Flight Simulator 1 - Regrets

Designing and building a cockpit has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding endeavors of my life. Definitely no regret there.

However, there are a few things I would have done differently knowing what I know now. I’ll list those mistakes here to perhaps save somone the trouble and expense of those blunders.

Gaming PC

My main regret is the PC. I wanted an i9 processor, but when I saw a great Black Friday deal at MicroCenter for an i7 and motherboard combo, I jumped on it. If that wasn't bad enough, I then jumped on a great deal for an RTX 4070 GPU. I wanted a 4090.

The i7 processor with 4070 GPU can't run MSFS 2020 with three displays at the resolution and settings I would like, at least not without noticeable stutters. For the next simulator build, I will get an RTX 4090 and either an i9 processor or an AMD Ryzen 7800X3D.

Displays

Purchasing different size displays for a three-display MSFS 2020 setup was a mistake. They really should all be the same size in order to get the most realistic view spanning across all displays. Tough to get the horizon properly aligned with different size displays and even if you do get it aligned, the scene just won't look right.

Doors

Speaking of the displays, embedding them in the doors was a mistake. In fact, I feel that having doors altogether was a mistake. In part, this has to do with matching display sizes. You need a large (65”+) display at the front, so if you are going to have matching displays, you would need large displays in the doors as well. This just isn't practical.

In addition, having displays in the doors places them at a 90 degree angle with the front display and directly to your left and right. I feel that this angle is too sharp. Especially if you are using cheap TVs with poor viewing angles as your door displays. It just doesn't look right.

Next time, I’ll place all displays next to each other, with the side displays at a wider angle to the front display. I probably won't be able to have doors if I do that, but that's ok.

Also, having doors that swing open on both sides of the simulator will significantly increase the space required for your simulator. Something to keep in mind if space is limited.

Seats

I wanted to buy some really nice racing seats that I found on Amazon for around $500, but I ended up purchasing small tractor seats for around $70 or $80 each. Don't cheap-out on seats like I did. Those tractor seats are comfortable for about two minutes.

You are going to spend hours sitting in your cockpit. Comfortable seating is an absolute must. For the next build, I will most definitely be getting them racing seats!

Avionics

Finally, the flight controls and avionics. I can't say I regret getting all Logitech gear since I knew ahead of time what I would be getting. I chose to purchase off-the-shelf devices because I wanted my cockpit built as quickly as possible.

If you want to be up and running in as little time as possible while still having a complete set of avionics (gauges, radio, autopilot, button panel), the Logitech devices are a good choice. Fairly cheap (except for the little gauges) and decent quality.

As for the flight controls, I went with Logitech devices here because they were the cheapest. I would recommend you buy something better, particulaly the flight yoke. It has limited physical range and very poor sensitivity.

Summary

While I did make some mistakes and poor decisions during my first simulator build, I am very satisfied with the results and I greatly enjoy this flight simulator.

Recognizing and documenting the mistakes will ensure that all future builds will be superior to the first and will not suffer from the same issues.