F-14 Cockpit and instrument dimensions

[LASooner]

4 minutes ago, PSYKOnz said:

In my tacan panel build I used one of these for it

 

http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_75&products_id=196

Did you create a custom set of caps to closer match the one in the plane or just go function over form

[PSYKOnz]

Function over form at the moment, bought the plastic knobs from the same place and am using them as it. I am planning to in the future make a proper one. But for now this one is fine

[Uxi]

On 3/6/2021 at 8:06 PM, PSYKOnz said:

In my tacan panel build I used one of these for it

 

http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_75&products_id=196

 

Do you have a link to your TACAN build?  I passed on the A-6 panels that were on evilbay since don't really want a whole console but not finding anything in 3d print world that looks suitable and I'm still trying to learn Blender and/or Fusion 360 and nowhere near brave enough to try that yet.

 

Oh nm, should have kept reading.  

Edited March 8, 2021 by Uxi

[draconus]

Have you seen this one?

https://flyandwire.com/2020/05/03/expanding-my-setup-real-tacan-final-result/

[Uxi]

Yeah.  It's probably the most likely though finding a decent donor can be pricey and most of the console is bulky and unnecessary for a sim. Hoping someone will do a reproduction / replica of the dial and frame that can connect to a rotary or dual rotary. Or at least a 3d printable design I could print myself.  The latter is kinda my goal. 

[PSYKOnz]

The big issue with it is the way it works,

 

so the 2 tacan dials have 10 or so numbers on them right? Each number would have to be its own button input, so you would need 2x 12 position rotary switches AND THEN have to get HB to make all those numbers an option in the sim to work properly.

 

using encoders you only have to have a Chanel up and down for each dial, much easier and already supported, also it’s beside your hip, you don’t it to look perfect, because your normally doing it by feel or looking at the bit on the screen with the numbers

[Uxi]

Generic digital rotaries that increase or decrease would be fine

[PSYKOnz]

Yes. That’s what I use, generic rotary encoders. But if you use them for a build like the one above the numbers would never line up I’ll post up some pics in the next few days of how I’ve done it. Honestly the double stack encoder is just perfect for it, and it’s easy lol

[Uxi]

In VR there don't even need to be numbers, though ideally the shape would be close. 

[willmeggy]

To mumbles and anyone else,

 

I am in the beginning stages of making a RIO simpit and am having trouble with overall dimensions, both for the panels themselves and for the seat/pit as a whole. Mumbles, do you think you could send your current version of the backseat? As I get through some more of the panels, I will begin posting them here. 

 

Cheers and thanks for all the hard work!

 

V/r, 

 

-Will

[PSYKOnz]

I guess it’s my turn then…

 

It’s been a little over a year and since I started this, I started it in the best way, with my mates on my birthday starting from the ground up, no template or guide, just some reference material and some other stuff I found along the way. Made many mistakes along the way, had to do a few iterations of things but I finally got it to where I’m happy, I learned a lot along the way and I can confidently say now that this is as close to a tomcat pit as I will ever get

 

Through lockdown, the fact I live a world away from the closest f14 and have no access to any of the stuff the rest of the world has I’m pretty stoked, the build is so far into the thousands and I’ve had to work hard to get it all right, solved lots of problems and learned lots of things, learned things about the tomcat that I never thought I ever would. It’s just been an amazing, worthwhile and extremely rewarding project.

 

I’ve waited till now to post because I wanted to make sure the build was done. So where to from here? Paint the damn thing!

 

Like I said, this is as close as I can get given the limitations of my location, finances and mental capacity, every switch and knob and handle functions as it does in the real thing, I’ve watched hours of footage and gone over the natops, in game cat and any other information I can find to do it. They all interface with the computer Through Leo boards all that’s left is for the guys at hear blur to make them work in game.

 

The panels are 5mm mdf with images from the in game cat printed on paper then stuck down using clear packing tape. These images were done during lockdown on a rubbish printer, I will soon be printing much higher quality ones

 

I use Helios for the panel and sim shaker for aviators for the but kickers of which I have 3, one for my back, one for my seat pan and the other on my pedals. I highly recommend this

 

And last but not least this would not have been possible without my Incredible partner who has tolerated me and the build for so long and put up with all my mess and noise and all the time I have sunk into it. My mates helped me out so much too, hell this wouldn’t even be a thing without them, it would still be a pipe dream! There help has made this what it is. So many community members here helped out as well, their expertise and information was invaluable to the build.

 

Punk has been one of the biggest helps in this project, tolerating my stupidity and questions giving me some of the best information for the build, Doc Harley came in late in the piece but saved me hours with his access to a real pit and ofcorse gunslinger and  Victory205 were a huge help on some nitty gritty information,

 

couldn’t have done it without you guys, I really truly appreciate all your time  effort.

 

I guess what I’m trying to say is that this pit build has been a real group effort and a great experience

 

Thank you all so much!

Finally, here’s the pictures! - JUST REMEMBER THAT IT STILL NEEDS PAINT!

 

I use the pit for all other manner of games with DCS and ArmA being the main ones, there are a few different configurations I can put the pit into depending on what I want to do.

 

The funny thing is that just like a real pit, this thing somehow has managed to without me trying to make it happen have its own start up procedure lol, cause why not right?

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by PSYKOnz

[Gunslinger22]

Well done mate, it really looks great. I love the lighting, must really add to the atmosphere. How do you find having multiple bass shakers? I’ve only got one under the seat and find that it doesn’t quite give me enough feedback to be warranted, though multiple must really do the trick? 

[AH_Solid_Snake]

Cracking bulid matey. Do you have any advice for apprentice pit builders for how you managed to get the switch caps so close and the gear / brakes / tailhook levers reproduced?

[punk]

Sweet ride PSYKOnz. Glad I was able to help. Looking forward to following in your foot prints one of these days with my own pit.

 

Salute,

Punk

[PSYKOnz]

21 hours ago, Gunslinger22 said:

Well done mate, it really looks great. I love the lighting, must really add to the atmosphere. How do you find having multiple bass shakers? I’ve only got one under the seat and find that it doesn’t quite give me enough feedback to be warranted, though multiple must really do the trick? 

Cheers bro!! 
 

yea 3 is awesome, I run them through a pre amp that’s bolted to my seat, you might be able to see in one of the pics, that’s the trick, so signal comes out of the pc, goes to a pre amp then splits to feed all 3 kickers with the same Signal. That way I can control the volume in a very smooth way with out having to change kicker setting, so when it’s late at night I can just wind it down. The Vu meters give me good feed back on what’s happening in them too, left one is the preamp line signal, center left is back shaker, center right is the but shaker and the right one is pedal shaker

 

3 of them Is for The right amount for sure, the pedal shaker is awesome in the cat and the Huey, gives amazing feedback.

 

also when your right at the limit and she’s buffeting like mad the whole

put shakes rattles and rolls, even feel it in the hotas, can not recommend this setup enough 

18 hours ago, AH_Solid_Snake said:

Cracking bulid matey. Do you have any advice for apprentice pit builders for how you managed to get the switch caps so close and the gear / brakes / tailhook levers reproduced?

Vernier callipers and Scale are your friend, punk set me up with the size of the panels and I worked backwards for there

 

“Remember, the standard width of a single console panel is 5.75 inches and build for you pit from there. Actual panels I have on hand are roughly:

KY 28 panel 5.75 X 1.5 in

Lighting panel 5.75 X 7.5 in

TACAN 5.75 X 3 in

IFF 5.75 X 5.5 in”

 

I made the panels into 4 long cut pieces at 5.75inches wide. Then i made a template of 2 vertical lines that when printed were 5.75 wide then went through and resized the images so they were the right size, everything fell into place after that. It’s a great feeling when the switches your installing have the same size as the holes on the panel paper.

 

i also used the laser pit scans and free cad to measure everything, I just upscaled from micrometers to millimeters

 

as for functionality I made sure to toggle every switch in game and cross reference with the hb manual and the natops to figure out what they needed to do.

 

in terms of the gear and hook leavers I will be building one more of each of them for my mate who’s also building a pit. I will Take many pictures and turn them into a how to for them, may just have a to wait a Month or so?

17 hours ago, punk said:

Sweet ride PSYKOnz. Glad I was able to help. Looking forward to following in your foot prints one of these days with my own pit.

 

Salute,

Punk

Dude I can’t wait to see it!!! Thank you so much for all your help with mine

Edited May 3, 2021 by PSYKOnz

[PSYKOnz]

oh i totally forgot this bit, for pc cooling in style!

 

like i said i have some incredibly talented mates, not me tho lol

 

 

[AusMumbles]

Heya Will, 

 

Sorry about the delay on this. Been flat out with work as always. I'll upload my front and backseat plans for you soon, (just want to idiot check them first). Couple of FYI's with it. I've had to make some assumptions with the backseat based on the front seat ergonomics. The TID and DDD were best guess on my part. Once I get some better data from a real Turkey or 3d scans I'll re-attack the model. (Doc Harley if you have some stuff from the back seat on the DDD, TID or left and right vertical panels it would be greatly appreciated).  

 

PSYKOnz, awesome work on your pit mate! Love the multiple base shaker idea for tactile feedback.

Must be nice to be able to finally fly in it.

 

I've got some stuff done on the front seat finally. 

I've knocked up the GRU-7A frame and parachute pack. The parachute pack has got some complex curves that I can't build with timber. I've put together a hot wire foam cutter and a jig to make the shell. Next step is to fibreglass it and attach it to the timber back. 

I've also found automotive primer filler has done wonders in removing the timber grain on the side of the seat. 

 

It's great to finally see lots of pits being finished off. Gunslinger, your pit is stunning btw.

 

Cheers,

Mumbles

 

Parachute Pack Jig

Seat Frame

Dogey Dog

Sanding/Test paint filler. 

Wire cut foam and back

3mm Skeleton frame (WIP)

Edited May 3, 2021 by AusMumbles
words apparently didn't want to post.

[PSYKOnz]

Dude that looks so epic!! Also what a dog you have there!

[AusMumbles]

Thanks bro,

 

That's Maggie the build supervisor. She's a Shetland Sheepdog, great dog breed. Way to smart for her own good. 

[AH_Solid_Snake]

13 hours ago, PSYKOnz said:

I made the panels into 4 long cut pieces at 5.75inches wide. Then i made a template of 2 vertical lines that when printed were 5.75 wide then went through and resized the images so they were the right size, everything fell into place after that. It’s a great feeling when the switches your installing have the same size as the holes on the panel paper.

 

Its some mighty fine work for sure! Would you care to share the printable panels? That seems like a great way to get a nice looking panel with the extra bonus of a template for where to place switches.

[KWard]

How did you get 3 buttkickers to work at the same time?   I can't even get my PC to let me use one and my mic at the same time. What version of Windows are you running?

[PSYKOnz]

17 hours ago, AH_Solid_Snake said:

 

Its some mighty fine work for sure! Would you care to share the printable panels? That seems like a great way to get a nice looking panel with the extra bonus of a template for where to place switches.

Yea I’m sure I can, I’ll go through my files and get them Together for you, I’ve also found some New ones in a profile I’ve just discovered, I’ll do what I can, make things as easy as possible for everyone 

15 hours ago, KWard said:

How did you get 3 buttkickers to work at the same time?   I can't even get my PC to let me use one and my mic at the same time. What version of Windows are you running?

I run simshaker for aviators and run the kickers out of the stereo jack on my pc, that then runs to a pre amp (6db boost max with volume control, for more granular control of the amps) then I run the output of that through to a 3way splitter that takes the signal from the preamp and sends it to the kicker amps. And they feed the kickers 

 

 

I’ll post pictures and schematic soon, keep an eye out 

Edited May 4, 2021 by PSYKOnz

[Lt_Jaeger]

1 hour ago, PSYKOnz said:

Yea I’m sure I can, I’ll go through my files and get them Together for you, I’ve also found some New ones in a profile I’ve just discovered, I’ll do what I can, make things as easy as possible for everyone 

 

 

 

Could I please jump into it? Not started yet but the idea of an F-14 VR Pit is daunting me for a long time now, and I find me collecting more and more informations which might help me to make it true

[PSYKOnz]

Yea sure thing, I think I have them organised anyway, I’ll get them to you soon 

[PSYKOnz]

Ok for all of you wondering about my kicker setup. here's how I do it

 

I run the kickers through my onboard Realtek soundcard, I run my sound through my usb headset, IF YOU DO NOT HAVR A USB HEADSET OR WANT TO USE SPEAKERS YOU MUST BUY AN EXTERNAL SOUND CARD (i have one to drive my other speakers aswel as my usb headset, cause why not!)

 

when i am playing games other than DCS i use Voice meter banana to duplicate the audio between the kickers and my headset

 

when i am playing DCS i run Simshaker for aviators and the sim shaker sound module - this bit costs

 

sim shaker is set to run through the Realtek sound card, and windows (and dcs) is set to run through my headset

 

now for the fun bit,

 

this is going to sound a bit dorkey but, i was a radio announcer and commercial DJ for many years and I spent a long time messing with audio equipment as a result, set up many a setup in many a places, some very interesting indeed. so i went into this knowing what to do and how to do it, i am more than happy to talk you through things if you need me to

 

so. 

 

3.5mm plug into the main speakers output (green one?) then it runs to the preamp (stereo)

 

stereo signal leaves preamp and hits an adaptor that takes the 2 stereo lines and merges them into 1, I have told my pc/simshaker/voicemeter to OUTPUT IN MONO ONLY TO THE ONBOARD SDOUNDCARD, but iv set the amp up like this as a just incase there's a split signal that i forgot about, also keeps it tidy)

 

combined mono thing then splits the mono signal to 3 separate inputs, one for each amp. this cable was originally a 3.5mm 4 pole to rca audio/video jack, but i cut off the 3.5mm end and wired it into a standard rca plug and it works fine

 

at this stage i also tap off the signal and run it through a small 1watt amp then to the Line Vu meter so i can see what signal if any is going to the amps

 

the cables go into each amp into the input only, i do not use the output as i do not need to daisy chain them, i have 3 clean mono lines to go in, this makes sure there getting an even feed and are not relying on the passthrough on the amp

 

from the amp, with both high and low pass things set on the amp i send the signal to the kicker, i also tap a line off each amp/kicker which runs to the respective Vu meter, because im a massive nerd and i can do it so why not haha

 

and that's it, strap in, turn it up and go turn the cat around the sky. make sure your fillings are in tight though lol