Slashdot Mirror
Build Your Own Boeing 737 Simulator
crux6rind writes "This guy built his own Boeing 737-700 simulator in his garage. The simulator uses elements of a retired Continental B-737-100 along with other genuine Boeing 737 avionics and system components. The simulator will be of the fixed-base variety (no motion, just outside visuals), using Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000, interfaced with R&R Electronics' EPIC system. This system allows you to interface switches, lights, buzzers, gauges, digital readouts with virtually any PC flight simulator out there."
So who'd rather fly a boat than a sexy Stealth?
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Here is a mirror.
He paid 25,000 - 30,000 USD for the stuff currently. I figure thats about how much this slashdotting will cost him in bandwidth.
Ready....Aim....SLASHDOT
but this is uber cool anyway. I had a difficult time understanding the timeline of the pictures, but still, very cool. As an avid Sim Pilot and a student pilot, this is the holy grail of sim-ers.
--sig fault--
I use my garage for something better than that...
I park my car in it!
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
boy that /. effect is no sim...
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Build Your Own Boeing 737 Simulator - if you happen to have a spare 737 lying around to build it from!
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
If he paid $25,000 to build this you would think he could pay $50 to get a new version of MS Flight Sim.
is that he can fit it in his garage.
Does the simulator keep track of how fast the virtual airline is burning up cash, and how long before they go bankrupt?
And, of course, no airplane cockpit is complete, these days, without a Breathalyzer.
I actually helped a friend do this in a spare bedroom of his. Fun project.
Interestingly, he hooked it up to electric garage door hardware and enabled manual tilt forward and aft.
We used ProPilot before they got out of the business.
The obvious terrorism/ flight sim remarks. Oh, nevermind.
OT: The parent is yet another reason to elim AC's altogether. Pfffffttttt..........
"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand". -Milton F.
he couldn't build a Beowolf Simulator to keep his site from getting /.ed
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
If the terrorists are going to try plane tricks again, they better bring a big bomb and they better be quick about detonating it, because there is zero chance that any passenger in this country will stand idly if they break out anything less at go time.
Smithers, I've designed a new plane. I call it the Spruce Moose, and it will carry 200 passengers from the New Yorkâ(TM)s Idlewild airport to the Belgium Congo in 17 minutes!
668: Neighbour of the Beast
here probably doesn't help the server to embed a wave file on your home page
A Continental jet cockpit? How ironically funny if he could make it Linux-powered...
- One from OZ built into a Ford chassis
- An F/A 18 Hornet simulator made from wood, also in OZ
- A Boeing 767 in London that "flies" around the world
- A "multi-mission simulator" by an avionics engineer in the US
- An F-15 in Washington
You're welcome.Let's try not to Slashdot 'em too badly.
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
Well I was going to post me building my own 1 for 1 scale model of mars for testing habitation without actually going there... but obviously it was rediculous and I kept screwing up the tides.
I hope this guy isn't running a flight school to train terrorists!
"There's no air in space."
Homer: "Then why's there an Air In Space Museum?"
You should submit an Ask Slashdot about this, there's obviously plenty of people here that have tried such a thing before
So how long do we give the Feds to come in and determine that it is in National Security interests to confiscate the hole thing.
It is said that a child learns wisdom from the parent,
but the truly wise parent learns joy from the child
Yeah, but if the flight simulator crashes as well as his web server, we don't really need to worry...
Slashdot: Turning expensive hardware into smoking goo since...
--That's the point of being root, you can do anything you want, even if it's stupid.
to practice how to land.
As long as they don't touch my car...
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
Iwas just over a year ago /. had another article just like this about a guy who built a 747 cockpit.
Check it out.
There are some 200 people (over a dozen using real aircraft fuselages) who are building home built simulators of aircraft and other things. I am helping to build a F-15C simulator, for more information see the July issue of "Smithsonian Air and Space". The task is really quite involved many of the people within the /. community would find that this is a very engaging hobby. One that involves every skill they ever learned and forces them to learn new skills as well. The very idea that these people are doing case mods that look like aircraft to run some of instruments would interest the /. community.
A 737 is a cute little plane... Remember when Slashdot covered this guy's 747 Simulator?
Now they can learn to crash planes in the comfort of their computer chairs, just like seven year olds with computers have been doing for years.
-- Seq
I plan on pumping some fat unix administrator full of helium and tethering him above my computer.
http://www.x-plane.com
...
This program has FAA endorsement, unlike that other toy I used to use
http://www.x-plane.com/ 'nuff said.
Save time now so you can waste it later
Well, this would be useful for increasing flight sim realism, which is what this guy is doing. As for the aircraft carrier, I guess that if you could afford one, it wouldn't make a half-bad yacht...and home for your private plane.
I can buy you a gem of a Piper Cherokee for that, then you would be flying for real.
*shrugs* That's about how much I have spent on all my flying minus the money I made by doing a little instruction and commercial flying.
Post-911, learning how to fly a commercial jet became a dangerous skill. The US gov't started monitoring and possibly limiting who can attend flight school for commercial aircraft.
:^(
Now someone can build a garage in Lybia, Syria, Iran, the Philippines, etc.
Yay.
That made me laugh! Thanks!
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Instead of the lame little (even at 21inch) CRT, why not get a reasonable LCD projector and a screen a few feet in front of the beast and look out the windscreen at it? Like they do with some real simulators...
--
"we live in a post-ideological world..." - Billy Bragg.
This isn't any more of a full blown simulator than any of the other cockpit building projects. Flight sim enthusiasts have been building their own cockpits using EPIC cards for years- one person even used an old F-15 nose section that was rotting away at a museum and refurbished it completely.
e .earthlink.net/~bluumax/o m/
Building F-16 cockpits is pretty popular, interfaced with Falcon 4.0 which is easily the most realistic combat sim all around (yes, Flanker 2.5 and Il-2 probably have better flight models). Here are some current F-16 cockpit projects:
http://www.f16cockpit.net/
http://hom
http://virtualf16.20m.c
One convenient thing about building an F-16 cockpit is the Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS joystick & throttle, which are exact replicas of the HOTAS system used in the F-16; all metal and accurate down to the lettering next to the buttons.
Again, this is not an uncommon thing in the flight sim world. Some go as far as purchasing flight suits and helmets to wear while flying in their virtual worlds.
Sometimes I think maybe people plant these kinds of things just to see if terrorist really will try to use them. Here, take these plans to build a nuke and see what happens. Here, build your own flight simulator.
See, they weren't afraid, they were just following what had, up to that point, been standard operating procedure. Someone hijacks a plane, you take them where they want to go, they let people go free. Yay. They changed the rules, and now people will fight back because either way, they may die.
Didn't I see this here about a year ago? Or am I remember ign things about the XPlane project that this guy happened to be linked to?
As I walk through the valley of death I fear no one, for I am the meanest sonova bitch in the valley!
Well, Fine! I'll go build my own simulator.
With Black-jack...and hookers.
In fact, forget the Black-jack!
Awe, screw the whole thing.
This is just begging for a FlightGear hookup.
It is well known that terrorists use flight simulators to learn how to fly the aircraft they hijack. This one is inexpensive enough for terrorists to build themselves, and uses off-the-shelf Microsoft technology.
This confirms what we already knew: Microsoft is responsible for terrorism. I think it's time we locked up Gates and Ballmer under the Patriot Act.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
http://web.archive.org/web/20020605233123/http://w ww.737sim.com/
C'mon man, they'll be learning off of a sim using microsoft flight simulator, it'll teach them how the plane can crash itself.
Is it possible to use flightgear?
I don't want to get an illegal copy of Windows.
Build one of these and stick it in the front of this
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
it will run on linux, mac, and of course the hated and feared os ms windows. it is free to d/l but is 23$ a disk for a copy of all the variations, documentation, and as much north american sceenery as possible. $15 for one of the sceenery disks and $70 for the set of 8
mirror
damn, this guy really scored: here
kudos to you buddy. perhaps you could join the zero altitude club in your nifty little homemade cockpit.
More interestin info can be found at this interesting /. thread about a "guy building a 747 simulator in his backyard!"
A beginners' guide to Portland, OR?
Is this guy planning to take out some buildings, too?
Home-built 747 Simulator, and we all know that 747's are the real bad boys of the sky.
Tierce
Tierce
Who sponsors your feelings?
...is that his wife/girlfriend/mom lets him keep it.
A friend and I had an opportunity to do the same thing with an A-7 Corsair cockpit, but his wife nixed the idea of having a 7'x4'x12' perennial project in "her" garage.
"You done taken a wrong turn."
-Bill McKinney, in Deliverance
I suspect he'll be 'detained for questioning' any day now by the feds.
Am I the only one that's a little unsettled by this? No need for suicidal terrorist hijackers to go to flight school and get their names written down on paper and entered into databases for tracking; when a paltry $30,000 investment gets them a damn good flight simulator.
I'm not trying to be funny, I'm trying to be dead serious. As it stands, since 9/11, the US government has been able to track down some of the hijackers and tell which flight schools they attended, and etc. But what about when a hijacker doesn't need to attend flight school; never even has to put his name down on paper, or enter it into a database, or even interact with anyone at all? If some fellow in his garage can throw this together on a $30k budget, what can an oil baron with $2M to throw at it create? They say that the terrorist cells that planned 9/11 were at it for upwards of 7 years, so it is surely obvious to everyone that they'd be willing to throw down the time and effort to build one of these simulators. (No doubt in the trailer of a large truck, so it can tour all over the country and train every single last cell there is...)
Am I paranoid, or spot-on? Should this be cause for concern, or not?
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
It'll run Microsoft Walnut 8.0.
I work in the flight sim business developing software. I was in the commercial side of things (Lear, Cessna, 777, etc) for a couple of years and most of the host software is written in Fortran. Now I am in the military side of things (Apache, Commanche, F18, etc.) Fortran and Ada form the basis for much of the host code. It is an ugly depressing world down in the bowels of the host code for these high tech sims. The Visuals, networking (HLA), and newer systems are starting to propogate towards newer code. It is interesting to see the mish-mash build for such huge projects. CGF (computer generated forces), SAF, IOS (instructor operating staions), are typically of a more modern paradigm, but they interface with Ada and Fortran code that drives the host simulation. You have never seen so many global variables in you life. GOTO's abound. It is a wonder to me at times how the systems work at all. But diligence and hours and hours of trainer time seem to work out most of the bugs. I usually get 10 or so hours a week on a trainer and most of the time don't even fire up the engines and fly it around. At first it is the ultimate video game, but after a while, it is just a job and deadlines have to be met and my code must work. Flight Sims are amazing engineering projects involving hundred of engineers and millions of lines of code. It is imposible for one engineer to know the inner working of all the systems (although I think my cubie might). It is definately an exciting and satisfying industry to get into as a young engineer or software geek, but be prepared to get out that old FORTRAN book from your freshman year in college because you will need it. Oh yeah, and brush up on your Ada. And you better know Unix/Linux. Windows don't play in the real time sim world. All of our systems are progressing from proprietary Unix systems (SGI-IRIX) and the like to Linux (RedHat). Host, visual, IG, networking. All of it eventually will be Linux based PC systems. The cost savings are too important to ignore. And we have the inhouse know-how to run on any system. Why not the cheapest?
I was watching the Discovery channel, and saw a show about pilot training or something, and it compared the American training sims (with real cockpit controls, digital displays surrounding the pilot, etc) and Soviet ones (where the viewable area around the pilot was broken down into 6 or so sections where the picture on each section was actually printed on a roll, and the rolls would all scroll back and forth with the pilots movements to try and provide a realistic setting for the aircrafts movements).
The show mention that as the Russian technology/funding improved, and they were able to build better simulators, they auctioned off their old ones, many of which went to nations with hand-me-down militaries, like Afghanistan.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I'd really like to look into buying one just as a keepsake, although they probably belong in museums =)
off topic? does no one get this? flat-heads.
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
In my six years at Boeing (and I'm told that, given the layoffs, I did well to last that long), I was fortunate enough to be able to 'fly' the full-motion 747 sim, as well as the fixed-base 737 NextGen.
Although the full-motion is definitely what I'd class as a "wild ride" in terms of convincing one's senses (ever try to land a 747 on only two engines?), I found that (much to my surprise) the fixed-base sims can produce many of the same sensations, simply by the projected movement on the window displays.
In other words: When I went into a climb in the fixed-base unit, it still felt like I was tilting up despite the fact that there were no motion components to move the cab around. Same thing when I went into a turn. I caught myself leaning into it, and feeling like it was really happening, just as I did during my private pilot training.
While fixed-base may not provide the full experience, it most definitely provides enough to effectively fool the senses if it's done right. And it sounds like this fellow did it right.
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
Trust a geek to build a simulator in his house, rather then actually go out and fly for real, hahaha.
Im sure, at least, some aircraft have drink holders.:)
... cruise missile.
...
With wonderful plans like this around, I guess terrorists-in-training won't no need to use the flightsim to work out how to crash into the Statue of Liberty any more
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Link contains trojan horse!
This just blows up my nerd factor scala ...
to attack Slashdot
These type of projects rarely get finished. I mean look at this guy's project. It's been several years, you can tell he's losing interest, and hardly anything is done.
It takes a crapload of work to get a simulator like this working. Especially a "complicated" plane like a 737. Rewiring all those panels, all the software, blech. This can go on for years and years and never even come close to being what a real simulator is.
Here ya go
If he's allowed to post instructions on the Internet about how to make one of these, then the terrorists win!!
... on how much he contributes to CREEP 2K4...
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
Below are pics of the flight deck as it arrives at Boeing South (my parent's house in Dallas, Texas)
Now, why am I not surprised...
You can buy your own simulator here. The "Tropos" system even uses a custom ATI Chipset.
That's ignorance.
First of all, what allows Airbus to "compete" with Boeing is the Gargantuan sunsidies they get from French, Spanish, and British and German governments.
Pilots do NOT have common type ratings across the entire Airbus line. They can fly common ratings between aircraft of similar size, capacity, and flight characteristics, but the same is true for Boeing's newer glass cockpit aircraft... (757 and 767, for example.)
Furthermore, Airbus only surpassed Boeing in terms of aircraft ordered. However, once cancellations, are factored in, Boeing maintains its lead in both profitability, and aircraft deliveries.
By the way, the A380's maximum projected capacity, (in cattle car configuration), is 656, not 800+ or anywhere near it. Since it's not flying yet, we don't know what reality will be. Perhaps you are spouting about the A3XX, which is absolutely going to require a rating all its own.
"Welcome to Jackass. My name is Achmed. I call this one 'World Trade Center'."
Take out the part of the system that simulates landings. Just have the simulations conclude with "docking" at a skyscraper.
I totally agree with that, except that I've asked several times for a time-speedup or distance-compression feature. Currently to make an 8 hour cross-country haul, you have to actually have the sim run for 8 hours. Of coruse you can put it on autopilot and walk away..... But Austin did not want to add anything like that to the sim. *shrug*, I can understand that, I'm just playing it as a game but it's *most* useful as an aerodynamic modeler, or in cases like logging time where you don't WANT to speed it up. Can we get a mod to mod down the "mod parent down" post please?
Save time now so you can waste it later
This guy built a replica space shuttle cockpit, complete with missions to run.
This post expresses my opinion, not that of my employer. And yes, IAAL.
testing..what a modbombing this thread took. is it still on??