Question 3 DOF for Flight Sims?

Is anyone using a 3 dof set up for flight sims? I don't have a lot of room available without getting rid of a lot of stuff in my man cave and was wandering how much immersion I would miss out on if I had 3 dof instead of 6 dof.

size platform now ! 1200x900
recommended simukit 350w load weight 160kg
https://simukit.com/26-3-dof

Thanks for the reply. Anyone else care to share their experience of using 3 dof for flight sims?

Hey Fluke, I don't have experience to relate but do have an observation - I think using 3dof for flight would be valuable because yaw and rudder control is fundamental especially with taildraggers on takeoff and landing. Regular coordinated flight isn't so big a deal for it but slips and such can also benefit from it.

I wrestled with including the third axis in my build but settled on a 2dof for now. There are a number of projects here that started as 2dof and the builders added the yaw axis later which is the path I've decided to take if I miss it that much. I'm running in VR and bet that @noorbeast is right when he says you just need the hints and not the big motion to be convincing. But the way I'm building mine will hopefully make it less of a deal to add yaw later.

Not having built a rig before, I also wanted to keep it simple first time. But now that I'm able to test software and motors and have been reading about all the builds here, it's much less intimidating than when I started. If I was starting all over now, I really don't know that I wouldn't just build a 3dof from the start. But starting with a 2dof is simpler and I'll have a working rig quicker. In that respect, I can't say for me which would be the better path.

What I do know is 3dof is probably very important for take offs and taxi. It's not an easy call on doing it though. Good luck!

Zed

Thanks for the reply. I am still trying to decide whether to buy a 3 dof from dofreality, that seems to be very affordable. It has roll, pitch and yaw and as its already built I would need to look at how to add heave. I dont know what the motors are like on this build or how it would perform in flight sims.




Or to try and build one using the 350w motor kit from Simukit, I would have to learn to buy a Mig welder and learn to weld and build a frame and learn how to set it all up. the kit would give me roll, pitch and heave, I would need to figure out how best to add yaw with another motor.

Thanks. Would traction loss be able to give the same effect as applying rudder in a plane?

Hey Noorbeast, I know that yaw and traction loss are different but it's only in the location of the rotation axis. Traction loss will have a sidewards movement coupled into it since you aren't rotating around your center of gravity. Any feel for how different that feeling would be especially in VR? Your rig has the pivot under your CG, isn't it? Or is it displaced a little forward for a compromise between the two methods? I've seen some that put the pivot as far forward as possible so that's definitely a traction loss but this might either make me pull it closer to the CG or even try to make a pivot configurable if possible.

Edit - went back and checked and it looks like the third D on yours is heave. Still, any thoughts on how important the difference is especially in VR? I'm not there yet but tend to mull over stuff.