Home cockpit on a budget

Hi all,

Just wanted to share what I’m doing in case it helps people out who can’t afford to go the whole way. Much as i would love a full komodosim setup or something like it, I’m also trying to save to get my pc upgraded so i got to choose for now.

Essentially i have the thrustmaster flight control setup with the t1600m joystick, the rudder pedals and the throttle. They don’t lend themselves immediately to helos so i made a few modifications…

For the joystick, i just took the centering spring out. It’s not too loose so although it definitely doesn’t feel like hydraulics it’s better than the centre spring feel. I then mounted it on top of a little stand so that it sits between my legs, so i can use just my wrist for control and rest my forearm on my leg. Much more natural and less fatigue-inducing.

For the throttle, I’ve found a way to mount it on the side of my chair so it pulls up like a collective. It works pretty well though the tension is very light - i have tightened the tension screw but got little difference so any pointers would be helpful.

Finally i thing and what I’m most pleased with are the pedals. We all know most mainstream sim pedals are made for fixed wing and the feel is all wrong having to use your whole leg instead of just the ankle. So all i did was… turn them around 180 degrees. I had to make a heel rest to bring my feet up to height, and i put some foam pipe insulation on the ends for comfort, but it works really well. Because of the action of it, you get some spring tension out of the toe brake axes (which i leave unassigned) but it’s also really easy to remove the centre spring on the pedals too so it feels more real.

I know it doesn’t look very special, but i got myself a vr headset so I can’t see it when i fly. The difference in my abilities is astounding- i actually feel like i can control my favourite heli (I’m an ec135 kinda guy, can’t wait for these updated xplane models)

I’d be grateful for any pointers or suggestions to improve further but also if anyone wants more how2 let me know I’ll tell you what i did. If the pics work, that’s my rudder pedals setup. I’ll get some more pics of the whole thing soon.

Take care all
Nathan

Hey Nathan! I’ve seen other simmers doing that hack and it seems to work very nicely! For that pedal set I really can’t give you any other tips. The stick has the spring inside so it can’t be removed. That would be another hack I would recommend you. Either that or extend it with a pipe. But both require you to actually open the stick.