Need some Help With cool Flight simulators for Kids

Hi Chuck -

There's a lot to choose from out there, and it really depends on how much you want to spend ...

If you're up for building a shell or repurposing something, then you'd just need a set of controls: stick or yoke, throttle / collective, and pedals. There are two games in town for those at consumer-type prices:

www.chproducts.com

-and-

www.saitek.com

If you are, as I suspect, really looking to buy a purpose-built cockpit or cockpit-type thing then you might look at:

http://www.hotseatinc.com/ 

http://www.mydreamflyer.com/

If your budget permits, Fly-it makes very nice full cockpits, both helicopter and fix ed wing:

http://www.flyit.com/

Precision Flight Controls offers a good mix of ala carte controls and cockpit shells:

http://www.flypfc.com/

Some others to look at:

http://www.therealcockpit.com/

http://www.simkits.com/index.php 

Sim Aviatik makes some nice airliner and warbird (P-51 / Me-109) cockpits - unlike the rest, though, I don't have any hands-on experience with these:

http://www.simaviatik.com/en/index.php?show=consumer_systems

If you really want to go all out with enclosed cab and full motion, there's Red Bird:

http://www.redbirdflightsimulations.com/

Though if you get one of those, I want to be one of the kids!

Hope this gives you a starting point - feel free to follow up with any other questions as you get closer. 11 years of my previous life were spent in the consumer flight sim business.

Cheers -

Hal

Look at this website:

www.rogerdodgeraviation.com

 He really performs mracles with PVC pipe construction...

Our 8 year old twins spend hours on Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe with the Sporty's yoke and padal set. It has a wide range of aircraft to fly and you can purchase a guide book that will tell you how to get the most out of the program. Most of the time they use the aircraft model we fly which has become a great learing tool.

Last year while at AirVenture we discovered  that they use this software in the simulators in the KidVenture section of the museum that is open year round.

Thanks everyone!  I went and looked at every type of simulator in a 150 mile radius.  The wife selected some really neat ones that will be in KidVenture during Oshkosh!