[Username Protected]

Hello,

We have been having lots of cold, windy, rainy or overcast days here in Eastern TN. I had never dipped my toe in VR technology. I kept seeing these great Microsoft Flight Simulator Icon A5 videos and wanted to find out how realistic it could feel. So I started with getting the appropriately spec'ed hardware:

Liquid Cooled, Alienware R15 computer with GTX4090 graphics card to drive the 4K VR Headset:

Left-Handed HOTAS Controls so the Throttle can be Right Handed (Put the trim, gear and flaps on the throttle buttons):


A Sim Frame for holding everything in place:

Finally, the Internet claimed the HP G2 Reverb 4K headsets were the best choice. They work... I am not sure they have the best peripheral vision. More to come:


I have flown so far 15 hours in the A5 with the "Realism Mod" installed both at my home airports and Canada lakes. Before the mod, the AOA gauge would go from pegged-in-the-bottom-green to STALL in .2 seconds... Now it feels much closer to reality. The 3D Icon A5 design elements are MOSTLY accurate. The Garmin 796 is WAY off from reality and the Direct-to function is not working. The overhead panel is the 2012 original from the non-flying prototype with the electric wing release. That is unfortunate. The rest in incredibly realistic looking and functioning.

More to come.