MVP F86F Sabre Sim Pit - Build Blog

[[MVP] Mugga]

AND SO IT BEGINS!

Hey fellow F-86 Sabre pilots we are kicking off an epic F-86 Sabre Sim Pit build within the MVP community, for those keen to follow, feel free to jump on the MVP Discord https://discord.gg/brSBc9BWaZ

The venerable F86 Sabre is now 73 years old having entered service in 1949.  Withdrawn from active duty by the late 1960's the Sabre had become one of world's most iconic combat aircraft ever produced.  Built in the US and under licence in Canada, Australia and Japan, a total of 9,860 aircraft were manufactured and delivered.  Today only but a handful of flying examples remain in operation.

What is my inspiration to build this sim pit?

In 2020 I had the incredible opportunity to meet two of the 'RAAF Marksmen' airshow display team pilots who had flown the CAC CA27 Mk32 Sabres between 1962 and 1964 - both in their early 80s.   To my surprise they were incredibly interested in the virtual world of flight simulation, both always eager to share their knowledge of the aircraft and their airshow flying.

Unfortunately the last two Marksmen flew west in early 2022, at which point I decided I would make the sim pit build a priority with the goal of completing it in the colours of the RAAF Marksmen in recognition of the the team.

The project will incorporate as many original authentic F-86 Sabre parts, and will be specifically setup for VR use. Meaning, all switches and selectors will work, but there will be no need for working instrumentation.  We have already gathered together a decent amount of material, but still lots to come. If there are any other F86 Sabre sim pit builds, we would love to see them!

Throughout the build, I will aim to post as many photos as possible so that there are plenty of reference images for future builders etc.  If anyone would like specific images of any parts or assemblies, please just let me know and I will do my best to publish them.

I warmly invite anyone with an interest in the F86 Sabre to follow along and to be part of the community.

PLACES YOU CAN FOLLOW THIS BUILD:

 

DCS FORUMS
https://forum.dcs.world/topic/247916-mvp-f86f-sabre-sim-pit-build-blog/

MVP FACEBOOK PAGE
http://www.facebook.com/muggavirtualpilot

MVP DISCORD
MVP Discord: https://discord.gg/brSBc9BWaZ

KOREA1952 DISCORD
KOREA1952 Combat Server Discord: https://discord.gg/ht5uVAppvT

Edited August 10, 2022 by [MVP] Mugga

[Reflected]

Brilliant! Keep us posted.

[flameoutme]

I want one!

[BIGNEWY]

nice!

[enigma6584]

Absolutely stunning! Please keep us posted.

[[MVP] Mugga]

Thanks guys, great to see some focus on how awesome the F86 Sabre module is for DCS! Ive searched and I cannot find any other builds online. If anyone from the community has built something, shout out!

Picked up a neat original canopy open/close bracket and switch for the sim last night too. Photo attached.

Edited July 25, 2022 by [MVP] Mugga

[jocko417]

Officially jealous! 8)

[Jester986]

Awesome! I hope the module's cockpit gets a little polish to match all that efforta:pilotfly:

[iFoxRomeo]

Really nice!

[[MVP] Mugga]

F-86F SABRE SIM PIT UPDATE

Apologies everyone for the long delay in getting back to you all.  Between work, life and the Mugga Virtual Pilot (MVP) community and airshow events we are running, I am a little short on time to sit and document the progress I have been making.

The basic plan at this stage is focused on parts acquisition and refurbishment in preparation for the cockpit assembly, so I have been in full swing chasing down original parts for the various parts of the cockpit build.

Whilst the acquisition and refurbishment of parts is underway, I am also starting to give some consideration as to how I will assemble the cockpit frame.  My plan is to use as many original items as possible, including all the interior paneling, cockpit instrumentation, console switch gear, throttle quadrant, avionics stack etc.

All of the original avionics will be carefully dismantled and have the internal wiring replaced with wiring that connects to arduino boards, and I will try to preserve as many of the original switches etc as possible.  However, where necessary, will replace with modern switching and turning gear.

The plan is to have every switch, knob and instrument working in the sim, all connected and integrated via arduino's to DCS Bios.

KEEP UP TO DATE VIA THE MVP DISCORD

You can keep up to date on the project via the MVP Discord:  https://discord.gg/brSBc9BWaZ

BE PART OF THE BUILD

If you are a F-86 Sabre fan like I am, enjoy Digital Combat Simulator, and would like to be part of the build, get in contact with me.  I am Sydney based and work from Bankstown Airport in NSW and am always happy to meet like minded simulator builders and hobbyists.  You can email me at:  muggavirtualpilot@gmail.com
 

FORWARD CANOPY WINDSHIELD FRAME

The forward cockpit windscreen frame has finally arrived into Sydney and is now at the hangar where we have been able to clean it up in preparation.  The frame is in excellent condition, along with the glass.  It came with an original A-4 Sight installed in it, along with a cockpit glare shield, however, I have since learned that it is not original, so I am now searching for a factory CAC CA-27 unit.  All of the glass is in excellent condition, however, the left hand quarter panel does have a slight area of de lamination discoloring.

A-4 GUNSIGHT

The A-4 gun-sight is in excellent condition, but was missing the glass reflector plate.  It did come with a perspex gun-sight plate, which you can see on the desk in the picture above, however, I have since found an original 1955 glass reflector which will be installed.  The new old stock item was purchased out of Arizona, USA, and it just baffles me that this stuff is all still laying about and available, although after much hunting and asking of questions!

BOMB ADJUSTMENT BOX

I managed to track down an original bomb angle adjustment box, which sits on the top left hand side of the cockpit glareshield.  Again, this unit will be carefully restored and will have it's internals modified to talk to an arduino board for simulator integration.  This unit is as rare as hens teeth, and I was very very lucky to score the part, when i did.  Not sure where i would go to find an original like this otherwise.

LOWER COCKPIT PEDESTAL PANEL (WEAPONS)

Another fortunate find was a new old stock CAC CA27 Sabre lower cockpit pedestal panel overlay.  This item is a little different from the F-86F Sabre in DCS, but is essentially the same.  Again, just incredible that I was able to find this in the USA and have it shipped back to Sydney.

RUDDER PEDAL ASSEMBLIES

Another lucky find has been an original pair of Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA27 Sabre rudder pedals.  These were purchased from a warbirds part dealer in the USA and shipped back to Sydney.   Again, what's the chances of an original pair of Australian built Sabre pedals being available out of the USA!  You can see on the photos below the CAC logos at the top of the pedals.  North American Aviation pedals have the NAA logo on them instead.  The pedals have some corrosion pitting on them, however, will tidy up nicely for this simulator build.  My next challenge is to try and find original rudder pedal hangar arms, which they mount to and pivot from.  This I am sure will be much harder and may end up requiring a custom fabrication job.

RIGHT HAND COCKPIT CONSOLE

Managed to find a new old stock right hand cockpit console, where the radios and navigation equipment mounts to.  This is another lucky find from the USA.

RADIOS & NAVIGATION AVIONICS

Found a AN/ARN-6 control unit which is out of a helicopter.  The unit is very similar to the one in the DCS F-86F Sabre, but does not have the light control switch on the one in the sim.

Purchased an AN/ARC-27 UHF control panel which is the same as the unit in the DCS F-86F Sabre.  This unit came from the USA and is in really good condition.

Purchased a new old stock AN/APX6 IFF control unit from the UK.  This unit is a little different to the one on the DCS F-86F Sabre in that it does not have the self-destruct switch, which should not be a problem, as it is not functional in the sim.

INSTRUMENT PANEL

I now have two instrument panels that can be used for this project, one is a blank panel, and the other contains a range of original instruments, lights and switches.

COCKPIT CANOPY & HYDRAULIC HANDLES

Managed to track down some of the cockpit canopy de-clutch and alternative hydraulic emergency handles.

EJECTION SEAT

Have acquired an original North American Aviation ejection seat from a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA27 Mk32 Sabre Jet.  The seat is almost entirely complete, bar the oxygen supply attachments and the initiator modules.

Edited June 24, 2024 by [MVP] Mugga

[NorthAmericanAviator]

I'm jealous.

[VH-Rock]

Looking awesome bud! Keep it up  

[NateDoggGaming]

O.O OH MY GOD!!! IT LOOKS SO COOL!!!

[Treker]

Unreal... love it!

I'm afraid to ask about the costs though

[jocko417]

Mugga, looks like we were watching some of the same eBay items, congrats on pulling the trigger!

 

 

[[MVP] Mugga]

@jocko417 yeah no doubt!  I'm trawling ebay on a daily basis looking for anything F-86 related.  If you come across anything, let me know!

[[MVP] Mugga]

Received the automatic bomb angle/control box that sits on the top left hand side of cockpit glare shield today and got straight into dismantling it and rigging up the Arduino Mega board.  I have to be honest in saying that I cringed a little when cutting out the original factory wiring and removing the old electronics.  I am certain that somewhere out there in warbird land, someone is crying with me using this kit for a simulator!  Never the less, I got stuck into the tear down and was happy to get the front potentiometer working with DCS BIOS.

The 1955 potentiometer works, but we are getting a little signal noise which is causing the unit in the DCS simulator to twitch in value.  Will be looking into diodes and capacitors over the weekend to resolve this.  If anyone has any suggestions about this issue, feel free to reply.  The potentiometer is a 10k unit from 1955!

Many thanks to my friend Shane (indianashane) who was able to get me up and running with the Arduino and DCS BIOS.  Indi has been flirting with building a pretty serious M2000C cockpit, but something tells me a PC9 is on the horizon...

Now the manual pipper control unit is apart, I will have it media blasted and will repaint it.  I also spent some time carefully straightening out the thin alloy reference plates that fold from the front of the unit to the top.  These are not in the best of shape and are covered in paint where they shouldn't be.  I will carefully paint strip the back of one and if it does not damage the anodised finish, I will clean them all down so they are looking as factory as possible.

The BOMB / NORMAL switch on the right hand side is badly corroded on the front switch selector, so I will replace this with a non-aviation unit from the local electronics store.  The finished unit after paint and new switch should look the part and fit nicely with the overall build.

Once I square this control box away, I will move onto the UHF radio control box.

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2024 by [MVP] Mugga

[streakeagle]

Simply awesome! I would love to have a dedicated F-86 cockpit. I fly it it quite a bit.

[[MVP] Mugga]

@streakeagle you should come and join us on the MVP Aviation Playground server and do some Sabre formation flying!

[streakeagle]

I have been flying regularly with the "Forgotten", which hosts the Korea and Vietnam PVE servers and flies co-op missions on Sundays alternating between F-86 and A-4/F-5 themes.

[[MVP] Mugga]

Long overdue update on the MVP F86F SABRE SIM PIT:

I managed to track down a complete control stick assembly that was in great condition and including the original electrical harness, which will make adding an original grip so much easier! The control assembly was removed at some time from a Canadair CL13 Sabre.  Canada built the F86 Sabre under license from North American, as did Australia through our Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation factory.  As with all other parts of the Sim Pit build, the aim is to use all original aircraft equipment, so that the finished product looks exactly as the real aircraft does.  The control assembly provides a range of options with respect to installing force feedback and movement sensors or gas-struts etc, given it has strong control connection horns etc.

Edited June 24, 2024 by [MVP] Mugga

[[MVP] Mugga]

After months of searching the internet and contacting a host of aircraft salvage yards, I have managed to source an original, albiet a little beat up, ADF control unit for the right hand console.  Like all of the avionics in the Sim Pit, they are only really needed for their panels and knobs etc.  Each unit will be pulled down and carefully modified so that each knob, dial, light, tuning handle etc are all Arduino driven and translated back to DCS Bios.

Edited June 24, 2024 by [MVP] Mugga

[[MVP] Mugga]

Managed to source an original F86F Sabre Main Canopy assembly for the Sim Pit build.  The plan is to have the canopy able to be opened and closed using the cockpit switch.

Purchased an F86F Sabre Main Canopy Actuator Motor (which is actually overhauled for flight use) which can be installed into the Main Canopy that I have for the Sim Pit build.  Again, the goal will be to have the canopy able to open and close using the cockpit switch hardware.

 

Edited June 24, 2024 by [MVP] Mugga

[[MVP] Mugga]

After almost two years of searching, I managed to track down a slightly banged up A4 Sight Gun Bomb Rocket selector, removed from a Hellenic F86 Sabre!  Original components for the A4 Sight are almost impossible to find as most have been scrapped and recycled by now.  The only component I am missing is the Wind Adjustment unit, so still looking for that one!

Sourced an original Weapons Control Panel from 1951, that gets installed on the centre pedestal console in front of the control stick and between the pilots lets/feet.  I have spent some time researching these as there were a multitude of variations etc.  This one is as close as I have been able to find to the panel used by the DCS F86F Sabre.

Edited June 24, 2024 by [MVP] Mugga

[[MVP] Mugga]

Purchased an original 1951 North American Aviation ejection seat cushion.  Made from some weird 1950's fire retardant material and designed to provide specific cushioning properties to assist the pilots spine during an ejection sequence. Again, its just incredible that these NOS parts have been hidden in warehouses etc.

Edited June 24, 2024 by [MVP] Mugga