The "Might resemble a cockpit build"

[Succellus]

Men this is B**** work... good luck on that don t be ashamed it ain t easy and require a lot of patience and determination especially if you are green.

 

Good luck and nice work.

[BruceRobertson]

That thing looks great man, read all your stuff, and looked at all your pictures... my brother and I had talked about maybe building one from pvc too... you make it look pretty easy... and.. FTR, it looks GREAT man.

[DEChengst]

It's about 09:00 in the morning and my vacation just started. Finally time to work on the pit again. Lots of parts have arrived the last few weeks so I'll be pretty busy. First though I need a good breakfast for a bunch of energy:

 

 

A plate of traditional nasi goreng. Came out of bed early just to make this. Pictures of pit progress later today :)

[DEChengst]

Result of this morning:

 

 

Frame for the front panel. Now to cut the panel itself.

[DEChengst]

Annoyed the neighbours with my electric jigsaw for about two hours:

 

 

Front panel cut to size and bolted to the frame.

 

 

Pilots view of the front panel. Next up is putting stuff in the panel.

[DEChengst]

I'm quite knackered after the work I've done today. I removed the back piece of the Thrustmaster MFDs to minimize distance between MFDs and the screen. That gives quite sucky button action though as the distance between the PCB with the buttons and the front panel becomes too large. I think I'll switch to using velcro. Plywood board is quite splintery so I'll have to give it a good sanding and hope the black paint will hide it. I'll probably take a rest for the weekend as keeping up this tempo probably isn't too smart for my heart.

 

 

MFDs installed. Simmeters stuff installed. Didn't finish installing the engine cluster as it's really getting too late to work on it. Mounted the UFC as well. Now time to finally eat something and a bit of rest. I'll clean out the mess in my living room tomorrow.

[DEChengst]

Postman arrived with a nasty surprise today. I ordered a bunch of USB-A to USB-B cables for the instuments and Bodnar boards. Turned out the description in the webshop is inaccurate and they're USB-A to mini USB-B. That's no use to me, so I'll have to send them back and have them exchanged for normal size.

 

After a lot of thinking last night I decided to change out the front panel itself. I don't like the way it splinters when I drill into it and it also flexes, which I don't like either. The front panel should look really nice in my eyes, so I'll redo it in a thicker less splinter prone material. Would love to run to the DIY store right now, but I really shouldn't. Lost about half a kilo of body weight yesterday despite eating a lot. Continuing like that is really unhealthy with my heart condition. I'll spent the weekend ejoying some good torrone and reading 100% geek certified books ;)

Edited November 3, 2012 by DEChengst

[DEChengst]

Today was a prototype day. Decided to switch to front mounting and create a bezel around them:

 

 

I'm happy with this as it looks nice to me. Made a calculation error when measuring so there's a 1 cm gap on the lower left side. Had to file down the upper part to make it fit. I only have a hand file so it isn't as smooth as I would like. Lessons learned. Measure two times. Get a Dremel for the fine tuning.

 

 

The backside is a mess. Lessons learned: The 3.6mm plywood is too thin, the holes are too big. Don't put any pressure on the hole saw. Let the drill do the work and be patient.

 

 

Had a small piece of 9mm plywood left so I decided to do another prototype. Material is a lot nicer to work with than the 3.6mm.

 

 

Backside of the panel looks okay, but still a bit of chipping. Used a smaller hole saw to cut out a hole for the USB connector only. Instruments now rest on the stepper motors against the panel. Also switched to 3mm instead of 4mm bolts. This leaves a bit more room for correction if the allignment is a mm off or so. New mounting method means the instruments come forward a bit so I need thicker material for the bezel. Lessons learned: Proper way to mount the instruments to the panel and the measurements that go with it. Need to ask the guy at the DIY store about the chipping.

 

Jd3MwdoKW4U

 

Testing some of the instruments. Only three out of four are working as I don't have enough USB cables at the moment.

Edited November 4, 2012 by DEChengst

[Deadman]

Wow looks like you have invested a good chunk of cash in the simmeters gauges. To stop the splintering on the back side of your Main Instrument Panel (MIP). Just put a piece if scrap wood behind it and only cut through the MIP. Great build:thumbup:

[Feed]

DEC, I'm very interested in more details regarding the removal of the back cover from the MFD frames, as that's an idea I've toyed with. Do you have photos of the inside, and can you give a clearer description about what the problem was?

[DEChengst]

@Deadman:

 

I already thought about putting a piece of wood behind the plywood to stop the splintering. As it's also what you advise I'll try just that.

 

@Feed:

 

Don't have any pictures off the inside as I already put them back together. If you mount the front piece of the MFDs directly to a flat panel there's a gap between the PCB and the panel. When you push a button you push the entire PCB backwards. The backside of the MFDs have pieces of rubber on them to keep the PCB in place. Of course you can transfer those to your panel.

[Feed]

Great clarification, and what I suspected was the case. Thanks!

[DEChengst]

Some days I just like to draw:

 

 

New instrument panel in the works...

[DEChengst]

Added the instruments:

 

 

ARGH! Made a mistake while measuring the hole for the UFC. Got confused by all the lines and choose the wrong one as the centre line. What a rookie mistake ;) Lesson learned today: Don't only measure twice but also measure from several points.

 

 

Pilot's view of the mistake with the UFC and the fix. Todo tomorrow: Create bezels for the right side instruments and to hide the UFC fix.

[DEChengst]

Just wanted to report on today's progress when the door bell rang. *bleep* Was a pleasant surprise though. Postman gave me the printed DCS A-10C manual.

 

 

Drawing again. This time for the instrument bezel. You can see I never made it to art school :D

 

 

Spray painting the instrument bezel in my bathroom paint cabin.

[DEChengst]

And finally for today the work I've done this afternoon:

 

 

Had an issue with the stick hitting the instrument panel.This is the new mount I created to move the stick back.

 

 

Officer, I swear I didn't make a mistake while planning for the UFC!

 

 

Bezel smezel, and it has been painted black. Reminds me of a Rolling Stones song or something.

[agrasyuk]

Wait a sec. Are those actual instruments you using? As in mechanical rather then displayed on screen?

[Deadman]

Yes He is using Simmeters A10C Engine Cluster Pack witch is close to a g just for it a bit pricy http://www.simmeters.com/en/engine-indicators/109-engine-cluster-pack.html

then 200 euro for the Alt

http://www.simmeters.com/en/altimeters/88-digital-analog-altimeter-2-digit.html

and 150 more for the VVI

http://www.simmeters.com/en/vertical-speed-indicators-vvi/77-vertical-speed-indicator-6000-fpm.html

Edited November 7, 2012 by Deadman

[DEChengst]

@agrasyuk

 

As Deadman says they're Simmeters mechanical instruments. I know it's a lot of money to get all the instruments I need, but I really lack the skills and tools to build them myself. Luckily I work as a UNIX system administrator so I have a decent income. I also don't dare to drive a car because of my heart condition. The money I save there I spent on my simpit. My heart condition is actually what drove me to serious simming. I started flying sailplanes when I was about 19. I failed the required medical exam when they discovered my heart condition. Flightsims are the only way I can kinda do the only sport I really like.

Edited November 7, 2012 by DEChengst

[linden]

Nice work there Dechengst:thumbup:

[DEChengst]

Only light work for today. I'll take a few days of rest because I'm really wearing myself out at the moment.

 

 

Ready to cut the hole for the right MFCD. The old shirt is there to protect the instruments as I didn't want to undo almost 60 bolts.

 

 

Lilliput screens hooked up. Flash makes you can hardly see they're displaying the MFCDs. I have a problem with them that they don't like to be run off an USB hub. I think I'll get seperate power bricks for them. Still waiting for all the USB cables to hook up the instruments. Next up will be the right console. I'm really happy to be putting an end to all the hard physical labor as I'm not fit for that.

[agrasyuk]

Looks functional but still a bit rough.

What are your plans for ADI and HSI ?

[DEChengst]

Yep it will look rough until it's all painted. I won't do that until it's fully done, as painting it earlier makes it hard to draw all the lines for the holes I still need to make. Haven't decided on ADI and HSI yet. Would like to have real ones adepted to sim use, but that probably won't happen. Realistic options are more Simmeters stuff or just using LCDs and export them to that.

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Nice stuff!

[DEChengst]

Few days of rest and on we go:

 

 

Created the electronics bay for the instrument panel. This will be stuffed with cables and USB hubs.

 

 

Right console starting to take shape. I'm not doing any of the angles the real cockpit has. Still need to buy a lot of switches.

 

 

UHOH! That won't fit. I'll need to move the throttle back a bit. I'll think about that for a bit while enjoying a good beer. Don't have any at the moment though, so I'm off to the beershop :p