this started out as a pc9a cockpit but since i fly mostly in lomac i am making it a multi use pit.

the switches r connected to a usb controller, but the panels u see here will be thrown away and i will start them again now with laminated tops and back lighting.

the small panel at the back controls teamspeak which is great with the vr920 since it has its own sound card , the comms r played through the headset and the game sounds come out my stereo

this is wat i consider a budget pit and it is mostly homemade except for the hotas ,switches and usb controller, if u want to know anything just ask , if u want more pictures as i build more let me know

the price so far including the vr920 and x52 is just under $1000 but i paid top $ for my x52 and vr920 since im in aus and they dont stock much in the stores here. so realy for the pit its like $40 of wood $60 for switches and $49 for my new usb controller and i paid $100 for a different interface that uses the printer port which i dont have and it seems hard to configer. the new usb controller im getting shows up as a joystick so it can be used in any game realy. the old one "Mastercard from www.opencockpits.com " was designed for fs9 , it also has alot more functions such as lights and stuff but u would need to buy a usb expansion card that cost the same as the second usb controller im getting lol.

check out http://avcocalc.net/Default.aspx?alias=avcocalc.net/simulator for info , Fritz is the guy i got my main body design from except the ejection seat also on the page u will find info about the usb controller .

to be able to use on-off switches i use a program called SV-mapper, this allows for 1 key press for on and another key press for off so for lock on i set shift + pageup for on to start the right engine and shift + pagedown for off to shut the engine off  its a great program atm since my usb controller hasnt arrived im using an old joystick to connect the switches lol.

hmmm do u know wat type of cockpit u will build and wat software/simulator u will use "please dont say an f16 " there is ALOT of f16 pits around and i just dont like the aircraft , lol.

that way you'll be able to look at your instruments, you'll see your own body in the cockpit, and all around you you'll see the outside world of your plane...

The tricky part is how to integrate this with your flight sim...

What you could do is have a first computer play the flight sim and generate the image of the universe around you, and have another pc add the image of your cockpit and of your body to the flight sim image that the other pc has calculated.

At this point, either you see what I'm talking about, either you don't and in the later case, go on google and search for videos about "artag"

Glad to be able to spark a new idea somewhere in the universe.

You can also try to see on youtube what Johnny lee does with his wiimote, maybe you'll have new ideas ;-):

3 incredible things (for the 40$ price tag if you do'nt own a wii already, 0$ or nearly otherwise):

- a magic window: it looks like a computer screen, but what you see there is what you would see if it was a window: depending where you stand, you see different things... this one is awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

- a finger interface: depending where you put you fingers, what you see changes (interface like in minority report): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0awjPUkBXOU

- a magic desk: he uses a projector to project his screen on his table, and uses homemade pens to write on this screen or manipulate the content...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ  

He explains everything on his videos

On his website, you get the sources of his demos...

so imagine u put your vr920 on and look towards a wall and using finger tracking u can bring up info about an apointment u have in the upcoming week. or bring up a photo. man this just has so many posibilitys.

I understand the pb of not being able to actually "do" things like C++... But sometimes, if your ideas are good enough, it can start a community effort around your issue;

What do you need exactly?

- If it is just for having your environment ouside of your cockpit, all you need is a specific color on the walls that the computer can understand as being a place where your flightsim images can be set the way your helmet tells your flightsim to show... This kind of thing is already used by weathermen on TV so they can show tomorrow's weather... there has to be someone somewhere with an open source solution you could use... It's the same as the blue screens they use for special effects...

- if you want to enhance the inside of your cockpit, then all you have to do is have an app that overlays a 3D (dynamic?) image of something at that specific place+angle of view. It's going to be either static (fixed elements, like wings, nose of the plane) , either dynamic (depending on the context provided by the game). The latter is IMHO out of your reach for now because of the interfaces needed with that specific game... But if your look around the artag community, there's bound to be someone who has something on his shelf ready to use (something that would display a specific 3D object as an alias for a specific tag... The hardest part would be to have a 3D representation of an F16 falcon (though I'm not even sure that this is hard to find )...