With a fever pitch over the last few months, we have developed a new line of instruments that will satisfy those looking for a no cost alternative to project magenta software. Beginning today, new instruments are available for King Air/ Beech 1900 sim builders.

The new instruments include a dual needle RMI (Radio Magnetic Indicator), Beechcraft airspeed indicator, and a Beechraft type digital vertical speed indicator. These instruments are designed to look real including shadowing on the gauge faces and needles. Extremely smooth movement only adds to the realism you will get with the new instruments. In the coming months, you can expect to have a complete King Air/ Beech 1900 main panel, the only one that we know of available today!

Stay tuned for the release of individual general aviation instruments as well. Beginning with the release of the general aviation altimeter, based on the version found in the general aviation set, and coming soon, the Cessna 182s airspeed indicator. OBS indicators are shortly to follow along with engine and electrical indicators.

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I have always loved glass cockpits. They look so high tech, so colorful, so complex. When I looked into building my own cockpit several years ago, I found a little program called FreeFD. With glass cockpit software, one can quickly build a nearly complete cockpit with a few monitors and cleverly placed fake analog gauges. For aircraft like the 737NG, 757,777, and all of the Airbus aircraft, this is the only choice.

I have come to understand however, that there are lots of builders out there that prefer the gritty simple feel of general aviation instruments. As such, we have seen the rise of only a few companies that produce such simulated instruments. In a quick browsing of their sites one notices that it can cost thousands of dollars to populate a simple Cessna 172 panel. Why so expensive?

My analysis of this matter begins with my Engineering training and my buddies MBA analysis of business. Developing just one instrument takes an enormous amount of time in programming, electrical design, mechanical design, graphical design, and manufacturing. Most companies will most likely have at least one person for each of the above mentioned processes. Secondly, one must ask: Just how many of these can I sell? Market research determines much of the cost of a product. Certain products are marketed to consumers who can pay a premium price and some are marketed to those who have a very low price tolerance. Being the cost conscious (read cheap) builder that I am, I wonder why these companies are developing instruments that cost so much. I think the problem is that their research indicates that there is a very small percentage of builders that will purchase their instruments, as a result in order to make a profit they must mark up the price to make up for the low volume.

Not having any first hand information to back up this rant, I could be wrong. My take on a business built around a hobby is simple. Don’t price people out of the hobby they love. After all, many of us love to get our hands dirty and build stuff. That certainly saves us money. Sure we can buy a complete 737NG MIP, but where is the fun in that? And is it really a hobby if we are just unwrapping and plugging in?

Hello all. I have created this blog to share my experiences with flight simulation and cockpit building. Please stay tuned for informative information about our hobby.

Jason