3D Printed F/A-18 Cockpit - Update

[Gladman]

JSelf I just want to thank you for your hard work.  This is rather exceptional and I'm looking forward to completing the pit with your creations.

 

Just got the landing gear switch printed and assembled (minus the micro switch, its in the mail).

Going to cut the hole in the panel this afternoon.

Your the kind of guy that keeps this hobby going.

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Gladman

[DutchCoolHand]

On 9/26/2021 at 2:27 PM, Jself said:

STL files have been added to my shared google drive.  Info in the Read Me pdf.   Donations appreciated but not mandatory - paypal - jself1@gmail.com

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CxYMFzfWFkWKXHwS2IiQCrdIfeTMGgU4?usp=sharing

Wow, thank you! This is day 2 of owning my Creality Ender 6 printer and I find this. I have been flying in VR for the last 2 years and my thought was that it eliminates the need for a cockpit especially because I have PointCTRL. But now that I have a 3D printer I am reconsidering. I would not need all the labels or different colors. I am going to see if I can remove them. If I decide to use these I will definitely donate to your PayPal account!

 

Peter

 

[Gladman]

I have a question on the jettison stores setup.  Certainly I see the stl files contain the 4 parts.  However I don't see the button that would fit inside the outer switch body (not that I can't cad a disk) or honestly how it would work.  I'm sure its my ignorance shining through.

 

Any feedback?

[Jself]

On 10/17/2021 at 5:27 PM, Gladman said:

I have a question on the jettison stores setup.  Certainly I see the stl files contain the 4 parts.  However I don't see the button that would fit inside the outer switch body (not that I can't cad a disk) or honestly how it would work.  I'm sure its my ignorance shining through.

 

Any feedback?

Its a Squard D brand switch.  The model is in the readme 

On 10/17/2021 at 12:23 PM, Gladman said:

JSelf I just want to thank you for your hard work.  This is rather exceptional and I'm looking forward to completing the pit with your creations.

 

Just got the landing gear switch printed and assembled (minus the micro switch, its in the mail).

Going to cut the hole in the panel this afternoon.

Your the kind of guy that keeps this hobby going.

 

 

sweet!!! - If you look at the pic of mine I posted earlier.. the microswitch didn't work too well in the holes in the body.. I had to off set it a bit and bend the arm to get it to work consistently

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by Jself

[raus]

@Jself did you use any mod of the lua files for the Parking brake? I am not seeing how to have the discrete steps you show in the video. I mean, from parked position, if I hit "CCW", it will automatically rotate, push, and get horizontal, while in your video, I see you are turning it like 45° CCW, and it does not get in until you push...

[Jself]

On 10/25/2021 at 5:11 AM, raus said:

@Jself did you use any mod of the lua files for the Parking brake? I am not seeing how to have the discrete steps you show in the video. I mean, from parked position, if I hit "CCW", it will automatically rotate, push, and get horizontal, while in your video, I see you are turning it like 45° CCW, and it does not get in until you push...

no modifications..  not sure why it works but it does.  

 

I use a 5 position rotary switch but only 3 of the positions are wired in and the bindings are as follows

 

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by Jself

[DutchCoolHand]

A couple of questions Jeff. Initially I am going tp build the UFC with the my TM MFD's next and below it. I don't need to have any button light up as I am flying only in VR. I might add some of the other buttons, like master arm A/A and A/G but I am not sure yet as I have the CTRLPoint controllers. I think the UFC is the most used. I have read the documentation several times so am I correct in saying that I don't need the diodes as they are for the LED's? I am not going to paitn the text as I don't need to see. Lastly I{ am trying to figure out how many of each of the button or dials I need as I am not going to model each button or switch.

On another thought, How easy would it be to make the UFC swappable , meaning I could swap between the F18/F16 and A10? Looking at your picture I see all the Arduino USB cable come together in the hub behind the upper right panel. If I would make such that the UFC would not connect to anything would it be possible?

You provide the Ardiuno sketches, does that show how to wire each button? It has been years since I used one. I build an automatic chicken coop door opener .

IA m trying to see how I can adjust this for my VR onyl flying. Already ordered some of the buttons.

Thanks,

Peter

 

[Jself]

On 11/14/2021 at 4:26 PM, DutchCoolHand said:

A couple of questions Jeff. Initially I am going tp build the UFC with the my TM MFD's next and below it. I don't need to have any button light up as I am flying only in VR. I might add some of the other buttons, like master arm A/A and A/G but I am not sure yet as I have the CTRLPoint controllers. I think the UFC is the most used. I have read the documentation several times so am I correct in saying that I don't need the diodes as they are for the LED's? I am not going to paitn the text as I don't need to see. Lastly I{ am trying to figure out how many of each of the button or dials I need as I am not going to model each button or switch.

On another thought, How easy would it be to make the UFC swappable , meaning I could swap between the F18/F16 and A10? Looking at your picture I see all the Arduino USB cable come together in the hub behind the upper right panel. If I would make such that the UFC would not connect to anything would it be possible?

You provide the Ardiuno sketches, does that show how to wire each button? It has been years since I used one. I build an automatic chicken coop door opener .

IA m trying to see how I can adjust this for my VR onyl flying. Already ordered some of the buttons.

Thanks,

Peter

 

The Diodes are required if you ever think you will have 2 (or more)  buttons pressed at the same time.  Without the diodes it will cause ghosting and you will not gettthe output you're expecting.  I used momentary toggle switches but still did the diodes just incase.  You basically wire them inline on either the rows or the columns of the matrix but not both.

 

As far as making multiple UFCs..It would require each to have their own arduino, and you would have to come up with some kind of a swappable mount

I never got around to making a wiring diagram.  The Arduino sketches I provided both use a 5x5 matrix.  here is a good video on how to wire that up - 

 

 

 

 

[washedupgrunt]

Awesome build mate! 

[Minimanzack]

Thanks again for these awsome files! I just have a quick question regarding the wing fold mechanism. If im having trouble with the push pull where the switch is not allowing the Rod for enough back to be turned the last 45 Degrees. Im not sure what Im doing wrong. Can you check out the attached photos and comment if you see an obvious mistanke? Thanks alot in advance! 

 

Link to pictures due to size: https://photos.app.goo.gl/dY9bm7Ss7Hm9UV84A

 

[Turbohamster]

Amazing build  

Looks like you are using VR?

How did u get the DDI's to output to the external screens when using VR?

Thanks 

[Droning_On]

Wow looking good guys.   The 3d Printing of letters has to be my fav part tbh. 

I get really good small txt prints with 3.5mm letter height. using 0.2mm layer height with 4 layers of white.

[War_Pig]

For the rudder trim, what component are you using?  Is that a pot, or an encoder?

I've got 90% of the printing done, and have ordered most of the components I think I need (there is always something I forgot until it's time to put together...), looking forward to getting home at the end of the month and trying to assemble it.

Edited January 25, 2022 by War_Pig

[Uxi]

I've been printing some of the mechanisms and loving your engineering especially for the landing gear and seat arming. Still on the fence on doing your jettison select versus another one that was posted here (bit uses more obscure rotary IIRC). Still need to get some switches and ancillary parts.

I'm not getting the landing hook.  The handle doesn't fit the rectangular sleeve on either end and neither hole appears that deep.

[Bdoyle13]

Dude, project looks awesome. I'm currently building a full pit as well and was just looking for a couple files for glare shield and vents but after looking at this I'm going to try the FCS reset switch and the ejection seat arm handle. Great work

[matthewdcs]

@Jself Hi, I saw that you mentioned that you used rotary switches for the INS and Radar knobs, Im assuming you meant the simple wafer style ones, if so, how did you mount those to the panels?

[LeBryce]

hi i am working on a project simlilar to yours and my question is how or what did you use to do the lettering for the panels 

[GhostRider3196]

Hey can anyone help with the lettering on the panels. Im using Prusa slicer and its not gererating the letters??? 

[No1sonuk]

20 hours ago, GhostRider3196 said:

Hey can anyone help with the lettering on the panels. Im using Prusa slicer and its not gererating the letters??? 

It might be needing some kind of "thin walls" setting to be turned on.

[Bdoyle13]

Trying to find files for the faceplates of the gauges. Battery, RAD ALT etc.. I don't see those in the files. Can you point me in the right direction?

[bobslob]

Does anyone have any photos of the parking break put together? Even the ones in this thread I'm struggling to see how it all works.

[MaxLikesPlanes]

What Pc do you use? @Jself

Edited May 16, 2023 by MaxLikesPlanes

[blihp]

very nice work! I like how it is base mounted - i can see how this may help if someone (like me) wants to be able to remove the front quickly to do something else (like racing sims) :). 

 

[PitterPatter]

@Jself Thanks for this amazing model. looking to build this starting with the side panels. Do you have a link to some of the toggle or rotary switches you have used?
 is there a reason you have used the BBI-32 Button Box Interface instead of the BBI-64 Button Box Interface? I'm thinking of using Leo Bodnar for the entire build if possible, do you see any issues with this? Do you potentially still have access to the step files used to design this build? Is paypal - jself1@gmail.com still a good email to donate to? 

 

[Jself]

There should be a parts list in the google drive folder.  I needed some pots (axes) so I had to use 2 Leos in each console anyways, so no need for the 64s