Boltz

Hi John Mike's way with the aluminium is definetly the best. That is what I planned to do but I decided to at least cut out a template from plywood and that is what I still have. It's 9mm which seems like a good size. It is supported at the bottom by small cut outs, sides with threaded rod to the front bulk head and at the top by a dado in the 18mm ply glareshield top. That removes most flex but with real instruments you need something a lot stronger. In the future I want to make an aluminium glareshield but since I am just using a screen at the moment, it works better with ply since it sits closer to the screen. The perfect way IMO would be to build up a good template from plywood and then use a TIG welder to build the entire thing. You can then cut 3mm alum plate with a jigsaw and glue/weld it over the frame. That would remove any lateral weakness in the structure. I'm hoping to do that someday but I need to save up for all the real instruments first.

Weeb, all the panels fit but some switches near the edges of the panel will require small parts of the aluminium angle to be cut out for them. I recommend that you get a few panels done before remaking the consoles. That is what I have now done and realised a number of things that still have to be changed. Hi Neal. I'll check the measurements tomorrow for you. I haven't had the 3 screens running for a few months but they really were very nice to fly with. The 3 separate viewports option seems to have been designed for the side screens to be at right angles to the front screen. I have the screens at about 45 degrees to each other and although it doesn't look perfect, it certainly feels great. I suspect the problem you are having is that with a single smooth screen you will see the 3 joins between the 3 separate viewports. I'm not sure how you could fix. I recommend you ask the people over at simpit.co.nz what settings they use for DCS on the curved screen. BTW 3 projectors and a curved screen sounds brilliant. That must be very nice to fly with

Start by replacing the wooden "dzus" rails with aluminium angle and create the frames along with some small box section and other stock. In the end this will not sit upon the current wooden frame. I will either modify it a lot or build a new one from wood or aluminium. Some angles are not correct because there is still wood in the way of the new rails.

Hi Mike Looks great. Can't wait to see a prototype

The real CMSP and warning panel are mounted on spacers which are then connected to the console dzus rails. Getting everything to fit in the CMSP is a problem when using an LCD, maybe try finding a smaller one.

Use display port to hdmi adaptor. They work great on 970

Sounds like your stepper motor just isn't fast enough to keep up with sharp descents

Nice picture LynxDK Rocketeer you are correct then that the ones with two triangles will always show both

The real manual has no mention of any double triangle or dual indicators. This photo is of a trainer but it looks like the 2 triangles are there on the EGI light. If it is there in a real A-10 then both triangles will be illuminated at the same time.

Hi rocketeer do you have a picture to show this? I believe all the indicators should only have one triangle

Thanks guys. Been waiting for this day for about 2 years now: I still need to put decals on the right side then will show some pictures of it. I think I need to add something on the forward section to balance up the look but I don't have much of an idea. There is still the screen mount to add which will break up the large area of grey a bit. A huge thank you to Deadman, decals are of the highest quality and look very nice

Time for some more pics. Progress has been slow but construction is nearly finished. There is still quite a lot to be painted and a few parts to be covered. Sidewalls need to be sewn but that is in hand. I still need to work out the joystick mount and cover some parts around the pedals and stick base, hopefully in aluminium for a good look. And outside decals still to be added Then it will be time for the panels It has been so difficult to resist the temptation to add all the parts I have to see what it will look like, maybe not for much longer I will place an order for electronics this weekend which should get most of the panels working. I am still to decide on what to go with but I am leaning towards just paying up for an Arduino per panel with ethernet shield. I have spent enough money so far to not need to save a few pounds. If £300 gets everything working then that will be £300 very well spent

Yes that is exactly how it works

No because you can assume that if the switch is not in the "on" then it must be in the "off" position. Using on-on will only waste inputs, it will make no difference to the operation of the switch.

The trigger is very heavy and so are the other buttons when you are used to a plastic stick. It becomes a very nice feeling though when you are used to the force. Now I worry when I use a plastic stick that I will break it :)

Wow Mac looks great! Nice to see the shot before paint. Large boards for the base must make for one solid construction

Looks great hans! Taking out the ribs is great. I really like dimebug's plans and have a lot of respect don't get me wrong on that. But I have spent more time hacking parts off those ribs after the sides were in place than I spent making them in the first place. No ribs is a huge time saver Great work guys. Looking forward to seeing it all done

Nice find certainly looks interesting

Not a standard mini toggle. They have a 6mm hole and have a small throw and actuating stroke. The pinky switch body is like a mini toggle but the mounting is full size. Something like small profile 12mm toggle switch I'll pull it out and measure later today. Looking for something that requires more force to move than the stock

IIRC the switch is a small body toggle but with standard 12mm mounting hole Nd full size lever. Not quite a standard switch but there will be suppliers around

Great work and good to see it all come together. Have fun on the 737 project!

Read through http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=83814. There are many pics and explanations of what different people have done

Check the accuracy of the router compared to mill. Typically a mill has much less backlash and runout in the spindle which is very important for engraving small text and PCBs. Starting a pit build from scratch I would buy a medium size CNC router like you have found. I think it would be more useful than the much smaller table on a vertical mill. They parts that cannot be cut on a router will only be larger metal parts which could most likely be cut manually on the G0704. When you already have precision tools like mills, you only really need CNC for engraving and nearly all of that is done as 2D on sheet stock. I would go with the router but only if it is a good quality one with a large community. I'm not sure how good it will be if it costs less than a G0704 CNC conversion

Thank you very much DM. For some reason I never thoght of looking in the dash one I'llnwork out a way to connect the lights up for correct operation. Looks like a pot with 2 or 3 detents will be needed. Certainly need them for "OFF" and "TSTORM", maybe for "BRT" as well. The picture is actually a screenshot from http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/072/A-10A%20Cockpit.html It's a really good way of getting high resolution pictures of the real cockpit.

That's a monster of a projector you have there! I have a question regarding lights on the canopy frame. The following picture is taken looking up the open canopy on the right side. My question is what are the lights marked A and B? Where are they controlled from in the cockpit? My guess is that B are the emergency flood lights controlled on elec panel. Not so sure about A. They might be the "Flood" lights on the interior lights panel.There are also more "A" lights covering the MIP and forward consoles. Thanks