sargentwolf Posted February 21 Posted February 21 (edited) So I finally got logged in here and can post. Yay. Completely forgot how to use a forum so that was fun remembering! Bit of background on myself: was obsessed with the RAH-66 Comanche as a kid, was going to join the US Army to fly them. Then they got canceled and blah. Joined any who and got injured in a humvee accident before I could go warrant officer and become a pilot. One night while tasting 4 roses heavily at my desk complained to the wife about how I'll never fly one, she literally goes: "is there a computer game or something you could do it in?" "dcs yes, but id want to do the controls and everything. would that be ok to build?" "sure go for it" THE VERY NEXT FREAKING DAY: a old 64-A cockpit simulator popped up on fleabay. Immediately bought it. Its here and stuck on top of a harbor freight trailer so I can eventually take it to LAN parties, army recruiting events, and air shows. Ive started sanding and priming the thing, talking to a few machine shops and a tech school about getting some replacement side panels water-jetted and some welding work done. Sim will be hard mounted once that work is done. Also the canopy had to be cut to fit in my garage so that will be made into a removable piece. Since the DZUS rails are still there, can mount things like on the real heli. So far I've got panels from tek: left hand panel, arm/safe panel, keyboard unit, and fire extenguisher panel and from total controls the EUFD panel. Ill be posting update photos once the cold goes mostly away and I can sand and paint outside, its freaking 10°F currently. Once that and the metal work is done, can begin rest of wiring and related. Did end up building and testing the PC in a surplus pelican military server rack. I only fly in VR now personally so wont need TV mount or anything. But ill still put the MFD screens in for events and such so i dont have to bring a easy to loose VR headset. tips, tricks, bourbon suggestions always welcome. Edited February 21 by sargentwolf 5 Still rebuilding the surplus Apache sim. I hate paint.
Mr_Burns Posted February 21 Posted February 21 Wow, not seen anything like this since that member put a Tornado in his unused indoor pool, but then stopped posting. Will be an epic build, thank you for posting, will keep watching! 2
sargentwolf Posted February 21 Author Posted February 21 I wont be like that guy! Or the guy who posted and shared pics of a surplus Comanche trainer then vanished! Forgot to mention, also got a bunch of stickers including "ye of little faith" for once its done and hired a friend to do some nose art. Plus he has a few Mechanicus Purity seals left over. Because the machine spirt always needs help when Im involved. 1 Still rebuilding the surplus Apache sim. I hate paint.
Mr_sukebe Posted February 21 Posted February 21 Just wow. Mega envious here. Please do keep us posted on progress and with plenty of pics. One thought, Total Controls have replica style MFDs for the Apache. I've got one, very nice bit of kit, feels massive more solid than the Thrustmaster options. Virpil have their Apache collective grip. 2 7800x3d, 5080, 64GB, PCIE5 SSD - Oculus Pro - Moza (AB9), Virpil (Alpha, CM3, CM1 and CM2), WW (TOP and CP), TM (MFDs, Pendular Rudder), Tek Creations (F18 panel), Total Controls (Apache MFD), Jetseat
sargentwolf Posted February 22 Author Posted February 22 I learned how to fly the apache with the virpil collective and the winwing f16 expanded grip. Wife put her foot down and no more panels or equipment ordering until the thing is welded up and paint is done. Talked today with a few experts at a local train museum. Theres a few scrap yards and supply houses near by ish they will be contacting for me for the correct DZUS screws (if anyone has some, please message me. i do have the print files but steel is better) as well as a guy in stl that seems to have, according to two people, a F-18 and F-15 cockpit. I will be finding out more about those two cockpits and reporting back. Now off to dcs and attempting to not skim a treeline! Still rebuilding the surplus Apache sim. I hate paint.
sargentwolf Posted March 4 Author Posted March 4 So an update on the Apache! Dropped off yesterday with the welding shop. They are excited to work on it and should only be a month or two to get everything done. Once it's done, guy who's doing the paint is ready and dropping it at his shop the same day welders are done. The second update is insane. So I was wrong on the simulators around STL. There's a F-4 2 seat simulator AND SOMEONE HAS A FULL F14 SIM. I've been invited to the group via the train museum contact and will definitely get pictures and further info. I also got some skins done for the Apache, nerv livery because I am a child and my wife left the credit card unsupervised. Still rebuilding the surplus Apache sim. I hate paint.
sargentwolf Posted March 14 Author Posted March 14 Another update. Welding shop came through and finished a month ahead of schedule. Primered the outside skin and ordered correct vehicle paint. Going with carc green. Paint begins next Friday, ripping out the old front panel before starting to minimize scratching. Which is dumb because it'll get scratched up quickly lol. 1 Still rebuilding the surplus Apache sim. I hate paint.
Mr_Burns Posted March 14 Posted March 14 Wow what a difference, looks good! why are the frames different around where the door would be (one tube one bar, egress assistance? 1
sargentwolf Posted March 14 Author Posted March 14 Thanks! I'm really happy with the progress so far, paint should be very quick. So the original overhead canopy had to be cut off due to the height of the garage. My HOA doesn't allow outdoor trailer storage so had to cut it off to fit inside. No idea why the army decided to build it that way, the weld shop just worked with what was there and made it removable for any future low doors. 2 Still rebuilding the surplus Apache sim. I hate paint.
Mr_Burns Posted March 15 Posted March 15 Your garage looks high enough, the door is the problem! Sounds like a good idea to have the roof removed, wouldn’t want all the avionics outside when finished. is the plan to enclose it then? Did the sim originally have a roof and walls, windows??
sargentwolf Posted March 25 Author Posted March 25 (edited) Another update! Last one for a bit, heading out of the country next week and dont really have time to work on much. Going to start working on the side panels next, got some black acrylic and going to laser cut a bunch of blanking plates. Kinda tempted to make this a block 2 and move the behind stick wiper control and generator panel to above the radio stack. Threw a few coats of paint on the exterior and begun painting the interior. Outside paint is a replacement CARC green 383 rattle paint, the stuff the humvee guys use on their trucks. Heck I used a few cans on my LMTV before selling it. Going to add some nonslip paint or carpet treads to the entry area to prevent slips. Black is just flat black rattle-can I had rolling around. EDIT: the guy who was going to paint it has quit painting and I just decided to paint it. On 3/15/2025 at 4:48 PM, Mr_Burns said: Your garage looks high enough, the door is the problem! Sounds like a good idea to have the roof removed, wouldn’t want all the avionics outside when finished. is the plan to enclose it then? Did the sim originally have a roof and walls, windows?? So the door is just high enough to clear the roof now. Literally by a mm or two at the most. Its going to be open in the cockpit area but the behind panel area will have a black cloth covering the wife is sewing up. Keep things easy to access for future troubleshooting and trying to cut panels to cover that mess seems like a unhappy idea. Im pretty sure this was setup as a practice trainer vs instruction trainer. So it was a fixed screen and such. There is floor panels removed like the seat moved around, not sure. 23 hours ago, Spitty said: Just cut the top off and make it removable. I did and the welding shop made it so its now removable! Low doorways are not an issue now, need to measure and try a double door out. Would make it easier to move around at LAN parties. Edited March 25 by sargentwolf 1 Still rebuilding the surplus Apache sim. I hate paint.
agrasyuk Posted April 14 Posted April 14 some serious dedication. What do you plan for visuals for your sim? 1 Anton. My pit build thread . Simple and cheap UFC project
sargentwolf Posted June 12 Author Posted June 12 Heelllloooo all. I haven't forgotten to update you all, just not been a good time. The tldr: kidney stones and surgeries caused by them. Don't get dehydrated. The longer version: I get chronic kidney stones and have stopped counting them once I hit 50 something stones. Multiple have popped up one after another and had to get ultrasound surgery to break a few up. Recovery is quick but holy heck you don't want to move much. Very little has gotten done beyond laser cutting out a few blanking panels and 3d printing a few things, such as the keyboard mount and a few USB ports. Will have photos after this weekend. I did get total control's efud and panels. Haven't made decisions yet on if I get the actual screens or just leave them blank and have the VR headset (quest 3 until pimax releases their augmented reality module) do them. Did get some work done on the agora 1/24 scale Apache and 3d printed a full sized hellfire. So that's things. Until next time. Still rebuilding the surplus Apache sim. I hate paint.
Recommended Posts