Universal military aircraft homecockpit project

[Viper1970]

First steps of my universal homepit project for VR or with thew use of a triple view and TrackIR .

 

This is my complete printable HOTAS collection I'm working on at the moment for my "universal" cockpit project as overview. Some of them I made completely by my self like the Apache controls, the Blackhawk collective, the AV-8B throttle, the F-14D stick or the AH-1Z/UH-1Y collectives. For other parts I used templates from Thingiverse etc. and adapted them for my needs to make them look nearly like the original counterparts. Not all is finished yet, but I'm working hard on it.

 

The rest will be original sticks from Thrustmaster or Virpil like 2x TM Hornet (F/A-18C/E / AV-8B - trim und castle hat inverted), 2x TM Viper (A-10C / F-16C - F-16 with decals, A-10 without Paddle Switch) and the VFX grip (F-14B) or conversions of older sticks like the Suncom Talon (F-15C/E) or the TM X-Fighter (B8 standard grip).

 

For the F-15E throttle I made a conversion kit for the Warthog throttle which isn't in this overview, same goes for the TM Cougar conversion I made, to have an more realistic AB-Idle/CutOff mechanism. The throttle grips of the F/A-18C/E and the F-14D throttles will be mouted on TM Warthog throttles, removing the original grips. They also will get matching faceplates. The AV-8B throttle and the V-22A/B throttle will be mounted on TWCS throttles for linear function.

 

All throttles und collectives will get additional inputs like the nozzle control in case of the AV-8B throttle or the manual wing sweep at the F-14D throttle or the separate RPM-throttle for the Apache. Other helicopters with a twist-throttle will get a separate dual-twist-throttle grip, which is connectable to the different heads I made.

 

Single engine twist-throttle helicopters will also use this dual-twist throttle. For other kind of helos, like the Blackhawk, the Chinook, or the Super Stallion there will be additional throttle levers in the overhead panel. The AH-1Z Viper will get an additional collective base which you can mount at the throttle place and use the twist grip and the AH-1Z/UH-1Y head on top of it, to mimic the original collective control of the Viper's pilot seat. It will also use the AH-1Z/UH-1Y cyclic mounted as a sidestick control.

 

All inputs should be compatible to TM TARGET software, so I use only TM electronics inside them. The collective system will be made out of the HOTAS Cougar electronics including the stick electronics. The F-16C throttle (the old Cougar throttle) will get TWCS electronics to be a standalone throttle unit.

 

For the sticks and cyclics I use old TM-FLCS grip boards or some new bought TM compatible grip boards to be able to swap all the sticks and cyclics. There will be different extensions for the center stick base for helicopter or normal aircraft sticks. A second TM base is in the pit for a sidestick configuration.

 

The collective lever is mounted between the seat and the left side console and the different kind of collective systems should be plugged at this lever. The seperate throttles are also interchangeable at the throttle place. There are also two different frontpanels at the moment in production (one for jets and one for helos), which use a TFT for displaying the MFD's and some instruments and could also be swapped. A third one for bigger aircraft is planned.

 

For big birds like the C-130 or the C-5 I'm also just planing a seperate extension on top of the centerstick base, which is blocked in it's roll axis, so you can only move it forward and back. On top of this extension a yoke will be mounted with a seperate roll axis sensor. The throttle quadrant of those bigger aircraft will be place at the sidestick place instead of it.

 

At the moment I'm working on the HOTAS systems of the pit and the building shell of it is mostly ready. After the HOTAS systems I will begin to put all the switches, rotaries and knobs in the all the consoles and connect them to the electronics (I use 13 Pokeys 57U boards for this in the pit).

 
Some things are already finished, some are just under construction and others are only plans at the moment. This is a long time project and will be finished step by step. My intention is to have a universal useable cockpit for all kind of military aircraft, from jet fighters over attack or transport and utility helicopters, to transport aircraft. This should be the case for aircraft from the vietnam over the cold war to the modern era.

 

From time to time I will post some news about this relatively rare concept of an universal homepit and also pictures of the progress of course.

 

 

The controls at the first picture from bottom left to top right:

 

- F/A-18C/E Throttle

- F-14D Throttle

- F-14D Stick

- AV-8B Throttle

- V-22A/B Throttle

- AH-1F Cobra Cyclic

- AH-1Z / UH-1Y Viper / Venom Cyclic

- AH-64D Cyclic

- OH-58D Cyclic

- UH-1N Collective

- AH-1Z / UH-1Y Viper / Venom Collective

- OH-58D Collective

- AH-64D Collective

- UH-60L/M Collective

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by Viper1970

[Droning_On]

wow, fantastic work Viper....im now wondering if can mod my t.flight stick and throttle to work with these

 

J

Edited June 24, 2021 by Droning_On

[KeyCat]

Very impressive!

 

[Vinc_Vega]

Interesting project, I'll like it!

I'm also curious how all the different concepts will be merged. Please keep us informed.

 

Best Regards from Bavaria,

Vinc

Edited June 24, 2021 by Vinc_Vega

[Viper1970]

On 6/24/2021 at 8:42 PM, Vinc_Vega said:

Interesting project, I'll like it!

I'm also curious how all the different concepts will be merged. Please keep us informed.

 

Best Regards from Bavaria,

Vinc

 

 

It's not easy cause of the different places for controls you need and to find the right "ergonomic" positions to be able to control all the different systems was one of the trickiest things. In addition to that all system must be interchangeable what was the second problem I came across.

 

The consoles and the overhead will include more rudimentary systems which are nearly in every kind of aircraft, things like gear lever, power switches and so on. All special systems or aircraft type individual functions will be controled in the virtual cockpit with the use of VR or with the triple view and TrackIR. I installed two identical left and right handed trackballs near the throttle and the sidestick place to be able to control the virtual pit.

 

Still a lot to do and the whole system will not be finished very quickly but step by step. I hope that I'm able to fly some of the jet modules and maybe the Kiowa or the Apache until end of this year (if they are ready). The rest will follow later. It's my lifetime project and will never be really finished and it's already the second universal pit project I started, so I don't have to do all the considerations how to get things running from scratch again.

 

This is the construction overview of my old first "universal" pit, some years ago. It wasn't built for DCS, but mainly for two other simulations. Sadly one of them suddenly decided to go back to the "one type of jet fighter only"- way and the helo sim was completely unfinished and all the modders left the project. After this my pit was nearly unuseable and it also wasn't compatible with DCS. So I decided to start a completely new project.

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

Started building the 4-Engine-Throttle-Quadrant for the big birds like the different C-130 Hercules models, the C-17A Globemaster and the C-5M Galaxy.

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

Mostly done! There are still some parts missing like the spring-mechanics for the reverser-levers and the limiters for the reverse thrust if you use the "Airbus" reverser system (you have to pull the "Boeing"-reverser levers also, to be able to get in the negative range of the throttle).

 

I will also add a barring to be able to lock the handles and the reversers together for a simpler handling of all four, three or two levers, dependent upon the type of aircraft you use. The handles themself are disconnectable from the levers, for a better control if you use only three or two levers. For the reversers I planning to do something similar.

 

The whole quadrant is only 198mm x 198mm an has a height of 201mm. The base itself including the sloped part is only 190mm in width, because my side consoles are also only 190mm in width.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

The quadrant is near finish. Both systems for the reversers are done (one is more like the system of Boeing, the other is like the system from Airbus - not exact but close). You have to change the locks for each system (the four blocks in front of the lever) to be able to use it. Those locks will also get the engine-number printed at their face.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[sousou]

What kind of files or blueprints could be provided for such an amazing tool ? 

[Viper1970]

And the yoke for this project. I built if from a 737 yoke of Thingiverse I used as template for the shape and did a lot of rework of the shape itself. It's also generic but I wanted to have this "POV/Button-Donat" of the new C-130J Hercules, so I added this part also. The whole yoke isn't built after any original, it's only a complete generic one, same as the throttle quadrant is.

 

Still not finished as the most other HOTAS-parts, too. The splitting in printable, screwable parts and the holes for all the buttons and POV's I will do after all the shapes are finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

And the work on the AH-64D collective also continues ....

 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

The connectors for the TM-System, for the cyclics and sticks and the connector for my changeable one piece collective (AH-64D, UH-60L/M) or the ones with the twin throttle and different heads. I use a modified Fantatec handbrake with a damper, which is mounted in the last small hole of the lever vertically and also connected to my left console, where the Fanatec base is also mounted. I removed the sponge rubber and will use the remaining part of the grip as connector, which goes into the bottom part of the collective for stability.

 

The white part will be a part of every collective handle, so you can easily remove the collectives and exchange them in a similar way like the sticks and the cyclics. The grey part will be fixed mounted at the end of the remaining Fanatec grip and the black part is a cap nut. There is also a toothwork to be able to adjust the angle of the grips.

 

The connectors will come out at the downside of every collective as seperate cable with a plug, which is connectable to the collective base. For the electronics I will use the old HOTAS Cougar electronics and in case of the AH-64D handle an additional grip pcb which is then connected two my second sidestick warthog base. Flying the Apache you don't need a sidestick, only the centerstick and so I can use this one for a second grip pcb controller to gat all the functions at this "monster collective" working.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[Lobinjaevel]

Impressive work! Looking forward to seeing your project progress! 

[TomVR]

did a scan of the TM hornet ages back for the Openhornet project: If you want to use that as a ref too https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/tm-f-18grip-obj-scaled-7f11bfc9c02b4115a3a81e5b3d6bf309

[Viper1970]

21 hours ago, TomVR said:

did a scan of the TM hornet ages back for the Openhornet project: If you want to use that as a ref too https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/tm-f-18grip-obj-scaled-7f11bfc9c02b4115a3a81e5b3d6bf309

 

Hello Tom,

 

 thanks for the link!

 

I already made a F/A-18C Stick a while ago and I think it was this scan I used for making it, but now I have two TM Hornet sticks, I will use for the F/A-18C and the AV-8B with changed Castle- and Trim-Switches. For the F-15E I use an old Suncom Talon stick with changed POV and button mechanics and also a TM compatible grip PCB (like in all my DIY-Sticks, too) to be able to connect it to the Warthog electronics.

 

The B8 variations are made from old TM X-Fighter sticks. F-16 throttle is a modified standalone Cougar. Only the things you couldn't get anywhere or just very expensive, I will do as 3D-printed parts. Some of them I had/have to do by myself, cause nobody made them before or is willing to share them.

[Viper1970]

Little bit further now. The Collective of the Longbow splitted, already hollow and placed a connector to mount it to my Fanatec brake. I also reworked the connector to be more stable  and simpler as before.

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

AH-64D Collective ready for printing. Next part is the cyclic.

 

 

[Viper1970]

Ok, really ready Added the missing button and trigger guards.

 

It's not 100% scale, cause I had to do some compromise to make it printable and fit it in my universal pit.

 

Some of the POV's missing here. I have only the ones in the pictures I needed for adjusting the chassis. The POV's I use have the same size as the one of TM, but they are a little less in their depth. I also print them all by myself. I use the same POV-base for every POV regardless how many functions it has. There are locks on the hats to avoid the functions that aren't used and of course the microswitches are also not installed.

 

The grey round frame at the middle of the top grip is a mount frame for a standard thumbstick to imitate the transducer here. It fits also in the standard TM-POV holes. The scan switch on the top grip uses a momentary toggle switch, which also gets an extra cap.

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

The universal twin twist throttle grip for the helos and the different Layouts of collectives I wanted to use in my pit. The twist throttle grip will be used for all single and twin engine helos with a twist throttle. Only the heads will be changed. Nothing is really finished yet.

 

The metall piece under the twist grips is a seat post of a mountain bike I had lying arround and which is a perfect base for building the exchangeable twist grip with a connection for the different heads .

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

Ok, 24 hours for one half piece of one of the collective double-grips of the Apache . I used a layer high of 0.125mm instead of 0.1mm and set the speed to 70mm/s. At first I wanted to use the same parameters I used for my F-14 and F/A-18 throttles (0.1mm layer height & 30mm/s print speed) to get really good results but one half grip cost nearly 48 hours printing time . And I'm already using a 0.5 nozzle instead of a 0.4er. Makes not much difference in detail but speeds up printing time a lot. I did this also with the throttles.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

Did a rework of my Kiowa collective head and adjusted it for my universal twist grip (only the frontparts here). The idle release is still missing and I have to find a solution for it. Maybe I will only make an electronical solution and not mechanical ones. This is much easier to do for my changeable collective heads. The  Twin-Huey head and the AH-1Z/UH-1Y (Viper/Venom) head will follow.

 

 

 

 

[Kip336]

On 7/31/2021 at 3:08 PM, Viper1970 said:

Ok, 24 hours for one half piece of one of the collective double-grips of the Apache . I used a layer high of 0.125mm instead of 0.1mm and set the speed to 70mm/s. At first I wanted to use the same parameters I used for my F-14 and F/A-18 throttles (0.1mm layer height & 30mm/s print speed) to get really good results but one half grip cost nearly 48 hours printing time . And I'm already using a 0.5 nozzle instead of a 0.4er. Makes not much difference in detail but speeds up printing time a lot. I did this also with the throttles.

 

 

 

 

 

Heya viper, just curious to how your collective came out, and was wondering if you are open to sharing the .stl files? I got the crazy idea this weekend to build a collective too,but I've never done 3d modeling before.

[Viper1970]

Hello Kip,

 

the problem with sharing my files is, they are really meant to serve my own special needs in my homepit. At the beginning I wanted to use TM like connectors for all my stick, cyclic and collective parts. After a while I noticed that this is much too tricky, cause printing this screw thread connectors is not so easy if they should be strong enough to resist the forces you put on them.

 

So I decided to make an own simple connection system for all my HOTAS parts. Drawback of this is, that I also have to make new connectors for the original TM Grips and the TM bases I have. My grips are connected with a bottom mounted round plate with two 6mm screw bolts that is facing to it's opposite on the extension and the bolts go through two holes and are attached with two nuts. Those nuts have printed knurls, so that you can quickly change the grips.

 

The electronic connectors will be simple DIN 5 pole plugs, like the ones old keyboards had before PS/2 and USB. The cables will come out of my connectors in front and will simply connected to the base or a connctor directly mounted on the extension. This is much more stable as the small flimsy mini DIN 5 pole connectors inside the mount of the original grips. So my whole HOTAS system is now totally incompatible with anything else and my collectives are also specially made to use them with the FANATEC handbrake system I use as a collective base.

 

Most of my HOTAS parts are still in development and much things changed the last weeks, so nothing is really finished yet. When I'm ready with most of the parts I will show them here and if someone is interested and want to have the files for printing, I'm also willing to share them. No problem, but keep in mind that you have a lot of work to do, to make them compatible for your own needs.

 

And not all of my HOTAS are exact replicas, cause I had to make some compromise related to my universal cockpit concept and being able to change all the grips among each other. I also dropped the idea to rebuilt the trigger guards on the Apache, the Viper/Venom and the Cobra controls. It's much to complex and difficult to make them really good working and printable.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

I'm just reworking my Apache collective to make it much smoother and cleaner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Viper1970

[Viper1970]

And the cyclic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Viper1970