Thanks for the hint, Walker. :-)

Nice idea with the folding wings in your pit :-) And I envy you for the triple monitors...

Two quick ones:

1. I intend to secure the stick with screws. Is it comfy to have the mouse on the right side of the stick for fps etc?

2. When you had a wheel in your pit, did you have racing pedals also? I'm not quite sure how and where to put my 2 sets of pedals..

I think that I've come up with an okay plan. I think that if I go with this build, I will make a few of the joints detachable, so that I can move the thing around when needed.









Again, I would appreciate any feedback on this, so that I can fix potential flaws before I start building.

Now, the only moveable part is the keyboard drawer.

Hmmm, never thought of arranging the pedals that way. But what really concerns me is the possibility of the top set of car pedals getting in the way of the bottom set of rudder pedals, and how easily your chair will adapt to both postures.

I've tested the pedal positions, by setting up my pedals as on the drawing. I have no problem operating the bottom pedals, and by tilting the office chair backwards, the top pedals should be comfy. At least they're okay without tilting.

If you still wanted to explore making the PVC plans work... Yes, cross bracing cables should allow that to work. You could always put the anchoring eyebolts through the PVC fittings where the corners are joined. The fittings are made of nice thick PVC and are resistant to cracking/breaking.

The wood plans look pretty good, too. I shared NamelessPFG's concern about the utility of the two fixed pedal positions. If your chair will adapt well enough, then I guess you're good to go.

Why not swing one set of pedals up under the keyboard tray when not being used ?

I'm sure it could be done with pulleys and cord/cable. If you wanted to impress you could always fit a motor ....

Hope this helps,



Andy

Thanks for the feedback and idea.

Regarding the pedals / rudder posistion, I've actually set them up, and tested them to see if theres any problems using them while theyre placed exactly by the measurements on the drawing. With a chair, that doesn't even tilt, I can operate both sets of pedals without problems. So I think that it will be even better when I get an office chair that tilts.

I would think about adding some verticle supports between the right platform under your mouse and stick and the platform your PC sits on. There will be a lot of pressure on that during flight and over time it may work itself loose.

Really good overall concept! I'm still intrigued by the pedals deployment.. I am playing with an offshoot simliar to what Andy recommended for my pit.

Can't wait to see it come to life.

Dud

Now I'm almost ready to order materials and start the build

I've discarded the 1st version I drew (PVC pipe pit). And I've actually made yet another plan, with the joystick placed much closer to the chair, so that it doesnt have to be angled, and the mouse is more reachable. (simpit v3 :-D )
Additionally, the keyboard now lays freely on the tabletop, which means no need for sliders etc. There's room for the keyboard under the steering wheel.

Here's the 2 plans, now I just need to decide which to go with, and maybe tweak it a bit.

Sorry for the delayed response!

1. I don't mind having the mouse to the right; however, I would prefer to have it elevated higher, like in your v3. The angle is a little uncomfortable on the wrist after a while.
2. I had to swap pedals out by hand, and I drilled a hole through them and secured them with a wood screw. Having them both setup would be much much better.

As far as the pedal position, seeing the above post by Andy gave me an idea. Instead of having the top pedals "tilt" up, you could have them mounted on a keyboard sliding tray and slide them up at an angle to get them out of the way. They would have to be latched in the upped position, which could be accomplished with a string and spring loaded pin as discussed earlier.

Also, the computer case could be mounted behind the monitors, above the pedals. This makes it up a little higher and easier to access if you need to unhook cables etc, as opposed to sitting on the ground (also keeps it up out of dust that collects on the floor).