MetalworkingFun Forum

The main reason for me getting involved with machining was another hobby of mine, flight simulation and making simulator cockpits, controls etc. I know, weird hobby Machining quickly grew into a hobby of its own but I really appreciate the ability of being able to make pretty much whatever I want to now. The one issue is that anything I built previously doesn't make the grade now so I have a lot of parts to rebuild.

This is a photo of the last full simulator I built



This is a bad pic of some helicopter flight controls I built from scratch, lots of fun to fly with proper feeling controls. The pedals provide some fairly realistic resistance via a set of hydraulic steering dampness made for pocket bikes.



Same controls just a few modifications earlier.



Shawn

Pretty cool Shawn. How many monitors are in that first pic and how the heck are they all synched? Or does the software support multiple monitors?

Tom

There are 10 monitors total in that sim, two of them are not shown in the photo (the 90 degree left and right windows). The 10 monitors are running on 6 computers with a software package providing the ability for them to communicate across a network. When I'm ready to take a hammer to a computer that's when I retreat to the relative tranquility of my shop

If anyone is interested in seeing the simulator in action, here is a video. This sim is used as part of a training program within the Provincial Air Tanker Centre in Kamloops. The fellow in the right side seat is undergoing air attack training, the guy flying the sim is a tanker pilot who works out of Kamloops. I'm the one flying the tanker, you can here me talking to Randy and see the drop I make near the end of the video.