In 1993, when Microsoft began using the tag ‘as real as it gets’ on its flight simulators it was with a degree of artistic licence. Twenty years on, Microsoft has left the party but its legacy remains in Flight Simulator X and its cousin Prepare3D, developed by Lockheed Martin. But while display technology and sophisticated flight controls make suspension of disbelief ever easier, a wall remains between the bedroom aviator and his virtual cockpit; nothing intrudes more than having to reach for the mouse to flip the switches.
In the quest for true hardware control of their cockpits flight-sim enthusiasts walk an uneasy line between eye-wateringly expensive professional solutions and too-generic consumer units. The alternative is D.I.Y. This guide takes you end-to-end through – and beyond – the construction of scratch-built panels to control the FSX GPS and autopilot with no mouse or keyboard required. Using no more than basic DIY tools and a modicum of patience you can build professional-quality panels to navigate your default or payware aircraft on the GPS500 GPS or, for the more ambitious, on payware systems from Mindstar or Reality-XP. You can build a generic autopilot based on the Bendix King KFC 225 to hook into most of your default General Aviation aircraft and many payware add-ons.
Based on the experience of developing a scratch-built cockpit from the ground up, this guide features step-by-step instructions, many photographs and invaluable background information that will help you make your cockpit as real as it gets.
In the quest for true hardware control of their cockpits flight-sim enthusiasts walk an uneasy line between eye-wateringly expensive professional solutions and too-generic consumer units. The alternative is D.I.Y. This guide takes you end-to-end through – and beyond – the construction of scratch-built panels to control the FSX GPS and autopilot with no mouse or keyboard required. Using no more than basic DIY tools and a modicum of patience you can build professional-quality panels to navigate your default or payware aircraft on the GPS500 GPS or, for the more ambitious, on payware systems from Mindstar or Reality-XP. You can build a generic autopilot based on the Bendix King KFC 225 to hook into most of your default General Aviation aircraft and many payware add-ons.
Based on the experience of developing a scratch-built cockpit from the ground up, this guide features step-by-step instructions, many photographs and invaluable background information that will help you make your cockpit as real as it gets.
