So im transfering a thread I had started back on the old forums onto this new one, hope it works the way I want it too and doesnt backfire. Ever since I was a young geek, I've always been fascinated with flying, flight sims, space, rockets, and basically anything else thats related. One fond memory was as a little kid and going to my first DragonCon, they had these awesome capsules for MechWarrior (tesla II simpods) that you could climb into, close the door, and immerse yourself into the sounds, the bangs, and flashing lights of being an actual pilot. I was so enraptured with it, I felt like I was apart of that simulated world, where bullets whizzed past and enemies felt like they "could" be real. Fast forward a few years (2 dozen or so) and I still love the feeling I have from that memory. So after a lot of research and scrounging (dumpster diving) I'm going to attempt to make my own "SimPod". Dear god I hope this goes well and the wife doesn't give me the stink-eye and foot tap, "trust me, its gona work honey, I know what I'm doing. . .?" I decided to take my inspiration for this build from the Airforce B-58 Hustler escape capsule, the first super-sonic bomber in the U.S. inventory. Not fully knowing how the effects of ejecting at supersonic speeds would have on the human body, the engineers went with a fully encapsulated clamshell that would protect the pilot from the airstream a violent ejection sequence. That looks like something right out of buck rogers or battlestar galactica. So this is my muse and hopefully the spouse wont get jealous of her. I can actually imagine a star citizen pilot ejecting out of their hornet or gladiator in one of these things. Im not an engineer and electronics are limited to me building my own computer (thank god that was successful). So, mine is not going to be quite so REFINED. My first draft was pretty rough and may have been a tad unrealistic. Its pretty bad when your four year old daughter critiques your artwork, "Not good daddy". Ugh, everyones a critic. So after i got that constructive critique from someone who still cant spell, I managed to find a good diagram to work off of. After some refinement, and some paint editing, I've ended up with this layout. If someone is claustrophobic then this is not the design for them. I on the other hand look forward to the cockpits immersion. And if I feel it's too tight, I can just raise the clamshell up and you don't have that trapped feeling anymore. I thought about using a curved monitor, but it just is not in the funds right now. As a result, I will be using three 20 inch monitors turned 90 degrees lengthwise and mounted in portrait mode to adjust for the curve of the shell. I also realize that there might be an airflow issue for the CPU, so I've got a big floor fan thats like a tower. There will be an additional duct that bleeds from the mounted tower fan in back to the CPU's intake as forced air with an exhaust vent on the exterior panel on the CPU to remove the heat away from the pilot, along with another set of fresh air ducts blowing on me to make sure I'm comfortable. The design will need to be on casters for easy movement around and it will need to be no larger than 32". It has to be that width to be able to fit through standard doorways so I don't have to break it all down any time I move. A tall order, but I think I can pull it off with some creative designs and vertical positioning of some of the control panels. I want this to be a general simpod that I can play a number of flight/space sim games from, so I plan on relying on a minimal number of panels and more towards a glass cockpit using tablets as touchscreens and programable MFD's. Most of the new aircraft in the military and civilian world are going towards that, so I think it will work out well with the right setup. I'll update as I progress here on the front end of the post to keep everything in one place. Wish me luck and hope this will inspire others to go full monty into this brave new simulated world. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions on the build. I'm open to good advice and suggestions.