flight simulator package such as Microsoft flight simulator X, you will need a recent computer with a high-speed processor, enough hard drive space and plenty of memory. A high end graphics card is also essential so that the graphics and scenery can be displayed smoothly.

2. Add Some Control

Before you get gear for your cockpit, you should consider what class of planes you will be flying. You can fly lots of different aircraft, from single engined small planes to the large jet Boeing 737 or 747 to aerobatic and fighter jets. Aircraft have different controls in the cockpit, for example jets and some aerobatic planes are flown with a stick, whereas a Cessna or Boeing is flown with a traditional yoke. It is not until you connect a yoke to your flight simulator that you will realise that it is a totally different experience to flying with a keyboard and mouse.

3. Add a Foot Control

You need to add rudder pedals to control the aircraft in a number of different conditions. To make a coordinated turn, you need to use rudder pedals. As you learn to fly you will find out that the yoke will control the ailerons to bank the aircraft, but to turn, the rudder also needs to be applied at the same time to swing the tail. When there is crosswind, rudder pedals are necessary to keep the nose lined up with the runway. Finally the rudder is also necessary to apply brakes on the ground and to taxi.

4. Add More Control

It is possible to go beyond the yoke and rudder pedals and replicate the whole set of controls in a cockpit. You can get radio panels, throttle quadrants, control panels that can be programmed with functions such as gear, prop, mix. It is even possible to add realistic sized instrument panels including altimeter, airspeed indicator, compass or vertical speed.

5. Close it In

The ultimate home cockpit needs a home, away from your normal computer desk or table. The ultimate home cockpit would be enclosed, as the more enclosed the cockpit, the more realistic the flying experience. You could construct your cockpit structure from a range of materials including wood, metal as well as used real aircraft parts.

For help and information on finding the best flight simulator yoke for you, visit www.flightsimulatoryoke.org