Category: Reviews

Some of you may be interested in the Yoko Yoke compatibility. Courtesy of Yoko and Michael from XForcePC, here is the quick and dirty on the Yoko Yoke compatibility with our cockpit and the Volair Sim avionics panel. The good news is that it fits with the following caveats:

• You will have to drill new holes into our avionics table as the bolt pattern on the Yoko is not matching up with anything we have pre-drilled.
• The dimensions are almost exactly like Saitek so the panel cut-out will fit but the face of the yoke will have to be placed immediately behind the panel surface given that our panel has couple of corners for the Saitek yoke (see below).

The yoke is pretty nice so for those that want to upgrade from Saitek it is a good alternative. It offers longer throw and is all-metal so it has a very substantial feel to it.

Back from the #FlightSimCon. What a great show. Every year it just keeps getting bigger, and better. It is VERY CLEAR that flight simulation is alive and well. Many of you will probably agree that if you made an assessment about five years ago, you would not reach the same conclusion (at least in the US). Today, we have many hardware and software developers enter the scene with new products, we have renewed interest from the younger generation. To sum up, it is good to be in the flight simulation industry!!! Most importantly, what I am most impressed with is the quality of people that we interact with. Over the years, I worked in many industries including automotive and medical and I must say the quality of people in aviation and flight simulation is simply the best. It is such a pleasure to go to a tradeshow and interact one minute with a 777 Capitan, next with a retired corporate pilot who is looking into flight sim to keep the dream alive, and then a father and son team who are both immersed in flight simulation as a gateway to a career in aviation. Great quality of people! Cannot wait for next year!

Several of you asked us about compatibility of the MFG Crosswind rudder pedals with our cockpit. One of our customers, Steve was kind enough to share his observations of the installation. I think you will agree that the final result is remarkable.

Steve writes, “I would like to share some photos that may be of interest. They show my MFG Crosswind rudder pedals mounted in my Volair Sim cockpit. By using width adjustment blocks (available from MFG) and angling the rudder mounting platform all the way up, the pedals have ample clearance in all positions.I secured the pedals using four bolts. This necessitated the drilling of holes in the mounting platform (not easy to do with a hand drill!).

Thank you and congratulations on a great product!

I fly Caravans and light twins for a geophysical survey company and regularly use the Volair Sim for IFR practice between work assignments.”

As many of you know, Logitech has acquired the Saitek product line of peripherals including their Pro Fight accessories. We are very pleased to know that we started a great relationship with Logitech as evidenced in the photo below. Logitech is showcasing their Flight Simulation, Farming Simulation, and Combat HOTAS accessories with our cockpits.

Check out the Avionics Panel review by AvSim.

Kevin, a customer of ours sent us a link to his VR gaming rig build using the Volair Sim chassis. Note since many of you asked about ButtKicker installation, you may want to check his installation as he mounts the ButtKicker in a pretty inconspicuous location. You can read the whole review here.

Considering our Avionics Panel but don’t feel like shelling out $150 per each of the Saitek Flight Instrument Panels? Check out the this video where we can show you how to get this done for much less!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=906UWP6isnQ&w=560&h=315]

Our Avionics Panel is now shipping and first independent reviews are showing up. Check out this review by XForcePC.

We’re back! What a great turn-out! Thank you everyone who has stopped by and flew the sim. We’ve gotten some really good compliments on the avionics panel so we are excited everyone likes it so much. It was also very nice to meet with some of you existing customers and put the face with the name. Thank you for coming and saying hello. Hopefully we will see you again next year.

Volair Sim is happy to exhibit at the FlightSimCon 2016 which takes place from June 10-12 at the New England Air Museum near the Bradley International Airport in Connecticut.

We will be showcasing our brand-new Avionics Panel that will start shipping in July. We are taking pre-orders so reserver yours NOW!

We encourage you to visit us at the booth and come and come to the 2:00 PM panel discussion on the benefits of flying online.

Jack and Ted are residents at the SunCityGrand in the sunny Phoenix, AZ area. They belong to a Special Interest Group (SIG) that focuses on aviation that was formed in 2012 and have since grown to over 100 members. The Aviation SIG has recently embarked on a project to develop a flight simulator cockpit for their group members to share and enjoy. Ted was the technical guru and you must admit the implementation of the platform and the 4th monitor (20″ Acer Model #S200HQL) is pretty ingenious.

I hope that this gives everyone looking for a mobile implementation a good idea on how to mount the Volair Sim on a platform that can be easily maneuvered to places and also show some 4th monitor options. Ted told me that he raised the seat a bit (using a spacer) and moved the monitors to the max height to minimize the overlap between the triple set and the 4th monitor.

Ted writes, “Myself and everyone else that has seen the Volair is extremely impressed with the construction and look of it” and Jack commented that  “IT WORKS AND WE LOVE IT.  REALLY SMOOTH.  USING XPLANE 10.  STARTED WITH 4 ROLLERS , NOW HAVE 6.”

Here is a sneak-peek of a brand-new accessory Volair Sim is launching this year. Check out this avionics panel designed specially for the Volair Sim Chassis.

Some of the Features:

• Pre-drilled for a seamless integration with the Volair Sim Cockpit or stand-alone mounting to a table via clamps

• Pre-drilled for all Saitek Pro Flight accessories: Saitek Fro Flight Yoke, Flight Instrument Panels, Radio, Switch, BIP , and more.

• Carbon-fiber look soft padded glare shield with hand stitching to complement the sleek look of the Volair Sim cockpit.

Pricing, availability, and pre-orders are upcoming.Visit us at FlightSimCon 2016 to check it out in person.

Check out a really clean and very universal implementation of the Volair Sim cockpit. Randy, one of our customers, built the cockpit with three (3) separate control systems: yoke, HOTAS, and helicopter controls (collective shown on the left). Very nice rig and according to Randy, “The wife is very happy that wires are not hanging all over the place.” LOL! Also, check out the neat platform that Randy added to raise the chassis from the ground and to provide space to mount the collective controls.