I have a vendetta against outrageous pricing of Aviation in general, while I have a plan to tackle affordable planes later (starting with gliders) I’m starting with flight education and training equipment first.
After realizing the cost of buying a life size Cessna 172 Flight Simulator, I decided to build one on my own instead.
While usually developing an entire project from scratch is more expensive than buying one unit of said pre-produced product is cheaper, the case for flight simulators is quite different; it was roughly four times cheaper to design and build the simulator from scratch, including the cost of equipment (e.g. 3D printer, laser cutter, computer, routers, exempting a CNC milling machine, thank you for letting me borrow that Ryan!).
The project began with me drawing sketches on paper towels during slow days at work and quickly expanded into the digital world, resulting in my learning CAD. Through many convincing text messages and phone calls, I was able to get access and learn to cut my complex designs with a CNC Milling machine, which made this whole project possible.
The base of the simulator is the projector backdrop, made of curved ribs of plywood and hinged joins for compact storage. The main cockpit, where all the magic happens, was precision CNC cut to house all the flight simulation components. Through the mastery of 3D printing and laser cutting, I was able to get everything fastened and working in sync (not without heavy modification, however).
The final component: projector Towers.
The engineering behind the design of the towers may seem overkill. However, they were meticulously designed to achieve the correct calculated height, angle, and stability required for the projection to align with the backdrop, ensuring they are not blocked by the person flying. The angled box design you see at the top of the tower was also designed to house two of the six overall speakers that create surround sound for the flight.
The final product
E-Flight Simulations 