Quick update on my Obutto....which I admit isn't a "pit" like some of the excellent work I've seen in here, but it suits my needs and I use it as a desk.

I've been doing some extensive modifications over the past 4 months on my cockpit to make it both a great place to fly virtually but also support first person shooters. Here are some pictures. Please note:

1.) The lapdesk is now an armrest with an additional arm rest extension (Restman II) I purchased from Amazon. It pivots on the clamp mount so its really great to use.

2.) I added a chrome motorcycle cup holder on the right side.

3.) Mounted my GoFlight mini rack panel under the desktop, which is now permanently mounted to the frame.

4.) Bought and mounted a keyboard and mouse slide tray from Amazon under the desk. I use the mouse fold out to hold my Logitech G13 when I am playing first person shooters.

5.) Did extensive modifications to the right side throttle mount. It now holds a GoFlight rack and GF-LGT II module. Also mounted a Saitek throttle quadrant for prop pitch, mixture and radiator controls.

6.) added a small shelf on top of the triple monitor mount to hold speakers, a model plane and model helmet.

7.) Did extensive wiring work using plastic wiring tubing from Home Depot (I hate wires and cables showing).

8.) Permanently mounted my G940 pedals (modded to be standalone units) to the Obutto rudder plate.

9.) Added a 9" DoubleSight touchscreen to the right (for Helios / Touchbuddy controls and to display Windows 7 desktop gadgets).









I also did some modifications to my Logitech G930 wireless headset so I can use it wirelessly with my TrackIR trackclip pro. I velcroed a rechargable cell phone charger on the side of it for the USB power cord. I then ran the USB charge cables from a powered USB hub under the seat to charge the headset and the cell phone charger.




Lots of hard work...but its pretty close to done.

that is awesome. great job.

Did an awsome job there Hoplite! I did some modifying to mine over the weekend too. Moved my to left and right forward speakers up, and further apart. What a diffrence in sound quality! I too, added some switches just aft of my ProThrottle. Because I added the switches, and moved my speakers, it gave me an opportunity to re-route my cabeling. Let's just say, practice, makes perfect. Now I don't have a lot of wires all bunched up behind my monitor. I'll get some pictures and post them later tonight...

Very nice, man! Looks slick!

Hoplite, what monitors are you using?

My updates...
Overview...


New switches added...


New forward speaker placement...



For those of you wondering how I fit with my stick centermounted...


And, throttle placement...

My google-fu says the VA2431WM in the Viewsonic's lineup.

Negative. Viewsonic VX2739WM. 27" 1ms response time.

Ah, a "bit" bigger.

Yup! When I started this project I knew I was building something that would last me for several years....so I went all out.

Next steps:

1.) Just purchased a used GoFlight throttle off of eBay to replace the Saitek (not a big fan of that unit...).

2.) sometime next year I plan to replace the standard Obutto seat with a full leather car seat.....don't get me wrong, its not a bad seat...it just could be better.