Enjoy flight sims? I know I do. I have spent many hours practicing flying the Bell206 in FS98.The early days were very frustrating as I was using a joystick with a built in throttle and a "twist the handle" for rudder/torque control. Ever seen a real chopper with a control system that looked like that? I never did get a precise hover and almost quit in frustration.

Then I started pricing out good quality throttles to act as my collective and also looked for a set of pedals to complete the setup. I was amazed to figure out I was into the $200-$300 range REAL quick, and this was just for the cheap plastic stuff. I wanted to fly the chopper, not buy it. I found only 1 source on the net that manufactures and sells robust controls designed specifically for choppers. Total cost was nearly $1000.00 US. I figured I could build my own "Virtual Cockpit" for my chopper flying for way less than that ( about $75.00 Canadian) and it would also be able to take the pounding my kids give it when playing their games as well.

I have worked many long nights to finalize this design. It works great with ALL windows games (especially FS98), and my chopper flying skills have increased dramatically.

Build your own "Virtual Cockpit" and let me know how you like it. Please E mail me with any comments, questions or suggestions for improvements.