Categories: Equipment

Top 5 Things You Need to Get Started with a Virtual Reality Flight Simulator


I want to go over some of the things that I have come to love. My passion for VR flight Simulation has grown and as it grows, I tend to find better ways to fly. I wanted to start a list of my top 5 items. These aren’t all things to start with, however they may be things to grown into one day.

When I first got into VR flight, I was using an underpowered computer which could barely run FSX, let alone run VR. I still loved every minute of it. If that is you, then just keep flying and add things when you can.

As time went on, I got more into flight simulation and so did my equipment. I ended up going to X-Plane 11 and bought myself a decent computer. I ended up buying all the components for my computer separately and putting it together myself.

If you are interested in my system, please check out my other article, Do you need the absolute best VR flight computer?. To give you a general idea, I have a desktop computer with a i5-7600k CPU and a GTX 1060 (6 GB version). The system runs my X-Plane 11 in VR with my Oculus Rift. This is great for me now as I can run it at a nice steady 45 fps, however I always like to say, more is better when it comes to flight simulation… Especially when dealing with VR.

Let’s get started…

#1 The Computer

Since we have to start somewhere, I think the best place we could begin would be the computer. The computer really is the heart of everything. I recently went through Amazon, looking for computers that really fit the mould. I want a computer that has a fast CPU. A fast CPU allows you to have buildings, trees, other planes and all the objects you can imagine. For me, I still run the i5-7600K, which does the trick. The K allows you to overclock the computer, which allows you to get every last drop of available power from your CPU. Their are now much more powerful CPU’s on the market.

What I searched for…

My goal for this search was to find a CPU that is similar, if not more powerful than mine. I find that a lot of systems come a great CPU and

I also wanted to consider the Graphics Card. There is a lot of graphics cards out there, however I have had a great experience with NVIDIA graphics cards.

As I explained above, I had the GTX 1060 (6 GB version), however have upgraded to the GTX 1080 ti.

With my Graphics card selection, I was looking for any computer with at least the GTX 2070, as I know this will work great in a VR flight computer.

These were not my only considerations, however I could ramble on for hours and I know you want to see what I found.

Keep in mind that I am ranking these computers for Flight Sim. So my Budget PC is a budget PC for flight sim… which would make it a higher end PC for almost any other use you could think of.

Amazon Affiliate Links

Also, Please note that the links I provide below are all Amazon Affiliate links. Essentially this means that Amazon will pay me a small advertising fee if you make a purchase from Amazon after using my link. This commission comes from amazon and does not affect your price or purchase in anyway.

Saying this, I only promote products that I have either tried or have done extensive research on. If you use my link, I really appreciate it, as it will help me to keep putting out great content.

Last thing I will mention about this, is if you want to see the price of any of the products, you will have to take a look in Amazon. The prices are always changing and because of this I can’t post them on my site.

BUDGET PC – VR FlIGHT PC (Under $1200)

Home Built

To get a PC for under the $1200 mark, I suguest that you consider building your own PC. Yes, it takes much more work and research. It even has a bit more risk, however when you are looking to get the most out of you money, this is probably the best option. You can select exactly what you want in your PC. You can keep the cost down a bit by adding only the items that you want.

This is the option I like the best because I like to see every part that goes into my PC. I have built a PC in the past and it is nice because I was able to select parts in which I could later upgrade to.

MID RANGE – VR FlIGHT PC ($1200 – $1500)

CyberpowerPC

Gamer Supreme Liquid Cool Gaming PC, Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super 8GB, 16GB DDR4, 1TB PCI-E NVMe SSD, WiFi Ready & Win 10 Home (SLC8260A2, Black)

This is our Mid-Range VR Flight PC. This PC is far from average and is a very powerful computer. I wrestled with calling this a mid-range PC, as it is more of a top performer if you compare it to any other market. However when you talk about VR Flight, you talk about a different set of standards.

This PC runs a powerful 3.6 GHz i7-9700k with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 super 8GB graphics card. It has 8 USB ports and is liquid cooled. This computer will be able to push hard and will be a great addition to any VR Flight setup.  This PC will definitly get you up and running in VR Flight. Just keep in mind that for VR Flight, it is not the top PC, so you will probably have to remember this when adjusting your graphics.

HIGH END – VR FlIGHT PC ($1500 – $3000)

CyberpowerPC

Gamer Xtreme VR Gaming PC, Liquid Cool Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super 8GB, 16GB DDR4, 1TB PCI-E NVMe SSD, WiFi Ready & Win 10 Home (GXiVR8080A7, Black)

This is our High End VR Flight PC pick. This PC is a true beast!. It will handle almost anything you throw at it. VR Flight Sim will probably be the toughest thing you can give it, and it will handle this too. This PC comes with a 3.6 GHz Intel Core i7 and a deditcated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card.  It has 2 2.0 USB ports and 6 3.0 ports. 1 TB Flash Memory Solid State Drive with 16 GB of DDR4 RAM.

TOP PERFORMER – VR FLIGHT PC  (Over $3000)

Corsair One

i164 Compact Gaming PC, i9-9900K, Liquid-Cooled RTX 2080 Ti, 960GB M.2, 2TB HDD, 32GB

This is our Top Pick. If you weren’t flying a VR Flight Sim, then I would say that this is overkill, however with VR Flight Simulation you need all the power you can get. And this PC really fills that requirement. This PC is not for the faint of heart, so if you are not 100% ready to spend the money, you may want to look at my other choices.

It is running an i9-9900k eight-core porcessor, with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card. It has 32 GB of DDR4 SDRAM.  This PC is even liquid cooled, allowing you to get the most possible out of the system.

VR FLIGHT LAPTOP ($2000 +)

ASUS

ROG Zephyrus S Ultra Slim Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz HDR IPS Type FHD, GeForce RTX 2080, Intel Core i7-9750H Processor, 16GB DDR4, 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD, Aura Sync RGB, Windows 10 Pro, GX531GX-XB77

Yes, you can even do VR Flight on a laptop. Keep in mind that you will be limited in USB ports, however this one comes with 5. You can always grab a splitter to increase the number of ports. This is an amazing laptop with incredible power. This comes with an RTX 2080 and an i7-9750H. This PC packs a big punch for such a small package.

If you want to get into VR Flight, then I would recommend that you stick with a full size PC due to the price, however if you need something compact, this is your PC.

#2 The VR Headset

The Second item that will be extremely important is your VR Headset. There are only two main choices that you have. I can easily recommend the Oculus Rift, as it is an amazing headset. It is comfy to wear and completely immerses you in the sim. The Oculus Rift S in my opinion is the best VR headset for flight sim. Also the new Oculus Rift S is the newest version, boasting crisper graphics. The other main headset on the market is the VIVE Pro Headset. Unfortunately I cannot give this headset a proper review, as I have not tried this one. It is much more expensive. I am sure it would be amazing as well. I will include a link to both, so that you can check them out yourself. There are also some other newcomers such as the Pimax, however this headset is not yet released and could come with it’s own set of problems (such as too many pixels for most computers to handle efficiently.

Oculus Rift S

Oculus Rift S PC-Powered VR Gaming Headset

HTC Vive Pro

HTC VIVE Pro Virtual Reality System

3. Flight Software

You will need a Flight Simulator in order to get a flight simulator up and running.  If you decide to go with X-Plane 11, which I highly recommend,  you don’t need any 3rd party software, as X-Plane 11 is VR ready without a 3rd party program.

For me,  I believe X-plane has amazing graphics right out of the box. It also has a very realistic feel, which some of the competitors do not. This was an extremely important factor for me because I am going through real world flight training and needed something that felt real and acted like a real world plane. In my opinion X-Plane 11 is the best VR Flight Simulator 2018. Others are great as well. A few  others to mention are the P3D, Aerofly FS 2 and DCS.

We also have an amazing new sim that is suppose to be coming out in 2020. This is the newest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Very exciting news as the previews for this sim look absolutely incredible.

https://www.x-plane.com/

https://www.aerofly.com/

https://www.prepar3d.com/

https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (Coming Soon!)

#4 The Yoke

Now, if you’ve got this far, I would consider you to have a decent VR flight setup, however you are missing a very vital piece of equipment. How are you going to control your plane. Yes… you can do it with a mouse and keyboard, but good luck doing that with a VR headset. You need to have something to hang on to. It really adds a ton of realism when you add a yoke to the mix.

I recommend that you get either a joystick or a Yoke, depending on what type of flying you are doing and what your budget is. For me, since I am learning to fly, you can’t do better than having a yoke. The yoke I have is the Saitek yoke that I have displayed below. Well… my yoke is an older version of the one I have displayed below. I love this yoke as it makes a huge difference. When you are flying, you can’t see the outside world, so having the yoke just makes it feel natural to fly.  I also have a joystick and also use it sometimes (especially for helicopter flights). I’ll link both my joystick and yoke below.

#5 The Rudder Pedals

Ok, so now comes the one thing that everyone neglects. This is the rudder pedals. Most flight simmers will forget all about the rudder pedals and will start flying with just a yoke.

This is alright  if you only want to fly on a computer, however for anyone who wants to take their passion to the sky, this is not a great habit to get into. On a real plane, the rudder pedals are extremely important in flight, not to mention, controlling your plane on the ground.

In X-plane, your rudder will be automated if you don’t have the pedals, however if you want this to be realistic, rudder pedals should be on your list. There are lots of pedals to choose from, however I found these pedals to be well priced. These pedals work great. You can adjust the stiffness with the knob in the middle. These are highly recommended by me. These are the pedals I have hooked up to my system.

Logitech Rudder Pedals

Logitech G PRO Flight Rudder Pedals

Bonus Item (Flight Instruction)


As we all love bonuses, I thought I would ad one bonus item to the list. We all know that the equipment is very important to someone getting into flight simulation, however the one thing that is just as important is the knowledge. Flying without any idea on how to fly makes the sim into a game. It takes away the realism. Now, I am going to recommend an amazing flight instructor who truly believes in flight simulation as a training aid. His name is Rod Machado (affiliate link). You may even recognize his name, as he was the flight instructor on FSX. Now, on top of his really easy to listen to style of teaching, he also has a very impressive resume. He started instructing in 1973 and has 10,000 hours of flight under his belt.  If you interested in doing things the right way, then I highly recommend any of his training or books.

One on One Online Flight Training

Also, remember if you want one on one training with a real life flight instructor, CFI and CFII, then take a look at zerosideslip.com.

If you want one on one training with a real life flight instructor, CFI and CFII, then take a look at zerosideslip.com

Please note that the above link is not an affiliate link, however VR Flight World is affiliated with Zero Sideslip. If you mention that you came from VR Flight World, then I get a small commision. I really appreciate the support as this helps me to keep VR Flight World running strong.

There you have it. That is my list of the top 5 things you need for VR flight. Hope you enjoyed. If you want to keep posted, please use the subscribe button on the sidebar.

Thanks again for reading.

Dan

Dan

View Comments

  • Hi Dan thank you for your comments and ideas regarding VR for flight sim.
    Unfortunately at least in its present form VR is not suitable for flight sim even with the best of software allowing you to move parts of your body freely in the cockpit: you simply cannot see your hands, legs and feet.
    What we think will be the future of full immersion is Augmented Reality with very high definition wearable lenses that will allow you to have full awareness of your surroundings like in the real flight deck. Those type of technologies based on AR are well into the future but it will be as real as it gets. So far VR has failed miserably to become a consumer product perhaps due to greed but I don't see a future for it in the foreseeable future.
    Thanks

    • Thanks for the comment. I do agree that being able to see your legs, hands, feet and surrounding would be nice, but I also do think there is a market for VR in flight simulation. Whether it fails as a consumer product for the masses in other types of games... will be another thing (not sure if it will or not). I think it is a great tool for people in flight simulation/flight training as at this time there is no other way to get the immersion that VR offers.

      I truly do appreciate your opinion though,
      Dan

  • Hi Dan Please have a look at FlyInside flight simulator which has the best support in the industry for VR.
    I hope that you like it. It uses Vulcan as its engine , x-plane on the other hand is still evaluating its development.
    Anyway see what you think and let us know.
    Much appreciated.
    Cheers

    • I would like to give it a try. Haven't had a chance lately. It does sound exciting and I used to use it for my VR support in X-Plane before they implemented native VR.

  • Dan,

    How much physical space do you need to setup VR? For example, how far from the heatset does the sensor need to be? I am concerned i will have to sit too far back from my desk not allowing me to reach my yoke. Hope that makes sense.
    Please let me know your thoughts.

    • I have mine just over arms reach. The sensors essentially just need to be able to track your head movement. The nice thing about VR Flight, is that you are not moving all over the place like you would be in other games, so you can keep the sensors much closer.

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7 years ago

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