I know my pit looks kind of hacked, but that’s all right with me; it works well for me. And when I convert to a type, it feels more immersive.
So, I wanted to share some pics of my conversion from F-16 to F-18. Here we go:
First, we’re a Viper pit (playing Falcon 4 BMS):
Remove the stick and throttle and the patch:
Socket Revealed:
Gonna need a dual throttle:
Here we go:
Poof! We’re a Hornet!
Most excellent!
Nice! Question - how high is the bottom of the joystick from the chair level, i.e how long is your extension?
I think it’s about a 6" extension; the palm rest on the joystick is about 1" above my thighs.
Nice pit brother! How did you get that chair made that way? DIY?
The chair started life as a Bowflex weight bench. I work out 6 days a week, but it turns out I use a few dumb bells and body weight; the bench never got used. So, I need to either get rid of it or make some other use of it.
It makes a nice, reclining fighter seat.
If I need to get in and work on the rudder pedals or something, I can recline it to horizontal (not in this pic):
I made the pedestals with 80/20. It’s really one horizontal beam that runs under, and attaches to, the seat. It’s built in such a way that I can raise or lower either side with about a 4" stroke. I think I first built this in 2011 and it has been modified many times.
Entry and exit through a step stool gives the sensation of climbing into a cockpit:
Bonus pic:
I can swivel the monitor to the other side of the desk, throw the mouse and keyboard over and do real work (or something resembling it) on the other side.
Actually, you can see in that picture that the pit has a top and sides. At one point I had an overhead panel which has since been removed. It now serves as an access to some external, indirect lighting.
