F-14 Cockpit and instrument dimensions

[Woody81]

On 12/14/2021 at 7:13 AM, Lt_Jaeger said:

Thats from a little "furniture roller - swivel thing" from the local hardware store. Was browsing the store and looking for stuff and that was the first thing that came to mind. Since I had to do a lot of compromise on that panel, being able to fit it with the Warthog and the Monstertech mount, I don't care that it look different from the real thing.

good solution mate, I like it. and at the end of the day, none of these pits are gonna be 100% accurate due to restrictions on parts, space, money etc. you just gotta do what makes you happy. i've unfortunatley stalled in my construction again due to issues at home... garage door was broken, lack of money, lack of time, and now the weather is horrible its hard for me to find the motivation to go into the cold garage to use the laser. It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and the wife went crazy.. 40 different presents which included days out, theatre trips, much chocolate, japanese snacks and the main event which is an aerobatic flight in a T-67 firefly. unreal!

Edited December 19, 2021 by Woody81

[winghunter]

13 minutes ago, draconus said:

These are just the panels. Now add 200 wires, control board, buttons (plus those which turn off the others), switches (incl. TACAN channel and Master Test switches), covers, levers, rotaries... am I missing something? And it's only controls at this moment.

It's for VR so you won't need any instruments.

It depends how many buttons you need for initial VR fun. Most people will likely never/rarely touch the master test or TACAN. Having HUD panel, gear, spoilers and autopilot are already giving me a great improvement for the VR experience. You can add more as you go.

But I'm also looking into a solution to reduce the amount of wiring needed. Using printed copper foil that will transfer to the underside of the panel.

https://hackaday.io/project/161850-cardboard-circuits

[Gunslinger22]

5 hours ago, winghunter said:

It's for VR so you won't need any instruments.

It depends how many buttons you need for initial VR fun. Most people will likely never/rarely touch the master test or TACAN. Having HUD panel, gear, spoilers and autopilot are already giving me a great improvement for the VR experience. You can add more as you go.

But I'm also looking into a solution to reduce the amount of wiring needed. Using printed copper foil that will transfer to the underside of the panel.

https://hackaday.io/project/161850-cardboard-circuits

Oh I think you’ll find you’ll be using the TACAN more than you think, I really like your way of going about building your pit! But I’d imagine also like what happened to me, you’ll find that when you have to use your mouse to switch something, it’ll draw you out of your immersion and you’ll curse yourself of not implementing that panel! Though it certainly looks like the modularity of your design will easily overcome that when you first encounter it! 

[winghunter]

20 minutes ago, Gunslinger22 said:

Oh I think you’ll find you’ll be using the TACAN more than you think, I really like your way of going about building your pit! But I’d imagine also like what happened to me, you’ll find that when you have to use your mouse to switch something, it’ll draw you out of your immersion and you’ll curse yourself of not implementing that panel! Though it certainly looks like the modularity of your design will easily overcome that when you first encounter it! 

That is true when you navigate. 

What I do instead of using a mouse: position my mouse cursor 20° below the center of view. Then assign mouse click in VR control settings to a joystick button.

This allows you to just look at buttons and control them with your joystick. Much better than moving a mouse in VR. Yet, not as good has having a physical control under your hands.

[RustBelt]

Maybe my neck is just fat, but trying to look down far enough to turn on oxygen or switch the Hydraulics is Really hard. Especially to put it in the middle of the screen.

My basement floorspace resents you now. Accurate dimensioned hard surfaces is going to make it a lot harder not to VR.

[winghunter]

12 hours ago, RustBelt said:

Maybe my neck is just fat, but trying to look down far enough to turn on oxygen or switch the Hydraulics is Really hard. Especially to put it in the middle of the screen.

My basement floorspace resents you now. Accurate dimensioned hard surfaces is going to make it a lot harder not to VR.

Thats why i typically place the mouse cursor 20° downwards of center of view.

But also if you have a tm16000 throttle you can use the little analog stick for moving the mouse.

You need https://joytokey.net/en/download

This is my settings. Now you can control everything in DCS without ever touching the mouse. Also assigned the rudder pedals of the trottle to mouse scroll as I have no use for them.

Edited December 20, 2021 by winghunter

[RustBelt]

On 11/7/2021 at 8:04 PM, VF2 Subsonic said:

New Gear Lever action.

You've been showing some amazing 3d prints, any plans to share and or sell them on GrabCAD or somewhere?

[Zpigman]

On 12/19/2021 at 5:51 AM, winghunter said:

I have reworked the textures and geometry to exactly replicate the F14 heatblur cockpit for VR.

I'll be releasing the full plans and instructions in 1-2 weeks so everyone can build their own F14 cockpit.

Tools required: inkjet or laser printer, exacto knife, large ruler (1m or 3 feet), 5mm (3/16 inch) foamboard, hotglue

Material cost: ~ $50-$60

Build time: 4-8 hours

 

 

Possible to get the RIO panels too?

[VF31_Subsonic]

On 12/19/2021 at 8:36 PM, RustBelt said:

You've been showing some amazing 3d prints, any plans to share and or sell them on GrabCAD or somewhere?

Thanks, I have been thinking about it since I have had a few questions and commissions for some of the guys in my Sim group.
Many of my designs are very use case specific for my application, so I never expected much interest.
It is something I do plan to look into.

 

[Lt_Jaeger]

My F-14 C (offee) comes with a mug holder 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Lt_Jaeger

[AH_Solid_Snake]

Has anyone managed to source appropriately sized piano switches for the PDCP? I’ve bought a few from hong kong with hard to interpret descriptions but they are roughly 50% undersized for the panel.

[Uxi]

Or caps for the currently sized one. Someone was working on it...

[AusMumbles]

Howdy Gents,

Bout time I put something up. I've got the base frame lowers finished over the Christmas break. Still in need of a skin, boarding steps, paint etc. 

Been slowly tinkering with the Flux Beamo as well. 

Hope everyone's break was productive.

Mumbles.

 

 

 

[Woody81]

That's looking great already Mumbles, good work. Unfortunately I'm no further forward as I've spent most of Christmas in and out of hospital and unable to get out of bed, however on the mend now, just gotta get back to work for the coins. 

 

 

 

Ive just seen this on YT. Might be of interest. Gotta say, I'd pay good money for these! 

 

https://youtu.be/7_y4C7a2R-M

Edited January 9, 2022 by Woody81

[Lt_Jaeger]

@AusMumbles Wow, great work. Is this pit made 1:1 off scale plans or more for appearance?

 

I envy you so much. One off these days,until then I have to stick with this sorry contraption. 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Lt_Jaeger

[AusMumbles]

Woody,

I'm sorry to hear you've have a bad run of it. It sucks it happened over Christmas as well. It's good to hear you are on the mend!

Nice find, those pedals are amazing. I might have to add it to the list of things to build. 

Jaeger,

So I have used a few references, Heatblurs 3d scans for the 3d printed parts, inside of the cockpit dimensions, bang seat etc. I've also used the old 60s era 303 blueprints scaled appropriately around the base frame to build the outside shell to the right size. 

I love the setup mate, it's functional and has a rustic charm to it.

I'm still yet to see if the VR simpit setup is as good as it sounds. I'm hoping by mid year I can set up some controls and basic panels to see how it feels in the pit. 

Cheers,

Mumbles.

Edited January 10, 2022 by AusMumbles
English

[Lt_Jaeger]

@AusMumbles   Nice. Keep the pictures and updates flowing. Can only do better than ED 

 

[R4GN4R_TV]

Am 11.6.2021 um 16:52 schrieb VF2 Subsonic:

 

Yea the switches are only a bit too close, but workable.
Seems easier to use the bar they are attached to, rather than redesign that.
The tricky part is the rotation...you need to rotate the switch 45 degrees in just 3.9mm of switch throw.
FUN to design that.
Printing prototype now

Hey VF2 Subsonic, would you mind sharing your 3D date, so I could try to work out, how to let them pop out again, when another butten gets pressed?
Awesome work btw!

[Woody81]

On 1/13/2022 at 1:36 PM, R4GN4R_TV said:

Hey VF2 Subsonic, would you mind sharing your 3D date, so I could try to work out, how to let them pop out again, when another butten gets pressed?
Awesome work btw!

Heya, if you mean the switches they are bought off eBay. Sold as piano switches. There is a link to them earlier in the thread.

[Lt_Jaeger]

A new item in my ghetto pit. Already in love... 

[Gunslinger22]

6 hours ago, Lt_Jaeger said:

A new item in my ghetto pit. Already in love... 

Mate that looks unreal, your own design or bought? I must admit now that I have a somewhat accurate stick I'm staring to want an accurate throttle/flaps/wingsweep quadrant.

[Lt_Jaeger]

The throttle design is bought (I'm too dumb to do something like that myself), I just changed/edited some parts e.g adding a flap lever - which is not seen on the pic- 

The extra switches in the base are normally not there, but I think one can't have enough. 

[hitmanalpha1]

I’m going to start trying to do some videos on what I’ve done so far. I’m thinking about taking each panel and doing a video series. One panel at a time. Something on a 1st Grade level.

[Sam Kiwi Mzr]

This is..... Amazing

[Rockerfeller]

Hi,
Currently I am trying to make my left side console panels, but I cant't find some panel sizes. I see the width is 5.75" to all panels, but the heights are missing. I have done an inlet ramps/throttle control panel and AFCS panel, but in VR its a bit off size. I have no info for ICS panel, tone/volume control panel, com/nav command control panel heights. I will be really glad if somebody can help me with that info.