Flight Chair

[Sludge]

Fellas...

Have a good hearty laugh at my POOR MAN's Flight Chair. I'm not that poor, really... but I'm not gonna shell out big money for a crappy flight chair I've seen online, for one that does the job just as good at a FRACTION of the cost and some labor on my part.

Enjoy.

Later
Sludge

[Orion]

Wait, are those baking trays?

That's awesome.

[Sludge]

Wait, are those baking trays?

That's awesome.

Yes, thats exactly what they are... however, with my newer Sludge Chair, mk.II, I took out the METAL baking trays, and used those HARD PLASTIC $4 black 6x6 organizing trays from WallyWorld... then I just flipped it over, put the velcro where it needs to go and it does the trick, looks a bit better, and you dont need a drill.

Works like a champ, been flying patterns alot with no problems at all.

Later
Sludge

[wilycoyote4]

.....Works like a champ, been flying patterns alot with no problems at all.

hmmmm, no probs, very nice, I like it

[Johan]

Hey Sludge, nice chair! Is it an ejection seat as well? 

Johan

[GOONIE]

Nice Sludge, very creative! I just went ahead and drilled my Warthog into an old dining chair, needless to say my wife was pretty darn upset, but it was worth it. Flying around the boat is a lot better with the stick in the right place and firmly secured  I'll tell my wife,  at least I didn't ruin her baking trays

-CAPT

[Sludge]

CAPT...

Yeah, gotta have priorities and having a working flight chair is worth a little upsettedness right? But as you said, you did SAVE a few baking pans.

FELLAS...

Show us your setup. Definately would like to see how others fly in FSX.

Later
Sludge

[SUBS17]

Cool setup one question sludge I see you've mounted the stick between your legs how does that compare with the real hornets stick position? Some ideas to further mod it to a more realistic setup from what I've seen other people do on the net. With centre stick some guys remove the stick from the base and increase its height to allow realistic movement. They also do the same with the throttle by extending the height of the throttle to increase the range which then increases the sensitivity which is good for formations etc.

[Sludge]

SUBS...

It seems fine, I may get a different chair so I can set it up differently but it seems to work well. The throttle in pretty good, have no problems at all with it.

Later
Sludge

[Tregarth]

FELLAS...

Show us your setup. Definately would like to see how others fly in FSX.

Later
Sludge
[/quote]

Sludge,

Is this of interest?

Cheers,

Tregarth

[SpazSinbad]

Tregarth,  [fun expletive deleted]  Would you mind detailing the setup please along with the computer video cards to achieve what is seen. Thanks. Looks like a lot of fun from here. 

[Tregarth]

For info I have run SiSoft Sandra and saved the file in .TXT format (attached).

Previously I was running FSX using a MatroxTriplehead2Go display splitter driving 3 x Hanns G 19" wide screen TFT monitors in landscape orientation.  OK but not good.

I then saw a display running 3 monitors in portrait and that was it.  My Birthday and Christmas presents were rolled into 1 spending spree.  I have changed the PSU to 800W to support the new Sapphire FLEX HD 6770 graphics card which is running AMD Eyefinity software.  (I went to an exhibition in London to find out which card would be right).

The key is the FLEX card which has 2 x DVI ports, 1 x HDMI and 1 x DP , it seems to have been adapted so that the HDMI port will support a DVI output; a special adapter / connection comes in the box.  For info on the card please see

I am told that only Flex cards have this adaption.

There is also an Eyefinity set up video at  [ Invalid YouTube link ]   which is very useful.

The thing I find amazing is that by using the 3 monitors the cockpit seems to be big enough that I feel as if I am sitting in it.  Using the "+" and "-" keys I can set the viewpoint so I can see all of what I need to see both inside the cockpit and out of the window so the feeling is very lifelike.

I would not go back to landscape mode ever again.

(I also have a NetBook running FlightSim Commander which is connected by ethernet to my FSX PC.  This runs the separate monitor visible in the top right of the picture.)

I hope this helps, if you have any more questions please contact me.

Tregarth

[SpazSinbad]

Tregarth, thanks very much for detailed explanation. Yes I was wondering about how the 3 monitors were being run. Must be amazing.    I'm guessing you have a good view of the ball (IFLOLS) at the start or before?

Years ago now on a different computer I ran the first triple head Matrox with three cathode monitors but it was atrociously SLOW. I thought at the time that the Matrox was a fraud, with the supposed 'extra quality' also a fraud. Whatever. I like ATI cards these days.

I'll investigate what is available here and may have some questions later. Thanks again.

[Tregarth]

Spazsinbad,

If you need any help, just ask.  As I say, you need a FLEX card which I bought via the internet.

There is a slight snag with the ball, as you can see from the photo I have taken of the centre screen the IFL.. and trap gauge are a bit too close together (about 18 cm).  Ideally they should be about 40 cm apart then I could have the IFL on the LH screen and the trap gauge on the right.  But I don't know how to arrange this.

For info the resolution of each screen is quoted as 1440 x 900, but because my are rotated through 90 the resolution I use is 2700 horizontal x 1440 vertical (i.e. (3 x 900) x 1440).  During the set up once I had FSX running the graphics looked a bit coarse so I looked in FSX's display settings and surprisingly saw 2700 x 1440 was an option.  I selected it and it is really good, I can only think the Eyefinity software is able to change the settings in FSX.

Good luck,

Tregarth

[SUBS17]

If anyones interested in making a full pit then this website is a place to check out.

http://www.viperpits.org/smf/index.php

I've flown in MP with people who have made full pits of F-16s, one cost thousands of dollars another guy did it for $100US. No reason why the same cannot be done for a Hornet. I was planning on making my own F/A-18E Hotas a few years back but now that the Hog and X65 have been released its easier to just buy one.