by Bob "Groucho" Marks

I was normal, once. Really.

I'm not quite sure what happened to me. I used to be perfectly content to protect the skies of the free world, sitting in my office chair at my desk, lining up a lethal deflection shot (nothing says "satisfaction" like a guns kill) that would finally put that godless commie SOB with Lenin where he belongs…

Maybe it was the way the MasterPilot would always slowly slide out of easy reach, or the way the rudder pedals would scoot along the carpet. Or perhaps it was the cold dread that would shoot through my heart when my wife would ask that I straighten up that jungle of cables, connectors, and wires covering the desk top- knowing that I would have to sort through the insane daisy-chain again to hook it all back up. I'm sure the F-86E ejection seat on my porch that a guy at work had given me after tenure in his back yard (those orphaned projects just get passed around) had something to do with it…

Whatever it was, something snapped. "I'm NOT flying an F-16," I raved, swinging a Suncom Talon around my head, "I'm sitting in an office chair from Costco at a wooden desk with a throttle velcroed to it!"

OK, so maybe it wasn't like that at all. But let's just say that, despite all the leaps and bounds that flight combat simulations have taken these last few years, I found that true immersion was still lacking. Besides- I needed a place to put my HOTAS stuff where I could easily use it and yet still have the desk space I need to get work done so I can get paid and buy more cool HOTAS gear!

I needed a place to put my simulated cockpit stuff. Then, it hit me- how about a cockpit! But have you priced one of those commercially built units on the 'net? Man- some of those guys are awfully proud of their product…but wait! Here's a guy in Australia who built one out of particle board, another dude in Colorado who slapped one together out of parts salvaged from an F-4…wow, I could put one together in no time, for cheap!

And that's how I became the way I am now.

Remember that Spielberg movie "Close Encounters"? Well, I feel like that character played by Richard Dreyfus- always distracted, mumbling to myself, overcome by a powerful urge to build something, and not sure what it all means…

Click to continue

Insanity Loves Company

At least I can rest easy, knowing that I'm in good company. Check out Derek's Cockpit Links for proof that mine isn't a unique delusion. There are lots of us.

Derek's site has links to just about more than anybody would want to know about building cockpits, ranging from the insanely complex where every instrument and MFD work to the elegantly simple where it can be broken down and stored easily. There are also links to some very impressive civilian airliner flight decks, mostly based on MS Flight Sim 98. I think maybe I'll tackle one of those, right after I build my City Bus and Mini-Van (Imagine the thrills- Navigating your way from the Mall to the Soccer Match) simulators.

Oops- that was a cheap shot, wasn't it? But I digress.

Every junkie has his pusher, and as with most addictive/compulsive disorders, there are people who are willing if not to drive you to the edge- at least they'll buy the gas. People who are in the midst of their own Quest for Ultimate Simulator Immersiveness cockpit building frenzy and are keen to pull others under with them.

Go to Part II