I myself use a projector and a very home-built "open cockpit."
I have some rather old pictures, which include:
(small, overall image)
The flight controllers themselves.
I took these before packing for a Con, so they show a room in total dissaray.
Some notes:
The "pinky trackball" has been replaced with a serial-port glidepad. Much better.
The speakers and subwoofer (located under the seat itself) have been replaced with a set of Medusa 5.1 surround-sound headphones.
There's now a Track-IR 3 Pro sensor located on an aluminum mount just above the mini-keyboard.
The stick, throttle, and pedals have been the same units seince 1995, mostly. Various spare parts have been used to keep them in service, so it is hard to say what parts are original and what are spares any more.
The second keyboard, third mouse (the glidepad), and the stick/throttle/pedals are ALWAYS connected to my PC, located on my desk (unpictured) about 10 feet away from the cockpit, via various extension cables. To play, I don't even reboot. I just launch AH, turn on the projector (hooked up to a second VGA port on my video card), pour myself a scotch, and step into the cockpit.
Full array of photos at
http://www.warrenernst.com/photos/cockpit/index.htmHappy new year, all!
-Llama