molevitch

Hi Petardo, On these forums you will find all the answers you are looking for, and some you aren't! There are so many ways to build a pit, and most have been done. See what others have done, what levels of tech used, and see where to go. Start simple and humble, else you will get disheartened. As your skills develop, you will investigate more, and experiment more. There are lots of ready made solutions, Arduino, Leo Bodnar, etc. Depends what you want to start with, and where you want to end up. Good Luck! Mole

You can reverse the collective brake button with a relay switch.

Hi Mr_Mojo, Make yourself a simple test rig with a aa battery and a torch bulb. And some sticky labels for each wire. My guess is that there is redundancy wiring, to allow for failures and even battle damage. It is after all a military vehicle. So the 4-way hat switch is actually four switches, each with 2 common and 2 live. Is the 2-way momentary switch marked as anything? Is it Radio? M

Hey Trip, A very interesting and impressive solution! I look forward to hearing the results of testing, and seeing the video. Mole

Collective takes it's place in the cockpit. I have spent the past 2 days working on sorting out wiring for the collective. I have painted it's cradle, and beefed up it's rigidity. The Collective Brake button is a Push-to-Make so I need to add in a relay to the circuit again, just like for the cyclic trimmer. It is on it's own separate 12V supply. A magnet has been glued in place beneath the main lever pivot to be read by a well placed Hall Sensor. Another mounted in the centre of an epoxy putty disk which will sit inside the lever arm itself in line with the rotation centre of the throttle. (Currently both Halls are giving me grief! Ironic, considering how I have raved about their ease of implementation.... gremlins) The magnetic brake is a different concept to the cyclic. I don't want the springiness of the cyclic force gradients, just a rigid gripping brake. So I designed a different type of brake using most of the same parts. It is connected to an irregular bell-crank, see images. So, work-in-progress, but nearly there! Still considering the engine control levers and how to implement them. Hope you like it! M:music_whistling:

I found that looking at the VR screen so close, my left eye was really blurred. If I closed my right eye, it was a fuzzy low res mess. While it was not terrible without, it is SO much better with! The lens have made it worthwhile for me to have VR.

I have em and I could not do without them now! M

I have been looking myself. You search in English, nothing. Search in Russian, LOTS! I searched for MI-8 Pilot stories books, in Russian ( Ми-8 Piulot рассказы книги ). Try this, in Google Chrome Translate. Or Yandex.ru translate. http://vertoletciki.ru/viewtopic.php?id=126&p=3 There are still no good translation engines from Russianm to English apparently. A friend of mine told me the other day that his grandfather used to be a translator for MI5, and he would translate from Russian to English... via Mandarin! Chap spoke 26 languages apparently! M

Trimmer relay and circuit diagram Hi Trip, Here i a pic of the relay switch I used. I am sure they are quite generic, and readily available locally. This was not actually the one I wanted, but the one they had in store. It was near me and I did not want to wait for a few days delivery.... It works. And here is my circuit diagram, complete with spilled coffee stains. The second contact 87a in the relay is redundant. My collective brake will be on a second 12v circuit. I have to test the collective brake button today to see if it is PTM or PTB. Hope its PTB.... I have been puzzling over my collective build. Trying to keep it all neat and tight. About to experiment with a new shape of bell-crank triangle. I realised that a right angle triangle with equal legs and the pivot at the right angle will move the link connectors equally. However if one leg is 2 x the other, then one link will move half as far when pushed. So trying that out this morning. I dont need the magnet plate to move as far as the connector rod from the collective lever. A pic will explain better when I have done it..... Later! M

And this.... https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/9f78cd_5952f2f4bf57412f9959d0a5427567d4.pdf

Hi Trip, I found this.... http://incolor.inetnebr.com/iceman/helicopt.htm

Hey Mr Mojo! Glad to see another chopper pilot taking up the DIY route. Check my thread Mag Brake Build about Magnetic Brake and Cyclic. I am restoring a Mi-24/Mi-8 cyclic and collective. I am using a mag brake for the collective too now, with a steering damper for feel. Just working on the last details for my collective and then will post updates. Leo Bodnar boards are great. Windows reads them as a controller, easy to program in DCS. Get a breakout board too, you get a ton of easy buttons that way. You can build a button box to go into it too, not just for your collective/cyclic. Otherwise you are wiring a very complex matrix (Did that once, AGGHHHH!) The Col Rel button can manage your Collective Brake, so long as you have something electronic to release, (like an electro-magnet). I would suggest Hall sensors over pots. No alignment issues, less mechanicals to get right, and Bodnar reads them . Which pilot's collective did you get, Pilot or Co-pilot? And what did you pay for it? I have been watching these for a while and there is a huge variance in pricing. And if you want the Lynx cyclic to match, I am selling one for less than all the other cyclics on eBay.... Feel free to ask for advice and ideas. Mole

Hi Thadiun, Yes, that's right, "bell-crank". I once lived in an large old Victorian house, and one time while doing some work in the roof space, found a whole series of old bell-cranks and wires which would have been used to summon servants to various rooms in the house. This is where the name "bell-crank" comes from. I am using one similarly on my collective which will use my third damper piston and electro-magnet to dampen the movement of the collective lever and also be a magnetic brake. That has been a more complicated journey, as there is the throttle to deal with too, and I am trying to keep it neat, simple and also "authentic" looking. :music_whistling: Pictures to follow soon. Glad to hear you are enjoying my build!:) M

Some pics of linkage Basically the cyclic, when pushed left or right, pushes or pulls on a triangle of 6mm aluminium. The pic is to give a rough idea of the principle. Hope that makes sense...

Magnetic Brake Force Gradient Linkage Hi Trip, Its tricky now to take a picture without disassembling the seat. But here is a little video, and some earlier pics will follow with some Photoshopped additions which I hope will clarify the principle. M

Magnetic Brake update. I made my first flight test with my mag brake setup. Its F?*%ing AMAZING! The finest controls never before possible. Blows away MSFFB completely. No centre/deadzone slop, no aggressive kick-back. I have a little bit of fine tuning to do, but really, this is trimming like it should be. I can pretty much hover with hands off! The Gazelle has suddenly become a machine that can be controlled with EASE!. Haven't yet tried the Huey, but the Hip is a joy, hover over sling loads so ground crew attach, NO PROBLEM. Basically its like a powerful centring spring joystick, but you decide where to put the centre. Miniscule fine control movements are possible because of the hard springs. You use trimmer a lot more but also for cruising its like, set it, let go, put your feet up! And I am adding a handbrake.... I also am now using a set of BRD Kamov pedals. I decided to buy them since I was pretty much expecting to be trying to build an almost identical set. With parts and materials, and wastage, I figured Baur's kit was the more cost effective option. And they come with the logic board too. And are stunning.... So on to the collective. I will be adding a mag brake to this too. Why not? I need to customise a couple of PTM buttons and add a DPDT toggle switch too. Going to use Halls for the throttle and pitch. Nearly done. There will be lots of spare button slots on my Bodnar board, so I am planning a handy button box as well. No hurry though.... I am seriously impressed with the mag brake result! It feels like I believe a real chopper feels from what I have read, and from studying the force gradient mechanisms I can find. I hope somehow to get feedback from a real pilot, but right now I don't know any!

You are one lucky fellah! Hi Trip, You must be like a crazy scientist in his basement with a beautiful and caring wife upstairs. Your wife must have the patience of a saint! I trust you devote nearly as much time to your beloved woman as to your beloved sim-rig.... Keep up the good work, and I hope eventually one day we will actually fly together. By then who knows what wonderful extra modules DCS/BST/PC will have produced and offered! I hope you won't be tempted to tear down the UH-1 pit in favour of a Hind! Talk soon, posts pending photos, Molevitch

Youtube fix Hi Vladinsky, Thanks for that! I will pass it on to Trip who had a similar problem.... Mine is working now, I think. M

Started again with Mi-24 cyclic stick and collective Latest assembly of the Mi-8/24 cyclic, now with rewired grip and connected up to the refined magnetic brake. The roll axis is connected to a triangular pivoted lever which transfers the force back wards, parallel to the force gradient of the roll axis. The Force Gradients, Magnets and electronic Boards will all be concealed under the seat. Because the original Trimmer button on the grip is a Push-To-Make switch, I needed to add a relay switch to the electro-magnet circuit, so that on depressing the Trimmer button, the relay switches the magnets off. It took me a full day of brain-wracking to work out the wiring of the 2-stage radio/ICS trigger switch. Finally I understood. The original mechanical switches with their springs and magnets are consequently retained, restored and functional. Unable to find a Russian 2-way or 4-way hat-switch at a reasonable price, I happened upon a battered old Westland Wessex collective which gave me a 4-way hat switch for the grip, and which with minimal filing proved an almost perfect fit. Having rewired or extended the buttons and switches, I remounted the grip into the stick, threading the wiring through to the outlets at the stick's pivot point, covering them with shrink tubing for protection and neatness. So far I have connected and tested only the Trimmer circuit. I have assembled an EDtracker box for reading the pitch and roll of the cyclic, which will fit neatly inside the gimbal. The other switches will be connected to a Leo Bodnar BU0836A board via Breakout Matrix board. Hopefully all that will be completed tonight and tomorrow. Then further work on the setting-up of the collective will follow over the coming days. Dam, cannot get the Youtube clip link to work! What am I doing wrong?

Hello Fellow DCS Pilots! I am selling a Lynx cyclic control stick on eBay. It is on offer as an auction for a bargain price compared with comparable current offers for similar Lynx controls. If you are interested, please take a look. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232382330713?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649 Thanks for looking. Molevitch

I have had a pair of CH pedals for years and years. Always found them a bit too close together, but otherwise pretty decent. I finally decided to do a massive updgrade, I fly DCS choppers almost exclusively these days, and I opted for the Baur BDR "Kamov" style, in kit form. They look great and I only read positive comments about Baur's designs and products. I had considered building my own from scratch, but once I added up the cost of all the components, and the time, the Baur kit option seems incredible value. All bearings and laser cut panels, great looking designs and reportedly excellent quality and functionality. Check them out! M

Wow Trip, what a lot of work! I know how this goes. Making large scale amendments out of necessity for relatively small gains. Looking good though! I spent half of yesterday puzzling over the internal switch works of my new vintage Russian cyclic grip. This afternoon I have just worked out the wiring of the 2 stage trigger ICS/Radio switch. 5 hours of continuous thought and circuit diagrams. I could probably have simply replaced the guts with new components, but that would be to give up the rather lovely original components. Electronics not my forte, but getting stronger! Hope to fly with you soon. Mole

Hi Guys, I have just listed my Lynx Cyclic on eBay. It goes live on Friday night at 9.00pm. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/232382330713? Happy Bidding! Mole

Update on Collective and Cyclic Mi-8/24 Hi Fragbum, Yes, I thought about a longer piece of steel for the magnets, but as they really only move about 4-5cm each way, there is enough to attract to. Once I am actually using it, I may add longer bars. Hey Trip, thanks for the words, yes, coming along nicely. I have some time right now for this project as I am waiting for some paid work to pan out. Just rearranged the Mancave as well to be more efficient on space. And here is a pic of my first casting of a thumb button for the hat-switch. Made by pressing warm Milliput into the mould, and leaving for a couple of hours. If anybody needs one please ask, I'll work out a price. Got to be cheaper than 3D printing! Looks kind of used and authentic too.... Now, BACK TO WORK!

So here are some pics. The gimbal with stick in place, and side attachment for link to force gradient. Here also first stage of development of the collective from a co-pilot to main pilot. The throttle will have a damper which will attach to the base of the connector rod. The base of the connector rod will in turn attach to its own damper. All will become clear once done. The bracket is made in MDF, but will be beefed up to be more authentic with structural reinforcement, and paint. I will be adding engine controls as well. And the grip has been stripped down for wiring identification. I acquired a 4-way hat switch from an old Westland collective which is a perfect 25mm barrel fit! From which I have taken a mould for the hat switch top, to cast a replacement for the missing one on the collective. Now awaiting bolts and such to assemble the cyclic to the magnetic brakes. That will keep me busy for a day or two....