MTFDarkEagle's "pit"

[MTFDarkEagle]

Hi chaps,

 

Having recently received the TM MFD's, and them just standing on my desk with my second monitor displaying the MFCD's, I thought to myself that it was time to build something.

 

So, I thought about a frame which my TM Warthog stick mounts to, and my second monitor which I also should be able to move to a LCD frame hanging from my desk or something.

 

This is the idea that I came up with:

 

 

two sheets of aluminium, poprivitted together, with the left side on the picture being the width of my desk. I would fasten it from the bottom with 2 big screws and at the top with a couple of clamps.

 

The monitor would be mounted to a frame as can be seen here:

 

 

And the backside of the monitor, which slides into the slot of the previous picture:

 

 

The MFD's I would mount to a multiplex wooden frame, which fits exactly over my second monitor.

 

 

And with a TM MFD on it (not yet attached, that I will do with velcro's, alternatively you could screw it into place):

 

 

The end result, after a lot of mounting, swearing, cutting, drilling, poprivitting:

 

 

 

I'm probably going to use the excess space on my second monitor for helios stuff, but that's for later.

 

The mounting

 

Clamps:

 

 

And the screws:

 

 

This system appears to be very solid (appart from a little twisting when I'm throwing my Warthog around very enthousiaticly :D )

 

Next on my wishlist:

 

Saitek Combat Rudder Pedals

UFC kit

 

I hope this can inspire some folks to some new ideas :)

 

Cheers,

[Pilotasso]

I see you got the same horrible IKEA chair as I do... :D

 

Keep it up!!

[MTFDarkEagle]

Haha yes it's indeed an IKEA chair! I find it very comfortable though, for the price I payed for it :)

 

 

Thanks! ;)

[Ragtop]

Haha the first thing I thought was, I had that chair! It's sitting right next to me, looking rather sad as my new Herman Miller snarls at it :P

 

HOWEVER! Your idea is awesome! Looks like a truly affordable way to get a very good and comfortable flying position! Kudos to you sir :)

[daggerroman]

Easy & nice:thumbup:

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Nice work! You'll love the extra immersion gained when you set up HELIOS. Its a definite game changer.

[Cali]

Looks good MTF, I need to do some more stuff to my pit also. I just can't seem to find the time cause I want to fly.

[MTFDarkEagle]

Thanks gentlemen for your kind remarks.

 

If you're curious: I did this in about a week. I started the designing on sunday the 25th or something of that nature, and I started building last thursday. Finished yesterday. Stick position takes some gettting used to, but overall looking great so far!

[dotChuckles]

Now that's a very clever solution!

[Cali]

What size monitor is that? I fly on a 26" and mine looks about the same distance away has yours is.

[MTFDarkEagle]

My main monitor is a 22 inch Samsung, secondary screen (displaying MFCD's) is a 19 inch Samsung.

[soupyc]

Wow! You just solved my 'how the hell am I going to mount this' solution. This is perfect! Nice job! Would love to see pics when you get the rest of the gauges set up. Thanks!

[MTFDarkEagle]

Small update:

 

Saitek Combat Rudder Pedals are ordered and hopefully en-route as of today, if not tomorrow.

 

So should receive them thursday/friday. I'm not sure if the pedals are equiped with carpet grippers, if not I'll have to manufacture some device to hold it in place.

[cichlidfan]

Small update:

 

Saitek Combat Rudder Pedals are ordered and hopefully en-route as of today, if not tomorrow.

 

So should receive them thursday/friday. I'm not sure if the pedals are equiped with carpet grippers, if not I'll have to manufacture some device to hold it in place.

 

 

Start thinking about what you will need to manufacture because they do not have carpet grippers. They do have some nice holes if you want to bolt them right to the floor though!!:D

[MTFDarkEagle]

Ah ok! Thanks for the info ;)

 

I'll start thinking on something, but I'll try it without first, maybe the carpet itself grips enough already.

What's I'm thinking about is a woodenframe which I attach to the underside of my desk somewhere, which I bolt the pedals too.

 

Will keep updating.

[cichlidfan]

I was able to just use two boards to space them away from the wall.

[MTFDarkEagle]

Ya I was thinking of some such solution :)

[cichlidfan]

In my case it is working really well. The boards are a near perfect match for the back edges of the pedal base (about 3/4" x 3 1/2" on the end). Nothing is attached to anything. The boards are just laying on the floor and the pedals are then pushed against them. If I have to move stuff I just put a bit of tape on the floor or wall to mark where they were so I can put them back in the exact same spot.

 

I cut several different lenght pairs and swapped them out until I was happy with the length.

[Cali]

I used my CH on the carpet and never had a problem with them.

[cichlidfan]

I used my CH on the carpet and never had a problem with them.

 

The Saiteks actual had a decent amount of stick-to-the-floorness when I got them but I suspected that it would not last with dust and dog hair. For the A-10 they actually seemed fine without the wood at first, then I fired up ROF and the first hard turn moved the pedals.:D

[MTFDarkEagle]

I used my CH on the carpet and never had a problem with them.

That may very well be the case but given I bought the Saitek's already...

 

(update: they should be with me today!!)

[coolts]

A little OT, but would you reccomend the Saitek throttles? Ive been flying COD & ROF more and could really use the extra axes to go with the Warthog throttles 3.

[MTFDarkEagle]

Yes I would. They are not as solid as the WH (dûh!), but they are worth the money, as they are pretty cheap if you shop around a bit.

[MTFDarkEagle]

The pedals have arrived!!

I must say, at first "feel" they are excellent, and a lot bigger than I thought they would.

Also, the left toe brake needs a little deadzone I think.. I've only had time to fiddle with them for 10 minutes yesterday, I "should" have more time today and tomorrow.

 

On the subject of holding it on it's place: I happen to have a wooden board which turned out to be pretty much the exact lenght I needed.

 

I'll post a new screenie later.

 

(OT: BF3 should arrive today :D)

[cichlidfan]

Cool deal, life is good!;)