G'day everyone,
I am a student pilot flying Cessna 172S's. I fly both the steam and glass cockpit versions. I know that I must be part of the minority that like to fly the G1000, but I guess that if everyone one here actually flew the G1000 in real life they would find it far superior to the steam gauges.
For a few years now I have been wanting to take my flight simulator experience further. As much as I would love to build a 737 simulator I realize that it is too expensive and time consuming. So I have been contemplating about building a cessna 172 simulator.
What I would really like to build is a is a rather accurate simulation of 172 with G1000 avionics. G1000 seems a bit far fetched though, after reading other posts. I will not be building a full shell, just the MIP due to space constraints.
I do have a few questions:
1. What would be a good software for G1000 gauges? Please don't tell me project magenta as they are already way out of my budget.
2. Would it be OK to use 2 18" screens instead of 2 10.4" screens as the 10.4 are extremely expensive. The larger screens would just be placed behind the normal sized bezels. The only problem I find with that is that there would be a rather big gap between the MIP and the screens due to the buttons and rotaries.
3. I already have the saitek switch panel. Could I possibly take it apart, replace the switches with toggle switches and extend the cables to reach where they need to go.
4. What aircraft should I use for the 172 simulation. Like the default, flight 1 172N ect. ??
5. Am I absolutely retarded about wanting the make a G1000 cockpit?
Looking forward to your answers and ideas. I am sure I have many more questions but it has been my first week back at school and I dead tired.
Cheers,
Ollie