Very cool! I love the Longitude, and now with Working Title’s mod set to be released here in January the aircraft is going to be one of the best in the game IMO. The dakfly mod should be no longer needed once you have the WT version, so that’ll be awesome.
In terms of the measurements, I’m not really sure. As I started building mine out I soon realized it would be VERY easy to get lost in the weeds of trying to make everything exactly perfect and to scale. In fact, in the first few weeks of planning I quickly found out that I was going absolutely nowhere trying to find things that either didn’t exist, or honestly in the long run wouldn’t matter one way or the other. For example, when it came to the throttle pedestal I spent a week looking at different ways I could build my own to make it exactly the same and all of that. Same with the flaps controller, as well as the gear handle. Then, I finally told my self to stop it and just use the Honeycomb bravo throttle quadrant I already have that has all of those build right into it, and not to terribly different looking than the real thing. Just a couple of 3d printed handles later and I officially have a throttle quadrant that is done, mapped, and ready to go and while every little switch and lever may not be “exactly” the same as the real one, it’s ■■■■ close and most importantly my sanity remains in tact hahahaha.
I want to eventually enclose mine, but not until MSFS finds a reliable (and more importantly, efficient) way to provide the multi view/wrap around visual experience. Once that happens I’ll be ready to enclose this baby.
Yeah, the touch support is pretty miraculous. The sim literally does not allow any interaction with a popped-out panel at all, which is utterly useless. To make this work the software is having to simulate virtual mouse clicks in the cockpit. But it was a game-changer for G3000/5000 sims when it was added.
It’s fair to say that without the MSFS Pop Out Panel Manager (it really needs a shorter name… let’s call it MPOPM) home cockpit setups using the in-sim avionics just wouldn’t be practical. Can you imagine having to drag and size the panels manually every time you start a flight? I know some people used to do that and the idea gives me chills.
That said, the sim should do all of this itself. It should support remembering pop-out positions and automatically do so at flight start. It should support touch and mouse input to pop-outs. It should support multiple user-definable viewports so you could, for example, create a window with a view focussed on a switch panel in the sim and let you interact with it, so we don’t have to wait for people to create Air Manager panels. This is stuff that classic MSFS and P3D have done for decades (literally). It’s not rocket science.
I’m normally very nervous about a critical part of my simming experience being dependent on software written for free by a single person. We’ve been burned before. I donated to the author so that he can keep on maintaining it. This is software I’d happily pay for. But MPOPM is open-source and so even if the creator was unable or unwilling to continue working on it, someone else could.
Yep, agreed. My hope is that a lot of this third party stuff gives MSFS a kick in the pants to try and incorporate it natively…or like in the case with Working Title, bring them on as official developers/staff so that they CAN continue working it and updating while getting paid for it, as they should.
Having a fully hardware cockpit for a specific aircraft is super cool but it kind of limits the immersion to that simple type. I guess we all have different requirements and there is no right or wrong approach to a cockpit build. If it works for you then that’s all that really matters.
I just love flying so many different aircraft that I choose the versatility of Air Manager with a knobster over a dedicated cockpit.
I started down the rabbit hole of planning a home cockpit. I’m stuck at how to plan the video conections, maybe someone can help me to understand the options and the ideal.
I plan on having 3 main screens (32" at 2K) - this part I have figured out, with a good GPU…
But I also want to build a cockpit, for example the C170 with physical PFD and MFD screens, which would be 2 small 14 inch screens mounted with Arduinos to wire the buttons, and HDMI connections from the video controller to … the computer …
Where I’m stuck is, do the cockpit screens need to be on the GPU, or can they run fine if the motherboard has several HDMI ports that use the integrated graphics of the CPU? Or… should I plan on a 2nd (lower cost) GPU with a handful of HDMI ports for this purpose?
Like this one, which once you’ve built it, connects with an HDMI for video, and USB for all the control buttons and knobs:
I would love to build a Longtitude cockpit, that would require:
PFD (HDMI)
MFD (HDMI)
2 or 3 GTC touch controllers, which I supposed could be iPad mini or another touch screen… I don’t quite understand the ideal way to plan the connections for all this. A bit daunting.
If money was no object (it is, but I like to start with understanding the best first), what is the ideal way to design this?
No consumer-grade GPU will let you connect more than 4 displays (without some kind of display-aggregating tech like the old TripleHead2Go), so once you go beyond 4 screens then you need a second GPU. The iGPU will generally only let you connect 2 displays, for a total of 6. With a second dedicated GPU you can get up to 8 displays in total (or 10 if also using iGPU). This might be the way to go - put your 3 main displays on one GPU and all the others on a second GPU.
For 2D pop-outs, integrated graphics are fine in terms of performance. I use my iGPU currently to run two G1000 screens, and with DX12 I see no significant FPS drop. I certainly wouldn’t try to run 3D content on them, though.
There’s also USB-connected displays to consider. USB display adapters can work well for multiple small screens with just 2D content. Or if you have a motherboard with proper Thunderbolt support then you can connect multiple displays via USB C. At some point I’m going to a three-main-display config and then I intend to use USB display adapters for my G1000 / other cockpit displays since I won’t get them all on the iGPU (currently I have 5 displays between GPU and iGPU).
And as you already suggested, you can use something like an iPad with SpaceDesk to use it as a virtual monitor on your PC. There are some issues with CPU usage and latency there, but they’re not huge and it works OK. Plenty of people around here are using it happily.
Personally, I wouldn’t get too hung up on the physical design of the Longitude cockpit, and I wouldn’t have 3 or probably even 2 GTCs, I’d stick with one, although with AAU1 I believe you’ll be able to have independently-functioning popped-out GTCs so you could use more than one.
The iGPU connections are an option if you have them. Those will give you 1-2 more monitors for your external screens. That’a assuming your CPU has iGPU, of course. It’s not just because you have ports on the mobo that you necessarily have internal graphics support, Most pre-7000 AMD CPUs don’t. And the Intel “F” Series CPUs don’t either. And of course, it has to be enabled in the BIOS as well. Most desktop computers with a dedicated GPU will have the iGPU disabled in the BIOS by default.
You have a couple of options other than this:
USB3 to HDMI adapters - you can get single and dual monitor variants. Note these do take a small amount of CPU to run. It won’t be a huge degradation of performance, but you’ll likely lose a couple of fps running them.
A second low cost / power GPU.
I’ve done both of these, and I think the second option is by far the best and least expensive. You don’t need anything fancy. Any cheapo video card will work.
I run an RTX3070Ti as my primary GPU that drives the sim. For my extra monitors, I run an old Quadro P600 (GT1030 equivalent). I got it used on eBay for under $100. It has 4X mini-DP ports and drives the 4 touch panels I use for my Air Manager cockpit setup without issue. As an extra bonus, it’s a super low power part, so it gets its juice from the PCIe bus and requires no external power connector. It was literally a plug and play setup. Plug in the card, start the PC, and everything worked.
OK, thanks for the replies! I’m starting to understand it. I have a blank slate and a half-full piggy bank for this project, not in a hurry. My basic understanding is that most of the very fancy new GPUs will run 3 screens at 2K resolution no problem. And now I’m starting to understand a CPUs integrated graphics, or a 2nd GPU for pop outs are possible.
It seems that the main limitation of MSFS is the “mainthread” limitation (of having to sync together the world, weather, plane, traffic, etc.) From watching videos, it seems the bottleneck is Level 3 cache and the more you can get really helps. The new AMD Ryzen X3D (7900X3D, 7950X3D) have 120 GB (where most other CPUs max out L3 at 32 GB). So I’m waiting for someone to review it compared to the Intel CPUs with MSFS, and I’ll build around whichever comes out best.
I see there is some interest in my post I’m just back from a long haul away at work. I have my 3 x 65" displays set up, and have all the hardware to set up a test bench with all 7 screens. I will try over the next few days to make up a test bench and post some pics/performance tests.
Barbra … please explain. Is there something I don’t know about with the adapter? It seems to work pretty good for what is for the most part, static screens. As far a “a few extra bucks”, a new motherboard won’t solve my issues. I need 4 additional screens, not one. Unless I kick in and purchase another GPU (I do have a 3070 kicking around), and a HUGE power supply this won’t work. I’ve never set up 2 GPU’s before (don’t see why it wouldn’t work). If I run into any issues, I suppose I will need to try. I’m too far down this rabbit hole to stop.
See my post above. You don’t need a powerful GPU to run extra monitors. Nor do you need a new motherboard (assuming you have free PCIe slots).
I run 8 monitors on my computer. One screen (50" TV) runs the sim, and I have 4 touch screens I use for my Air Manager cockpit. Another screen is used for stuff like P2ATC, Navigraph, LittleNavMap, etc. The other 2 monitors are on another desk and used for my other non-simming computer needs.
I run a 3070Ti as my main GPU to drive the sim. I bought an old used Quadro P600 on ebay for under $100 to drive my 4 extra touch screens that operate my Air Manager touch screens. It was plug and play. Installed the new (old) GPU, plugged in monitors, and everything was recognized and worked instantly. I just had to adjust the monitor positions in Windows display settings panel.
Similarly, I used a 2080 SUPER + 1080Ti combo for a while, as those were the GPUs I had on hand, and that worked fine. Now I use the iGPU for my G1000 screens and that works fine too.
@Slipstreem5041 what’s your current PSU wattage? Two GPUs (at least, one modern + one older) generally don’t require a 1000W+ PSU, 750/800W would probably do it, maybe less. GPU + iGPU requires no extra power, really. And USB adapters likewise. Now, two 4000 series cards and you’d be in BIGGEST PSU EVER territory given how much juice they suck down. Also, FIRE HAZARD
I have a 1000W currently with a EVGA 3080 Ti and a 5600X cpu. I spent this afternoon and made up a quick test bench with everything set up. I’m running 4k on the 3 big screens, and custom resolutions for the screens. It’s not pretty, but it’s working. I’m getting about 37 fps with all the screens running (I will test some more around huge airports. Will post some pics shortly.
The window’s contents are replaced with “Display”
The first section is “Rearrange your displays”
Drag the screens so they match your physical arrangement (I have all 4 50" screens side-by-side - awesome for two people to collaborate in stuff with 2 keyboards and mice)
A bit further down is “Scale and layout”
Select each display (at the top) to make it the “active one” that you’re changing the settings on.
Select the display resolution and orientation you want for that display.
Scroll down a bit more - you’ll see a section called “Multiple Displays” From the dropdown, select “Extend desktop to this display”
Go back to the top and select another screen, and similarly configure it.
Play around until you get everything the way you want it.
I’m just back from a long haul away at work. I have my 3 x 65" displays set up, and have all the hardware to set up a test bench with all 7 screens. I will try over the next few days to make up a test bench and post some pics/performance tests.
