How to build a 747 – A WorldFlight Story
10 comments
·October 28, 2025WillAdams
hydrogen7800
>if one were to print out a compleat set of blueprints/specifications and try to load them into one, it would probably be too heavy to take off.
This expression might actually have it's origins in the 747. I've heard in aerospace that "you don't fly until the paper weighs more than the plane"
WillAdams
Pretty sure that's a much older expression and is more in reference to exhaustive paperwork and maintenance documentation.
thrownawaysz
This is awesome.
My current setup (sorry Airbus not Boeing) is more modest and probably I'd enjoy to upgrade it even more but after point it really does become a bottomless pit where the endgame will be buying a decommissioned plane lol
qwertyuiop_
This is awesome. Hey big time flight sim fan here. How can I DM you to learn your setup.
thrownawaysz
I can give you a list
Flight control https://www.thrustmaster.com/products/tca-captain-pack-x-air...
Flight control panel https://eu.winwingsim.com/view/goods-details.html?id=925
Light switches https://www.puairkorea.com/product/pu-autopilot-addon/
MCDU https://eu.winwingsim.com/view/goods-details.html?id=945
Rudders https://www.thrustmaster.com/products/tpr-thrustmaster-pendu...
Airbus Fenix remote on iPad https://fenixsim.com/a320/ + https://support.fenixsim.com/hc/en-us/articles/1245845642830...
16 key keyboard from Aliexpress, there are a lot of sellers
The rest are a beefy gaming PC
If you don't get the rudders then the whole thing (minus the gaming PC and iPad) can be bought for less than 1000€, even less on sale or second hand.
mandeepj
Here’s another one for A320 - https://youtu.be/rWaAcCikZdE
I came across it a few days and have been mesmerized with it ever since
ferguess_k
Shit this is so sick man. Do you work as a pilot?
thrownawaysz
No not at all, just always loved video games and especially simulators like flight sims so one summer I decided to finally build a more immersive setup
ferguess_k
Great job! Thanks for sharing.
One reason the 747 has had such a long life is that when it was developed, the expectation was that it would soon be replaced by faster supersonic aircraft, so it was designed to be easily re-purposed/retrofitted to serve as a cargo aircraft --- that said, despite its vast cargo capacity, since it was the last major aircraft designed using pen and paper, if one were to print out a compleat set of blueprints/specifications and try to load them into one, it would probably be too heavy to take off.
It really was remarkable to fly in, esp. if one was fortunate enough to sit in the front rows of seats which had the wrap-around windows, or to be admitted to the cockpit as was often done for children when I flew from Japan to the U.S. on one (somewhere in my stuff is a set of plastic Pan Am wings which the pilot gave me).