General aviation A homebuilt simulator panel using commercially available instruments The lessons learned in this process can be put to good use if they later decide to build a high-spec compromise or replica pit, which requires a great deal of time, effort, and passion to complete. Many pit builders go through the process of building a basic, low-spec compromise pit first, just to give them a dedicated environment to practice their hobby. The simulated instruments can then be seen through the cutouts which can give a realistic effect, especially if the aircraft uses 'glass cockpit' displays in real life. A compromise between the two is to display the instruments on a monitor and mount this behind the panel. This approach provides the maximum immersion, but presents a dramatic increase in building complexity, with interface electronics needing to be fabricated and the associated software drivers needing to be written. At the top end of realism would be individual real instruments, either modified from actual aircraft components or replicated. ![]() Very realistic-looking pits may have nonfunctioning instruments, simply in place to complete the 'feel' of the cockpit. The level of functionality will also vary within the 'pit'. However, this can give a good guideline on dimensions in situations where there may be no other source of information. Accuracy will vary depending on the quality of the photo located, the angle the shot was taken from, etc. This can then be used to estimate the size of unknown elements in the panel. By counting the pixels in an item of known size, for example, a standard cockpit instrument, a scale can be established. For example, pixel counting from a digital photo of the aircraft. Where the information is not in the public domain, more subtle techniques have been developed to obtain the information. For example, how wide the center pedestal is, how large it should be, or its relative placement in the pit. However, while research will often locate a lot of information, sometimes it is a minor detail that is needed. ![]() For older aircraft, museums or scrap yards can be valuable sources of information. With the growth of home cockpits, there are a number of companies who sell complete kits for common aircraft, and the details of current Airbus and Boeing aircraft panels are fairly easy to obtain. ![]() All cockpit builds will be somewhere between these two concepts, and even highly accurate replica pits will often make some concessions, if only due to limitations of the simulation software driving them.įor replica pits, the choice of aircraft will be key. The other end of the scale is to build an exact 1:1 replica of the real cockpit, using real panels or even a complete cockpit from the chosen plane. Thus creating a generic GA, airliner, or military cockpit, which while it will not have every button or switch of the real aircraft, will have all the key elements for simulation. Aircraft components are often expensive to purchase, and access to real aircraft cockpits is likely to be restricted due to security concerns, especially in the wake of the 9/11 attacks or if the builder has chosen a current military aircraft.Ī way to avoid a lot of the pitfalls is to not replicate a specific aircraft, simply a class of aircraft. Recreating these present specific additional challenges to anyone building a cockpit. For more information on commercial flight simulators please see Flight Simulator.Īircraft simpits A homebuilt Boeing style simulator using generic hardwareīy their very nature, aircraft cockpits tend to have complex controls, instrumentation, and radios not present in other types of simulation. 'Simpit' is generally used to refer to amateur, home built, setups which are the focus of this article. Although many pits commonly designed around an aircraft cockpit, the term is equally valid for train, spacecraft or car projects. Cockpit used for training pilots with a flight simulator Simpit exampleĪ simulation cockpit, simpit or sim rig is an environment designed to replicate a vehicle cockpit.
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