The Simbuild2004 has been history little over two weeks now. And the impressions have started to sink in. What did I learn? Who did I meet? And what made an impression on me? The latter first: The conference site was quite special. Säve Aeroseum at Säve airport was really a suprise in more ways that one. Deep into the rock and way below ground the Swedes had made a four hangar facility during the height of the cold war. Now the place has been released for public use, and a small group of enthusiasts want to make an aero museum out of it. The conference started off Saturday with a tour of the facility that had doors that can withstand a nuclear attack. A little over 70 people was divided into three groups that wandered around underground and were given various facts about the facility and its role during the cold war era. And the role was simple enough: It housed a squadron of Dragen fighters on 24H standby alert in case of an invasion. Although stripped of its mighty force, we were reminded of its importance, as the foreign participants (me included) were refused entrance at first. Some officer in the Swedish Air Force still thought it to be national security issue and was not ready to let a bunch of foreigners stroll around more or less unattended. The misunderstanding was quickly resolved, and later that day we received an apology from the ministry of defence.

3 out of four hangars housed various aircrafts, such as the Dragen fighter, some helicopters and a very nice looking SAAB Safir built in the 50’s. In the 4th hangar Patrick Moreau and Claes Heijbel, the organizers of the conference had setup tables for various cockpit hardware and software displays. Adjacent to this was an area for the presentations which I'll comment a little later.

I was impressed by the boldness of Patric and Claes, who dared having this conference at such a location. Some of the participants muttered that it was a little cold down there, but the overall impression was that the location was embraced as a good one. Especially in terms of space and setting. We didn’t lack refreshments. And the lunch, both Saturday and Sunday, was quite tasty. 

So who did I meet? It would be fair to say that Patric and Claes had drummed up an exciting band of lecturers. The operative expression to describe them would be “state-of-the-art” developers of simulation hardware and software. And they proved it by demonstrating exceptional skills in their trade. Peter Cos had a very interesting lecture on how to begin a cockpit project. And this was an issue for many of the participants. Some of them had showed up just to get a overall grip on things. And for many of them, building a cockpit was still just a dream. Peter guided us through using personal experience as momentum for the advice he gave. 

Enrico Schiratti followed up, by telling us what drives Project Magenta software development. He made it obvious that even though Project Magenta is trying to attract a professional customer base, the amateur simbuilder gives him, and his small crew, the incentive to make good software. A customer base of over 4000 has given Project Magenta valuable feedback and a healthy, growing user community.

On Sunday Enrico entered the stage again; this time to tell us were Project Magenta was headed. He made it clear that he had no intention of expanding his group. They were just the right size. He also went on to present the long awaited software release of pmSystems. Which will be a monumental release for PM. As it marks the end of PM looking at itself as “Add-On” product for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Enrico sounded determined to reverse the roles and make MSFS become an “add-on” to the PM software suite. The demonstration of pmSystems revealed what a truly talented software developer Enrico Schiratti really is. Quality, robustness and slick design of the overhead panel combined with a truly innovative developer mode, makes this piece of software something to look forward too. And will probably move PM towards becoming a more generic aviation simulation software developer, and dampen the “Glass-Cockpit” label that PM is reputed for.

Marc Teichtahl from Sim instruments made me aware of the differences between me as amateur cockpit builder and a proffesional user of simulation hardware. Being an australian from down under, living in Amsterdam, his points were crisp and interesting, telling us that the differences were small, the most obvious being accuracy vs. look & feel. He also compounded the view that Enrico, and Peter as well, made about the amateur builder. Being part visionaries, part pioneers and part engineers.

The next presentation was all about being visionary. The NCS group told their tale on their DC10-project. As story that would easily pass as an “if-you-believe-in-it-It will-happen” kind of story. It might sound like overgrown kids running rampant with money they don’t have. To get a truly “as real as it gets” simulator in their backyard. But as Jan Solli explained it: “People, who like boats, don’t think twice about spending two and a half times their yearly salary on a new boat! I’m only spending a fraction on this project! I see no difference”. And the story is amazing. Continental giving away a DC-10 full- motion simulator for free. And a gang of crazily enthusiastic Norwegians getting their hands on it.

Hotel Panorama was chosen by Patric and Claes for lodging many of the participants, including me and my father. It was a decent hotel not far from the Liseberg amusement park. Although the discussion among fellow simbuilders was far too interesting for me to leave, it was nice to know that it was nearby…
And that was for me the most interesting part of the entire conference. Talking shop while having a cold one. To me, nothing is more important than listening to other fellow builders, and would-be builder about their ups and downs, their dreams and nightmares. Also connecting a face to a name seen in the forums. E-mail addresses were swapped along with stories during the Simbuilder2004 dinner held Saturday night. I had stayed up to 3 am on Friday, but was determined to stay even later on Saturday, making the most if it.

An Italian named Claudio Azimonti from CPFlight had his presentation about their 737MCP on Sunday. Again we were stunned by the engineering feat that this MCP has proven itself to be. During a demonstration later, he easily connected the MCP to the PM software display. And it worked right away. Many of the participants wondered why he had made it 85% to scale. No real answers were given, and he was considering making it full scale. But it remained somewhat enigmatic as to when this would happen.

Marc Teichtahl did one last presentation; it was on the important issues of interfacing and networking. He made a couple of interesting points on how this should be more streamlined. And how to tweak it for maximum performance. Something for everyone there I would think.

I spoke to wide variety of people at the conference. And the demographics were much more diverse than I had imagined. Real young people among distinguished old gentlemen. In nationality the group was not that diverse, mostly Swedes and Norwegians, among representatives from Ireland, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Belgium, France, Italy, Holland and Denmark. Only one woman attended, and I think she only accompanied her husband. So this a BoysClub, no doubt about it. Some of the people I talked to felt that the conference lacked the overall overview of a cockpit project. And they felt that it was hard to know where to start. I could only partly concur to this statement. As I feel that the cockpit builders are too diverse to be called a single group. Enrico labelled them “mouse-clickers, touch-screeners and switch-flippers”. There is no real common starting point. It all depends upon then needs and wishes of the individual builder.

And that pretty much sums up the conference: We are a small group of pioneers, too diverse to label and too small to “move” the industry. This was illustrated by Microsoft’s unofficial presence at the conference. Michael Anderson who is a cockpit builder, who happens to work for Microsoft, attended the conference. His contribution was small but important: he knows the people developing FS, and he was more than willing to liason our wishes for the next release of FS. But I don’t think that many eyebrows will rise at the voice of our demands.

Over 70 in attendance does spark hope though, at least that the next conference will gather even more mouse-clickers, touch-screeners and switch-flippers. 

Thanks to Patric and Claes for making this memorable week-end. 

Morten Haughom
Morten Haughom is a 737 builder and was one of the attendees of Sim Build Scandinavia

Pictures by Jan Fjeld, Jens Norberg and Patric Moreau.