CockpitSonic DUAL seat trainer REVIEWS ???

[Nick1150]

I was wondering if anyone in this forums owns a DUAL seat trainer, FTD from CockpitSonic (http://www.cockpitsonic.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=117&category_id=25&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=27) ?

http://www.cockpitsonic.com/components/com_virtuemart/show_image_in_imgtag.php?filename=resized%2FDUAL_seat_traine_4aa9079c697ee_170x170.jpg&newxsize=170&newysize=170&fileout=

This item is fully assembled and full PnP according to CockpitSonic and you just needs to plug one usb cable to the PC. It needs 3 monitors, one MCP, two EFIS and one CDU to operate as a full MIP.

Please if anyone owns the above product, I would very much appreciate your advise, in order to proceed.

Also please comment the following price:

I have already contacted the company and I have the following setup offer:

The above product WITH two 19" TFTs, one 15" TFT, CPflight MCP Pro and two CPflight EFIS PRO, all of them preinstalled and ready to operate with my PC and 737 PMDG, including shipping cost from CockpitSonic premises to Athens (Door to Door), total 6000 euros including VAT.

:roll:

Thanks in advance

Nick

[johnwayne]

Hi,

I can only tell you that in talking to a lot of people who are more experienced than myself cockpit sonic in general have not come highly rated ( i have not found a fan ) .. I have not researched the engravity route but i think the cost is comprable and they use the same EFIS and MCP and I have heard good things about them . I see nobody has actually answered this post so ( again based on what is I admit "here say" from builders with 10+ years of experience ) i would suggest you get yourself reliable information before making a decision to hand over cash.

[Matt Olieman]

Before we come to some harsh comments, please read my review on three of there products. If the rest of their products are as the ones I reviewed, I'd give them a thumbs up.

http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/content.php/86-Cockpitsonic-USA-Nav-Com-and-Transponder

[johnwayne]

Before we come to some harsh comments, please read my review on three of there products. If the rest of their products are as the ones I reviewed, I'd give them a thumbs up.

http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/content.php/86-Cockpitsonic-USA-Nav-Com-and-Transponder

I do not see any harsh comments and in review i cant see anything that is harsh but I will clarify. I did point out that I was not a reliable source ( ie had no personal experience of them ) , that i was posting " here say " ( based on talking to a lot of people. This being said when i chose to buy from a company the quality of their component is certainly one factor but not the only one. Perhaps I was unfortunate in the people I talked to , i dont know.

[spiro]

hello nikos
well i am a cockpit sonic fan i have the airbus fcu and 1 com radio i am not shore about there trainers but if you whant to finish up quikly and have the money go for it as i know you do have more monitors than needed;)
i my self do not whant to get mixed up with to much programming sioc and fsuipc so there moduels are good for me only need PM:(witch i can not
affored at the moment but are saving up:) it is plug and play so you get more flying done thand trying to get it work:D:D:D
and in the long run you will probable save more money!!!!!!!!!!
just before nyou buy have a look at more photos of real cockpits and try and find the diffrences , see what you could build mabe better!!!!!but i have spoken with cockpitsonic in Germany many times very nice guy Mantheas very help full also with Chis in England at cockpitsonic uk
they are very helpfull and i belive worth the money
regards spiro

[Matt Olieman]

I do not see any harsh comments and in review i cant see anything that is harsh but I will clarify. I did point out that I was not a reliable source ( ie had no personal experience of them ) , that i was posting " here say " ( based on talking to a lot of people. This being said when i chose to buy from a company the quality of their component is certainly one factor but not the only one. Perhaps I was unfortunate in the people I talked to , i dont know.

I didn't think you made any harsh comments. Just saying this topic can get out of hand real fast and I wanted to share my experience with their product.

[johnwayne]

I didn't think you made any harsh comments. Just saying this topic can get out of hand real fast and I wanted to share my experience with their product.

Thanks Matt, in ways you are more qualified than myself to comment . I saw this thread lie idle for a bit so decided to reply in with my 2 cents worth. I am glad for cockpit sonic that people who have first hand experience are now posting :)

[Nick1150]

Thank you all for the info,

From my understanding, and reading from you guys, researching is the most important part of flight sim building. Given that one has to start from somewhere, I decided, this to be the MIP, full MIP, with MCP, dual EFIS and after a while one CDU. External view by 3 20" monitors I already have, and maybe after a while 3 plasma 50" (500 euros each in Greece right now).

So given that the MIP is the beggining, I MUST take a good, affordable, expantable, and easy to the begginer decision, that probably I will not regret in the near future. I know the hard way, but I am trying to figure out how can I do the same in a more easy way, and possibly in a more affortable way, since I am afraid that spending too much cash in the beggining, without an equal result, will result to disappointment.

On the other hand if one begins with an affortable , but expantable MIP, and he realises in the short run that he wants to go on, then I guest that it is ok, in my personal opinion, to spent more for a pedestal, overhead, shell, etc.....

Given all above I would like to know possible reviews, from any friends in this forum, that already have this product at their disposal.

Thanks for the info so far.

Nick

[No Longer Active]

If you are good at wood work, could you not build the front panels from MDF, and when complete build a structure such as an MIP stand and work from there, with the money you can spend on a cockpitsonic trainer you could put towards some excellent plug and play gear, getting you in the virtual air quicker, maybe fund a good quality TQ, a pedestal maybe or some visuals?

Give it a go, you may enjoy building and get good results!

Alex,

[nax228]

Well. I do actually own a complete dual trainer like you have on offer. I bought it "used", but it was delivered to the guy I bought it from two weeks earlier and had never been used.
I don't know your sence to details, but there is a few things that differ from the real deal. Most of all the bezels, or frames, of the panels. They don't look like the real ones at all, but I think you can live with it. I can.
If you also get the CDU bay, this wont match the MIP in height. I have raised the MIP 3,8cm to correct this. Not a bad idea if you plan to have a look-a-like set of pedals, cuz you will need this extra height then.
Besides the small issues mentioned above I am well pleased with the setup.

Take into consideration which cockpitsoftware you will use. The cockpitsonic driver is still not compatible with FlightDeckSoftware(FDS). This is the software I use, and Cockpitsonic has told the developer of my software that there will come a new driver allowing FDS to interact, but since then, soon to be 2 years,... not a word from CS even after several mails asking for progress on the new driver.
This means I can't use the Autobrake panel, sixpacks, AFDS panel. Gear & clocks works in default FSX settings. Shame on you CS.

Still I have no problem saying that the dualseat trainer is a good product compared to the price it's offered for. It's nothing like FlightDeckSolutions, but the price is not eigther.

[karnevallimes]

The cockpitsonic driver is still not compatible with FlightDeckSoftware(FDS). This is the software I use, and Cockpitsonic has told the developer of my software that there will come a new driver allowing FDS to interact, but since then, soon to be 2 years,... not a word from CS even after several mails asking for progress on the new driver.
This means I can't use the Autobrake panel, sixpacks, AFDS panel. Gear & clocks works in default FSX settings. Shame on you CS.

We will check with Flightdecksoftware once again - i believe this is a pure comunnications problem...sorry for that.

[xtreme3d]

Hi,

I have the same driver problem. Once I got a reply from CS about driver compatibility with Flightdecksoftware, but nothing yet. I also installed TSR 737 and a couple of the annunciators were not working as they should. Maybe my MIP was wired different back when I bought it. Still can't figure out why everytime I bank left the Speed Brake Extended annunciator lights up (doesn't happen when turning right), it happens at any speed and without TSR running. My autobrake switch doesn't move beyond 3 (detent?), unable to select autobrake MAX. Still trying to solve another problem, hopefully will be solved soon. Most of the problems are when I run TSR (compatible with CS driver). Like I said maybe my dual seat trainer was wired different back then. The CS DST is nice besides some of the problems I had to deal with. Is already pre-wire and looks good. Overall I give it a plus, but I recommend you to contact CS, that way you can gauge their customer service as well. I wish it was compatible with other software (besides PM) and I also e-mailed CS about some of the problems I had, but never got a good answer on how to fix them. This is personnal experience others might be ok. By the way if someone else is running TSR with the CS DST, please let me know if you don't have problems at all or otherwise.

Good day and FLY SAFE!

[karnevallimes]

Dear Pedro,

the problem when banking has been solved:

1. please download the most recent B737 driver
2. please change the covers of the annuciators: flaps load relief and speed brake extended - these were installed vice versa on your series.

regarding TSR software we will do some more testing at our site - but it is in use and it does work.

Mathias

[xtreme3d]

Hi Mathias,

I downloaded the latest driver (release date: 20/09/2009) when it first came out and still have the problem. Is this the right driver version? Is the only one I found on the website. With TSR some lights in the sixpacks (old version) were reversed, ie, FLT CONTROL and FUEL light reversed. With the AFDS all the lights and push switches were backward, ie, when disconnecting the AP, the A/T P/RST light will blink but pressing the A/P P/RST will reset it same for FMC and A/T. I don't know if is just compatibility issues since I don't have the latest CS AFDS, but TSR should be compatible with the old sixpack. Thanks for helping Mathias, I really appreciate it.

[karnevallimes]

Pedro,

can you please write me a mail at: Mathias@cockpitsonic.de

We will sort this out together...no problem

[Nick1150]

Nice to see a producer of a product online, solving actual problems !!!

Thats a ;-) from me.

Nick

[nax228]

Yes thats great. Glad you got some of it solved Max.
Any news on the Cockpitsonic driver for FlightDeckSoftware?

[Nick1150]

Just ordered mine too :D

Hopefully in 15 days I will be able to give feedback about this product ;)

My first impressions are excelent from the service provided from Cockpit Sonic. I hope their product is the same as their first class service.

Very happy

:D

[nax228]

Hi sirs
Some time have now passed without hearing a word from you on the driver issue regarding FlightDeckSoftware.

[GodAtum]

If you also get the CDU bay, this wont match the MIP in height. I have raised the MIP 3,8cm to correct this. Not a bad idea if you plan to have a look-a-like set of pedals, cuz you will need this extra height then.
Besides the small issues mentioned above I am well pleased with the setup.

Sorry for posting in an old thread but I'd love to have more opinions or photos? Are you saying their CDU bay does not match their own product?

[Nick1150]

Hello godatum,

i am not going to say many things.

After so many years in this hobby, i have a full cockpit right now. I have purchased almost from any home cockpit supplier, anyone in the US or EU. I am not writing down a list, my cockpit has items from almost anyone. And they are ALOT.

Only two of them are purchases I have regrets. The one is CS and the other is RSP. If you want a full MIP make your self a favor, and send an emai to cpflight, flyengravity, simworld or if you prefer the other side FDS.

this is the clearest I can be.

my 2 cents...

[GodAtum]

Thanks for your reply. unfortunately I'm building an A320 so it harder to find suppliers then the 737. Cockpitsonic seems great value but I rarely get replies to my emails. I might have to stump up for FDS but i wasnt very impressed with their treatment of small cockpit builders. Skalarki has been recommended before but I need a single supplier for the whole setup including shell, lining, rudder, seats, sidestick etc which Skalarki does not sell.

There is probably no point in getting a FDS shell and find it does not fit around the Skalarki MIP.