Clear for takeooff Runway 22...

[Garzan]

I wondered where to start this. There isn't really a computer games and gaming area, but computer games are considered an 'eSport'. I suspect that is as close as I'm going to get. 

Spending as much time at home as I do, I wanted my computer game time to be as comfortable as possible. For me, that meant making my game controls as accessible as possible. The wife bought me a gaming chair last year for my birthday. Since Covid, I've been customizing it. 

My flight controls are Thrustmaster, and I elected to not get rudder pedals with a tile floor.  The 16000 stick can twist to control the rudder function. 

My mounting hardware is from Monstertech. Thai Customs charges for Monstertech hardware has been around 25%, and the DHL shipping from Germany has been quite quick. The Thai DHL office has an online interface for paying the customs charges so there is no need for fumbling with cash when the delivery person shows up. 

I'm now a fan of the swivel mounts. Initially I didn't have the extended mouse tray and was able to fold back my HOTAS when I wasn't in a game and still be able to move my chair around my desk. With the extra mouse tray, the right side mount no longer has room to fold with my chair. My armrest prevents the mount from folding back. However, with the swivel mounts it is also easy to remove the left and right HOTAS mounts without tools. 

I added the mouse tray after finding that there were still some functions in the simulator that were not mapped to the HOTAS, and were still controlled by the mouse. At least with my setup, when the HOTAS is in place, my chair is back away from my desk. Accessing the mouse required a stretch to get to it on the desk. Now it is no longer an issue. There are still a few things that need the keyboard but not enough for me to want to add a keyboard tray. 

Lastly, @jetdocinformed me that my setup is a 'co-pilot' setup. Sadly, I am hopelessly right-handed. I thought about moving the stick to the left, but figured that would have me crashing even more than I already do. Besides, the chance of me ever being in the cockpit of a real aircraft is extremely remote. I'm a desk pilot, now and forever. :-) 

Everything all put together.

The stick

Cleaning up the USB cables

Not playing a game configuration

Depending on how involved you want to get, a keyboard tray, and a center stick mount are also available. 

[jetdoc]

My rig on wheels so as to use 49" flat screen or computer monitor to fly.

 

Be interesting to see if there are other "simmers" in the group.

 

[ocka]

3 hours ago, Garzan said:

Sadly, I am hopelessly right-handed. I thought about moving the stick to the left, but figured that would have me crashing even more than I already do. Besides, the chance of me ever being in the cockpit of a real aircraft is extremely remote. I'm a desk pilot, now and forever. :-) 

Aircraft are not consistent with this anyway.

The tomahawks and warriors I flew had a yoke,  but the throttle, flaps and trim were on the right hand so you were expected to hold the yoke in your left hand.

My Vampire had the stick between the pilot's knees,  but the throttle and flaps were on the left hand,  so it was always right hand on the stick.

My Quicksilver had the stick between the two seats,  and twin throttle levers outboard of the seats,  so the captain had right hand on the stick,  and the copilot had to use left hand.

[forcebwithu]

I'm not a gamer, but spend a fair amount of time in front of a computer coding. One investment that I made that has really cut down on sore elbows are memory foam armrest pads.

[Addlepated]

Ok, so when the zombies come and my lil band of survivor misfits gets to the hanger and we're looking at the planes saying "Does anyone know how to fly this?"

One of y'all better meet me there...

[jetdoc]

Be brushing up on taildragger skills with this guy

 

the Howard along with the Stagger Wing, Reliant, Spartan Exec, and others were the luxury class A/C's of the time.

[Roadglide]

I'm impressed by your guys setup's

[Garzan]

I'm not a for real pilot, but there's real pilot information that I think is handy for playing on sims. The "why"s are always good to know. I found this first episode on Twitch. 

 For you all that ARE pilots, what do you thing about this Lesson One presentation? I know it's orders of magnitude better than the built in 'learn to fly' in MSFS. 

 

[jetdoc]

I struggled thru it, maybe cause of Jane, but for beginners just wanting about flying real good. Liked introducing airspeed as the most important instrument as it's the one instrument the airplane knows about. They checked the suction gage and would mean the A/H and D/G are vacuum driven and as such turning on the battery switch will not spin up the gyros. Pilots discuss and argue up/down and fast/slow, and although no hard fast rule, I prefer to think throttle/power as up/down and elevator as fast/slow. Will cut the instructor some slack forgetting to turn on the alternator as normally he would be dealing with one person having fewer distractions. BTW FAA has many free publications online as an aid to prepare flight exams that you may find helpful.