DIY flight simulator motion rig

Matt Thomas of Roger Dodger Aviation (and Maker Faire Kansas City fame) designed and built this Moving Axis AirCraft Simulator, which is a flight simulator that tilts and shifts you as you fly a virtual plane. If you’ve been thinking about building something similar, you are in luck- along with the device itself, he also recorded a series of tutorial videos on the trials and tribulations of constructing such a device. He writes:

The Moving Axis AirCraft Simulator (MAACS) was our first experimental effort in motion flight simulation. We also delved into virtual reality along the way.

The menu on the right is a series of videos that show how MAACS works. It shows how MAACS was developed, and how we tried different configurations.

…and we tried a lot of stuff. We called this rapid prototyping. Basically, you draw up an idea, then buy a bunch of boards and plywood, bang it together and see what works and what doesn’t.

It was a lot of trial and error. It was frustrating and fascinating all at the same time. This is the MAACS series.