All joking aside, I have thought about this myself for awhile. I don’t have the time or money to make it happen anytime soon, but I have a historic Air & Space museum near me (Evergreen) and thought it would be awesome to have a full cockpit setup running BMS for visitors to try. Odd to me that when I consider making a full pit, it’s not for myself in my own home - though I’d love that, too.
But when you think of the costs and depreciation (and damage) that will happen over time letting the public play with all those switches, it would have to be some sort of donation per use system to afford replacements (even if a volunteer was doing the installation/repair for free). Definitely not talking about a commercial idea, simply cost recovery and/or support for broken parts before they break. Could even imagine that if nothing broke and the “fix it fund” became large enough, or if there was private financial support from a patron, it could even be a free experience. A volunteer such as myself could help visitors operate it, and walk them through the switches they need to use, etc.
I suppose that sort of financial model would not violate any copyright as it wouldn’t technically be commercial use. Would it? If the unit was privately owned, and if a museum asked for a separate donation prior to access (like they do with the Spruce Goose cockpit or entry into the B-17), and if something broke in the simpit the museum would provide funds to repair it, and if it was operated and hosted by a volunteer for the public, would that requested donation violate any laws in the US or internationally?
*BTW, if anyone likes copyright battles regarding gaming, I recommend the youtuber Leonard French - been watching him since he started, and oddly makes those boring legal briefs entertaining and understandable.