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Read on to discover the steps you can take to put together an ultimate home cockpit for your flight simulator. It can be confusing if you are new to the flight simulator world. The realism of flight simulators has improved significantly in the last few years. Flying on your own P.C is great fun and with the proper controls can give you the most realistic flight experience possible without leaving the ground. The following 5 steps will guide you to building your own home cockpit.

1. Check and Upgrade Your Computer

As the flight simulator software has become more realistic, it requires more processing power from the P.C. You’ll need a reasonably powerful computer, especially if you are going to use one of the latest packages, such as Microsoft flight simulator X. A high end graphics card is also necessary so that the graphics and scenery can be displayed smoothly.

2. Add Some Control

You should think of what aircraft you would like to fly before buying the gear for your cockpit. There are many aircraft to choose from ranging from fighter jets to aerobatic planes, single engined small planes to the biggest jets such as the Boeing 737 and 747. Aircraft have different controls in the cockpit, for example jets and some aerobatic planes are flown with a stick, whereas a Cessna or Boeing is flown with a traditional yoke. It is not until you connect a yoke to your flight simulator that you will realise that it is a totally different experience to flying with a keyboard and mouse.

3. Control it with Your Feet

Rudder pedals are important in flying in a number of usual situations. Of course the most basic use of rudder pedals is for properly executing coordinated turns. The yoke will control the bank of the aircraft but you need rudder pedals to swing the tail at the same time. Rudder pedals are also useful for landing in crosswind, to help keep your nose lined up with the runway. Finally the rudder is also needed to apply brakes on the ground and to taxi.

4. More Controls

It is possible to go beyond the yoke and rudder pedals and replicate the whole set of controls in a cockpit. You can get radio panels, throttle quadrants, control panels that can be programmed with functions such as gear, prop, mix. Realistic sized instrumental controls such as compass, vertical speed, altimeter and airspeed can also be added.

5. Close it In

The ultimate home cockpit needs a home, away from your normal computer desk or table. The best home cockpits are enclosed, the more enclosed you can make it the more realistic the flying experience. The cockpit structure can be built from anything from wood  to metal to even real aircraft parts.

For help and information on finding the best flight simulator yoke for you, visit www.flightsimulatoryoke.org