Viersbovsky Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 Hi fellow tinkerers, maybe one of you can helo me with my problem. I may not have a whole pit, but my HOTAS Warthog base is floormounted on a wooden board. The stick uses a self-made ~30cm (12inch) extension. The pedals are mounted on the board as well and can be position adjusted, using drawer slides. I use a normal office chair. Now you may see that having the stick so close to the ground with such a massive throw is somewhat uncomfortable. I have set my chair to the lowest possible position (30cm), but the stick still collides with the edge of my seat when I pull it all the way back, so the base must be far ahead to prevent this. The result is that I sit arched forward - I am no old fart yet, but I can still feel my back disagreeing with this setup. Flying gets uncomfortable quite fast. As a stop-gap solution I have built a small stand to elevate the base slightly (about 10cm), but it is still too low. I will attach a picture once I clean up my "pit" a bit - pig sty may be the more apropiate term as of now. So, to get to the meat of my problem, I want to build a new extension that is slightly shorter and has a better bend. The main part is building a proper stand for the base so that it is the correct height off the ground. I don't want to fiddle around like last time and hope that everything will turn out good enough - my back will get angry at me again. I want to do this with a bit of planning ahead with a solution that will work from the get-go. I don't think I need to reinvent the wheel, so with a bit of googling have found a document by the airforce that shows a standard configuration for cockpits (see attached files) - it is slightly fishy though, I can't believe that the stick is 25 inches long! So, I would ask kindly for the following information: What is usually the length of the stick (in Huey, A-10, Fw190 etc)? What is the usual stick throw (angle and tangential)? How far off the ground, or rather how far below the seat is the stick gimbal/stand mounted? Seat height off the cockpit floor? Can anyone give me more examples of cockpit layouts (some pit builders should have that info?) Please, help me and my back! Callsign "Lion"
Sokol1_br Posted October 31, 2015 Posted October 31, 2015 (edited) For Fw 190 stick high is short. http://perso.wanadoo.fr/Corso2a/Cockpit/Scan1.jpg A "vir'pit" based on this drawing: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/Corso2a/Cockpit/Profil.jpg To sit more close to stick, cut a "U" in chair seat. Edited October 31, 2015 by Sokol1_br
Viersbovsky Posted October 31, 2015 Author Posted October 31, 2015 (edited) For Fw 190 stick high is short. http://perso.wanadoo.fr/Corso2a/Cockpit/Scan1.jpg A "vir'pit" based on this drawing: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/Corso2a/Cockpit/Profil.jpg To sit more close to stick, cut a "U" in chair seat. Thank you for those graphics! Cutting a U into the chair won't be possible or do any good. The problem is that the stick hits my legs/thighs when pulling it back and to the sides. It is also my office setup at the moment, so I cannot really modify it. The chair has an uncomfortably long seat with whole 50cm length - I will probalby buy a new chair that is more comfortable to sit, fly and work in later. Maybe when I move I will also be able to have a dedicated office and a dedicated flight/gaming place. I have measured the current setup again and the stick extension is actually 350mm! With the grip that is 550mm. Way too long for normal use. So, my plan going by the FW190 layout and the image I attached: - shorten the stick extension to 250mm instead of the former 350mm - the whole stick will be 450mm (including grip, that is ~18inches) After a bit of searching most of the sticks in regular aircraft seem to be roughly 15 inch, I will not go much bigger than that. It also will coincide the throw of the stick with those in the linked image (7 inches in either direction). Will also have some kind of bend/plate at the top to move the grip closer to me. - build a stand that is 40 cm high. The office chair will be 50 cm high so the gimbal is 10cm below, like in the FW190 drawing - pedals will be moved closer to the chair so I can comfortably use them without stretching or turning in the chair This way, I will sit more upright and be able to move the stick without it being blocked by my legs. The shorter throw will make Huey flying a bit more tricky, but it will be in a more reasonable size - moving the stick from side to side in a WW2 dogfight was pretty uncomfortable and I was in constant danger of damaging the gimbal. If anyone else has some input or more layouts, I'd be very pleased if you posted it! Edited October 31, 2015 by Viersbovsky Callsign "Lion"
Intruder505 Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 I mounted mine in a piece of 1 inch pipe and a threaded pipe stand. I got a mount made for the warthog and it fits inside the pipe. The gimble is around where my thighs are and im going to use a 10cm extension that TV should raisethe grip above my thighs . The tgrow shouldnt be that much that it will hit me or chair.
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