Starting from scratch

[flywife]

Hi Everyone,

I am hoping this is the place to help me out.

My husband is a flight sim nut. It is his birthday in October and he is currently working away and will not be home until just around his birthday.

I know nothing about flight sim but I want to set him up a proper station where he can fly to his hearts content. So I guess a few questions.

Is Microsoft Flight the latest version and where do I buy it from?

How many monitors would I need to get?

He already has pedals and a joystick - is there anything else he needs?

I want to have this all ready for him when he returns home. Working away for 4 months so want to give him something special and something he loves.

So any advice on how to set this all up for him would be greatly appreciated.

Jodie

[johnost]

Hi Jodie,

you certainly sound like a flightsimmer's dream wife! I am sure there are people here, who can help you, but they will need a little more info on such a big subject. Do you know which flightsimulations/games he currently has? Microsoft'a Flight is not a further development of Flight Simulator X or 2004, but is a more game-oriented and limited program.

Other inevitable questions would be the budget you have in mind and the computer he uses. I hope you will succeed with your plans!

[ricardo_NY1]

Microsoft "FLIGHT" is the newest release, but it is more of a game than a simulator at this time. Your best bet is to get FS2004. It is guaranteed to run okay on most modern computers. Unless you or your husband own an extremely powerful computer, don't even bother with FSX. One large monitor in my opinion is better than two smaller ones. If he already has pedals and a joystick, he's pretty much set, but if you know for sure that he likes to fly civil aircraft (Not military), then perhaps a yoke would be a good idea. "Saitek" makes some pretty affordable ones.

Regarding "Setting up"..........you can basically install flight simulator and it will be usable on the first try. He can then configure his hardware to his liking. If you mean setting up as in where to locate his joystick, pedals, etc, then you'll need to lay out a plan of what you want to achieve. Are you going to clamp/attach these things to a desk or something else? It's a basically what is on your mind question, but a job best left to the person that is going to be using the stuff (Him).

[flywife]

Thanks for the replies so far - I have just checked what flight sim he has at the moment and it is Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition. I am totally usless at pc stuff.

the joystick he has is Logitec attack 3 - and the pedals are pro flight rudder. All of that means nothing to me.......lol.

Had a look at the trackIR5 and it looks pretty cool to me but again I have no idea what I am talking about.

Any suggestions on a cockpit set up? eg the seat thing......lol.

I want to be able to set this all up without him using the family pc - he is flying every spare chance he gets - Our 6 year old son loves it as well.

Jodie

[johnost]

Jodie, I don't have a cockpit myself (yet), so I can only try to steer you, and I have no idea what may be available in Australia. But it sounds like your husband is equipped to go! Personally, I have been attracted to this

http://combatace.com/topic/59958-obutto-gaming-cockpit/

but I see they have now come out with a new model, that is getting a bit expensive. For a basic item look at the "Simple Cockpit" thread in this column. Otherwise, I suggest you Google "Flight Simulator Cockpit" - you will see quite a lot of stuff available.

[jeroen79]

What is your budget?

Hi Everyone,

I am hoping this is the place to help me out.

My husband is a flight sim nut. It is his birthday in October and he is currently working away and will not be home until just around his birthday.

I know nothing about flight sim but I want to set him up a proper station where he can fly to his hearts content. So I guess a few questions.

Is Microsoft Flight the latest version and where do I buy it from?

Go for FS2004 or FSX.

How many monitors would I need to get?

The more the merrier
One (large) monitor can be enough.
You could expand it to three monitors side-by-side so you get a really wide view.
You can also add monitors for the instrument panel(s).

He already has pedals and a joystick - is there anything else he needs?

A throttle quadrant would be a good addition.
If you get one with 6 levers then he will be able to use it for a wide variety of aircraft.
You could also get a programmable keypad. CH products has one.
If your husband likes to build his own layout you could go for a BU0836 or U-HID.

I want to have this all ready for him when he returns home. Working away for 4 months so want to give him something special and something he loves.

So any advice on how to set this all up for him would be greatly appreciated.

Jodie

Thanks for the replies so far - I have just checked what flight sim he has at the moment and it is Flight Simulator X Deluxe Edition. I am totally usless at pc stuff.

the joystick he has is Logitec attack 3 - and the pedals are pro flight rudder. All of that means nothing to me.......lol.

Had a look at the trackIR5 and it looks pretty cool to me but again I have no idea what I am talking about.

The trackIR lets you look around the sim-world by actually turning your head rather than pressing some buttons.

Any suggestions on a cockpit set up? eg the seat thing......lol.

For the seat I would recommend a simple but comfortable chair, especially if he likes to fly long fights.
A simple setup would be two shelves for the monitors.
The instrumentpanels go on the bottom shelve and the external view goes on the top shelve.
Then there is a stand for the joystick and a pedestal for the throttle.

I want to be able to set this all up without him using the family pc - he is flying every spare chance he gets - Our 6 year old son loves it as well.

Jodie

[lolaloa22]

You're setup can be as simple as he has now to all out $10,000+ state of the art...it's really a broad question as to what you should get or what you "need" I found an old desk laying around our basement and set up a monitor, my yoke, my pedals and I was happy as could be. It sounds like your husband has pretty much this set up. I would get a yoke for him...that adds a lot of realism off the bat. I have a 15 inch monitor but I wish I had a bigger one so 1 biggish monitor would be a good addition. After I got used to my setup, I started to expand a little and added some Seitek components. I got the radio stack, auto pilot and the switch panel. Again, not sure of your budget but getting 1 of these at least will go a long way. Check out the Seitek website and see the hardware yourself to get an idea what it looks like. I got mine from Amazon and they were on sale!! I would start with either the auto pilot or radio stack as it is backlit, has lights and looks cool that a man just loves to look at. Plus, there are all kinds of buttons and dials to keep him busy during flight. Nothing adds to the experience like having to set the radios and push some buttons.
It doesn't take much...just a few simple additions to what he has now and he will be very happy. Even when I add the simplest of thinks it looks like a new home cockpit every time...I also have speakers attached to my computer...it's a set of 4 speakers that are for computers and they weren't expensive at all but the sound I hear now from the sim...pure magic!!

As for setting everything up, I might just buy the stuff and let him set it up himself. He probably has an idea of what his ultimate cockpit would look like and half the fun is planning on where to set up everythng. Plus, there is something about opening the box of a brand new flight sim toy that will make him feel like Christmas on his Birthday.