There are flight simulators and then there is the 747 Simulator that John Davis built. This story has been doing the rounds recently but the reviews of the 747 flight simulator really did not do it justice. John is a 47-year-old Englishman that seems to have quite an eye for detail. He has recreated a 747 cockpit in the second room of his two-bedroom terrace house in Coventry. His attention to detail is mind-blowing and perhaps a little bit frightening, but we certainly won’t hold that against him.
His $30,000 simulator looks to be a perfect recreation of a 747 cockpit. The detail goes down to every last switch and monitor. There are 90 switches and 9 different monitors to keep you busy when you are flying. If you get a chance to thunder your way down a runway at John’s house just remember the 747 simulator is a culmination of thousands of hours of work. It took eight years to put together and it shows.
In case you are wondering, John informs me that six PCs are required to power his behemoth. They range in power from an old P3 all the way up to a 3GHz Dual Core with 2GB of RAM. Just in case you think that flight simulators are boring, John has a few tricks up his sleeve. A program that he runs from his laptop called “Instructor Station” allows him to fail anything in the plane. We’ll take engine failure at 30,000 feet and a broken landing gear thanks John.
John is a graphic designer by trade but he now runs the flight simulator as a full-time business. The charges might seem steep to the flight simulator novice, but John’s flight simulator is as close to the real thing as anyone is likely to find, anywhere. $133 will buy you one hour at the controls, alternatively you can pay $194 for two hours or approximately $450 if you want a four-hour session that includes training and a virtual flight to Amsterdam. Yeah, it’s on the expensive side, but just take a look at the equipment. You could be forgiven for thinking you are actually flying. It is probably the only place in the world where you can get onto a homebrew flight simulator of this quality.
John’s house has two bedrooms, so perhaps there is room for the new Airbus. This is far and away the best home built flight simulator that this author is ever likely to see; an outstanding effort.
Sources: Luxury Launches, Ubergizmo, Daily Express, 747 Simulator
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Tags: Computers, DIY, flight-simulator
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Man creates $30,000 747 Flight Simulator - SlashGear
Oct 22, 2007 at 7:37 am
[...] of the airplane fail at any given time. That’ll add some excitement to your little flight. The Greatest Homebrew Flight Simulator Ever [via [...]
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