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Not as off topic as you might think. With COVID, people staying home, has created a huge demand for joysticks, thrust quadrants, rudder pedals, and even VR headgear. For instance, my Thrustmaster A10 Warthog HOTAS setup which I originally paid around $400 for, I can sell used for $1200. My cheap Logitech $30 joysticks, I could turn around and sell for many times that right now.
Cottage industries are popping up, newcomers like Virpil make CNC machined joystick bases that accept their own grips which are compatible with Thrust Master. I have an FA18C stick coming that screws into my joystick base. Another person in England sells a 3D printed adapter to use a gamepad thumb stick in place of the original slewing stick on my thrust levers for the targeting pod.
I think this is a perfect opportunity for myself and others to make some money on the side with your own product idea. Of course it helps to be in the hobby so you have an idea of what is needed. I'm going to design a nice set of rudder pedals since that's what I need. DCS World is a free download, but the addon aircraft which are highly detailed, study
level simulations of the real thing including weapon systems cost some money, around $60 each.
Going O/T now, I've been into VR gaming for the past few years and could never explain why it just wasn't catching on. I'm on my 3rd VR headset now and it is portable enough that I brought it to work. One of my coworkers / friends was here at the same hotel in Japan. Flew with him last month and talked about VR, seemed interested, but failed to purchase a VR headset. Well, DCS World supports VR, and let me tell you, when you play a flight sim in VR for the first time it is life changing. All of a sudden you are sitting inside an F/A 18C move your head to look around, line up the HUD, check your 6, lean forward and up to look over the nose a bit more. Full 6 degrees of movement freedom in STEREOSCOPIC 3D. I knew my friend was going to have a Jesus moment when I loaded up DCS world in the F/A 18 over the ocean to practice carrier landings. His mind was blown(and he's a 747 and 777 pilot just like me). I had instantly converted him to VR. We played other games like Beat Saber, Super Hot VR, Pavlov VR, Stand Out, etc. If you like guns and first person shooters, the same mind blowing occurs with Pavlov VR. I think VR is going to start increasing in popularity now. Only problem is that you must experience it personally to understand what it actually offers. I ordered custom prescription lens inserts for my headset that yet again is from a cottage industry. 3D printed mounts with the custom ground lenses. He has a 2 week lead time at least due to demand.
Cottage industries are popping up, newcomers like Virpil make CNC machined joystick bases that accept their own grips which are compatible with Thrust Master. I have an FA18C stick coming that screws into my joystick base. Another person in England sells a 3D printed adapter to use a gamepad thumb stick in place of the original slewing stick on my thrust levers for the targeting pod.
I think this is a perfect opportunity for myself and others to make some money on the side with your own product idea. Of course it helps to be in the hobby so you have an idea of what is needed. I'm going to design a nice set of rudder pedals since that's what I need. DCS World is a free download, but the addon aircraft which are highly detailed, study
level simulations of the real thing including weapon systems cost some money, around $60 each.
Going O/T now, I've been into VR gaming for the past few years and could never explain why it just wasn't catching on. I'm on my 3rd VR headset now and it is portable enough that I brought it to work. One of my coworkers / friends was here at the same hotel in Japan. Flew with him last month and talked about VR, seemed interested, but failed to purchase a VR headset. Well, DCS World supports VR, and let me tell you, when you play a flight sim in VR for the first time it is life changing. All of a sudden you are sitting inside an F/A 18C move your head to look around, line up the HUD, check your 6, lean forward and up to look over the nose a bit more. Full 6 degrees of movement freedom in STEREOSCOPIC 3D. I knew my friend was going to have a Jesus moment when I loaded up DCS world in the F/A 18 over the ocean to practice carrier landings. His mind was blown(and he's a 747 and 777 pilot just like me). I had instantly converted him to VR. We played other games like Beat Saber, Super Hot VR, Pavlov VR, Stand Out, etc. If you like guns and first person shooters, the same mind blowing occurs with Pavlov VR. I think VR is going to start increasing in popularity now. Only problem is that you must experience it personally to understand what it actually offers. I ordered custom prescription lens inserts for my headset that yet again is from a cottage industry. 3D printed mounts with the custom ground lenses. He has a 2 week lead time at least due to demand.
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