It all started to be very simple. The table I was using as a computer desk wasn’t able to accommodate a G27 wheel and I wanted to modify [ i.e. cut into it] so it would work. The wife had other ideas though and said “No way! You can’t do that!” So out of that one sentence my wheel/flight stick stand was born. Little did I know where it would lead and how far down the rabbit hole I would go.
Since, like many others at the time, I was unemployed I needed to keep the cost as small as possible. I had plenty of scrap wood left over from other projects so I started with that. The first version was very rough and was built just to hold the wheel and stick. I also had a Chevy Cavalier seat left over from one of my son’s projects and added that into the mix. The monitor stand was simply the computer table and I could turn it 90 degrees for gaming.
The next version, version is probably the wrong word since I just added on, included a keyboard tray.
Then came triple screens and Thrustmaster MFDs and a semblance of a dash. Still done in wood, press wood at that since that’s what I had on hand.
The next step was adding a platform on the front to hold the PC and the subwoofer as well as a few lights behind the monitors for ambient lighting. At this point it was still relatively mobile and could fit through a door with a minor amount of disassembly.
My journey to the dark side was complete but I didn’t know it yet.
I discovered the enclosed pits of Turbo Corvair, Propnut, and many others. I scoured the interweb using google and bing image searches looking for ideas, drawings, construction techniques, and parts-parts-parts. I combed automotive, plumbing, electrical, and computer modding sites hours upon hours looking for inspiration.
My design wasn’t planned at all I just kept adding wood, wiring, and a thousand screws.
It was a kludge but I didn’t want to start over. So, in my spare time, I began to design a replacement pit that would be modular and easy to take apart and get through the door. That idea is still being worked on.
In between building and design sessions I used the pit almost every day. My grandson loves to come over and drive Dirt3 and F1 2010. He has to sit on my lap as his feet can’t reach the pedals.
The frame for enclosing the beast slowly came together, still made from spare lumber. A million decisions, so it seems, needed to be made. I know that I didn’t want to have just a box. That was a mistake because I don’t have the skills of the artists that have done things like this and I was armed with only a table, circular, and jigsaw. So it took way too long to cut all of the angles I needed and the thing barely fits together. Then what about cooling, in the summer, it’s pretty warm in my office. So I needed to add fans, both intake and exhaust. Finally the basic outside structure was completed and painted. There are many more things I want to do on the outside but those are going to wait until I’m done with the interior.
Next came another million decisions. How to handle the monitors, panels, hardware mounting points and still the adhoc design on the fly approach continued. 3 panels were mounted over the monitors and the various electrical switches were moved from a project box to the 4 overhead panels that I have today. The TIR mount was the next and it too was put on the overhead panel. Speaker mounting was next with the 3 front mounted just above ear level and the rears as well.
Next was the covering for the dash. That is still a work in progress. I still have a ton of work to do and see no end in sight. I have to finish the interior construction, paint it, add back lighting to the panels, improve the door mechanism, and a host of other items.
Anyway, since seeing is believing, construction pictures will follow shortly.
Exterior
Interior
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