The immersion

I often use the term immersion in my articles.

For me, immersion in a simulator is very important.

What is immersion?

Immersion describes the feeling of being able to completely immerse yourself in the simulated environment. The first time I had the great feeling of great immersion was when I flew a lap around Zurich in a Boeing 737 simulator in Amriswil on Lake Constance years ago.

Some important aspects that contribute to immersion are high-quality visual and acoustic elements.

For this reason, I spent many hours finding the right solution for the projection environment.

For me, it was important to have as much all-round visibility as possible in the simulation. The pilot in a fighter jet has very good all-round visibility. In the plane, he looks left and right over his shoulders and also upwards. It was important to me to replicate this field of view in my simulator as much as possible. For this reason, I built a projection room in the actual simulator room.

The challenge here was to combine the room geometry with the right projectors. The projectors also have to be positioned in such a way that they do not create shadows on the projection surfaces due to the cockpit in the middle of the room.

Luckily, there is the Immersive Designer Pro software, which allows you to plan the projection to some extent. The software gives you an overview of what projection ratio the projectors need to have and where they should ideally be positioned.

In the end I decided on a cube shape with the dimensions WxDxH 2.70mx 2.70mx 2.20m. To make the upper corners of the cube appear more harmonious in the projection image, I made them round with a radius of 45cm. The projection is ultimately powered by 4 Optoma short-throw laser projectors. 3 of these are mounted concealed on the ceiling and project onto the sides of the cube. One is mounted in front of the cockpit and projects onto the ceiling.

Why Warthog? - The A10 Thunderbolt II

Some of you reading this may be wondering what the

Project name means "Warthog". Due to its function and appearance, the A10 is also called Warthog or Hog. In the US armed forces, the aircraft used to be given nicknames from the existing or extinct animal kingdom. Examples that you may know are Eagle, Viper, Hornet and Raptor.

The A10 was created to attack ground targets and provide close air support for ground troops. This is probably where its nickname comes from.

The A10 was designed around General Electric's 30mm GAU-8/A Avenger cannon and its seven barrels, which can inflict devastating damage to tanks.

Here in the picture you can see the GAU-8/A cannon in front of a VW Beetle.

Over the years, the Warthog's 11 mounts have evolved from simple iron bombs and rockets to cutting-edge guided missiles. As a ground attack aircraft, the A10 earned a lasting fearsome reputation during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

The SimCube Part 3 - Assembly

Except for the ceiling, all the walls are now completely paneled and filled. Filling and sanding the top four corners is a laborious job.

I filled the SimCube with a 2k wood filler. The inward-curved surfaces of the upper inner corners were a small challenge. A normal orbital or eccentric sander doesn't work here because of the curvature. I then bought a small special disc sander and was able to sand the curves well with that.

The 3 small plates can adjust to the curvature of the surface up to a certain angle. Luckily I had left my old workshop extractor in the room. Sanding MDF is a huge mess in terms of the amount of dust generated. But with the extractor on the disc sander it worked quite well.

It is important to wear suitable respiratory protection to prevent fine dust from getting into your lungs!

Pictures will follow soon.........