No matter how expensive a home sim you make, it won't ever get be even a quarter of what an actual entry amateur plane costs to buy and maintain. It's not even the plane itself either, it's all the recurring costs like storage, maintenance, spare parts, fuel, certification fees, taxes, etc. The only cheap flight option for a recreational pilot is bushcraft light planes. And they will still cost more than the sim setup, while you'll only be able to fly it on certain places, during certain weather, at certain times of the year. The rest of the time you'll still have to pay all the storage and maintenance fees. Planes are incredibly expensive.

All that hardware and then just.. a chair.

Most people mention the costs of owning aircraft vs a sim, but there's another possible reason: health. People come in different shapes and forms and not everyone who loves aviation is able to get II or even III medical class. So flight simulation is their only option to be a "pilot".

I mean, on VATSIM (popular aviation simulation network) there's a group of visually impaired people who have made a special interface so they can fly an aircraft even though they can't see!

Simulation (of any kind) gives many people what they can't get in any other way. And as with any other hobby, as long as it's not damaging to other aspects of your life, let people enjoy what they want

The double-standard on display here is just disgusting. Sure, it's perfectly fine to modify your home entertainment system into a fake airplane but I try a little remodeling to make work feel more like home and it's all "security will escort you off the premises" and "we're taking away your pilot's license". Boils my blood.

AITA for asking my wife to respect my title a pilot?

I need the opinions of avgeeks and pilots on a matter involving my wife. I AM COMPLETELY SERIOUS AND I NEED HELP. /srs

My wife and I (together for 5 years, married for 2, no kids) have an amazing, happy relationship. I can’t recall a single time we’ve ever argued to the point of a breakup or divorce. This issue, however, is causing me to reconsider the health of our relationship. Since my wife and I have been together, I have worked as a manager for a restaurant chain. I am an extremely passionate aviation enthusiast in my free time. I have spent thousands of dollars on flight textbooks, sim gear, and even built my own a330 setup. I have never actually flown a plane or started flight training, but I have considered it for a long time. Even though my skills are not a career, I still consider myself as adept or possibly more knowledgeable than the average pilot.

That being said, here’s where the problem arises. My wife and I were invited to one of her male coworkers house for a barbecue. My wife is a senior software tech for a Covid startup. She’s worked there since 2020, a lucky catch after she was laid off from her previous job due to the virus. It was my first time meeting many of her now-close coworkers due to Covid and working from home. I had assumed she’d talked about me before, but as we were cycling through introductions I became less sure. We make our way down the line to the host of the party, a new male hire that she has grown platonically close with. We exchange casual conversation and Greg (host) asked what I do for a living. My wife chimes in with “He manages a [insert fast food chain], it certainly comes with some benefits (I’m assuming she’s referring to free food)”, in a voice that implied nothing was wrong with what she said. I very quickly corrected her and told him that I am a pilot. My wife already knows how insecure I am about my job and how I’d much rather be introduced by my hobby. I’ve earned the title of pilot through my 500+ hours on and sim and thousands of dollars put into my craft. I think it is incredibly disrespectful for her not to acknowledge my skills and training. Just because I don’t have the title of pilot on an overpriced piece of paper doesn’t mean I’m not a pilot.

I laughed it off with Greg, told him under my breath that my wife was often forgetful (which I’m sure he’s realized just from working with her). He seemed to brush it off casually. At this point, I’m fuming, but I don’t go much farther than exchanging some nasty glances at my wife for the rest of the night. As we pack into the car to leave, the argument starts. She feels as if I don’t deserve my title as a Pilot because I’m not professional. I told her she is completely insensitive to the work i’ve done and she will never understand what it’s like to study so much. She’s currently on the couch as I type this. Am I really the asshole for asking to be respected?

That's just a mid-range setup. The real simmers have at least 3 monitors.

Some of those things for PC flight sims are straight up real cockpit pieces. Dude is simply buying his plane one bit at a time until he can assemble the whole thing.

I've installed Internet for a dude who had a setup this gnarly. And to top it all off, he lived on a piece of land attached to an aircraft museum. He really loves planes.

Do you know how much it costs to annual a Cessna 172? You could build 3 of these rigs a year for what the aviation equivalent of a 1988 Toyota Camry costs to maintain and fuel.

Planes are expensive AF to maintain

I'd say good chance this guy does have a plane.

Only a single monitor, and then it's not even an ultrawide?

What kind of a low-rent setup is this?

The FAA and similar entities won't let pilots do all the fun and crazy shit they want to do that they can do in sim games.

Try buzzing a neighborhood in your plane, watch how fast you lose your pilots license, much safer doing this stuff in a sim.

I’m doing the same with my work from home set-up. I even have a mannequin dressed up as a “boss” who hovers at my shoulder while I try to get stuff done .

Why so few monitors??

The $20 chair is definitely a statement of priorities and my favorite part of the image.

It's not even a full motion setup, you can go way more expensive and still be cheaper than an actual plane

Chair isn't even articulated, 6/10 tops, I wonder if he even has force feedback.

https://thewarthogproject.com/

It's amazing.

Pretty cool with the overhead and side panels.

Someone posts something kinda cool.

Doofuses of the internet: we must find all the faults to prove how much smarter we are

This is probably a work in progress. And this person may not have the same preferences and priorities as you for their own personal setup.

just buy a plane

Yeah, I don't think you can get a Mig-29 or a F-16 off e-bay, amazon or craigslist.

Indeed they are.. (picture 14)