If you feel that a couple of monitors on your desk are not enough to give you the experience of flying, then the next step towards achieving an immersive simulation is to build a life-sized cockpit shell. This kit comes with 849 pages of detailed instructions on how to build your own shell enclosure using wood pieces.
Inside the 849-page E-Book, you’ll find:
- More than 400 Photographs of the cockpit throughout the entire construction process.
- More than 200 Construction diagrams
- More than 500 Dimensioned Drawings
- the E-Book also includes a voucher for 2 free hours of individual e-mail support as well as many articles on the a support website and unlimited access to the forum.
Also included is an 84-page PDF booklet giving further explanations and construction tips. This extra e-book was written as an answer to various queries by constructors.
There are also two videos included discussing what a cockpit really is, and what kind of computer hardware would be need to power the cockpit
What this book is:
This E-Book is a construction manual that provides a step-by-step guide for building a cockpit enclosure for a flight simulator. The cockpit is designed to fit into a room as small as 2.5m x 4m and is based on the dimensions of the Cessna 172, making it 1:1 life-size.
To build the cockpit, you will need to do quite a bit of woodwork, or you can get a woodwork hobbyist to cut the pieces for you. However, it’s easy stuff, and the book provides clear dimensioned drawings for every single part that needs to be cut.
The cockpit is designed to display the outside view using three 24″ monitors mounted at an angle of 120° to each other. The virtual cockpit instruments’ display is on a large 32″ monitor below it. Additionally, you can install an optional 24″ monitor in each door for side external views. These monitors physically extend past your shoulder.
Although this E-Book is a generic blueprint, you may need to make alterations in the design to fit the exact dimensions of your monitors and accommodate the specific simulator control hardware you own. Every purchaser of this book is entitled to 2 private hours of my time to assist in this, absolutely free.
The entire structure is held together with screws and wood joints, not glue. Thus, you can dismantle and re-assemble the cockpit. However, it will require a new paint job and windscreen repairs each time you dismantle and re-assemble it.
What this book is not:
The book does not provide any recommendations for computer hardware or flight simulation software instructions. However, I can offer you insights, support, configuration instructions, and even shopping lists if you need them. Please note that this project is only suitable for screen monitors and not for projectors. Also, please note that this is a static structure and not a “full motion simulator” with hydraulic tilting, which would be much more expensive. Finally, I want to emphasize that building this cockpit is not a weekend project and will take many hours to complete.
It took me almost three years of full-time work to create this e-book because I wanted to ensure that constructing your own cockpit would be as easy as possible. I developed the design using a 3D CAD program, then divided the entire construction process into multiple “Steps.” For each step, I created dimensioned drawings for each piece and cut them out using those drawings. Although this was an inefficient method, it ensured that every dimension was present and accurate. Once the parts were cut, I assembled them and immediately created assembly diagrams before photographing the completed step and moving on to the next one.
Since this e-book was created during the cockpit’s construction, you can be confident that it is error-free and possible for anyone with basic woodworking knowledge and skills.
If you aren’t an expert woodworker, don’t worry – you can get away with cutting errors as large as a millimetre. If you’re not a woodworking hobbyist at all, you can take the dimensioned drawings to a professional woodshop and have them cut the pieces for you. Alternatively, you can find an amateur woodworker in your area who can help you cut the pieces over time.
Click an image to magnify