I can possibly understand why he is building it like that - for whatever reason most of us will never get to fly the real thing so a PC game is about as close as we will get! If you have a realistic 'pit it goes someway to the "suspension of reality" while in the game - enhancing the game and the experience while playing. Giving a feeling of being in the real thing without the price tag/danger/years of training etc.

Plus there is the satisfaction of having produced a piece of work that deserves to be respected and admired due to the technical expertise and dedication of the builder - the wow factor! Pit building is a hobby, however in many hobbies you encounter people that want to be at the top of their tree and others that are happy with compromises. I'm not saying either end of the scale is right just whatever suits the individual and their motivation, time and budget...

They may start out as hobbyists and move onto commercial work later, again up to the individual.

A lot of the stuff used by F-16 pit builders is copied from the real thing by incredibly talented craftsmen - just pop over to http://www.viperpits.org to see what I mean. Someone will get hold of a real part and then find a way to reproduce it or they may build it from scratch. You get a reasonable copy without the aforementioned cost - sometimes it is still expensive but more in the range of mere mortals! \:\)

At the end of the day it is "horses for courses"! If you are happy with your pit that's cool - some people will go to further lengths to fulfil their pit building desire and well that's cool too!

Cheers