Carasim

I’m sure many of us have the same problem, big plans for that cockpit but only a small house. Well I suppose there was room in my house, but there was no way my wife would entertain a permanent shrine to my “nerdy” hobby to be erected in the spare room.

Having accumulated a fair bit of flight simulation hardware over the years, I agreed to put it all together as a bit of a one off for a local charity at a show. I had thought about using an old tent but the opportunity of a flood damaged caravan came up. After I had cobbled the equipment together, I spotted the odd thing I could improve and before I knew it I started getting carried away.

I knew I needed to build something basic that the general public with no experience could fly fairly easily, but I also wanted a simulator where I could practice for my PPL. I couldn’t afford to take lessons very often and found I was forgetting more than I was learning. I struggled with things that you would think to be simple, keeping the plane level while changing radio frequencies, transponder and altimeter settings. I suppose a bit like looking at the gear stick when leaning to drive. Clicking a mouse over a radio dial in the virtual cockpit didn’t help. I needed to practice physically operating the knobs and buttons so in went the instrument panel, Go Flight modules and a home made transponder. I immediately started to feel a lot more comfortable in the real cockpit. Lessons didn’t feel such a waste of money now.

I had deviated from the original idea, but it all proved very popular when the shows came along. The “punters”, especially the younger ones, enjoyed fiddling with all the buttons and knobs (even though they were told not to!). People seemed amazed when told that what they were flying was run from one fairly basic PC. I can’t verify how many people the caravan converted to flight simulation, but I gave out plenty of flight sim related web addresses and was constantly bombarded with questions.

From experiences at the shows, one of the biggest criticisms was that to track the runway in the circuit you had to pan the view. I did experiment with Track IR3 (head tracking device) with vector expansion but I didn’t like the sensation. All my “guinea pigs” reported the same. (it could have been to do with my projector ). I decided to make some improvements. I wanted to be able to fly GA aircraft from start up to shut down without using a keyboard or mouse ie. no flight simming experience necessary. I also wanted to make something that private pilots or students would find useful, and the majority of PPLs either spend their time flying VFR (visual flight rules) or waiting for conditions that permit VFR. The overdraft was used and in went the 5 monitors for all round vision and the instructor’s control room. That pretty much takes us to where I am today and what follows is a breakdown of the current setup with some impartial reviews and tips for potential builders:

 

Visuals:

I owe a lot to Luciano Napolitana for the centrepiece of the whole thing “Wideview”. His program allows the visuals to be spread over my five 19” monitors to give a 120 degree field of vision. I won’t go too deeply into this as there is a manual available for download on his web site www.wideview.it . The program is a very reasonable $24.95. It has also been released for FSX.

There are drawbacks with Wideview. One PC is required for each screen. I accumulated my PC’s through cast offs and bargains from Ebay. The lowest spec machine is a 1.25GHz AMD processor with a 32MB ATi card which works fine even with VFR scenery on FS2004.

Scenery and graphics settings in FS2004 on each PC must be exactly the same otherwise things like buildings may disappear as you go from one screen to another. Once it is all set up the effect is amazing giving you peripheral vision and the ability to track the runway as you would in the real thing…by turning your head.

 

Controls:

In fixed wing mode yokes, pedals and throttle console are CH (usb). I did at first have the yokes mechanically dual controlled, however the plastic construction proved too flimsy for this. Fine for left right, but fore and aft movement was putting too much strain on the yokes. I then tried to plug in both identical sets of controls at the same time but the rudder fluttered and the aircraft porpoised through the sky with the conflicting control inputs. I have just tested a USB switch box from Maplin with the CH Flight sticks so in theory once this is installed in the sim control can be passed from left to right hand seat at the flick of a nice chunky switch. (takes about a second to switch sticks). I occasionally get the odd un-commanded roll here using this setup. I have no idea why.

In helicopter mode I have cannibalised a Saitek Cyborg using the throttle shaft on both sides of stick attatched to electrical conduit to make a mechanically dual control collective. I plug in 2 CH flightsticks on plinths in place of the yokes (which have solid covers over in this mode) to use as cyclics. Local R22 instructors and pilots gave this the thumbs up after using it!

Trimming is achieved by the Go Flight LGT module which has a large realistically scaled wheel, unlike the standard CH yoke trim wheel that is way to sensitive.

 

Instrument panel:

The panel is a 15 inch TFT monitor with a wooden cover containing 4 rotary encoders (RC simulations). These are soldered in parallel to the Go Flight encoders in the RP48 module. I will eventually buy a proper input module but they work fine for now. (my magneto, starter, and batt/alternator switches would benefit from this too as they are connected to an old Logitek Wingman base. Heath Robinson but works fine)

The separate instrument panel really helps for the realism. The re-focusing of the eyes and having to set the altimeter etc by turning the knob is something you have to get used to in real flying and requires practice. I would like to have put in a monitor splitter and mounted this above the yokes on both sides but finances dictated otherwise. The error with the instruments being read at an angle (parallax error) is negligible.

The panel file modification to do the separate panel is just a means of changing the cfg file to suit and required a bit of trial and error. I can email examples of files to anyone interested so they can compare the differences to the originals. I placed a piece of clear plastic film over the screen and drew round the gauges to make a template for my wood cover.

The screen is driven by a dual output graphics card, the 2d panel is undocked and dragged across from the main monitor when FS is running in windowed mode (ALT + ENTER, right click panel, select undock, click and drag across, ALT+ENTER to return to full screen mode)

 

Avionics:

Go Flight modules make up most of the panel but I have made a transponder panel that displays information back in the control room. Another part of flying that I find I need to practice is the selection of the radio frequencies and transponder settings. I have modified a Maplin motorbike intercom to have a closed radio loop between the pilots and instructor / controller in the control room. The press to transmit buttons are mounted on the yokes, I find it very good practice talking to a virtual controller using the correct phraseology. It boosts your confidence over the radio, which is one less thing to worry about in the air. I will even talk to myself if no-one is available (maybe that’s just wrong, but I’m sure it helps).

 

Control Room:

The instructor/controllers PC runs the Flight Instructor module that installs with FS2004 over the network. This displays with a map of the area every piece of flight data you could possibly want to monitor and record a flight. Weather can be changed and faults thrown in mid flight. I think this really is an overlooked part of FS2004/2002. What better way of practicing emergency drills.

I also use this PC to dogfight mates in the main cockpit running IL2. The screens in the front fold down to make way for the projector. If you haven’t tried running one of the combat games on a LAN you really are missing out. Even on my low spec PC’s there is absolutely no stutter on either player’s screen even in the Luftwaffe rocket planes! The radio intercom can also be used to relay expletives or rub salt into virtual wounds!

To top it all off making you feel like you really are there, I popped in a 5.1 surround sound system and an I Vibe Cushion a.k.a. TFS2. This looks like one of those daft neoprene massage car seat covers but it makes a massive difference. In FS2004 it actually links up to the aircraft model not just the sound and the small actuators inside give you subtle movements on your back, bottom and legs which feels like acceleration / deceleration. It vibrates in the usual way with the engine and wheels, a nice satisfying thump when the gear goes up. You also get a good shaking when getting shot at. Not bad for £190 from RC Simulations.

The simulator now resides at Carlisle Airport where it gets used without having to tow it around (hard work and long days on your own). The staff at Carlisle Flight Training (www.carlisle-flight-training.com ) are trained to set it up and can also take bookings. The current rate is a whopping £10 per hour for a fixed wing session. If it is quiet the “hour” lasts until the next booking that day.

 

Added: December 01, 2006

I have now sold this simulator. To contact the new owner (Wiltshire based) email dan1992@btconnect.com The plane is a piper cherokee (although it can simulate many others from helicopters to Lancasters. The headsets are connected to a closed loop radio system. The flight is over the lake district in the UK. The multi screens are made possible by Luciano Napolitana's program "wideview".