To Platform or Not to Platform (not motion), that is the question...

[CO735]

Hi All,

As the thread title states, I am in an internal debate as to whether or not to build a non-motion platform on which to seat my sim.

Ideally, I would have gone through this debate BEFORE I have almost completed my MIP and all, but alas, better late than never. And I still have yet to mount my external views so there is time still.

So what say you? How many of you have your sims sitting directly on the floor? How many of you have it mounted on a base/platform?

Thanks!

Matt

[Tom_G_2010]

I said platform, but I'm not sure how applicable it is as I am using an actual fuselage. However, that will be mounted on a platform or frame that for the forseable financial future will be non-motion.

[Matt Olieman]

A none motion platform can be made to be quite effective. Having said that, if you search here, you'll find builders who have been quite creative and built inexpensive motion platforms.

Matt Olieman

[davek]

i put mine on wheels on a platform. Has made it so much easier to be able to move it around when necessary. for the cost of the wheels, you cant go wrong.

[CO735]

Thanks for the tips all...definately good adive and the affirmation I need to proceed.

Dave, do you have your wheels "sunk" into the platform??

the *main* reason I want to build the platform is so that I can sink "tracks" for fixed caster wheels to allow me to move the stand/mip. This way the MIP does not seem to high from the floor. I spent a few hours in google sketch up drawing something out (in 2-d) that I could build strictly from easy to find parts. So far, so good. Even found caster wheels that would allow me just enough clearance from the floor for smooth movement.

I realize I likely wouldnt be moving it all that much, but if I wanted to go behind the sim and tinker, moving would be much less of an ordeal. Of course, my dilemma now is that I've got my stand and MIP completely built. I'd probably have to at least separate the MIP and stand to be able to work on it.

I'm confining myself to a 6ft by 10ft area (Don't want to take up the entire space in the man cave, since I have a separate computer for online gaming). Since my stand is just about 5ft wide, it should do nicely. Was thinking I could put in some first class airliner seats at the very back for observers. Now...WHEN I will build all this is an even trickier question!

[kermit]

Like Tom and others ,
I`m also building a Platform(motion controlled) with a real fuselage(cessna 172 M).
It gives much more so called ``immersion``,
But you could try a normal platform with some springloaded wheels,
so you could when not sitting push the platform around, and when sitting the wheels would sink inside the platform.
greetz

[davek]

I used a sheet of ply, made a support frame work under it and then fitted the caster wheels. That gives me about 1/2 inch clearance from the floor.

[Norwegian737project]

If you go with a non-platform base, you almost certainly have to go with hardware that sits on top of the floor, and that's not gona look very scale like. One example is the yoke mechanism. If you don't have a base, you are unable to install dual yokes as the mechanism normally is connected underneath the floor. So the only option you have then, is hardware like the ACE and PFC yokes that have a yoke base that sits on the actual floor. No good..

[CO735]

So, its been some months since I posted this thread regarding the platform...and a LOT has happened since then!

So I did end up building the platform, but with a sort of track system to allow me to move the MIP/stand fore and aft to get behind for "maintenance". Platform is 6ft wide by 10 ft deep.

It was built in two parts, the back half is simply a wooden box. The front half has the track system so is slightly more intricate yet still simple to build. Since it was built in two sections (to allow me to bring it into the room), there are two 10ft long 2x4 beams running the length of each side to tie the two sections together. Also, for the floor, the middle section is a 2 foot wide sheet of plywood that would allow me to quickly/easily disassemble the two sections to move it.

Now, for the pics!

6073
This is the rear half with part of the front half visible.

6074
This is the front half, you can see the tracks in here. I used caster wheels of the appropiate height to bring the floor to match the height of the surround deck (I know it isnt visible in this pic, this was before I went to the correct height casters). I've also made "plugs" to fill in the exposed part of the track when it is not in use.

6076
Here she is, all built with tracks and plugs in place. As you can see, I went with a nice blue carpet. It's peel and stick carpet tiles so if I hut turbulence and spill a coffee, I can easily replace the one tile. Not seen in this picture, but i've also added brushed aluminum corner guards and kick plates to the wood that is visible in the pic, so now it has a nice finished look.

6077
This view shows the plus, they simply slot into place with no issue. I've used brushed aluminum ring pulls that I sourced from a marine supply store to enable me to pull the plugs up.

6075

Final view with the MIP/Stand on the track system and moved out for maintenance!

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who contributed and gave me ideas for this project. I got a lot of great ideas that set the wheels in motion for this project!

Matt