CBS Podcast Episode 2

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Determine Purpose:

  • Student Pilot
  • Currency
  • Interested in Airplanes
  • Interested in Simulators/mechanics
  • Building for someone else (Better than cutting off your ear)

How are you going to build it: 

  • 100% from scratch
  • Mix of from scratch and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) 
  • Using other hardware

Determine Airplane: 

  1. Light GA airplanes helpful for student pilots and make great first sim because low amount of parts
  2. Larger GA airplanes (Twin engine) fun and challenging especially less documented ones. Some a/c lots of documentation, some very little
  3. Combat Jet
  4. Combat Prop/Historic
  5. Airliner Lots of parts, many take long time, years to decades, good for aviation enthusiasts, more dreamy.
  6. Helicopter
  7. Novelty (Star wars, Balloon, Etc) Low documentation

How much time do you have?

  • Time dictates realism
  • Time dictates completion time
  • Look for areas of waste to create time for simulation

Do you prefer building or flying?

  • Build =  More realistic simulator, more time, more system knowledge
  • Fly = Optimized for flying, good controls but not as much detail to cockpit
  • Happy middle = Both, have a very simple setup for flying while you build.

Display System

  • Single Monitor
  • Multi Monitor
  • TV
  • Multi TV
  • Projector
  • Multi Projector

Budget

  • Money isn’t always the most important thing in sim building.
  • Simbuilding is expensive unless you try to make it otherwise
  • Tons of insanely smart simulators made from cardboard, foam, and scrap wood
  • Bell curve of creativity vs money
  • It’s only as cheap as you make it

“Flying is expensive, flight simulation shouldn’t be”

-FlightSimMaker

Space:

  • Enough space?
  • Try your garage, basement, room
  • If no space, make a smaller sim
  • May have to be creative in having it modular/fold up/small
  • Single pilot
  • If you have 6’ by 6’ or 2m by 2m you can make an excellent sim.

Are you willing to learn?

  • If not buy premade things
  • Simbuilding is a journey!
  • You can learn so much on YouTube!
  • Are you a perfectionist?
  • Try not to be if possible 🙂

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