Commercial pilots have been training in full cabin motion simulators for many years. Flight desks replicate many commercial aeroplane models and can provide full training to qualify to fly the real aircraft. Following the development of virtual flight decks and haptic technology, it is now possible to benefit from VR training in a partial cabin simulator. These include aeroplanes, jet fighters, helicopters and other aircraft. The simulator is also suitable for a flight hobbyist.
The flight habitation can consist of flight yoke/quadrant and HOTAS controller setups. As a standard 3-DoF simulator, most flight motion can be simulated. The 4-DoF flight simulator can also be used to train for operation of machinery in an aircraft, e.g. a gun turret.
A standard 3 or 4-DoF simulator supports a payload of 750kg, enough to support comprehensive habitation and 2 people. 6-DoF flight simulators are also available and are scalable from 1000kg payload upwards.
Actuate Motion software provides the interface between the simulator and the software programme. Modern and easy to use, it natively supports many commercial titles, including Microsoft Flight Simulator, DCS World & X-Plane II. Moreover, it has an extensive SDK, including plugins for Unity and Unreal Engine 4, which allows integration with almost any software.