Finally starting to spend $$ I don't have

[headshrink]

Well, I just added up the $$ I spent this mo. ($1k) on sim stuff and was shockeed.... and for only a few GF modules and a Saitek rudder pedal! Wow, and after going for 3 years w/o spending a dime after the initial X52/ FSX purchase.

So after failing my flight physical, I thought I would lick my wounds and make a nice sim for my home. At the moment I am shooting for a 1/2 flight deck modeled after the 737.

[autocadplease]

Good for you!
Sometimes I have to NOT add up what I have spent to date - scary!
Too bad on the physical, but I can speak from experience that simming is almost as fun as the real thing!

[Geremy Britton]

I think the big way to cut costs is patience. You could buy the new saitek rudder pedals but i guarantee you in the next 60 days someone will have theirs to sell here or somewhere else. Infact i know someone who is selling their Saiteks. Patience is a big thing here i'm afraid. I couldn't get used to it at first but i learnt that is key.

[No Longer Active]

Gez is EXACTLY right.....

Patience is one of the 'biggest' cost savers and rules in the almighty book of sim building!

I have been designing and building my sim ever so slowly, buying a little bit one week and another bit the next and so on.....not just because I am skint, but because Ebay works in mysterious ways!

You will find that (I dont know how, it just is works out this way) that if you wait, you will find, and you will buy, and at the right price! (and probably cheaper).....

But I know that by xmas my sim will have doubled in features etc, then by next summer it would of doubled again etc etc!

Secretly I am saving all my pennies for a Cessna 172 cockpit section and a trailer to store it in, it will take me ages, maybe many years, but I know that one day I would of saved enough, and waited enough for the right time and get a bargain!

Thats just my story of patience!!!!

[Jackpilot]

At the moment I am shooting for a 1/2 flight deck modeled after the 737.

My 2¢:
Unless you have serious space limitations go for a full two seater from start.Even if the FO side has nos active screen/yoke/seat for a while. (Dummies work well for immersion)
Much more realistic feeling anyway.
Easier to build.
Remember that it is not a 1/2 cockpit but a 3/4 one, because you include the center part in the "1/2". In fact you will just save 2feet out of 5.
Your MCP will not be centered, nor your Pedestal.
Expanding it later from 1 to 2 seats will mean a complete redesign of the base and you will end up spend more.

Have fun

[Geremy Britton]

That is a very good point Jack made there. I, many years ago when i first started though knowone else is going to be sat there so i thought 'what's the point' but it realy does add a whole lot of difference cuttong that extra bit of MDF and purchasing that extra screen and building that extra seat it realy does. If you want a 'dummy' FO side it will only set you back another £100 or so if you're doing some of the work yourself.

[No Longer Active]

Gez.....

Just out of curiosity?

Have you got any pictures of your 737?

Never seen your sim before?

[Geremy Britton]

My sim, haha.

My sim isn't a sim it's a pile.... in a room. In fact i'll make a thread on this. Lookout in 5 mins.

[No Longer Active]

Again....Jack/Gez is definitely right there!

Half a sim just doesnt look right, its bad enough FS loading up half a cockpit on your screen by default as it is! lol

I ain't got room for my sim anywhere, I just move it around the house! When I go to bed, I just leave it in the lounge, when I wake up I lay it on my bed again once I've made the bed again etc!

I still built the full length!

Though I do know just how much wider an NG is compared to a GA!

Wouldn't stop me though!

[No Longer Active]

My sim, haha.

My sim isn't a sim it's a pile.... in a room. In fact i'll make a thread on this. Lookout in 5 mins.

PMSL.......Gez!

I had this vision that you had this full blown rig in your lounge lol!

Time to start bolting a few things together maybe?

But saying that, my sim is just an MIP on the lounge floor lol, getting there though! Slowly slowly!

[Geremy Britton]

Well see the thread now, i did just like you though. Slowly slowly... but because i started slowly slowly before you did i'm slowly slowly ahead of you. LOL

[No Longer Active]

I'll slowly slowly catch up :) ....see you in 3 years lol!

[Jackpilot]

Again....
Though I do know just how much wider an NG is compared to a GA!

!

A whisker more than 5 feet wide

[headshrink]

My 2¢:
Unless you have serious space limitations go for a full two seater from start.Even if the FO side has nos active screen/yoke/seat for a while. (Dummies work well for immersion)
Much more realistic feeling anyway.
Easier to build.
Remember that it is not a 1/2 cockpit but a 3/4 one, because you include the center part in the "1/2". In fact you will just save 2feet out of 5.
Your MCP will not be centered, nor your Pedestal.
Expanding it later from 1 to 2 seats will mean a complete redesign of the base and you will end up spend more.

Have fun

Thanks - that is a very good point that I did not realize. In my head I was thinking it would work if designed "modular", but perhaps this isn't necessarily easier and may end up heavier. Although, if I was able to easily tear-down and move a 1:1 full setup, that would definitely be a selling point..... I don't exactly have a special place dedicated for a sim unit.... right now it is going in the formal dinning room.

Did anyone ever make a detailed DIY plan for the MDF framing for a 737 cockpit? I have a file with all the measurements of the real deal, but I mean some thing that is written for a semi-novice woodworker (like the plans they have in wood magazines, or something that is step-by step, or has exploded images w/ measurements). I have been searching for this for a while, and although I find great construction photos here and there, I don't find detailed descriptions or directions. They would still take quite a bit of reverse engineering.

[Geremy Britton]

I'm cutting out my MDF frame for the MIP. When i have all the pieces i'll get some pictures of each MDF panel. If i have time i'll also add the dimensions for you too. Although some parts would be slightly adapted for my own FS project.

[autocadplease]

Did anyone ever make a detailed DIY plan for the MDF framing for a 737 cockpit? I have a file with all the measurements of the real deal, but I mean some thing that is written for a semi-novice woodworker (like the plans they have in wood magazines, or something that is step-by step, or has exploded images w/ measurements). I have been searching for this for a while, and although I find great construction photos here and there, I don't find detailed descriptions or directions. They would still take quite a bit of reverse engineering.

There are a few out there. Here is one from the file library http://www.mycockpit.org/fileshare/showentry.php?e=32&catid=27
Detailed drawings are also in the file library. I made 1:1 scale PDF of the 737 panels so you could print anything out at scale http://www.mycockpit.org/fileshare/showentry.php?e=188&catid=member&entryuserid=2999

[Jackpilot]

Building the MIP stand is fairly easy if you have basic measurements .
After that it all depends if you use a pro MIP, and which one, or if you do it yourself etc.Which MCP (because they attach differently) etc etc
Search my threads, I posted some pics on mine.