Like most flight simmers, Pim started off behind his desktop with a joystick and keyboard. Back in the days, well before FS9 was out. Slowly but surely his hobby expanded and Pim decided to buy his first hardware products that he was using in combination with his desktop setup. Adding an MCP/EFIS and a CDU reduced the amount of mouse usage and Pim felt he got a lot more fun out of his simulator.
In his words: “The next step was more dramatic – I moved away from the desk and built a stand-alone set-up. I purchased from FlyEngravity the Captain and Center panels, a Matrox TripleHead2Go, and four 17″ monitors. In addition, I built a stand from MDF to hold the panels and the CDU/Radio unit. The gear lever, the autobrake switch and the various annunciators were wired to a CPFlight MIP Interface board. By undocking the FPD and ND to a separate monitor and by going to the outside view (W), I had created a fixed-base simulator that I could “fly” without a keyboard or mouse.”
As time progressed, Pim expanded his setup with an overhead panel that he wired himself using FDS cards. In November 2010, Pim first got in touch with Marty and was one of the first users of our ProSim737 product. He was very impressed with Marty’s work and was able to use FSUIPC offsets that he had already programmed to make for a smooth transition.
After many updates on his 737 sim, Pim felt that the B737 was becoming somewhat old-fashioned and it was time to sell the simulator and embark on a new project: The Airbus A320. It was not until July 2016 when Pim got an e-mail from Hanne if he could keep a secret. He got together with us here at ProSim to take a look at our ProSimA320 project. What many people don’t know is that Pim played a key part in helping us to interface the A320 hardware with our new software.
As you can see from the pictures below, his Airbus setup evolved quickly and as he was now very experienced in building cockpits. He had learned from the past and decided to buy panels from renowned sellers like Vier-Im-Pott and Skalarki to make his setup complete and easy to interface with Prosim.
Fast forward to now, Pim has built a shed in his garden that is fully insulated and dedicated to his flight simulator. He has done many upgrades to his hardware, PC’s and is enjoying flying the airbus. He also uses YouTube to learn about the aircraft and its complexity and procedures.
When we ask Pim what he would love to see next in HomeSimA320, he is very clear: “An EFB that works with the simulator…”
