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[Toadslinger]

If you google "saker-one", you will find two links. If more than two, the rest will likely refer to me.

Saker-one first appeared in a Detroit bar. At the time, rides of 5 minutes were sold to the public. The pilot sat in a sphere that was suspended in a column of air. Smal vames on the surface allowed the pilot to roll, or yaw the sphere. The inventor died and the simulator has disappeared.

I have bgun to build a new simulator patterned on Saker-one which is why i refer to it as Saker-two. The old sphere was 6' diameter, mine will be 10'. The cabin will be 5' high so entry is easier, no contorsions required. Also, i expect that the 10' diameter will permit a two couch version. Can you say "pilot and gunner" or maybe "instructor and student pilot"?

So far, i have scratched out the design of the sphere shell, a cradle to hold the sphere, the "10' pipe from the cradle to a point for interface with the air mover, and the platform for pilot entry. The cylinder above the sphere may not be necessary. And the fan(s) to push the air through have not yet been selected.

I have three versions of a 10' sphere. One uses woode ribs inside the sphere, the second uses aluminum rids. While the first two are single pilot the third is dual. As i construct the first sphere, i thought to also build spheres 2 & 3 up to a point then stop and wait to see what problems come up. I plan on using a PC to generate the sim graphics and a Raspberry Pi to control the environment, including WiFi communications and sphere attitude when stopping the air stream.

Now, my biggest problem in the sphere is the power source. I expect it will have to be one or more batteries with an invertor. Aside from the computing equipment and displays, i am thinking of using an air conditioner.

This forum seemed to me to be the right to post progress reports on this project and seek info and advice. In case you're interested, i am located on the west side of Houston, Texas, USA. It may be a month or so working solo before i can post the first pictures.