Posted in a thread on a facebook fan page and thought it might be useful to some if I shared my rig for VR flying here. The discussion was regarding the use and need for hand controllers in VR and why I look very much forward to it.
To the one who asked about how practical it is… (with handcontrollers)
Well once you get the hang of it, it is just like with VR itself, there is no going back! Hand controllers allows you to interact with the controls in the cockpit the way it was intended by design. You can do your flows and what not, and its way quicker than fiddling with a mouse which really breaks immersion.
I have flown in a home build rig for VR flying about 4 years now, and flew airliners in XP11 before switching to MSFS, so coming from a sim with controller functionality to MSFS with no controllers was/is somewhat of a step back.
How ever to any VR flight guy I can really recommend building yourself a dedicated VR cockpit for immersion reasons. Its cheap and easy to do and adds SO much to the experience.
I have added a few pics of my rig, (sorry for the low phone quality, dont have lights on in the man cave and just took them now)
Basically its an old car seat mounted on a piece of plywood. You will get a clean good carseat for less than 50 bucks at any scrapyard… And guys what… Car seats have alot of adjustability, comfort and are made for sitting well and comfy for hours and hours.
I have lifted the whole plate up on 2*4s and mounted a buttkicker on a steel mount (think it was an old bed leg from ikea) that goes through the plate… By blocking the plate from the floor it allows the whole thing to vibrate from the kicker adding a really good feel to the whole thing (like engines, touchdown etc.)
As you see it is currently in an sidestick config, but is ready for the pmdg 737. Then I will easily remove the sidestick and airbus throttle and mount the Alpha yoke and bravo throttle.
I am actually in the process on mounting the controller holder. It will hold the right hand controller easily available when I need it for manipulating knobs and switches… When in take of or landing situations I have my hands on the throttle and yoke/sidestick anyways and dont need the controller… Now if you use FScrew you will have a copilot to assist you by voicecommand if you need it.
Cons… ?
Well you really need the right tools in VR as getting up and out is a big immersion breaker and a pain… In XP you have all the tools you need with avitab and moveVR to bring your desKtop easily and effortlessly into VR for scrolling and youtube or vatsim purposes… Hopefully soon we will see something similar in MSFS.
Cant wait for the controller implementation… just hope they dont make the controller in VR look the same as in RL as the G2 controller is massive and would block your view to the knob or switch you are trying to reach…
Btw my flight controls are carefully place to match where I would find the in VR.
I just reconfigured from yoke and throttle setup so the hand controller holder is not mounted but it sits right by the throttle in a sort of holster (like a gun) so it is quite natural and fast to take it and flip what I need.
But honestly I never find myself stressing with it as the flight phases naturally decides if I need my right hand or not to flip things.
Also I have never ever had the use for the left controller… only the right hand for a right seat flight.
And as mentioned programs like fscrew will give you a first officer who will set flaps, go through checklists etc. on your voice command so that you can focus on the take off or landing.
Also you can use a program called Voice attack… With that you can bind any knob or switch to a voice command… say. “landing lights” and the landing lights will flip on or off and you can set the first officer to confirm that command.
Hope it all makes sense… Its one of those things that work beautifully and are fairly simple but lengthily to explain.
Forgot to mention… The whole rig is setup so that nothing (at least for the 737) will cause you to bump into a desk or something else… I can take my hands to any control i.e. on the autopilot, fmc, pedistal or overhead panels without bumping into stuff like you would sitting by your desk.
Closest thing you will get to an actual cockpit without building or buying a real one. (poor mans sim)
Happy flying to all you VR simmers outthere.