My simracing story is more of a Flight-Sim story, but now also includes iRacing. My original area of interest started in High School, when I applied to Annapolis to be a Fighter Pilot. And while I WAS accepted into the school, in 1978, I was immediately informed that I was too tall to be a front seater, and would be relegated to the relatively new REO (Radar Equipment Officer) spot, since I was 3/4″ too tall to be the front-seater (at 6’3-3/4″)… And while those limitations changed in 1981, when a 3″ shorter Ejection Seat Module allowed for a 6’6″ pilot, I had missed my opportunity.

So, I turned to the brand new MS Flight Simulator in the earliest years – 1983 on the Commodore 64 as soon as it was released. I moved on to Aces and then JetFighter, JF-II, Janes – F22 (taken off the market immediately following 9-11) and even Lock-On (LOMAC – the predecessor of today’s DCS World). I finally reached the pinnacle of all Sims in the early 2000’s with “Falcon 4.0”. Alas, it was a bit more complicated than my work and personal family life allowed. So, I was forced to take a 20 year hiatus.

However, those Sim “Games” (specifically MS FlightSim & MSFS 2020) turned into real training tools for actual Pilots, through the years; and are now extremely sophisticated Simulators – like my current Full Motion F/A-18c Hornet Sim-Rig platform. And the really nice thing is that in less than 15 minutes, I can convert it into a Racing platform for use with iRacing, Dirt Rally 2.0 and even Forza Horizon (my grandkids’ personal favorite).
More importantly, now that I’ve retired from a 40 year career in IT, I have the time to build the Sim-Rig platform that I dreamed about, oh so many years ago.

Just Buy-it! Adding a Seatbelt Tensioner should be the FIRST or Second (MAJOR purchase) item you add to your Sim-Rig – along with a Great Joystick (or Steering Wheel) and a good (or great) Motion Platform.

The immersion added by the QS-BT1 Seatbelt Tensioner is truly amazing – not just G-Forces, but little things: Road vibrations, Bombs / Missile separation, Guns, etc..

This is the kind of game-changer that translates information to your brain faster then visual inputs. It quite literally gives you an advantage, since you can feel the action, rather than waiting for visual cues.

Today’s simulation games allow for very immersive FlightSim and Racing Sim experiences, that include full Motion, Wind effects, G-Forces (Gravitational effects on your body), as well as fully Mixed-Reality environments. These XR experiences add to VR by allowing you to physically interact with the Virtual World, in real-time.

This is what drove me to reach out to Qubic Systems, to add their QS-BT1 Seatbelt Tensioner to my Flight Sim-Rig. And boy am I happy I did?!
The Best Surprise was that the weight of the QS-BT1 just happened to be the exact weight I needed to offset the forward elements of my F/A-18c Cockpit (Full Hornet Dashboard and 43″ Monitor), along with my own 210 lb body. It finally balanced out my Motion Platform, which has made the motion generated by my DOF Reality P3 much smoother, and will end up extending the life of my actuators – BONUS!!!

That is a VERY Good Thing!

I was amazed at how seamlessly the QS-BT1 integrated into my (very) complex existing Sim-Rig setup. I was concerned that my existing SimHub software wouldn’t be able to forward the Telemetry.

However, the Qubic Manager software was really easy to configure. And I was REALLY Surprised at how powerful the G-Force effects were, transmitted through the Seatbelt Tensioner – it has some Serious Power!!!…

A Full-Time Hobby is never a finished project – right?!…
So, yes, I’m looking forward to upgrading my Wind Effects with the WindSim Pro – more than doubling the wind volume in the next couple Weeks!
And I’m hoping to cash-in on a couple Holiday specials to upgrade my 5070 Ti OC to a 5080 Super (need those prices to come down). Then I’ll be upgrading my Quest 3 to whatever’s Next – Preferably full 4K per Eye, as well as Pass-thru capability for continued Mixed Reality experiences – I’m not giving that up, just for better visuals…