As a cyclist and a long-time lover of aviation, I thought it might be cool to develop a flight simulator for human-powered aircraft that would use a stationary bicycle setup much like Zwift does.
At present, human-powered aircraft in real life have been built for engineering challenges rather than for recreation or sport, but the Icarus Cup held annually at Lasham Airfield in Hampshire County of the UK wants to change this (http://www.bhpfc.org.uk). Additionally, some teams around the globe are striving to construct an aircraft that could be suitable for sport purposes. The aircraft must be unpacked from a transport container, assembled, take-off under muscle power only, fly a triangular course in moderate winds, land safely, and be disassembled within a time limit.
A human-powered aircraft fight simulator could serve multiple purposes:
Give cyclists another potentially fun and challenging indoor activity.
Promote the emerging sport of human-powered aircraft.
Teach prospective pilots how to fly these kinds of aircraft.
Keep veteran pilot’s flying skills (and fitness) sharp when weather conditions are poor or when aircraft are not available.
If there was a game available that could give you your bike workout by flying and racing virtual planes, would you buy it?
Look up VirZOOM - or is it VRzoom. they have such games. (I have one). It is very cool. They have one where you peddle to fly on a wingged horse. The problem is they are WEAK in the sports/activity area. Weak on STATS and honest feedback. They push gaming more than the workout/data. It’s fun, but you never REALLY know what you did. With Zwift I can be pushed, I can compete with others or myself, I can set a distance and shoot for that each tme. I have speed and power and cadence. It’s a shame that neither has the others strengths. They have the variety of games, Zwift is more of the workout, stats, specs etc. Of the two, I choose the SPECS. Not used my VRzoom in over a year. = (
If Zwift ever constructed more then one island it would be fun to fly from Watopia to the next island. I could see a flight where you had to maintain a watts/kg to stay up, let alone get a birds eye view of the island would be fun
