Originally Posted by bugstrider (Post 9680659)

Felt real as hell, especially with three 65" monitors. The fully loaded simulator was very spendy at the tune of over 100K.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...54b170553d.jpg

Originally Posted by john70t (Post 9685665)

You can get something like that for home but you'll have to use a virtual dashboard.



Microsoft FSX flight sim software:

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-X-Gold-Pc/dp/B001DPZE84 $154.

or https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?11182-How-the-heck-do-I-buy-Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-X



There are other competing flight sim products:

ProFlightSimulator™ - The Most Realistic Airplane Flight Simulator Games Download — ProFlightSimulator

X-Plane 11 is Here | More Powerful. Made Usable.



Hardware to run it:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Guillemot-Thrustmaster-Hotas-Warthog-Flight-Stick/15268503 $332. I paid at least a hundred more. Most of the extensive buttons are not recognized by games and can't be programmed. It's probably just an update thing I'd missed. Haven't looked into it. There are videos on how to make it buttery smooth so it should last a decade or more I would expect. For a couple hundred dollars a joystick controls set should be perfect out of the box.

https://www.fspilotshop.com/propedals-usb-p-66.html $170

Home | TrackIR $170 or $99sale I think.

WD Purple Surveillance 4TB Intellipower SATA III 6Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - WDBGKN0040HNC-NRSN WDBGKN0040HNC-NRSN - Micro Center 4TB HD. $140. Photoscenery take an enormous amount of space. You can use a 2TB but it may get tight depending on your storage needs. The SSDs are much faster but still aren't available in an inexpensive super-size yet.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125875 $770(huh?) GPU from newegg but you should be able to find these for around $500 or less I think. Almost as fast as the best 1080GTX but hundreds less. You'll need a 550W PSU min I think.



Need photo-scenery ground textures:

https://orbxdirect.com/ $$$ubscription. Looks very nice but requires too much computer and complicated purchasing for my tastes.

Prepar3D License Options – Lockheed Martin - Prepar3D $$$ubscription. Looks nice but "Prepar3D is not to be used, offered, sold or distributed through markets or channels for use as a personal/consumer entertainment product."

MegaSceneryEarth - MegaSceneryEarth - US Region - USA Complete Lower 48 $500. Cost is $10/state and you can't beat that anywhere. Upgrade areas as needed. You own the software. Although there are V.2 flaws in many areas like tile colors that don't match, a lakeTahoe gaff, Long Island striped, autogen not lining up, etc, MSE turns the fake world into a photo real world and runs smoothly. Above 3000ft you don't notice it's mostly 'flat'. I would suggest ordering the whole USA on a USB drive because the disks can have flaws and take days to install. Their England map was junk but everything else European was mostly gorgeous and installed pretty easily. Be warned it's a small outfit and customer service is very slow when they respond at all.



More:

https://www.fspilotshop.com/ Hardware and addon software

Flight Simulator Downloads - Microsoft Flight Simulator X, FSX, FS2004 FS2004, FS2002, FS2000, FS98, Combast Flight Simulator 3, CFS3, CFS2 & CFS Add-ons! Free world scenery but be kind and purchase subscription.

https://library.avsim.net/index.php Also TONS of FREE world SCENERY and AIRCRAFT but be kind and help pay for their costs.



The above is only a basic primer and one way to go about flight sims. YMMV. I'm a newbie myself.



There are aftermarket control/gauge dashboard kits, as you posted.

There are entire metal feedback shaker box rigs run on powerful instantaneous electric servos for $80k. (If you want to justify it..people lose more than that on bad real estate choices all the time..and effects last much longer than hookersandblow)

The tech is out there!