Hitch's A10C Pit (Pictures Plenty)

[Clr4ils]

So I have been completely obsessed with doing something since seeing this thread. But t has to be cheap and I finally found the start to it. Got a broken 22" LCD off eBay for 40 bucks that works but just has the plastic broken which I'm removing anyway. I got the cougar mfds for 60 shipped and trying to haggle a set of hotas for 60 bucks. This will all be for falcon bms since a-10 cripples my pc. I'm going to use two keyboards using macro to wire up the toggles. And maybe that leonard chip for some of the rest. Now have to find a cheap projector and go big! I'll post pics and would love to hear if youve made any more progress. I've seriously lost tons of sleep wanting to do this.

[Clr4ils]

So far.....

So psyched about this!! Worked great right out of the gate. Just had to fiddle with placements.

Next up is the icp panel and in going to place a mirror to reflect up to a plexiglass HUD! That's why the HUD is displayed too.

 

 

It's amazing all the free mods out there and support available.

[hassata]

It really is. I wonder if ED knew all this stuff was even possible.

[rocketeer]

While the idea of using mirror is great,

1.how do you plan to mount the mirror in front of the monitor without blocking view of other gauges and the UFC?

 

2. And is it possible to inverse the HUD info in the monitor since the mirror will inverse the HUD too?

[Clr4ils]

It'll be mounted just like the real f16. Behind the icp panel I'm making.

 

You CAN inverse and move the HUD. Along with all the others. But don't need to because the mirror will reflect onto the plexiglass correctly. If I mounted a little display just under the HUD glass THEN I'd have to invert it. Basically works like a periscope.

Edited June 14, 2012 by Clr4ils

[Clr4ils]

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to turn off the HUD in the program so I dot have two buds displaying.

[metalnwood]

Have a look at Peters thread re turning off the HUD, I think it was in there.

 

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=89974

 

EDIT: forget that, looks like you are in BMS not dcs.

Edited June 14, 2012 by metalnwood

[Clr4ils]

So here's my progress so far!

 

Need to maybe redo the icp again. But now it'll work.

I've got a feeling I'll always be doing some improving to it.

Any updates with yours?

[Cali]

That's pretty good Clr4ils, I need to get a CH MFP. Maybe when I get back from my 6 month vacation ;)

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Clr4ils Great work on your set-up since my last post in this thread I discovered DayZ and the summer just passed me by. Fast forward to now, in the last week I have re-installed all my DCS software and flight sim gear to my new PC! I have my multi monitor set-up working and I've been flying a little the last few days. I'm an unemployed stay at home dad ATM so I still don't have a lot of dedicated time to fly but I plan to make a video of my pit/projection set up and post it to you tube soon (I've said this before beware of broken promises lol). All of this has happened before and will happen again (a little BSG for you).

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

 

Finally made a quick video of the pit in action. Nothing fancy and the quality is pretty bad but hey it was a year in making!:pilotfly:

 

EDIT: Having a tough time getting the video to show up so here is the link

 

Edited October 27, 2012 by HitchHikingFlatlander

[deaconjb]

 

Finally made a quick video of the pit in action. Nothing fancy and the quality is pretty bad but hey it was a year in making!:pilotfly:

 

EDIT: Having a tough time getting the video to show up so here is the link

 

 

Thx for the video. Nice setup :thumbup:

[Deadman]

Here ya go just hit the You tube button and between the 2 [YOUTUBE]

Place the information that appers between the = in the you tube address At9MLXlhPqo&feature

 

 

Edited October 27, 2012 by Deadman

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Deacon thx!

 

Deadman double thx (fixed now), I knew I was doing something wrong and I've managed to post a video before lol!

[Clr4ils]

Cool video! Great setup bet you feel like you're sitting in the warthog with the lights off.

I've been still obsessed with this project and have made some huge leaps in its as progress goes.

A guy I fly with had an old Athlon x2 computer laying around and after hearing about my project decided it served better under my use. So I decided to move this whole project out to the garage and do it right. I found a ch flcs for 50 bucks and a throttle for 30. I'm going with a customized cockpit and basically updating all the gauge one by one to incorporate them into my 22" LCD to make it look like they're not just pictures of gauges on a screen but meant to be there. Kind of along the lines of the f35 cockpit.

But the thing that I said I would not do has begun...

I always wondered why people got so into making the seat but once I started I understand now. I got the generic aces2 seat plans off the Internet and am doing it just out of cheap roofing material. I only have an hour and a half in this and figure another hour or two and itll be done and look awesome, if not a little generic. Once that's done I'll be able to better judge how to mount the panels the right height.

My wife didn't know I was even doing the seat and she opened the garage and said "what the hell is that" then closed it. Her support inlcudes lots of eye rolling and is minimal with this "nerd" project but I can't let it go. Ill have more updates once the seats done and I start putting the panels together.

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

The eye rolling never goes away lol, I get plenty of that too but at least I'm not out at the golf course, strip club or bar. My only two real hobbies are flight simulation and Flatland BMX riding. The seat is looking great keep it up!

[badger66]

Dont mind about the wife , she has at least 400 bucks worth of perfume and hundreds more in cosmetics !!!

 

Keep up this good work , and inspire others :) ..... cant wait to see the finished example .

 

Will the ejection seat work , lol ...... dont tell the missis if it does , you may end up stuck to the garage roof !!!

[Clr4ils]

Ha. That's what I figured. I've been working on editing the gauges for a bit and when someone at work asks what I'm doing I have to prep them. Some think its cool, but I'm sure most text a buddy about theyre nerd captain who already flies a plane for a living making another plane to fly at home. Lol. Oh well. Married, so don't have to worry about hiding it from some chick I met at a bar. Have 2 kids already so I get about 1 hr a day to work on this while they're both napping...if I'm lucky. What's funny is those boards I used for it were supposed to be for a shelving project I got about half done. Lol so my wife is more irked that I haven't finished about 3 other house projects, but yet I can build a scale mockup of an ejection seat in a couple hours.

 

Oh I'll be wiring a subwoofer inside the back of it. Plus ill have the ejection handle and arming lever hooked up to a couple of micro switches that will connect and work with the "brains" of it all.

 

You know what you have to watch out for now...instead of a bunch of money wrapped up in her perfume, is that "teavana" crap. One little can of that crap is $40+

.....for tea!

[Clr4ils]

Just ordered some force sensing resistors to make my stick pressure sensitive now. I swear hitch, Between your original post and viperpits.org my bank account is crying a bit. The biggest thing in hesitating with now is the toggle switches. I can't find them for cheaper than like a buck a piece which is going to be a lot if if I do this right.

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Well my set-up is deceiving since I've acquired the controllers over the years slowly and some of the stuff I got for free or had lying around. I have some money invested into it but the most I've spent on the pit was the Warthog HOTAS and a little bit spent on wood for the pit most everything else was an X-Mas gift one year or another or was a sweet free deal. I'm very fortunate to have a cool brother who hooks me up with his old gaming PCs when he builds new ones too. I don't have a big budget to work with I just always seem to be in the right place at the right time!

[Clr4ils]

Got semi-done with the seat and moved on to the side panels. After sitting in the seat a bit it's not too uncomfortable but if these are actual dimensions for the real seat then I would not fit in an f16. The place where the ejection handle is between my legs is basically under the crotch of y pants. So I'm probably going to just extend to bottom out for more thigh support and tinker with an ejection handle. But got too excited and started on my main panel and the sides today....you can see them to the sides of the seat.

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Nice work! You should be keeping track of your progress in a thread here if you're not already doing so.

[Clr4ils]

I started a thread on viperpits.

 

I'm so pumped. I have so far picked up a 40" LCD tv for 75 with just a little bit of red tint to the picture. And a FREE 50" plasma off a buddy who was just going to throw it out because its started to develop some red spots occasionally. One more and ill have a full three screen setup almost full scale!!

 

Also here's my project for the night. I hooked up the Force sensing resistors I got for 5 bucks a piece to the original pots in my ch fighterstick. They work awesomely!! So now ill have a real force sensing stick just like the real f16 for like 20 bucks.

 

Here's a vid of them in action. You can see me squeezing them and the axis of the joystick moving!!

 

 

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i302/seth32680/475F842F-EBAA-48BD-9AF5-EF378EBD6F67-2980-0000022A2CACD55A.mp4

[Clr4ils]

Hey hitch-

Thought I'd show you the progress! I personally blame you for me getting obsessed with this project lol.

 

The side monitors fold In and the seat and side panels foldup. Here's an early pic before paint etc...

 

Plus it's on casters so easily moves around the garage

Edited February 28, 2013 by Clr4ils

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Wow really cool build you have going there! I haven't found time to fly my pit recently due to painting my house (by hand lol), going to school, having an active 2 1/2 yr old daughter and looking for work but I think of it all the time. Really need to update DCS this weekend and get some flying in! Great work once you get the bug this hobby takes hold of you.....