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Man Builds 737 Simulator In a Garage

Posted by samzenpus on from the time-to-fly dept.

linuxwrangler writes "It started with a dream of building a full-sized jet flight simulator. Now, 20 years, $150,000 and one divorce later, James Price can walk to his garage and fly the 737 simulator he built built from the nose of a surplus 737. From the article: 'James Price had one must-have when looking for a new home -- the garage had to be able to hold the nose of a Boeing 737 jetliner. "Once I realized I could get it in here, I was OK with the house," Price said. In his spacious three-car garage Price has a well-traveled jetliner cockpit tucked in next to the family car. Aviation experts say Price, 52, is one of only a handful of people in the world who have built their own flight simulator cockpit in an actual jet nose."

8 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. Wow! by SolitaryMan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just WOW! This is really impressive.

    (I can't believe that among ~15 posters so far nobody said the one thing this article truly deserves, so I have to be the first one)

    --
    May Peace Prevail On Earth
  2. I'm doing this too... by CompMD · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...with a bunch of local high school students. Its a long running project that we recently started to build a simulator from a Beechcraft A90 cockpit. The students are doing pretty much all the work, while some of us at local engineering firms offer guidance and help. Right now, they are making their own switch panels and interfacing them with the simulator computers using Arduino boards. The whole simulator is driven by X-Plane. We have 3x55" 1920x1080 monitors wrapping around the windshield, and a real Garmin G1000 glass cockpit system. Check out our class page to learn more about our progress.

  3. Not the only one by slew · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you haven't read the article, they also point to a few more folks building realistic commercial aircraft simulators around the world...

    For example,
    this one http://web.me.com/mattford1/Site/Matts_Boeing_737_Flight_Sim.html
    or this one http://www.hyway.com.au/747/747.html

    Although it sounds like Mr. Price's is the first one with an actual nose from a real 737 (the some of the other ones merely use some fraction of the real cockpit equipment in a shell).

  4. Not as cool as this guy by larry+bagina · · Score: 5, Interesting

    this guy, with a replica pan-am cabin in his garage. No word if he has stewardesses with 1970s-style bush.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  5. Re:Cue the investigations.... by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Considering the guy is an air traffic controller, I'm pretty sure they trust him.

    Considering that the TSA have reportedly confiscated scissors and bottles of water from airline pilots, I wouldn't be so sure about that.

  6. Re:I'm glad they consulted the experts. by Cosgrach · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Since I volunteer in a railway museum, I don't need no stinkin' full size train simulator!

    --
    Why is it that most of the people that I encounter seem to have been shat from the Sphincter of Mediocrity?
  7. Pretty cool, however... by fpp · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'd really like to see a Millennium Falcon simulator. Full sized cockpit, attacking Star Destroyers, rescuing amputees from weather vanes, the whole nine yards. That would be impressive. Most impressive.

  8. Re:I'm glad they consulted the experts. by TSpec · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Well how about an F-15C?

    http://www.f15sim.com/