Clr4ils Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 I hear ya. This whole project has been done in 30 min spurts while both kids naps overlap. Thankfully as an airline pilot I get time on overnights to work on ideas and do a ton of soldering. So when I get home I can have a plan of attack during my short work period. But that also means that I never have time to clean up. So the garage is a certifiable disaster zone. I've also found that ill make a piece for it in a hurry and then once its installed I remake it accurately. I just finished the gear handle that was just a 2 minute job to throw something in but looked like crap. Now it's fully to scale. Here's a scalded mock up of how it should look when done. It's not an exact replica of an f16 but will just include the switches that are active in the game. Plus some extra stuff like a kindle fire as a third mfd. Wife's out of town this weekend and in surprising her by building a closet system she's wanted for a year. But hope to get SOME more work done on the pit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HitchHikingFlatlander Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Keep up the good work! http://dcs-mercenaries.com/ USA Squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mraidanpreston Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Dont suppose you have the dimensions for the front panel? with radius etc of all the circles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clr4ils Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Hey hitch. Saw someone who posted up here and it reminded me that you hadn't seen the newest update.... Cockpit took a drastic turn. Now its Ina full scale f16 pit that was down the road at a local children's museum which I have access to whenever I want. All switches are wired up and working. Just have a bit of work left and it should be complete. Here's my son flying it around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HitchHikingFlatlander Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 Awesome man just awesome! http://dcs-mercenaries.com/ USA Squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HitchHikingFlatlander Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 A little update on mine: Ok got the iphone working along with the Touch IR (now Touch Control) software and added the required buttons in the control options of DCS A10C. It works but I was still having some of the issues I had the last time I was using it. What would happen is I press the "Master Caution" button on the iphone UFC and one press it would work and the next it would jettison my weapons. Apparently I had jettison weapons set to the "W" key and UFC key was LCTRL + LALT + W for Master Caution. I think whats happening is that sometimes the Iphone is sending the LCTRL + LALT + W command but everyonce in a while it only registers "W". After reassigning some keys I have the UFC working on the iphone but sometimes you have to press the desired key a few times to get it to work. So this is still a great way to use your iphone for an extra controller and relatively cheap, I believe when I got the IOS software a few years back it was free but required a cheap in-app purchase to get the functionality needed for the UFC commands. Everything else is free provided by the original poster and works as advertised although you may have to reassign some keyboard commands so you don't have duplicate command issues. Not an issue in my case since I rarely use the keyboard for flying related tasks. Edit: Looks like the app is 6.99 now (not sure if it still requires in app purchases though). http://dcs-mercenaries.com/ USA Squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HitchHikingFlatlander Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 Dont suppose you have the dimensions for the front panel? with radius etc of all the circles? No, I don't, I built it on the fly. I used a fairly standard drill hole saw kit for cutting the gauges but I didn't take notes. It was built to fit a spare widescreen monitor I had but the monitor didn't work after getting the panel built. I received another slightly larger monitor and that's why the more recent pictures show the edge of the screens frame. One of these days I'm going to build a new front panel overlay that matches the monitor size but for now it works. In a nutshell though if you want to build something like this, none of the gauges or MFCDs have to be a particular size nor do you have to really worry about placement. HELIOS allows you to drag, drop and re-size everything to fit and the MFCD export process is just a trial and error game until you have them sized and placed in the right spot. http://dcs-mercenaries.com/ USA Squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clr4ils Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Freaking awesome!! We'll done. Whatever happened to your tub? That still happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HitchHikingFlatlander Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 The plan is to still build something big, first set-back was the reality of having a baby, then it was time and money and now its because I don't have a job (for the last year actually). So I still have some of the main pieces for a full blown pit; front panel, side console frames and even a X-Keys 128 Input controller ready but it will have to wait. Good news is that I have a perfectly playable pit to work with and I rarely have to resort to the keyboard or mouse for flying.... http://dcs-mercenaries.com/ USA Squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clr4ils Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Oh man. I feel ya. I haven't even flown a single mission in the almost two years of me doing this. It's always build something then test it. Then figure out why it's all messed up when it was working fine last time. I actually am designing a touchscreen panel for my f16 pit to use when I can't fly the museum pit which honestly looks like will never happen. So hard to get away guilt free. It involves a combo punch of a Helios/mfde profile with a touch buddy tabbing system to control the cockpit switches. In all honesty. As badass as it is to be working on that museum pit, the reality of probably never being able to get there to fly it much has completely set in and I kind of regret even starting it. Wish I would have just suck with my garage pit and had a lot more access to it. So I'm designing this pseudo f35-esque pit to use when I can actually get a chance to fly. If that ever happens. :-D Regardless the kids love flying it when the museum is open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clr4ils Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Here's kind of a little sample of what ice done on my laptop during a couple trips. I've tested it with my home computer and it all functions well. Had to hand make all the bmps for each switch for when it's on and off. But looks cool when you do it. On my PC you can actually see the digits and modes changing. http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i302/seth32680/B50811C6-58F2-437D-8A1F-D6FA7A23A141-10156-000008B43CF42E2B_zps20b172af.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HitchHikingFlatlander Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 I think the fact that kids have access to something they might not otherwise get to experience would make up for it in the end. Nice work on the display though and I feel you on the time to sim, until the last month or so my pit had only been touched a handful of times in the last year. Even though it was right there in the corner of the room and only took 5mins to setup it just rarely happened. But the last few weeks of flying it really hit me on how much I missed simming all the time and the immense enjoyment I get from it. I always wanted to be a pilot (and still do) and right now this is the closest I can get to it, especially in the military sense! http://dcs-mercenaries.com/ USA Squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clr4ils Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Hell. I'm a real pilot and this is STILL more fun and exciting. I've had a blast over the last year and half building this. Just wish I could make some money doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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