Welcome to the forums you two. It is generally quite quiet here but with more members we can get the utilisation up a tad.
I fly all day, every day for the day job so I don’t use Flight Sim much. When I do boot it up I use FSX & FS9. I am a member of Qantas Virtual Airlines. I thoroughly recommend joining a virtual airline to enhance your virtual flying experience, it gives a new dimension to your flying. You can find Virtual Airline listings by using google, or there still “should” be a list of virtual airlines on the cover CD of Key’s magazine – PC Pilot.
Rob I’ve never tried making my own flight sim or cockpit, but there is a wealth of information on the internet. If you check the Avsim forums there is a dedicated forum to it.
http://www.avsim.com
Rgds
Dean