I've been wanting to build my own cockpit for ages now. What I have at the moment is a detachable setup that I just put in front of my PC desk whenever I want to sim; I want to have a dedicated 'pit setup so that I get rid of the cleanup/setup part (yeah, I'm that lazy).

I'm playing DCS A10 with TM Warthog, Saitek pedals, TM MFDs, and TrackIR. I prefer a center-stick setup, and I'm playing with metalnwood's joystick extension which raises the stick about 6 inches from the base. I want a "proper setup" with regards to the 'pit which means the controls should be more-or-less where they'd really be in the real aircraft. I'm planning for a CDU, UFC, and radio panels later on as well.

My biggest problem is where to start. I have a gut feeling that all the measurements would have to start with what seat I'll be using. I'm planning to pick up an old car seat from a junk shop somewhere, then mount that on a platform, then build the cockpit from there. The reason for starting with the chair is because this will determine my "eye level" and how far the pedals have to be... and how high the side panels have to be off from the floor to be at the proper height. Then I also want to have a detachable keyboard tray for when I'm surfing or posting, but would want to be able to "mount" the keyboard on the 'pit setup once I'm simming.

Also, I want this to be cheap so no Obutto or other professionally made setups for me.

Any help/guidance appreciated.