737 Cockpit Will Satisfy Even The Most Discriminating Simulator Afficiandos

This isn’t an airplane, it’s a simulator. But you won’t find it at a flight school as this labor of love is a home build of a 737 cockpit (translated) that has been going on for more than two years.

It started off as a couple of automotive bucket seats in a room with two computer monitors to display the view out the windscreen. From there each piece has been meticulously added for a wonderful overall reproduction. The range of skills needed to pull this off is impressive. The seats have been rebuilt with padding and upholstery true to the Boeing factory options. The support structure that forms the domed front of the aircraft was built from wood with a metal bracket system to hold the overhead control panels in the right position. The only thing missing here is the rest of the plane. Take a look at the simulated landing run in the video after the break to see what this thing can do.

Looking for something that will take you for a bit more of a ride? Here’s a collection of motion simulators that might satisfy your craving.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra8rhrcFPbk&w=470]

[Thanks Andreas]

42 thoughts on “737 Cockpit Will Satisfy Even The Most Discriminating Simulator Afficiandos

    1. The problem with that is you would lose the depth out of the window. Good idea, but ultimately a curved projection screen with a passive 3d projection would give a really great effect.

      1. I wish I could edit my own post, but anyway…

        Anyone interested in building their own instruments, controls etc… should look at this guy’s books. I have the two that are available ( and I have no affiliation with him, I just like his work )

        http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/

        There are some really cool military themed ( read that as F-16 ) pit builder forums out there as well:
        http://www.viperpits.org/smf/index.php

        Some of that stuff will make your jaw hit the floor.

    2. the visuals dont matter a stuff for what this sim is designed for, which would be 99% IFR. the only important things to see are the lights on the ground or emergency signals from the tower.

      i fly a simulator with zero visuals most of the time its cloud or black nothingness.

      that all said, visuals are great for flying smaller planes, but not enough people go this far in cockpit detail if all they are simulating is a C152!

    1. A standard private pilot’s license is about 50,000$. Getting ILS, Jet, Multi-engine, and 737 endorsements would add roughly another 100-200,000$ to that cost. Not to mention about 10-15 years of your life. Depending on how you value your time, that’s another $400,000.

      1. A standard private pilot’s license in the US costs about $5,000, not 50k. Big difference, that! It would be more fun and less money to go that route, but I can certainly appreciate the quality of work this guy did. It’s an awesome build.

        But I can’t figure out why the digital display indicated his airspeed at 138 knots when he was stopped and looking at that propeller at the end… and the stormscope should not have been able to see anything on the ground. So maybe he has some software work left to do. But this made me want to build something for a C172 to get some cheap practice time in.

  1. Believe me, motion is not what makes it “a hell of a ride”. You can get plenty sweaty flying a non-motion simulator when the inspector who will give you your check (or not) is breathing down your neck!

    Visuals are enough to give you motion sickness…

    Beautiful build!

  2. Amazing.

    Other than not wrapping around, the visual is amazing. Clouds (and evening sky shading) are better than the ‘latest and greatest’ visual we just had installed at work.

    Flying a sim with the motion off can make you feel weird if you’re used to the real thing. Putting this thing on six stilts would take it way beyond amazing.

    Count me impressed.

    Queeg

    1. I was hoping for a bit of camera shake as the wheels touched down, so that the landing didn’t appear so suspiciously smoooooth. :-)

      Amazing what people can do these days, I still remember my couple of hours with Microsoft Flight Simulator v1.0, back on a 9in black-and-white Mack 128K. NOT as immersive, I tell you!

  3. Excelent project! +1 hack: make the real magnetic compass spin acording the direction of the plane, using electromagnets behind the panel!. Cant understand from translation if stick shaker works too

  4. Echoing the other posts about the magnetic compass. It would be simpler to mod it for direct drive with a stepper motor.

    Then the sim could be used for doing IFR with the digital compass out.

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