Flight Simulator Gear

La Li Lu Le Lo

Veteran
May 29, 2010
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Have any of you ever thought of making flight simulator gear.

There is a TON of money in boutique flight sim gear.

Most of these shops are in the EU which makes it very expensive for consumers in the United States. By the time you pay shipping and import tax the cost can increase substantially.

If you have the mind and want to go into business for yourself or have a profitable side hustle the market is wide open in the United States. Some of these people spend more money on their flight sims than you do your $80,000 trucks.

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My flight stick.

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Retails for $409.00 – $484.00 but I assure you it cost a LOT more after importing it.
 
My rudder pedals. Just an example of the variety of design that is incorporated into simulation gear.

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Some different design elements.
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All very different designs. I am sure with your machining skills you can bring something to the table.
 
Have any of you ever thought of making flight simulator gear.

There is a TON of money in boutique flight sim gear.

Most of these shops are in the EU which makes it very expensive for consumers in the United States. By the time you pay shipping and import tax the cost can increase substantially.

If you have the mind and want to go into business for yourself or have a profitable side hustle the market is wide open in the United States. Some of these people spend more money on their flight sims than you do your $80,000 trucks.

Set-Up-Flight-Simulator-Cover.jpg


SIMG_3861.JPG


59e8ad275b3821d512c31e7ab4156608.jpg


37931f2e4ae39f2f3078532148af62e4.jpg


F-18-Hornet-simulator-cockpit-2.jpg


509f9250ca85ea70488a79d3dc306bb6.jpg


ta0gkubrajb31.jpg


DJaWVtlX0AUoz9R.jpg
What version of Flight Sim works best with those? The airbus throttle set looks pretty nifty from what ive seen on Amazon
 
What version of Flight Sim works best with those? The airbus throttle set looks pretty nifty from what ive seen on Amazon
It depends on if you want to fly commercial or combat aircraft.

DCS World is good for modern combat and has the most realistic helicopter physics available. This software started as training software for the Russian military then the air national guard for their A-10 pilots. They also have warbirds and one GA aircraft. There are no commercial aircraft available for this simulator. This game supports VR. Word of warning DCS aircraft are extremely complex and it can take months to learn the systems in an aircraft.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is the new kid on the block. So far they have GA and commercial aircraft. I am sure they will have military fixed wing available soon. They have also stated they intend to support helicopters. This has the most realistic scenery. I actually flew by my house in the sim.. They even had my RV pad in the game. This also supports VR.

Microsoft FSX is an oldie but it is still by far the most popular flight sim. There are literally hundreds of free and payware aircraft to download. However this simulator is showing it's age and the physics have been criticized by enthusiast. It is also the most affordable flight sim listed. This simulator does NOT support VR.

IL-2 Battle of Stalingrad is THE simulator if you like WWII warbirds. It also recently released an expansion adding tank warfare. This simulator supports VR.

IL2 1946 is Battle of Stalingrad's predecessor. This sim is starting to show it's age but it is still VERY popular and has a HUGE amount of aircraft in the game. This game does NOT support VR.

X-Plane 11 is a catchall simulator. This software can actually be used to train for a pilots license. Most criticize it for not being very user friendly. This sim DOES support VR.

My guess is since you are asking about airbus then Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or X-Plane 11 will be your best bet.

Are you referring to this stick?

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99 percent of flight sim gear is compatible with ALL simulators.

I have no experience with this stick but Amazon has it rated at
5 star 78%

One good thing about the stick is it uses magnetic sensors instead of potentiometers.

For future reference this sort of setup is called a HOTAS. That stands for Hands On Throttle And Stick.
 
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Thank you. Ive been a long time MSFS user from 96 to Steam. Got the Airbus throttle set ordered. Ill test it. Ive got limited number of military add ons. Appreciate all the info.
 
Flightsim.com is still getting a lot of traffic on their forums. If you haven't visited, it's a wealth of info and also has a file library.
 
I would like to recommend a product.

It is called Elgato Stream Deck. Basically every button is it's own LCD screen. It was actually designed for streamers (hence the name) but simmers (people who play simulators) started adapting it for game use. It is infinitely customizable. So the 15 button model can actually have many more functions.

https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck

 
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Here is DCS. This is THE modern combat simulator. It is also used to trained actual military pilots.

Just note that these aircraft are extremely complicated. Do not expect to just jump in and be able to use one. It will most likely take a month or more for most of the aircraft. Some more than that (A-10C is notorious for being difficult to learn, please do not confuse this with A-10A which is a Flaming Cliffs 3 aircraft and much simpler to learn as it's low fidelity as far as user interface).

Anything included in the Flaming Cliffs 3 (you can also buy these stand alone) are not actually DCS aircraft. They are just online compatible. These aircraft are actually a lot simpler and do not require nearly as long to learn.