Review on GTR Simulator GTA BLK S105LBKRD Driving Cockpit by David Jennings

Please note that I am not testing this item for its original purpose, I am using it for a flight simulator not a driving simulator and I will check this in context a flight simulator. The delivery was very fast and the product arrived in two boxes in good condition. it is together I myself have a lot of experience assembling things and had no trouble assembling them. It took me about 30 minutes to assemble. The quality is much better than I expected for the price. All metal parts are made of thick metal, and the assembled block is very durable and does not bend anywhere. The seat itself is comfortable and after a two hour test flight I felt just as comfortable at the end of the flight as I did at the beginning. There is no lumbar support, so I would recommend a lumbar pillow for longer sessions. My initial concern when ordering was whether the control platform would support the weight of my dash, which together with the weight of the panel and all associated hardware weighs around 40 pounds. I don't have to worry, the platform legs are very strong and easily hold my panel with no stress or flex. The control platform is too small to be used with a flight deck, which is what I expected as this product was intended for a driving simulator. I installed an extended pole on the included platform to mount my pole and room for all the USB hubs and instrument cables so nothing would snag my feet. The pedalboard is a bit small for my Saitek. Pro Flight pedals and it doesn't have proper holes to mount them. I was only able to attach them securely using the holes on the right side. The pedals worked well and the pedal set didn't budge or move during my test flight, so I think the two screws on the right are enough to hold my pedals in place for now. Now for the two problems I have with this block. both are quite minor. First, the control platform has a slight tilt and rotates easily even when the screws are fully tightened. This is really noticeable when you push or pull the yoke, the whole table assembly moves a bit which isn't great for pitch control. In my case I have a simple solution for this. Since I have an extended platform that extends forward from the vertical supports, I can easily add an extension to the vertical supports and attach it to the table, this keeps the table in a rigid position and stops unwanted movement. For a driving simulator this is probably not a problem, since your forces on the wheel are side to side and not back and forth when driving, you will probably never have much trouble with the platform rocking back and forth. The second issue, which is a bit more problematic for me, is that there is no adjustment of the position of the control platform in relation to the pedal platform. That means when the seat is in a position that allows me to use my socks comfortably, I'm a little closer to the dash than I'd like. The main effect of this is that I now have to wear the knee brace on the left side as wearing it on the right side gets in the way of my gas quadrant. It's not too bad, but being right-handed, I have a harder time writing with my knee pad on my left side. The second problem with being too close is that there isn't much room during flight for links to sections or procedural manuals. It's not such a big deal when I fly IFR as I usually write very detailed flight plans that have all the information I need in flight right on my knee pad, but for VFR I haven't written a flight plan and have to reference materials in flight it is a little worried. But then I think it will help me plan all my flights better. :) A big plus of this unit was the seat slider. This was optional on most other cheaper Simpit devices I've tested, but it's included on this device. This is tremendous for use with a flight simulator. With the added size of the flight panel and flight controls, it would be difficult to get on and off the aircraft when the seat is in the flight position. A slider allows me to board and disembark with the seat in the rearmost position, then slide forward for flight. All in all, I'm very impressed with this device. I was able to easily adapt this device for use as a flight simulator and the construction is very solid. I can look forward to many years of flying this device.