Piper PA-28 Project

Converting a Piper PA-28-151 cockpit for use with X-Plane 11

View project on GitHub

Piper PA-28 project

After many years of flight simming, I’m currently building a flight simulator using the cockpit from a 1975 Piper PA-28-151 interfaced to X-Plane 11 using AirManager.

The cockpit is capable of running Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, but the current development tools don’t provide the full functionality required for what I consider to be try flight-worthiness. Visually, it’s very impressive.

The following flight was taken over the San Juan Islands in X-Plane 11:

Flight over the San Juan Islands

For more information, see more about the cockpit or building the Garmin G1000 suite.

Fully functional controls:

  • Home made laser cut and 3D printed Garmin G1000 PFD, audio panel, and MFD
  • Honeycomb Aeronautical Alpha yoke with shaft extension
  • 3D printed fuel selector valve
  • 5-position ignition switch

The following OEM hardware is also fully functional within the flight simulator:

  • Switch panel
  • Throttle and mixture controls
  • Elevator trim wheel
  • Flaps lever
  • Parking brake
  • Annunciator panel

See how I’ve incorporated a lot OEM equipment for flight controls.

Current view of outside of the cockpit on runway 20 at Bremerton National (KPWT):

Outside the cockpit

The 12ft diameter 180 degree curved screen uses two Optoma GT1080 short-throw projectors warped using Immersive Display PRO from Fly Elise-ng. The screen surface is painted a light grey.

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