Peter_Pilot

"Donation made to The Jon Egging Trust" Confirmation Number: 99V34489WV7744331

Bearcat, Thanks for your post. I went to that lecture and wished I had made notes, no need anymore! There was a great moment (about halfway through Part 6) when Dave S is talking about his dream to fly a DH Hornet and the stories he'd heard about how pilots would loop with one prop feathered. A grey haired gentleman sitting not far from me piped up "Yes, that's what we used to do". It is difficult to hear that on the recording but it certainly got the audience's attention at the time. Pete.

All my drawings were done by hand in pencil. Are you interested in any particular part of my design? Pete.

After last years disappointment I finally made it to the 2012 FSC Weston show last weekend (19/20 MAY 12). Thirty six people tried out my system over the two days. Nothing broke and I got lots of favourable comments so I am very pleased.

Mike, It is always great to see your latest projects, thanks. I wish I had the skill and energy to make one of your PIC based systems, maybe one day. I have certainly used your advice making my Hall sensor based joystick and collective lever for DCS Blackshark, they work really well. I took my setup along to my local flight sim club yesterday, it was well received which helps my satisfaction considering how long it took to make. Unfortunately one of my Hall sensor assemblies got trodden on but luckily it will not take too long to fix. Are all your projects individual efforts or do they end up in a cockpit of yours? Best wishes, Pete.

Oh dear, this is embarrassing, at the last minute I found out that I would have to buy public liability insurance to cover exhibiting my home made kit at the show. This has proved to be too costly for me and so it is with regret that I have had to cancel. If anyone in the UK is still interested in having a go then maybe later in the year I could take my controls setup to a meeting of the South West Flight Simulator Group near Newton Abbot or possibly to a Bristol Flightsim Group meeting, subject to agreement of their respective organisers. Peter.

I'd be tempted to swap my seat if I could have half the energy that you have put into your cockpit BaD CrC. I spend ages working on mine and make such slow progress.

I obtained the seat from a crashed Gazelle and the grip with the upper part of the cyclic stick came from a Westland Wasp I believe. Other than those two things and the pedals I have made the rest myself. The joystick interface is a USB Joystick Controller BU0836X purchased from Leo Bodnar (http://www.leobodnar.com) I can highly recommend it, works very well.

Two, go over to the Helios web site to see my cyclic and collective set-up. It isn't fancy but I am trying to match the KA-50, again without any scale drawings:( I will be interested to see how you get along with your collective switchbox Froglips because that is the next phase of my project. I know my setup bears no resemblance to a Ka-50 but I would like my switchbox to look as close as possible to the real thing. At the moment the only thing wired up is the hat switch on the cyclic grip. Pete.

Thanks, if I decide to go into production I'll let you know. The design would have to be changed quite a bit to reduce the number of parts, you would be surprised just how many there are for something so simple looking. I have just made it up as I went along, if I did a Mk.2 it would be different. Pete.

Hi All, just to say that I am hoping to have my homemade helicopter controls on display at the Flight Sim Convention, The Helicopter Museum, Weston Super Mare, UK, on the weekend 14/15th May 2011. If any of you Black Shark pilots can make it and would like to have a go with my setup you would be most welcome. http://www.fscweston.co.uk/ Many of you will have seen photos I posted earlier in the Home Cockpits section (http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=54830), I have made some progress and implemented a few improvements lately so hopefully it will all work well at the show. I am sorry it isn't very "Kamov" unlike some of the excellent Black Shark cockpits that have been posted in the Home Cockpits section. On the other hand it does work very well for stick & rudder flying so I am sure you'll find it fun. The cyclic is very sensitive like a real helicopter, finger tip control but very precise as well. More positive movements are needed on the collective and often quite large pedal inputs. I have a three screen Eyefinity setup with a fourth screen above connected to a seperate PC for an external multiplayer view. Many of the visitors to the show will be unfamiliar with Black Shark so it is important to have plenty for them to look at. 'hope to see you there. Best wishes, Pete.

MM, Welcome to the ED Home Cockpit forum. Your design looks good, do you know what materials you will use and do you have the tools you will need to make the parts? I was wondering also where the springs will be for the other axis. I have made a stick with Hall sensors and a BU0836X card but I prefer much lighter stick forces so I have only 10N at the hand grip for +/- 15 deg of stick travel (30deg total). I only used one vertical spring attached to the stick below the gimbal assembly. Which part did you do the stress analysis on? maybe bending of the spring attachment spigots? I am no expert but I doubt there is anything in your design that is protected by a patent, copyright might be an issue if your design is identical to someone else's and you tried to sell some for commercial gain. I am sure there would be plenty of other builders who would like to see your progress. Best wishes, Peter

So there is! Many thanks.

Good idea, thanks Marc, I hadn't thought of a spring, I'll consider that. Pete.

Thanks for the suggestion, I am all in favour of finding the "value engineering" approach like the furniture glide feet. I went to the store where I bought those to see if they had some smaller ones I might use on my cyclic stick but couldn't find anything quite right. I have not ordered any yet but I found some 5mm PTFE sheet 300mmx300mm for about 20 GB Pounds here: http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/PTFESheet/5mm/ Pete.

Update 05SEP10 The friction unit is not perfect. Over time and after some use the friction reduces, I don't know why it is time related but use is certainly causing some wear of the stator plate which is made from soft aluminium sheet. I shall probably substitute a steel plate for the aluminium one. I shall also investigate whether I can obtain some PTFE sheet (maybe 5mm thick) and some rubber so that I can make up my own friction pads. Otherwise, I have reached a point where the unit is almost complete structurally. Next will be paint, counterbalance mass and then onto the wiring. I will probably have to take a break for a few weeks because unfortunately another non-flightsim project needs my attention. Bye for now, Pete.

Hi Marc, CAD? I really ought to use CAD at home but as you can see I am a pencil and paper user. My employer very kindly gave me a week of training on CATIA about five years ago, but since I don't use it and am a few years into my second half century anything I learned has completely gone. A week off work and trying to make the best of the warm weather in my garage before we head into winter (girlfriend is not impressed!). Attached pics are todays efforts making more fiddly bits for the sensor assembly. I have to thank Mike Powell over on MyCockpit.org/mikesflightdeck.com for the basic design. Pete.

Thanks for your comments guys, Hellfrog & Astrospud. Good progress but a long way to go yet. I have to finish the Hall sensor assembly, mount the whole unit on the seat plinth, apply filler and paint etc. I am hoping to make a collective switch box that looks as similar as possible to the Black Shark one so I am looking for old joysticks that I can rob for the hat switches. Doing the wiring and SIOC will be a project for the winter evenings indoors. I am wondering what to use for the hand grip, a sheet of 2mm black neoprene sponge bonded to the tube is my favoured idea at the moment unless I can think of something better, the tube is 32mm dia. and I havn't been able to find anything cylindrical of the right diameter to slide over the end. Has anyone tried anything like these for hat switches? http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=0516306 Any progress in the southern hemisphere with your pedals Astrospud? Pete.

I was hoping for success but expecting failure with my design of friction damping/brake. I wanted to be able to move the collective smoothly with light forces and have it stay put when I let go. I have just completed the unit and amazingly it seems to work exactly as planned. It is very progressive in its adjustment from too slack to too stiff and easy to set just how I like it. Time will tell whether it will continue to work or end up needing adjustment every two minutes. The stick will now stay put at the kind of angle guaranteed to put a smile on any Black Shark pilot's face :smilewink: Pete.

Progress update. I have made some progress with an attachment bracket recently, 'still have to make the brake unit and fit a telescopic friction damper which I managed to obtain today.

Marc, A machine shop! that sounds wonderful. NC routers seem to be a popular topic too these days among cockpit builders. The only fancy kit I have is my lathe, other than that it is hacksaws, drills, filing and elbow grease, it's like being an apprentice all over again. Keep us posted if you make any progress with your pedals. Best wishes, Pete.

Marc, Your idea sounds good for a detent device but I am not planning to incorporate one I am quite happy without. The rubber disk is probably neoprene, it came in a pack of four from my local DIY store, They have a shiny coating and are intended for fitting to furniture as feet that slide on carpet. I thought that the rubber would provide some compliance, giving a progressive increase in friction as I tighten the brake. There will be some kind of stator plate that the disk will rub against, I may line that with some sort of fabric material. As you can probably tell it is all a bit experimental, we'll have to wait and see whether it works or not. Are you building any cockpit hardware? Pete.

Hi Jamie, my cyclic stick has a single vertical spring which brings it back to the centre position when it is released. There is no detent or damping, I find that having pressed the trim button I can usually move the stick by feel to near enough the neutral position within the time allowed. Quite often there is a small error which is removed by a second press of the trim button. I rarely need a third try. It's the same with the pedals, but in the case of the CH ones that I am using at the moment there is a centre detent which makes it easy. I may add dampers to the cyclic later but they are low on my priority list, i.e. well below populating my sticks with buttons, switches and hats etc. If I was clever like TriggerHapppy (which I am not) I could maybe add an electric motor to move the anchor point of my cyclic spring in the pitch sense. I have been tied up with another project so havn't done any sim flying since last year, I am getting out of practice as they say. I am looking forward to getting this collective stick working so I can get flying again. Best wishes, Pete.

I am hoping that my brake will provide some damping, I am not planning on having any center. Hellfrog said he tried many designs to make a brake so I am expecting failure with my first idea :(

More progress A little more progress over the weekend, adding the drum for housing the Hall sensor magnets.