Replica panel dimensions

Gadroc · November 2, 2011

Awesome! Good luck on your adventure to become a professional pilot. Afraid I'm probably not going beyond sims in the basement. Thanks again for sharing your work with the community it's definitely allowing me to move much faster on my pit.

pitbldr · November 2, 2011

Thanks guys! It's funny, but I got into IT because of flying. I wanted my first computer back when I was 16 only for the flight simulator that was out for it. Think it was still SubLogic flight sim at the time. Seems like it was the first PC sim that came out. Anyway, didn't have the money growing up to fly for real, so I didn't start my flight training until I was 35. Got my PPL about 1.5 year later but had to stop soon after when the economy took a dive. Several things have kept me from getting back to it sooner, but it's my plan/hope now to get my CFI and get out of IT. If I do nothing more than flight instructing the rest of my life, I think I'll be happy! :)

Hog - check back in post 18. The Fuel panel is there.

Here's the others, both still a work in progress.

AHCP - WIP.pdf

Landing gear panel - WIP.pdf

hog_driver111th · November 3, 2011

Hey pit, thanks for those 2. The fuel panel I meant was actually the fuel tank/hyd pressure quantity panel on the right side... If you have it.

I got my license in 1996 and now have around 1k hours. Been telling my wife if we ever move back stateside I'm doing my CFI and making that my "career". Sure it doesn't pay the best, but I think she understands (or just wants me to shut up about the need to fly, not sure which.).

pitbldr · November 3, 2011

Hey pit, thanks for those 2. The fuel panel I meant was actually the fuel tank/hyd pressure quantity panel on the right side... If you have it.

Oh.... I haven't drawn that one up yet. I plan to get to it at some point though. :)

Froglips · November 4, 2011

CNC/Laser engraver

pitbldr et al,

I believe you have both a CNC machine and a laser engraver. I have been researching CNC machines and the software associated with them.

The CNC machines use gcode to program their cutting passes. What does the laser engraver use? If gcode, do you have the gcode for the panels you have designed? I have software that converts lots of different types of graphics files to gcode but not pdf files. I have been practicing with software that simulates the CNC cut so I can understand the gcode tweaking process.

It would be easier and cheaper to just purchase panels but noone seems to be doing KA-50 panels and it will probably be fun to make my own anyway.

Gadroc · November 4, 2011

Kurt,

Few consumer / desktop engravers run off of g-code, although all of them can be converted to do so by replacing their control boards with a Mach3 compatible one. Epilog and other name brands come with software that plugs in to Corel Draw or works as a printer driver. For the higher end ones the software will cut or engrave based on color and line thickness in the drawing. The lower end ones like I have are much simpler and you either engrave a bitmap image or export vectors from Corel Draw to cut.

In general the laser engraver is simpler for a few reasons. First it's only 2 dimensional in most cases while cutting. Second because the laser doesn't exert any force / pressure / tension on the actual piece being cut you don't have to worry as much about fixing the piece down or generating tabs so inner cut outs don't jam the machine.

pitbldr · November 4, 2011

What does the laser engraver use?

Like Gadroc stated, methods vary, but my laser works as a printer directly from CorelDraw. I create a drawing, assigning certain colors/line thicknesses to determine wether it will cut or engrave, and then "print" it.

It would be easier and cheaper to just purchase panels but noone seems to be doing KA-50 panels and it will probably be fun to make my own anyway.

I actually started designing the KA-50 panels before the A-10 was announced, but never completed them since I became more focused on the Warthog. This was before I had my laser, so they were all done in Vcarve with the intention of using the CNC to make them. I could do a couple things, 1) send you the files I have for Vcarve if you plan to go the CNC route or 2) convert them over to the laser and produce them for you. Just note though that right now I am swamped and behind on several things I owe other people, so it will be several weeks before I could even start on making them.

Here's the ones I had ready (keep in mind these images were generated by Vcarve which had limited capability to do this)...