Hey, Ive been lurking on this site for about 3 years now and I have to say you guys are pretty talented and Im a total noob so...heres my idea.

I want to build a flight sim pit using either a folded projector so I can have some space saving. Ive decided to use a 15inch monitor but I havent even looked at a brand yet so, first, thats a good suggestion

Anyway, heres my idea and any suggestions are welcome.



Keep in mind, this is a VERY rough sketch, I did it while I was working and its just an outline.

Happy Chrismahanniquanzika (Or, simply put, Christmas) Everyone

I noticed no one responded, thats cool...its a rough outline of what I want to build.

Luckily for me, my wife got me some tools for Christmas, a circular saw, jig saw and nail gun.. I'm geeked.

So, unfortunately for her, my evil plans for DIY domination have already started formulating. Over the next few weeks or so, Im going to start gathering things for the chair build. Firstly, I really want to find a nice car chair from a car, in the area we have a few You Pull It places and Im hoping to find a faux leather or cloth seat from an Acura or Lexus (Haha, thats funny, like anyone actually scraps those things...do they??)

As for the projector, I may build the chair first, then start working on that...or vice versa...I have to find a good 15 to 17in screen (changed my mind on the 15 because I kinda want to have HD available if I can)

Anyway, just a quick update for yall and Happy New Year from the Raven's Den.

Interesting idea, but I would be a little worried having the chair and projector directly attached... You wouldn't want a mirror or anything to get thrown out of alignment because someone sat down too hard or did something else to jar the whole unit.

Hmm... since I'm already posting a reply, I'll add that I think you shouldn't bother with the triple fold that's in the drawing. I think the average fs mirror will only pass 94-97% of the light, and that adds up to a decent amount of loss after 3 mirrors. You should have plenty of room back there to just have a standard vertical setup...

Anyway, good luck! keep us posted

I started out with the same idea and have just finished construction of the projector. What I have planned is to just build the pit and put a shelf just above head level. I did a simple horizontal build with a 17" widescreen, in the process of just tweaking all the little details now. I used a Hanns-g HW-173 got it from newegg for $149 with a $50 rebate. I'd definately go with a 17" the resolution gain will be well worth it over the 15. Also something to think about is throw distance. For something like a simpit the short throw will be big plus. What kind of sims do you play?

Yeah, I agree, the 17in may be a better solution considering I really wanted to get a Blue-Ray/HD Combo drive for it.

And after thinking about it a little, Ingrown im starting to see what you mean. Im not light weight, so...my wonderous rump bumping into the chair may shake the mirrors out of alignment would be a bad thing. Also, Im most likely going to be the only one using said setup so...maybe a shelf mount like Mark mentiond would be better.

Mark, right now, Im addicted to IL2 1946, but I dont get to play as much as I like that and I suck...lol.

Anyway, Im starting to buy wood and what not as we type but, I have to wait till our fence is up since we have happy handed thieves living in our neighborhood and they seem to like taking food from our freezer, not to mention stuff from our kids, like a high chair that was in our shed...idiots...so were putting in a 6 foot privacy fence...then, its PROJECT TIME>>:D

The chair is an interesting idea. I'd like to see how this turns out. Good luck.

Just a quick note for your Blu-Ray/HD desire. Try to find a 17in. monitor that supports HDCP. I think you will get a much more accurate picture if you use a digital connection (DVI/HDMI) vs. an analog connection (VGA). Even if you have a PC with a video card that supports HDCP, the monitor has to also support it for using your digital connections. OF course, I have heard people mention software that removes the HDCP requirement (AnyDVD HD, I think), but then you are limited to Blu-Ray via a computer. If you ever find a deal on a stand-alone player, you won't be able to connect it to your projector.

Just my 2 cents.

P.S. There is also the "HD Fury" hardware solution for stripping off the HDCP requirement, but that also converts the signal to VGA, which I personally think dampens the digital experience.