MacFevre

Well, yeah! :) Actually though, if you wouldn't mind just making up a bunch I'd be more than willing to take one off your hands. :smilewink::D

Mike, how was doing the MIP in the bar stock? Are you happy with the results? If you did it again, in other words, would you use the aluminum or would you just use wood? You mentioned you were going to use sheet metal afterwards. What would that be for? Everything is pretty well covered, for the most part anyway, with bezels and backplates. Thanks for the idea though, regardless.

Excellent! Thanks C!

I agree with Deadman! It is an inspiration, and that fuel panel is simply amazingly! You should be happy that you did it "right," and even though I have awhile till I get there, it's definitely something that I hope mine will be even half as good. (Ok, I really screwed up that sentence, but I hope you get the point.) :)

Need a little help from any electrical engineers out there. I have a 4" led panel that I was going to use for the CDU. It did not come with a dc power adapter. In the literature, all it says is that I need a 12VDC power adapter with appropriate connector. I have a bunch of those! But still wanting to make sure all my bases are covered, I looked around and found the actual specs on the panel. It says 12-15VDC 120mA+/-10mA. Hmmm. The smallest adapter I have is 12 VDC 500mA. Now, it's been a long, long time since I've been through electronics school. Is that 120mA what it uses, or the maximum input? I've got a problem if it's the maximum, as I can't seem to find a 120mA power adapter! Question is, am I safe using the 500mA adapter, or should I keep searching? One last question is I'm ready to cut Main Instrument Panel version 2.0. I want this one to be as close as possible to the real thing, so when I am able to adapt instruments I won't have to recut anything. I know that duckling had a pic with some dimensions on his site, but it's been down for weeks now. His is an A model, but I'm assuming they're still the same size (except for the cutouts?) Does anyone know or have the MIP other than Dimbug's drawings? They're really nice, but doesn't show anything like the upright stanchions on the top or account for the glareshield. I've almost got the glareshield completed. Just a few adjustments and it should be good to go, but it doesn't fit right on the Dimbug MIP, thus the creating a new one. I'll post the glareshield pics as soon as I'm done! Thanks for any help with these two issues that anyone can help with. BTW, anyone using the UltraMCFD software? It's brilliant, it really is.

Thanks Zhara, I'll take a look. Might take you up on the offer! :)

Pictures or it never happened. ;) I too am struggling with temps. I brought my bezels out to paint in the garage, as the wife doesn't like the house smelling like paint. I only took one at a time out to spray, and brought them directly back in. Don't know if it was because of the temp, I'm assuming it was, but the plastic ones immediately orange peeled. The wood one was fine. I'll have to be sneaky when she's at work and hope the smell evacuates before she's home. :D

Warhog, I believe you're correct. I think I'm going to pass, as something just seems off. First, he says it it's three years old and he's only used it a couple times. Then he says it doesn't come with any software. He seems evasive when I question him as to why. He also hasn't answered any of my basic questions such as, does it come with manuals? Any bits included? Etc. Thanks for the responses anyway! Will check the forum. It's not like I really wanted take the time and learn it all, though it would be fun to have. And it would be pretty cool to just pop down and make a panel whenever I wanted! Problem I'm finding is finding someone who can or will. This weekend I wanted to get all my bezels finally sorted. So after spending hours trying to compare different bezels and backplates on various pictures, and sorting through various case standards, I think I've got it pretty well figured out. All except the engine gauge cluster thickness. Now I would love to have someone cut these for me. I did the half-inch instrument bezel with wood. (I know, but really not much of a choice.) and the other 3/8" ones with 1/4" plexi. (Again, not by choice.) Then I wound up making the openings 3" because I couldn't find a 2 7/8" hole saw locally. All I can say is for the most part they look okay, but it's obvious they're homemade. I know I could have avoided all that with a CNC, (or for that matter, a laser, but that's opening a whole new can of worms.) unfortunately,not only do I know practically zero about them, it doesn't seem like there's anyone in our village, or even our area,that does, much less a friend with one. So, back to the drawing board. That's for responding and giving me plenty to think about.

Jiminy Christmas. This guy is proud of this. I mean, he should be, but got no clue what it's trying to emulate. Some kind of trainer? For this price, you could "go and buy your own ship!" (Please no "But who's going to fly it, you?" References. You know, Star Wars? Oh never mind. ;) ) http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=261697076568

Also wasn't sure if the travel was enough. Definitely not enough for any of the big stuff like the MIP or cutting some sidewalls or a seat. I'd like to take DM's advice and do a seat in aluminum. Still, Boltz if you say that's a good amount, than I'll accept that. Again, need to research! When will I ever find the time? :)

Yeah, not sure about the software part. I've got another email in to him, just waiting for a response. It does come with the router, though, and I see that is sometimes not in a CNC package.

I've got a question that perhaps some of you may have some enlightenment on. I know absolutely zero about CNCs and Laser Cutters. Someone has offered to sell me a Shark CNC, about three years old, for $500. I haven't done a lot research yet, but know that this thing new was about three grand, so my interest was peaked. I will, of course, read some of the posts that others have posted. I just thought I'd throw this out to see if anyone has any thoughts on this particular machine. It has a travel of 13" x 24". Is this a decent deal, or should I pass? Thanks for any thoughts.

Huh. Look at that! Disadvantages of living in a small town and only going to the local hardware store. Should've looked online. Thanks DM

Correct, and the hole is 2.875. I just can't find a hole saw for 2 7/8, so I use 3.

Thanks Mike! I guess it is a 3" (technically 2.875.) I could have sworn it looked smaller. Oh, and thanks for your books. They're a great reference. And wow, don't know what standards I've been looking at, but they are not all 1/2". My bad.

Past time for an update. I keep plugging away at this thing, slowly but surely. Publicly want to thank Deadman for his invaluable information so I can make it as accurate as possible. Questions before update. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but are all the main instruments, VVI, AS, ADI, HSI, Alt, and the four in the cluster next to the AHCP, do they all have a 1/2" thick bezel? The RWR, is that 3" or 2 3/4"? I think it's 3, but it looks smaller. And if anyone has any information for how I might mod a two position switch to a three position switch I would greatly appreciate it. Here is the switch as it is now. I want to stress anyone wanting to build their own pit, if you want it accurate and/or able to mix and match various sources of panels and materials, take the time to do it right the first time. I wound up jumping into it, and now I'm finding loads of errors that I have to correct. If you do it right, it will be just as fun making it as flying it. (And you won't have to plan for version 2.0!) I took off my Main Instrument Panel. I wanted to simply build some bezels for it and add the four indicators above the RWR and VVI. Found out that for whatever reason, probably because I didn't think I would want to make it as realistic as possible and now I do, that my MIP instruments weren't placed in the right spots. I put them way too high on the panel. I could just make an entirely new MIP, but without having the right template, I will save that until I do. But I did want to correct it as much as possible, so I've started moving all the gauges down about an inch or so. In keeping with my "ship-fitters" philosophy, I'm cutting out all instruments to the openings they should be so I can use bezels. Not sure what I will use yet between the bezels and the screen behind it to close up the small gap. Probably foam? Haven't got there yet. Want to use real gauges, but that will wait for v. 2.0. Got some time this holiday, so hope to make more updates with pictures. In the meantime, here's a quick pic of the light cluster just below the glareshield.

Very nice! You've got a great start to a mighty project. Please keep us posted!

Getting closer! For the built out portion of the MIP, you going to paint the inside black? Might cut down on any glare and make the screen look less inset. I've got my own MIP removed. Going to make bezels today and cut out the engine cluster area. Maybe even paint it. Anyway, looking sharp there Boltz!

Nice slideshow. You know, I was practicing your mission again today, and after what I thought was pretty successful, yet very uneventful, I was awarded the Purple Heart!? Now how did that happen? Only static targets, nice takeoff and landing. No problems, yet the PH? No clue... :)

One of these days! Sigh. One of these days I'll have my pit looking nice like yours. Until the , you're one of my inspirations. Thanks for that.

Nice! Now let's see step two! :D

I hope that it will continue as planned. I've been waiting for these since the first post. My fear is that you put so much time and resources into it, you'll have to put the price into the stratosphere. Personally, I would rather have something that looks nice and works well more than something that is professionally done and made like it could replace the real thing, and at the cost as the real thing. Regardless, I am anxiously awaiting any further development and will more than likely be shoving money in your direction. They really do look fantastic. I agree with Wilcox, maybe even a Kickstarter or some other crowd source funding could generate the extra funds needed to put it into high gear. ;)

Kudos to you both!

Your missing something on your site! A very large Donations button! Serious. I would.

Looks pretty sharp, regardless. :) As DM mentioned, I am familiar with that graphic. Last year for Father's Day, my daughter made a very large poster with it to hang in the pit room. It's a nice graphic that I can do a quick look to see how something is placed. Gotta double check it, though, because there are things that are obviously wrong, like some of the knobs, but overall it's pretty nice.