X-Plane Simulator with TrackIR and Saitek Cessna Pro Flight Controls

[@Barnacules]

What a great simulator!

[@mathisfo]

You have the most insane man cave EVER!

[@27Ronen27]

It's Barnacules!

[@ABRAXAS37]

I love you

[@RexFairchild]

you know your shit is good if barnacules comments on it

[@DJHeroMasta]

3 Years Later....Hello Barnacules, again! 😁

[@aerozg]

I have almost an identical build, and it helped me immensely during my PPL training. I would come home and refly that days leg. It is not a substitute for real flying lessons, but it's damn good in helping you develop the instruments scan and interpretation, and aircraft control. You can learn to fly instruments. If you go out and fly on VATSIM with real ATC, you get another layer of realism, with having to operate comms and doing your navigation. It definitely augments your learning, and comes nicely for those rainy and windy days. Nice video!

[@pedemeyer]

Ohh I would loose all contact with the daylight, if I had this at home:)) Looks absolutly great!!

[@thomasdee5359]

Probably the best set up I've seen all year! Good job

[@loctide]

I like this demo of the TrackIR. I have been looking for a demo with 3 monitors with TrackIR and it showed what I was looking for, the head motion and the viewing area when you turn your head.

[@Skyhawk656]

I was always taught to have 1 hand on the throttle and 1 on the controls. My instructor used to pull the power back if I forgot and took my hand off the throttle... It also helps with making your control inputs more fluid. Im loving the setup man. I have the yoke, rudder pedals, Cessna switch panel and TPM but I've been wanting to add gauges.. I use Xplane to keep my skills sharp when I cant afford to fly.

[@Skyhawk656]

Also I noticed the X-plane's 172 seems to not slow down as quick as It does in real life, so its very important to remember your approach speed. In a 172 I use around 65KTS, but in the sim I want to be at 60 over the runway threshold with full flaps. that way as you enter ground effect you can bleed off more speed in a timely manner so you get down before the 1000 ft markers. Also, I use 900ft patterns in X-plane so when youre parallel with the runway and your wings point to the 1000 foot markers below and to your side (left or rght side depending on standard/non-standard patterns) you pull throttle to 1500 and carb heat if you got it and 10 degrees of flap pitch for 74KTS. Then decend 400 feet or so an turn for your base leg, this gives you a nice, long, steep approach on final. On base add another notch of flaps, then pitch for 70kts. On final add the final notch of flaps and pitch for 65, adjust power as needed and after the landing is assured, cut power to idle, pitch for 60 and with luck as you cross the threshold you have a low enough speed to get a better amount of induced drag for the long flare this sim seems to give. And BAM landed on the 1000 footers and ready to make the taxiway...

[@RustyTruckandCrazyDuck1958]

Man what a setup you have there, great for realism. Great video man !

[@KevinBentley142]

The rudders control yaw, so they rotate the plan left or right without banking. It's mostly used to compensate for other forces, not to create the turns. He's flying an airport pattern here, so on takeoff he's applying right rudder to compensate for the left turn tendency while climbing. When rolling in and out of turns a slight amount of rudder is used to keep the turn coordinated.

[@AkersTimothy]

Wow. Thank you so much for listing everything out. I didn't know so much went into this. I am just now getting into this as an enthusiast. You have a sweet a setup. Can't wait til' you decide to use Plywood, foam, and other materials to build an actual cockpit. :P

[@KevinBentley142]

Yes, it creates a virtual resolution for the combination of all of the monitors and even accounts for the bezel space between them (it has a neat little setup tool to align an image and it figures out the bezel correction from that). It's one of the best features. As far as the app is concerned it's one monitor. You can set the FOV in x-plane to be like 120 degrees to get a wide view too.

[@lucac901]

right hand on the throttle during take off,climb out and final please! ;)

[@hpeterson10579]

Luca Privatpilot was totally thinking the same thing!

[@bookooc5605]

1st thing I noticed. Any CFI will yell at you for not keeping your hand on it.

[@robertomarx]

Bought TrackIR 5 today, hope i enjoy it, looking at these videos looks simply great. By the way, nice setup. Too bad that in my country things are much more expensive than in US, otherwise i would get these Saitek Panels too, they are awesome. Some more monitors wouldn't hurt :D Nice video, and flight!

[@mikepaz4870]

Thank you for taking the time to share a really nice setup. As to the hater trolls and their words of hate ..... Well their just rude. So forget the naysayers and I thank you for sharing it t our community who for the most part are nice as well as helpful.

[@KevinBentley142]

Well, true, it is pretty close to what I have spent on my PPL. But it isn't meant as a replacement. I own a small business that develops software for simulation, so this was built for some R&D we're doing. Plus, it can be used to supplement flight time, especially instrument training.

[@KevinBentley142]

The shuttle glides when it lands, it doesn't rely on engines at that stage. But if you pitch up during the glide, the speed is reduced as the descent is slowed. Once the speed reaches the stall point, the wings stop producing lift and the shuttle drops like a rock. The tail drops, and you don't have enough elevators to pitch the nose back down and regain speed. So the shuttle never can produce lift again. It was a fun experiment!

[@Mucologist]

Wow! Very impressive. I have been looking to get some of the Saitek gear for GA flying in X-Plane 10. This was very helpful. I am going to be getting some of the equipment. The TPM will really help. The FIP's can sit on top & help me when I have to move my view around. I trust it was easy to interface with X-Plane.

[@RuyGuy]

Protip: never takeoff with your hand off the throttle.

[@frontcentermusician]

First thing I noticed.

[@Jtanman93]

do you mean without your hand on the throttle? because you're supposed to have it there.

[@Fox52-h9d]

u just worded what he said differently...

[@MistrMyke]

Real pilots fly with only one hand on the yoke. It's more just applying pressure than moving the yoke.

[@fotoamgamgfoto3695]

yes hard to learn especially with a sim without an instructor. My instructor used to put one of his hands to the middle of the yoke (the other one in a real Cessna) when I fly, I think it is easier to sense small movements but avoids overcorrections by applying too much force.

[@KevinBentley142]

Since youtube is too stupid to make a commenting system that works ("you are not allowed to comment on this post" WTF?), I'm replying to Andre via a new comment not a reply. "Andre Thais15 minutes ago For 6000$ you might as well get 30 hours of real flight training :P" To which I reply: Or do both, it took me 54 hours to get my PPL, and cost about $7k! But seriously, this machine is not a replacement for flight training. It's a flight simulator, but it's also a very powerful gaming PC. I wouldn't recommend someone buy one of these instead of flying for real. I used this to help augment my PPL training, but mostly I built it because of some software R&D we're doing, where we needed a high end PC based simulator.

[@patrickwellerwrites]

i agree that it cant replace real training, but i think that for 30 hours of real training is a little more unforgivable than unlimited simulation (you can die if you crash a real plane) and it is unlimited.

[@KevinBentley142]

Patsplattheredstonisist I agree, which is why I think both are the best option. :)

[@The5thorseman]

:D we have the same computer case. What kinda gpu do you have in there?

[@The5thorseman]

The5thorseman Nevermind...

[@amalalsufayan2729]

Lol I can

[@KevinBentley142]

@marcel911, We had to use this mode for the track ir to work. There are other ways to do it, but we had to use the 3d cockpit for the head tracking to work.

[@thugtom5203]

+Kevin Bentley Nice flight dude :) i enjoy it :) subcribe

[@skywind007]

Does X-Plane allow you to use more monitors or are you limited to 3?

[@dylan5490]

LANDING LIGHTS brush

[@Maverick1375]

I used to use these VR glasses which were cool, but at about $500 a pop I didnt think the field of view in them were worth it! But the TrackIR type feature of it was pretty cool. gave you a similiar feel of being inside the cockpit looking out a virtual window of your surroundings!

[@KevinBentley142]

The throttle quadrant shows up as a joystick devices, so yeah, the throttle is just an axis. The FIP panels and the radio and cessna rocker switches require a plug-in in x-plane, but it was all pretty easy to get it up and running.

[@OdeeOz]

That is the ultimate flight sim set up! WOW!

[@casaamaril]

Great setup, have fun, must be quite immersive

[@KevinBentley142]

Actually, my checkride is scheduled for September 12th. I've met all the requirements, it's just a matter of scheduling now. I'm planning to fly a few times in the next few weeks to keep my skills sharp. That and making some custom checklists for maneuvers to make sure I don't forget clearing turns or something like that!

[@larrysouthern5098]

That's a sweet ride!!! VR is great...but still like the "touchy feely stuff like joysticks ..yoke ..rudder throttle quadrants..and a big screen or three in front of me!!! Congradulations !!!!....

[@KevinBentley142]

No problems so far. I read some reviews saying they were cheaply built, but the one I have seems pretty sturdy.

[@hugocortes6673]

That is a really cool setting!

[@edal61]

Wonderful setup! I'd have done without the digital panel on the main monitor screen though, since you had all of those wonderful Saytek instruments!

[@fortysevenprops]

You should only have your left hand on the control column. Right should always be holding the throttle. Just a little tip :)

[@KevinBentley142]

We're running 3 monitors at 1920x1200. With the bezel correction it adds a few hundred pixels to the width, so it's something like 6000x1200 pixels total. With nvidia surround it looks like a single display of that resolution.

[@KevinBentley142]

No force feedback, that's something I'd love to see for the yoke. But you 'feel' it when the plane moves against your controls. You pretty quickly start flying by looking out the window and your brain seems to convince you that the wind is a real force.

[@seanspcpower]

I just love it! looks and works great from what I can see. I agree no need for the head tracker. Zoom out to widen your view of the cockpit windows. Currently putting together my own but no where near as elaborate as that but might end with similar :) Good work

[@DarrellWhitely]

very cool setup! I'd love to get one one day. Thanks for sharing.

[@varali]

I'll give you this your committed, very nice setup.

[@beyazsavasc6759]

Adam zengin dostum King :) Bu kadar monitör bizde yok.

[@adrenaline4life233]

High approach and bouncy landing but as for the setup, pretty cool dude

[@bbk434]

You have to have your hand on the throttle when you takeoff and land (FYI)

[@YokePoker1761]

I think it's great it's a C172 sim! Great Sim Pit!

[@mudbrayFC]

Gotta keep your right hand on the power especially during takeoff climb and landing. Power adjustments control your pitch during final.

[@dylanjohnson7091]

as a pilot there are so many things i want to bash about his flying, but then I look and see that he is just having a good time, and that what this is about, having fun, not being perfect at flying

[@Stringbean421]

@Dylam Johnson. Make a video so that we can find many things to bash about your flying!! All you armchair pilots thinking you know best and don't give us any bullshit about you being a real pilot!! Like you said, he was having a good time, like we all do so just chill.

[@ruger.22]

I'm green with envy. Some set up 👍👍

[@GreyGhost-r4z]

Nice sim. Keep your right hand on the throttle on Takeoff. For an abort, etc.

[@nyxdoc2801]

Thank you for posting the details. Best wishes

[@tomiasthexder7673]

You should always have your hand on the throttle for take-off and landing ;) nice set up!

[@keithd.glasgow809]

I'm bamboozled. Why, if you have taken the time and expense to recreate the panel and instrumentation on your desktop, do you display the panel AGAIN on your windscreen? Would the experience not be more realistic if the three flat panels displayed ONLY the outside scenery? That 3-D cockpit is for folks who do NOT have external instrumentation as you do. With all due respect, I must say the way you have it set up looks a little goofy.

[@KevinBentley142]

Keith D. Glasgow That's because the virtual cockpit in x-plane doesn't have a way to remove the cockpit because you are in a 3D model. You need the virtual cockpit mode to use the head tracking. Since this video was made we have a few different options that allows the head tracking to work without the inside cockpit, but to be honest I am not sure the head tracking adds enough to the simulation to be worth the distraction most of the time. I prefer a wide screen to head tracking now.

[@ethanjames4721]

+Kevin Bentley Replace the plane model with emptiness or near-emptiness.

[@Benrob0329]

I beleve FlightGear has an option to turn off the 3D cockpit, but I'm not sure if this hides the model all together.

[@csaviation9013]

+Kevin Bentley use the view 'forward with no panel'

[@attilagabornebocsi9335]

ieudur

[@memesforfun3848]

If you want to be a real pilot I suggest keeping one hand on the throttle and one on the yoke.

[@kommandant.357]

Don't need to do that if you are in a sim

[@stephenelward7023]

@@kommandant.357 maybe not but it's good practice to ensure you do it in the real world

[@SniperKillerARG]

@@stephenelward7023 when you flight more than 2 hours, you will not have your hand on the trottle all the time, you set a cruise speed and relax…

[@magiczztab]

Awsome :) you should map an x and z to a pneumatic piston and put it in the seat mount. when you extend the gear the seat begins a slow assent then as the wheels create drag from contact with the tarmac the seat suddenly drops just a bit. That would be cool

[@quadgamer8014]

Wow great setup... I want one!

[@ross-carlson]

Very nice setup but with that much invested you should consider one of the cockpit mounting systems like the Obutto Ozone, etc. You've got some great hardware but the illusion sorta dies when it's just on a desk, the cockpits add so much to the realism.To those who say "why not get a real license you just don't get it - he can play this anytime he wants, rain, shine, day night, in his PJs at home. Hell he probably has a license. I get that comment a lot with my racing simulator and people just don't get it. I have an actual racecar and enjoy it as much as I can but I can't go sit down and race it right now, my simulator I can.Well done chief, keep it up!

[@EvilSl0th]

my sister has her private pilot liscence and is getting her hours up for commercial. i am going to send her over here to check out your epic settup.

[@lunageologist]

Very nice, I would say that you are not just a sim pilot by your actions, it looks like you've actually got flight time logged. As a pilot myself, I like to fly the sims when I am not able to actually fly, and its a lot cheaper to keep up on skills this way if I let a cert lapse, it costs less than taking a trainer up for couple hours to get checked off to get checked off. I'm super jealous of the TrackIR, thats very nice not having to use the hat to look around. Looks like I've got a long way to go on my set up. LOL.

[@freeflightsim2080]

really nice flight simulator cockpit video. thanks!

[@droz528]

One observation: Hand should ALWAYS be on throttle during takeoff, climb, decent, and landing. fly with left hand only. That's how us real pilots do it. Otherwise, cool setup.

[@KevinBentley142]

I agree. This is my coworker, who isn't a pilot. I was in flight training when this video was filmed. He did a pretty good pattern for a newbie though!

[@droz528]

Yes, yes he did. Id love to get this setup one day. One day.

[@MaximilianoBlitzkrieg]

It looks amazing!

[@dominator721]

this is bad ass. thanks for posting the specs

[@KevinBentley142]

I've crashed a few times when flying exotic aircraft. It's not too bad, but when you get in a spin you can't get out of it does feel pretty stressful. I was showing the simulator to my CFI and I tried landing the space shuttle from orbit. We decided to see how the shuttle reacts to a stall. It stalls, but you cannot recover. We ended up falling to the ground tail first at mach 4 or something like that.

[@jakeperl5857]

Awesome. Thanks for the detailed cost breakdown. I would have to factor in the resulting alimony payments though :)

[@RichFreeman]

Love the constant need for right aileron. That's one thing that I really hope they fix one of these days...

[@DTLdabs]

You just need to keep the appropriate amount of right rudder in. It's not so tough when you get used to it. No need to put any aileron in!

[@RichFreeman]

Carl Inniss Watch the video right after takeoff - he is holding right aileron the whole time. I can't tell how much rudder he's applying from the video. And that is my own experience with X-plane - most of the prop aircraft require right aileron when at high-power, low airspeed. If I apply any right rudder once off the ground the inclinometer goes off-center. In the C172 I've flown at least you don't really need any right aileron when taking off unless you're trying to crab, but you do need steady right rudder the whole time (much more than X-plane seems to require).

[@bladedspokes]

Rich Freeman During takeoff, right rudder is required to remain coordinated due to asymmetric thrust, which may be a little over-exaggerated in x-plane.

[@RichFreeman]

bladedspokes You missed my point. X-plane doesn't exaggerate the need for right rudder. I find I need almost no rudder at all in X-plane. Instead I need AILERON - which you don't really need in a real plane. A real plane tends to have a tendency to YAW left when at high power and low speed. X-Plane has a tendency to ROLL left under these conditions. That just isn't realistic. If I applied the kind of right rudder a real C172 requires in X-Plane I'd be skidding the whole time, while practically rolling until I flip over if I held neutral aileron...

[@bladedspokes]

Rich Freeman Must have misread your post! Not sure why I saw "rudder" when you said "aileron."

[@baezport]

Nice video, one thing I noticed one think you are doing is not keeping your right hand on the throttle while taking off and flying. One hand on the yoke and one hand on the throttle always is how i was taught.

[@17Benton]

I'm just planning on getting an ultrawide 29 inch monitor instead of dual monitors which I currently have

[@qmriis]

You fly with ONE HAND on the yoke, not two. Any good CFI is going to pull your throttle the moment you take your hand off it. Keep the throttle pushed in until you are at a comfortable altitude.

[@luisruiz2430]

Awesome setup, love it!!!!

[@christopher_biel]

Very cool Setup

[@antonove-1752]

At 2:46 when he moves his head the view changes??!

[@antonove-1752]

Leo S that is cool!

[@Khujandiho]

is that on camera?

[@raulayerbe4730]

How?

[@somefuckstolemynick]

You can buy a system called TrackIR for something like $150, but you can also make your own with an old ps3 eye camera (just do a little research on the camera first, there are different versions of it and some don't work. You can find all the info on google though) and a freeware program called opentrack, a few cheap electronics components and some easy soldering work for around 20-30 bucks total (works like a charm, I have the cheap diy version).

[@macechettiyadan5625]

@@raulayerbe4730 TrackIr, it's in the description

[@arctic2gamin365]

Need to use one hand your over working the plane in some of the terns but amazing looking set up

[@fonzworthbently885]

SINGLE LIFE GOALS !!!

[@tyblakely4505]

guy goes hard

[@AdamsOlympia]

I just purchased the TrackIR and love it (mostly using it in DCS World) .. I don't see the head mounted reflectors on you here, where are they mounted? I like your setup ; just not a huge fan of the Saitek Yoke which I briefly owned before returning to Amazon --- It just felt too cheap and jerky movement; Same with the rudder pedals. I went with MFG Crosswind pedals ; buttery smooth action. Using a ThrustMaster Warthog joystick for the time being, until I find a good Yoke -- Would LOVE to have the Iris dynamics force feedback yoke , but unwilling to spend over a grand on the one part. If I can find something for under $500 with very precise and smooth action (Not necessarily force feedback), I'd jump on it in a heartbeat.

[@KevinBentley142]

I used the Track IR powered LED head mount, which is clipped to the headset in this video. I do have the iris dynamics yoke, I was a kickstarter backer for it. It's very cool, but I'm still trying to get the setup so it feels more realistic. I plan to do an updated video with the latest simulator setup soon!

[@zeepster]

That engine sound loop is so horrible!

[@Zerepzerreitug]

ah, the memories of using flight simulators. I miss them I realize.

[@Coholbell15]

Great take off but I would work more on the trimmer instated of consistently looking left & right, unless you in the international air port. Good Job Private ;)

[@KevinBentley142]

I posted all the prices in the description. It's about $6k for everything (PC, chair, and simulator controls)

[@davidadam1776]

Best flight simulator setup ever

[@RoelTheWorld]

TrackIR, it is a device that track the movement of your head.

[@RelativeStrengthFit]

Good landing

[@Panthers1521]

THAT. IS. AWESOME.

[@TheSneezingMonkey]

Are all these physical instruments of the shelf units? Or are they custom built?! And do they actually work?

[@PilotDaveAviation]

Nice would love one myself...

[@Valcone89]

cool steup but you know you don't need visule HUD dials etc when you have them phiscally ? you can turn the HUD off in game, and use your actrual dials. very cool setup bro

[@rubendewulf]

thats the sickest thing i have ever seen !!!!

[@stemajor7]

Regarding the Occulus Rift for flight sims, I'm not sure i would be able to remember keyboard mappings blindfolded. Searching around blindly for buttons and controls.....

[@patrickwellerwrites]

well also you can use your mouse, and virtual cockpit mode instead of fancy gear, all i have is rudders peddals, 3 levers and a yoke.

[@24Mrjack]

So cool. Wish I had the money for this.

[@FieelFlying]

But how did you manage to setup TrackIr? All the aircrafts i tried featured "pass-through" cockpits and i end up inglobating my rear set our with my view out of the cockpit. I even asked in the X-Plane forums and noone could help me or tell me how to find aircrafts with "hard walls". Any ideas?

[@A360JFuxtier]

Nice Cockpit! Just one thing, you normally keep your right hand on the throttle during take off due to an emergency fail of the engine. But that's from the real life ;-)

[@jflandrvr00]

Nice setup!

[@dAirborn3b]

Nope, actually it's very natural and you can adjust the sensivity, so you don't have to move your head that much, you look slightly off center thats true but its still in your line of sight

[@wethusky8399]

Why bother with the instrument panel on the screen? From what I learned about this system all the inputs on the hardware are the same. Certainly missing out on a better view with half the screen obscured by redundancy.

[@wethusky8399]

Lewis Mansbridge Are you a complete fucking idiot?

[@MrChristoffer5700]

+Wet Husky He did it so TrackIR would work

[@rogerutley8738]

Great video..building first rig...thinking of three monitor setup using trackir..thinking about 32 inch 1080pi? Do not sure about chair or display mounts? All advice greatly appreciated! Thanks Roger

[@ertugrulaktas840]

Awesome!!👍cleared to land

[@davidkurtzbach7589]

This is so awesome!

[@palopo-t3v]

Every time that I took my hand off the throttle during the important stages of flight, my instructor would simulate an engine failure... so I learned. HAND ON THE THROTTLE... you never know when you'll need to reject the take off or go around.

[@mathisfo]

What an incredible setup. I think you was a bit high on your final apporach:) im thinking also of a triple way monitor setup. But I prefer FSX rather than X-Plane

[@ajubloom]

I think a lot of people really underestimate how expensive it is to fly in real life, especially in certain areas. Spending 1000 to get a setup that allows you to practice procedures for countless hours... worth 8 hours or less of flight time. Plus he can fly in places he might not otherwise get the opportunity to.

[@frostbiteuk454]

Awesome setup, quite an investment! Wish I had the same.....maybe one day :-)

[@electromegamixify]

Nice setup mate :)

[@arisceders]

You don't have to turn the yoke e.g. use the ailerons while the plane is on the ground! At least this doesn't help steering the plane and keeping the centerline. It is not a car! Steering is done by rudder pedals. The only reason for using ailerons on the ground is for x-wind correction which would anyway be constant all the way through. Nevertheless nice setup. For that price you could be flying a real cessna though:)

[@Juliette_4]

have Redbird accessories and can't get it programmed into plane 11. any suggestions?

[@bigc208]

Nice setup Kevin. Do you use it for IFR currency? If you spend that much why not get a used Precision Flight Controls, FAA approved setup? They pop up on Ebay every now and then between two to three thousand dollar. Simavio on a separate monitor for your intrument panel gives you a lot more flexibility.

[@KevinBentley142]

Actually part of the reason we built this was to test some simulation products our small company has been developing as part of our research and development. Our plan is to get it FAA approved once we settle on the exact configuration of hardware and software.

[@ludovictorok]

Nice video and setup. Can you sugest your trackir configuration? I search one good, but all is so sensibile and not precis. Thanks