My A10 Pit Build

[nobrot]

So after some time lurking here, and sweating about the costs in cash, time and sanity, in a moment of madness I have jumped in and started my build, and as it seems forum tradition dictates, this will be my build thread.

 

I want to thank members of the community for sharing knowledge and in particular y2kiah for sharing his detailed plans and cad drawings, Gadroc for HELIOS, and those of you who have been answering my questions on the forum as I built up confidence and knowledge, and finally to all pit builders for the inspiration that finally pushed me over the edge!

 

I plan on building from y2kiahs plans, using HELIOS as the main interface driven by USB controllers. I also plan on building a physical hud, and finally 180 degree projected visuals.

 

So far I have had the CNC shop cut out some panels from y2kiahs plans, and I have dry assembled the floor section, its a bit bigger than I expected, but all the parts fit snugly together. The CNC shop made a couple of errors so I am missing one part, and have another extra part. The CNC guy said he had "adjusted" some of the positions because the gap between some of the pieces was too small, I guess during this adjustment he got some parts mixed up, so I will tackle him on that tomorrow, hopefully by the end of the week I will have all CNC cuts done apart from the front panels.

 

I will post photos once I get something to look at.

[Panthro]

Well I hope you enjoy your journey, and dont forget the obligatory extensive pics :)

[Gremlin77]

WE WANT PICS!!!!!! please......and welcome to the forum!

[agrasyuk]

TTIWWOP!

[nobrot]

Living on an Island in the Caribbean has its advantages, unless you are trying to build something as complex as an A10 cockpit, where cold beers and clear seas dont help one little bit (although I will do my best to work cold beers into my project). Getting access to parts, materials and services is going to be a big part of the challenge, already I paid $180 in shipping and import duty for my HOTAS... so this pit will be at least 30% more expensive to build, just because of where I live...

 

The only CNC machine I have access to is over fifteen years old!, the cuts are not particularly smooth, so the parts need some TLC when they come off the machine, but beggars cant be choosers.

 

Here is a clip of the ancient goliath in action....

 

CNC1.MOV

 

I will be trimming all the parts over the next day or so and then hope to dry assemble to see if I can figure out how it all goes together, if that works out, I will upload some pics... if not, I will be on the beach!

 

 

EDIT: If anyone knows a good way to embed video and images into these posts, I would appreciate a quick guide!

[BHawthorne]

For videos I'd suggest using YouTube and just embed that.

[nobrot]

OK, Wood picked up from the CNC shop, I had to tidy it up and square of the inside corners, but it all looks good. It hurt the budget at $600 for the cuts, plus well over $200 for the plywood, so it has me worried when the guy tells me he is happy to do my engraving for the panels, for that kind of cash I am seriously considering purchasing a desktop CNC.

 

 

 

For videos I'd suggest using YouTube and just embed that.

 

Will do that in future, thanks...

[metalnwood]

I would get someone like glider to quote you for your panels.

[nobrot]

I would get someone like glider to quote you for your panels.

 

I have been talking to him, but the costs of getting gliders panels to me are most likely going to be prohibitive, the postal service here is unreliable, so the package needs to be shipped with an express or tracked service, then I have to pay 22% on the cost of the product PLUS shipping. So I am working through my options and costing them, but beleive me, I would love a set of gliders panels!!

[nobrot]

Loose fit

 

So step one is to see how it all goes together, and in general the fit is very good, I have not used any fasteners here, just pushed it all together.

 

I am having a hard time working out where all the small bits go, particularly on the left flank where the HOTAS throttle mounts are. I cant seem to figure out how those parts work, so anyone that has built this area, any tips or even better pics would be much appreciated.

 

 

[nobrot]

Added the front extrension, I think it looks great, the wife thinks its "too bloody big"!

 

how to screen capture

[BHawthorne]

Looking good :)

[Jimbo]

That's awesome! Wish I had the space for that setup.

[nobrot]

That's awesome! Wish I had the space for that setup.

 

That kinda space comes at a cost... cooking nice dinners and bottles of wine.... :)

[Whisky One]

That is one amazing fuselage nobrot! :thumbup:

 

I want to build one too since I want to start building my final version of my pit.

 

can you tell me the length of the frame and how wide it is it the widest point? if it isn't too much of a hassle i am curious how much distance there is from the pedals to the front part of the hull. (for the viewing distance for my projector.) then I can see if it fits in my pit room :D

[nobrot]

That is one amazing fuselage nobrot! :thumbup:

 

I want to build one too since I want to start building my final version of my pit.

 

can you tell me the length of the frame and how wide it is it the widest point? if it isn't too much of a hassle i am curious how much distance there is from the pedals to the front part of the hull. (for the viewing distance for my projector.) then I can see if it fits in my pit room :D

 

I dont know the distance from the pedals to the front, as I have not decided where the pedals will be, but I can give you the overall foot print, which is 55" wide at the rear, and 90" long with the front extension, if you decide not to use the front extension, you can shorten it by 24"

[Whisky One]

Thanks a lot for the reply! Looks like this big momma will fit in my room. It looks huge in your pics. :joystick:

[nobrot]

Yea it is bigger than I expected; you can opt out of the front extension if your going to project, I think y2kiah designed that part to support monitors. I have the room so I am gona keep it I think, probably pop the PC's in the front there and fit some PC case fans for cooling.

[nobrot]

With the screwing and gluing of y2kiahs parts well under way, I now need to start some high level planning of the pits systems. Getting these laid out will help me to start detailing each system and figuring out how to implement it and what challenges I will be facing. With zero programming experience or electronics knowledge, I am putting off-the-shelf solutions at the top of my list, so here is the first pass at the high level overview of the systems and connections, I would appreciate more experienced eyes looking over the diagram, and offering warnings and advice where appropriate!

 

To maintain portability, each major component needs to be able to be disconnected and packed with the minimum of fuss, so I am planning to connect both consoles and the front panel to the core PC via single USB cables fed from dedicated powered USB hubs. This modular approach should work unless there is a danger of saturating the USB paths?

 

I dont know how easy its going to be to feed the MFD displays (and maybe the engine and flight instruments if I cant find the cash for simmeters), to a network connected Display PC, I would appreciate some guidance on where to start with this.

 

Also, the core PC will be a new build, so if anyone has any advice there, I am looking for max frame-rates pushed to three projectors via TH2GO, hand over your specz!

 

Thanks again to the community for support and interest,

 

[nobrot]

Small update, no pics just yet...

 

I have glued and screwed y2kiahs fuselage into the main components, and bolted it together. This gives me something to bolt all the cool stuff on and now with the absence of y2kiahs front panel, I can figure out how to plan and build the front panel and pedestal.

 

 

Also, I have been shopping, I have a MyDIYCNC sprite kit on its way to me with a selection of acrylic stock, EL wire and router bits (I have a loose plan for prototyping panels), I have also ordered a full set of Simmeters... thats a big scarey spend, but I think physical instruments are worth it.. her indoors probably would not agree! I have also ordered a pair of lilliput 7" screens to sit behind the cougar MFD frames, Once I have that lot in hand I can work up the front panel design and get it cut.

 

 

Workflow for panels will go something like this...

 

Design/Block out in Autodesk Maya and render vector images, or perhaps use Visio and export to .dxf. Then vector into Vectric Cut2d , then out to CamBam for cutting/engraving.

 

 

The panel design idea is to have a white acrylic translucent 1/16" top panel, spray painted matt black and then engraved and a 1/4" black (probably acrylic) back panel with pockets for EL wire to provide the backlighting, the back panel will also have the dzus grooves pocketed out, this means just two panels rather than the traditional top, light and back panels that some of the other builders are using.

[AhSoul]

Full set of simmeters??? Just the engine gauges alone are 870eu IIRC. Wow mate this build is going to be awesome. Puts my little ABC to shame :D

[nobrot]

No shame dude... Simmeters were cool, they gave me a fat discount.. I have been saving for a long time so I could order it all at once..., plus they have a sale on.. I just hope they all make it to me in good shape!

[AhSoul]

Looking forward to seeing your progress!

[Mr_Burns]

Added the front extrension, I think it looks great, the wife thinks its "too bloody big"!

 

how to screen capture

 

That what she always says to me.

 

(sorry - love your pit sir!)

Edited October 6, 2013 by Mr_Burns

[nobrot]

That what she always says to me.

 

(sorry - love your pit sir!)

 

I am 100% OK with that... free's me up to work on the pit!!