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Showing results for tags 'home cockpit'.
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Captain side home simulator cockpit setup built around 2010. Components that I used were compatible with and used in conjunction with Prosim737 and FSX. Overhead and MIP are fully wired to all of the LED indicators and a majority of the switches that were necessary to operate the 737 via Prosim737 interface and FSX. Some non-essential rotaries and non-essential switches that did not have to function in order to operate the 737 were not wired. I will only consider selling each large component or as a total package. (e.g., Overhead as package, MIP as a package, or both together) Pedestal panel items will be sold as all of the individual modules in one package only, the pedestal wood box is not included. Some rework may be required to suit your needs. Understanding of the interfacing with Prosim737, simple computer networking, and simple electrical work may be required. Sold in an as-is condition, no warranties, no refunds. Located in SE Missouri for a local pickup or will ship (the total cost to ship will be the buyers responsibility). Payment via PayPal transfer. Selling because I don't use it anymore. MIP includes: $1000(USD) ⦁ Opencockpit captain "desktop" glareshield ( with backlit capable displays) ⦁ 737 flaps gauge(servo motor) ⦁ 737 landing gear lever ⦁ CPflight MCP737EL (MCP/autopilot) ⦁ CPflight EFIS737EL ⦁ captain 6pack (wired for LED's only, no push functions, just dummy push switches) ⦁ opencockpits USBServo card (to run the flaps gauge) ⦁ backlight dimmer switch(to control the backlight displays) ⦁ LED64(usb) card to run the indicator LED's ⦁ LeoBodnar BU0836X(usb)card to run the switches ⦁ 2 flat screen computer monitors for the panel displays Overhead panels include: $1000(USD) ⦁ Poldragonet forward and aft overhead panels (non-plug and play version from around 2009) ⦁ a majority of the overhead 737 switches are wired to LeoBodnar BU0836X cards.(nonessential switches and rotaries were not wired) ⦁ all of the LED indicators are wired to LED64 cards. ⦁ a few dummy panels ⦁ full functioning servo gauges(can't remember who I bought those from). Wired to a Pololu servo card. ⦁ 7 segment displays(can't remember who I ordered them from) wired to Pokeys cards. ⦁ dimmable LED light strip to provide faux backlighting inside the overhead cabinet. Pedestal Modules: $250(USD) ⦁ Opencockpits 737Com module ⦁ Opencockpits 737Nav module ⦁ Opencockpits 737ATC module ⦁ Opencockpits 737ADF module(usb port is broken on back of module) ⦁ dummy fire panel (wired the switches and indicator LED's to work with Prosim737) ⦁ dummy audio panel ⦁ dummy light control panel ⦁ dummy aileron/rudder panel ⦁ dummy WX radar panel(wired the rotary encoders to work with Prosim737) ⦁ dummy selcal panel Many hours were put into this project from all the research, all the individual components, to the wiring and soldering of all the components, to the interfacing, etc., so it's hard to put a price on all the manual labor that went into this project. Because of that I am firm on the pricing, and I feel that I have competitively priced these items for quick sale to someone who really appreciates a 737-home simulator cockpit setup. Serious inquiries only please, PM me if interested.
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Hello folks, I'm in need of some help and am wondering if there are other users of Flight Illusion's hardware or anyone else with the knowledge to help me out. As a real world pilot, I made a substantially large investment into more accurate training hardware to replicate a C172 as best as I could with what's available. This includes a Brunner yoke, GNS530 GPS by emuteq/Realtek, TRC radio stacks and Flight Illusion hardware. Flight Illusion provides fantastic (but not cheap) gauges and control modules that provide analog/digital inputs, as well as digital outputs based on FSUIPC offsets. I've wanted to use A2A's C172 trainer for quite a long time with my hardware but I found out today that Flight Illusion doesn't support 3rd party software (A2A) that doesn't use these FSUIPC offsets. I found out that A2A uses LVars, not FSUIPC offsets and therefore I can't use their products with Flight Illusion hardware. The only other options i have been using is Carenado's or P3D's C172. Not terrible, but they lack the realism that the A2A C172 provides. I was told by the owner of Flight Illusion that there are some supported workarounds, but haven't gotten much more information than that right now. My questions to the FlightSim Cockpit builder community are: - Any idea what these workarounds could be that he's mentioned? Is there software or a process where I can convert LVars to FSUIPC perhaps? - Are there any other alternatives to A2A's C172 that provide a higher level of realism? I have had not luck finding any additional C172 aircraft that fits the bill. Any help from the FlightSim community would be hugely appreciated! I can provide more details, screenshots, and videos if necessary.
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Hi all, I'm taking delivery of three 50" TVs tomorrow and will be trying to fit them into a pretty cramped attic to make an immersive cockpit. (I think I've measured it correctly!) The plan is to make this as versatile as possible, with interchangeable instrument panels to allow the use of a variety of aircraft types. I've posted a video of my existing setup here: ​​​​​​​ Hope you find it interesting :) Dom
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Just posted my latest project on Youtube - Spitfire throttle; full control of throttle, airscrew plus switchable 'off/rich mix' levers - all constructed from steel and aluminium. All dimensions are as near to the original aircraft as possible...
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Project Home Cockpit By Rays Aviation Intro Have you ever wanted to expand your flightsim experience? Ever since I started virtual flying I felt like something was missing - an environment, the unique smells, sounds and the look and feel when you enter a cockpit, the excitement of firing up the engine and taxiing to the runway for take-off and then the awesome feeling when you can see the wings starting to bend upwards and you lift off the ground. Flight simulators over the last decade has increased greatly and the realism presented for a flight simmer today is really good - however the real feeling of flying an aircraft just isn't the same sitting in a normal chair, looking at a 20" monitor and controlling a Boeing 737 with a mouse and a basic 3-axis joystick (meaning controlling the rudders by twisting the joystick). There are today several ways in which the simmer can improve their experience - some rather extreme and very costly, but to gain an improved experience does not mean to build a $30 million simulator as the simulators used for type ratings at the professional airlines; it can just might as well be a home built cockpit with wooden frames, a few realistic modules and the experience has already been lifted to a higher level. I started to gain interest in building a home cockpit but thought that it was a too complex project for me, therefore I started out with designing and building a toggle switch panel, just to see if I was able to do that and the result was actually four different toggle switch/rotator switch panels which were all working perfectly. Hereafter I indeed got very interested and setup a new project - building a console/pedestal of various modules etc. This new project I also finished without problems and I actually used that console for quite a while when testing new hardware. Now, after doing these two projects I was really very interested in starting up a new project - this time I wanted to expand my knowledge and test my skills doing a more complex project. I designed a project with the goal of building a MiP (main instrument panel) - not a replica of any aircraft but instead a MiP of my own creation; however everything has a tendency of expanding similar to my project toggle switch panel, so when I had designed my project MiP it was actually not only a project containing a MiP, but instead a complete home cockpit. My name is Raymond Andersen and some of you might know me better as Rays Aviation - This is a story about my latest project of building a home cockpit of my own design. Scoping & Designing The first thing I did when I decided to start this project was trying to define what I actually wanted to do and what the goal should be. If I needed progress goals to keep me going and which additional challenges I wanted to give myself during the project. What I wanted to do was to build a home cockpit which was not a replica of any kind, which included most of the hardware units that I had previously tested and reviewed, which could be connected to just one single computer, which was not a turn-key solution, which included modules or products from at least ten different suppliers and which would feature both a glass cockpit function but also the old standard gauges. The home cockpit should of course be compatible with FSX since that is the flight simulator platform that I am using, and the controls should be HOTAS throttle and stick which I prefer. Cockpit of own creation -- not a replica but okay to use replica modules, etc. Use most of the hardware that I already had in my portfolio Setup should only be featuring one computer (would cause issues in regards to the video inputs but I had a plan...) The MiP should be both a glass cockpit but also include old fashioned gauges Compatible with Microsoft FSX Controls had to be HOTAS throttle and stick configuration Use products from at least ten different suppliers Must NOT be a turn-key solution I decided that I wanted to build the cockpit as a single seat cockpit since I would be using the HOTAS configuration - of course the HOTAS configuration could also apply in a twin seated cockpit but normally this configuration is seen and used in single seated configurations. When creating a single seated cockpit I now did not have to build a pedestal which is normally found between the pilots in a twin seated cockpit. Instead I had to build both a left side and right side console supporting a variety of modules and functions together with the MiP. I decided that I did not want to build an overhead for this home cockpit (could be an additional project in the future), so the plan to build was only: Left side console Right side console Main Instrument Panel (MiP) Support for rudder Support for stick mounted on seat I started by placing all my current hardware on the floor and there from marking each unit with either MiP, left console, right console, seat, floor, etc. so that I could gain an overview of which units I wanted to place where. I hereafter marked an area on the floor covering both the left and right console and started placing the units where I thought it would be the most logical to place them. I did the same with the units for the MiP and quickly ended up with 10 or 15 different layouts. Now I just had to choose which layout would fit my idea the best. Now I selected which layout I wanted to go with and laid out all modules on the floor for both consoles and the MiP, took a picture and slept on the idea for a few days. I looked at the picture a huge number of times to try and see how it could be better - it was as something was missing and I wanted to make it more complex and include more switches, etc. This ended up in me actually designing additional modules for the cockpit - well front plates that could support some different switches. I started searching for switches that would fit my design and idea. I wanted to give my cockpit a touch of a Boeing 737 besides the replica modules that I had, so I went to Opencockpits webshop and ordered some Boeing B737 toggle switches which have the characteristic white cap. I also searched DX.com (Deal Extreme) for additional small toggle switches and click switches - I found some various switches and ordered them. Now that all was ordered I also had the correct measurements for the holes that needed to be cut in the front plates. I updated my drawings and mailed them to one of my contacts "Hedensted Maskinfabrik" who has several machines that are able to laser cut metal - He quickly put my drawings into his production line and the output was some excellent cut aluminum front plates of my own creation. Previously I had built some toggle switch panels so this time it was quite simple and I knew how to proceed. I now had the front panels and the switches that should be a part of the additional self-designed modules, so all I now needed was to connect them to some PCBs - I had some PCBs from Desktop Aviator from my previous project that had some free connection pins, and additionally I also had several PCBs from Opencockpits that also could be used for connecting these new modules - the output was a combination of both and I now had a great variety of modules for the complete setup. Additionally I also had to figure out how and what kind of materials I wanted to use when building the cockpit. Should the frames be built of plastic, metal or wood and if metal then what kind of metal... I had the same issue if I was to choose wood as the material - what size, form and quality should it then be. I have no experience working with metal as steel or aluminum which I thought would be the ideal material for this project - this was however also very expensive and I would need a lot of outside help just to get the project started, so my solution ended up being wood for the frames in the cockpit.Since I am actually an office working guy my skills working with wood, screws, etc. is quite limited, but I had ideas and dedication and I was not afraid to try. One thing was the frames but what about the MiP - I had previously used plywood as a top for a console, but to be honest I found that solution to be a bad idea because the plywood has a very rough surface. That combined with the fact that I did not want to use aluminum or steel gave me a challenge and I had to find a completely different material to use. I found a Danish web site created by a person who had built a Boeing B737 captains side cockpit and he had used a material called FoamAlux, which is foamed PVC (polyvinylchloride) that has the strength like plywood, or actually probably even better, and the surface is super smooth. To process this material was described to be very easy - only using a Stanley knife or similar, but that I later found out would be a modification of reality, or maybe that was because the person who had used this material, had used a thinner piece than what I would later on use. I selected the FoamAlux as material for the MiP and ordered at the local DIY shop one plate with a thickness of 10mm - this was way to think for me to process simply by using the Stanley knife, so I had to use a small manual saw and also an electrical saw to ease the processing, no problem though - it's like the phrase "Learning by Doing". Now my only concern in regards to materials was the glare wings and top + sides of the consoles - my first idea was to use the FoamAlux for that also, but that would be an incredible expensive solution so I had to find a different solution. I went to the local DIY shop and looked around. I found various possible solutions as 3-5mm FoamAlux, plywood, hardened plastics such as Plexiglas and acrylic plates, various hardened foam products and the Kapa Graph plate which is foamed carton in 5mm. The Kapa Graph material was already colored black, easy to process, price wise very fair and it had enough stability for what I needed - the few places where I needed additional stability I could support the Kapa Graph with wood on the back side + all screws mounted into the Kapa Graph would also be fastened into the wood behind because the density of the Kapa Graph is not sufficient enough to withhold screws properly. The Build I started out by building the frames for the left and right console, and I remembered to make sure that the left console had a support for the dual throttle that I was going to place there. That was a very essential part and something that I easily could have overlooked until I were to place the throttle to the setup...yea. After building the two consoles I laid down the FoamAlux plate and started placing various modules on top of it - just to get a picture of what it would look like and get an overview of the complete size of the MiP. Next step was to start the marking of the modules, etc. on the FoamAlux plate together with the edges of the MiP, so that I could start the process of cutting the plate into the correct form including mounting holes for the various modules, TFTs and frames, etc. This part was actually quite easy and I found the FoamAlux to be a nice material to process. It was a material that had a good strength but still was very easy to cut through using a small manual saw. To do the finish and clean the edges I used the Stanley knife. When I had finished the cutting of holes and shaping the MiP I started building the stand for the MiP. Since I had already build the left and right console I could now also calculate which height the MiP would be mounted at - this gave me my total height of the support for the MiP stand. Actually the support and stand for the MiP was built extremely simply but still very stable and when finished I mounted the MiP onto the stand. The next step was painting the MiP - I had looked at various colors but liked the Boeing B737 style using the RAL7011 grey. The FoamAlux surface is very smooth and thereby it turned out to be a little tricky to paint - what I did was actually to paint it several times to get the very smooth and clean surface that I wanted, but that also meant that the MiP suddenly looked brand new and what I actually wanted was for it more to look a little bit used instead. The way I solved this was to paint the MiP a fourth time, but instead of letting the paint dry out 100% I took the paint roll, washed it and dried it about 70% so that the roll still contained moisture, and then used the paint roll on the not completely dried MiP - the effect this "technique" gave was a MiP with a lot of color shadings that was randomly placed and gave the impression that the MiP was old and used but still in good condition. I had now finished the three main components of the home cockpit and I started the process of assembling the left and right console with the MiP. This was really an easy job because I had chosen to use wood instead of metal, so the assembly was done using ordinary torx screws and it did not take that much time. I had an issue though regarding the mounting of the gear lever into the MiP... The gear lever is a replica of the gear lever found in a Boeing 737, and the MiP in the B737 is tilted 150 backwards and this gave me a challenge because my MiP was completely vertical. The solution that I came up with was to even out the 150 by adding wedges made by the Kapa Graph and mounting that onto the button of the gear lever frame behind the MiP. The remaining modules and parts for the MiP were mounted without any problems - the MCP and EFIS fitted perfectly into the holes that I had cut and the MCP could also be fastened with four screws (one in each corner). The two front plates for the gear lever was also super easy to mount, but I came to think about when looking at the gear lever, I could actually see through the gear lever frames and thereby seeing whatever was behind the MiP there. This I was not satisfied with, so I had to find a solution where I could close the gab when operating the gear lever. The solution was to use two pieces of rubber bands (not soft but fairly hardened) and mount them on each side of the gear lever on the backside of the MiP - the result of this was that when the gear lever was down the gap in the top was closed and vice versa. This was a quite easy and very cheap solution that worked perfectly. Adding the Flight Illusion gauges was also a bit of a challenge because making round holes with a diameter of 80mm without proper tools was quite difficult - I searched the local DIY store to see if I could find some drills or similar with that diameter, but unfortunately I was not that lucky. My solution for that issue was to contact one of my professional contacts, Silkeborg Plast, who has machines that can process plastic plates into whatever you want. His machine could cut/drill all 3 holes to perfection similar with a laser cutting machine processing steel or aluminum - the result was excellent and all I had to do was to make a rectangular hole, mount the gauges into the plastic frame and mount the complete unit into the MiP using just four corner screws. The last pieces of the MiP was the TFTs which should be mounted on the backside of the MiP and the two MFD frames that should be mounted on the front side but the wires should connect behind the MiP. This was no problem - the MFDs could be mounted just by using a little bit of glue and for the cables I had drilled two small openings at the bottom and center of each window. Next was mounting the TFTs and this turned out to be extremely easy as well - I could use the support that I had made for the MiP to also support the TFTs - all that was needed additionally was two screws for each TFT which was screwed into the backside of the MiP just below the TFTs, meaning that the TFTs would be resting on the screws and at the same time being supported by the MiP support (the H-frame). Now the basic MiP was created and I turned my focus onto the left and right console - I took some Kapa Graph plates and started measuring the modules that was to be used and then drawing that onto the Kapa Graph - the process itself was done using a Stanley knife, a measuring pin, a pencil and a straight piece of metal (to make sure the lines were perfect). This was super easy and really did not take much time - so suddenly I had all tops including modules etc. mounted on the consoles. After the tops were created and mounted I only remained to mount some Kapa Graph on the sides to close the consoles and create the cockpit look - this however I could not yet do because I had only mounted the various modules but they were not yet connected. Before I put my focus on the connection of everything I wanted to mount the rudder pedals - I wanted them to be one with the setup and not just some "loose" placed pedals which I previously have had some issues with. Before I created this cockpit the rudder pedals were just placed on the floor, but when using them then quite often the pedals moved out of place when applying rudder; really annoying! Therefore I mounted a wooden bar between the left and right leg-support for the MiP and on this bar I mounted the rudder pedals using screws. Now the rudder was indeed an integrated part of the setup, and if they were to move, it would mean that the complete setup would move (not likely to happen). Last challenge in the build was the control stick - the quick and dirty way of adding that to the setup would have been to mount it on the right side console... but I had a different idea. Modern military aircraft like the F-35 have the stick mounted on the right side of the cockpit as also does the F-16, but I more like the idea of placing the stick between the legs as in the F-18. This would however mean that I needed to create a floor support or some kind of integration with my chair. The floor support idea I discharged quickly and started thinking about ways to integrate the stick to my chair. The solution I came up with was a special cut metal plate that could be squeezed in between the brackets below the chair meaning no screws or anything were needed to mount the plate. In the metal plate were drilled four holes according to the locations of the four mounting screws used for my control stick and mounted it now was. Connecting Everything - Part 1 The build was great fun indeed but the next stage of the project would be even more fun, but also at times extremely frustrating it turned out to be - the connection of all modules and getting everything to work together. To get an overview I gathered everything into groups like controls, displays, PCB connected modules as well as what could be connected by VGA or HDMI or USB. Furthermore I also created a subgroup for the USB connections where I gathered USBs that could go into a hub and USBs that needed a direct connection. I found that the wiring was actually quite extensive and getting everything connected and working properly was a challenge in itself. The first step was to get the toggle switch panels connected properly to the PCBs before I would be able to connect them to the USBs - this was a nightmare - my own build panels featured a total of 6x 12-position, 1-pole rotator switches, 15 on/off click switches, 5 on/on toggle switches, 44 on/off toggle switches, 5 on/off/on toggle switches, 3 momentary on/off/on switches, a nose wheel steering module switch and the gear lever with 2 micro switches - color coding groups of wires I found to be a good idea! Finally I got all these wires connected to the supporting PCBs and could now set my focus on the connection of the USBs, VGA and HDMI, but... there was actually one more thing that I had to find a solution for. I had created a backlight function and had some various LEDs that needed power - some LEDs were connected through the PCBs from Opencockpits, so these I did not have to find a solution for, but the other LEDs that were a part of the setup together with the cooling fan for the Tracker IR5, I needed to have a power source for. That together with a 220v power source for the power converters used for some of the modules such as the CPFlight backlight function and the Opencockpits FMC v3 (CDU) and the Flight Illusion gauges. What I did was to build a 220v power station in the right console and from there I connected some power converters to build a low voltage power station, also placed in the right console - this low voltage power station contained output of both 5v and 12v - so now I had sufficient power to support all modules including the USB hubs needed. Before I connected the various cables I made a connection diagram so that I was sure that I had sufficient USB cables to support all functions. This diagram was actually quite complex and later in this article you will see the updated version (I had to make some changes due to some issues that came up). I had some modules such as the CP Flight MCP, the Opencockpits FMC v3, the ThrustMaster throttle and the Tracker IR5 which apparently needed a direct connection - furthermore I had the two TFTs which were to be connected through USBs (two USBs per TFT) and that took a whole lot of USB connections and power - and since I was only using one computer I was quite limited by the USB outputs available on the computer... That was however not my greatest concern - My computer only features two outputs on the video card but what I wanted was to use four independent screens on only two outputs. That at first seemed to be no problem since I could connect the TV to the HDMI and the FMC to the VGA and then the 2x TFTs through USBs - I found that I could do this and actually have four independent screens working. I was truly very excited and very happy because this issue had really been giving me some headaches. The reason for why you see connections for five screens in the control window is because my desktop screen is also connected to the computer using the second VGA connector - however this connector is only able to be used if either the primary VGA or the HDMI connector is disconnected (screen 2). However the four screens were all working perfectly ... well it seemed that they were... The problem did not show itself until I tried to load a flight in FSX - I could use the FSX normally when selecting aircraft, location, weather, etc. but when hitting the ALT+F keys and loading the scenery, FSX automatically converts to a full screen display and this terminated the idea of using the 2x USB TFTs because they just went black. I tried several times but I never could get this to work - the only solution I saw was to keep the flight within a re-sized window and that really killed the idea completely. I am no computer wizard and maybe there could be a solution for this that I am not aware of, but no matter what I tried the result was the same. This issue put me into a standstill and I didn't really know how to proceed. I thought about several solutions as to either purchase a new computer / videocard with additional outputs but this would be rather costly and I did not have that kind of funds to spend this late in the process - so what to do... The solution I came up with was to make a rather drastic change to the MiP - first I thought about excluding the FMC v3 and then adding a 20" monitor to the MiP which should be placed behind the MFDs but would still be able to function as a screen for both the MFDs. This idea seemed fair but on the other hand I didn't like to exclude the FMC v3 from the setup. I discharged that idea and instead went along with a second idea - adding an iPad as PFD/NG to the MiP. This however would mean a re-build of some parts of the MiP and also a compromise to my original idea about only one computer - but that I just had to do. Connecting Everything - Part 2 (Changing The MiP Layout) The reason for why I chose the second idea using the iPad was simply because I already had an iPad, meaning no additional investment, and I came to think about an app that I had previously tested. The IPObjects AirTrack v3.5 which is an app featuring both a PFD, NG, a combined PFD and NG together with EICAS, charts, MCP and much more - this is a very versatile piece of software that could run on the iPad, freeing up the video output for the FMC v3. The AirTrack is compatible with FSX and works on all aircraft as a stand-alone program that is fed with data from the aircraft within FSX. It features the PFD similar to the Boeing 737 style PFD and also a very good quality NG display. These could be shown independently or combined and the data transfer rate from FSX to AirTrack is superb providing a super smooth and perfectly aligned iPad PFD. Furthermore the App also features an MCP including standard functions of an MCP actually including the radios, etc. as well - however this was not my intention to use but the AirTrack also features a function to view airport charts, etc. and that combined with the fact that the iPad could be used as a touch screen, just made this solution very ideal. If I mounted my iPad in the MiP as being the glass cockpit and connected that to the computer with the IPObjects software to run the PFD, NG and EICAS I would have solved the issue without investing a lot of money. I know that I hereby also did compromise my original idea with only one computer, since the iPad is actually an independent computer, but this way I could keep the costs down and still get a realistic layout. During this change of the MiP I actually saw that I could, if I wanted to, fit 2x iPads into the MiP and hereby gaining both a PFD and NG in full size. However since the funds for the project were already spent, I had to limit myself to only one. I had one issue though with the iPad solution - I had already cut holes into the MiP and the iPad could not cover these holes so...... again what to do.... I did not want to do the process of re-building the complete MiP, so I created a frame around the iPad, which in my opinion came out quite okay, and this frame gives the look of the iPad being integrated into the MiP in a good way. Going along with this new idea I suddenly found my two TFT touch screens from Lilliput and my set of MFDs from ThrustMaster to be excluded from my project - this I didn't like and therefore I started to look for a solution where I could still use them in the setup, but now as an "option" and not a must. I looked at several real world cockpits to get ideas and I realized that a solution could be to add the TFTs as information screens containing a live feed from a third computer (primary was my FSX computer and secondary the iPad). I mounted the two TFTs including the MFDs on my right console and connected the TFTs to a third computer that could then be used to show SIDs on one screen and STARS or other airport charts on the other - this computer I then connected to the internet and I could now use Google to search for free airport charts to use for these screens. The MFDs I still connected to my primary computer to be able to assign various commands to the buttons and use them within FSX. A different solution could of course have been to connect these MFDs to the third computer, add a "library" of airport charts, SIDs, STARS etc. to an Excel spreadsheet and then write a few macros that could be assigned to the MFDs buttons; this would result in actually using the MFDs for the TFTs. This solution was an "option" that was not necessary for the project, and this way I could regain a little pride of not compromising my original idea too much. Still I had included the iPad as PFD, NG and EICAS so I had added a secondary computer to the setup and thereby I could not meet the criteria of my original idea, however I found it to be necessary and I could not find a different solution without investing a lot of money. After I had mounted the iPad and the new location of the TFTs and MFDs to the setup, I started drawing a new connection diagram to support and to give me an overview - drawing the complete connection setup did bring me a good overview but also scared me a bit, because now I could actually see how complex this project turned out to be. On the other hand it also made me quite proud because this showed me that I was able to create all of this. Conclusion I had an amazing time building this rather complex home cockpit, and I discovered that even though I am not a computer wizard or an engineer I was still able to finish this project. I of course had a lot of lessons learned throughout the project, but I am certain that I would not be scared to dive into a similar project again. It does take an incredible amount of time doing such a project, but for me it was just as much fun to build the home cockpit as it is using it afterwards. One thing that I believe is very important if you start a project like this, is to prioritize your time and concentrate on what is important in your life; hereby I mean that if you are a family person, don't forget your family! In my case family always come first, then health, then the professional job that puts food on the table and first then hobbies, fun, etc. I am very fortunate that I have a daughter (3 1/2 years old) that is extremely interested in my hobby, simply because it features a huge number of things (switches, etc.) that can move, and she really likes to go to my "office" and play. Quality time yes? I also found that setting up some simple goals was a great way of keeping me going. Building or going through a project with a long time schedule like this, did at times seem to be too much and I found myself just wanted to tear the project apart and say "that was it - that was a too big and complex project for me" but simply by setting small goals such as creating the top panels for one of the consoles or figuring out a way to support the TFTs gave me the sense of success and that boosted my confidence and gave me more energy and devotion for sure. I have already thought about potential upgrades to the setup such as building a shell or mounting a B737 overhead but to be honest that will probably not happen - I have now finished the project and the next step I think will be to take the home cockpit apart, and start all over with a new design or a new project. One thing is for sure - the TV is not the best solution for a display. Even though it is a 42" plasma, the resolution is not high enough (my TV does not have HD resolution), so a future solution will certainly be to add an HD projector providing a full 120" screen instead. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people that have been a part of this project - either as a sponsor, a contact or just an advisor. I am very fortunate to have all of you in my network and I really appreciate your help greatly! I would also like to thank www.Flightsim.com and www.DanSim.dk for publishing this article which I hope could encourage other people to enter the flightsim community or even to start other projects to add to the realism of the flightsim idea. Ray Andersen Rays Aviation Additional Pictures -
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Got Nothing Better To Do With Your Time? By Hans Krohn (23 June 2005) "Got Nothing Better To Do With Your Time?" Almost every flight simulation enthusiast has been asked this rather annoying question -- usually by people do not really care to understand the fascination this hobby holds for so many. I have piloted virtual planes since the early days of flight simulators. Back then, no amount of goodwill would convince people around me that the crude graphics on the screen of my computer had any similarity with real flight. But I saw things differently. Since my very first encounter with flight simulation I have embraced the possibility of flying whenever I want, and wherever I want -- and to walk away from every landing! Ten years ago, I decided to make a clear case of addiction even worse by starting the construction of a home cockpit. In today's world, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people out there who have decided to do the same thing. There are now dedicated forums on the internet, specialized companies providing plug-and play solutions, and even sim builders' congresses. But back in the mid-nineties, home built flight simulators were very, very rare. Their creators were either admired as brave pioneers of leading edge technology, or sneered at for wasting their time on an impossible task. This is the story of how I started this hobby. It describes some of the highlights, but also the problems I encountered during the long building process. I may also explain how a project, started a decade ago, today is still the source of great satisfaction. The Idea It started one day in December of 1995. I was scanning magazines at a newspaper stand. Looking through an American PC Games Magazine, I saw an add for a home cockpit kit, 3-dimensional and with real panels and buttons. "Fly like the real pilots do!" the title screamed. For some time I had already toyed with the idea of having switches and buttons arranged around my monitor to enhance the feeling of being there when taking off into the virtual skies. But this looked even better: Sitting inside a cockpit, joystick and throttles mounted left and right, and a monitor in front of me. I was infected. The attempt to contact the makers of that cockpit kit was unsuccessful. It seemed they had gone out of business before even starting it: My faxes and phone calls remained unanswered. So I had to take things into my own hands. I estimated that it would take me roughly one year to plan, design and build my own cockpit simulator. Had I known how wrong I was. It took months of painfully slow research in the fledging flight sim forums at CompuServe to get first answers. I was told to talk to two persons: Ralph Robinson from R&R Electronics and to a guy whose name I don't remember at Thrustmaster. Ralph is the mastermind behind the programmable Input/Output card EPIC and Thrustmaster at that time produced the MDF components and fiberglass outer shell of a F-16 cockpit. The trouble was to get all this stuff to Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, where I lived in those years. But there are no hurdles too high and no rivers too wide for the dedicated cockpit builder - I already mentioned the infection, didn't I? I solved the transport problem and soon enough I was happily joining MFD plates. Within a few days my apartment had one usable room less, but now it contained a construction (my friends called it a contraption) you could sit in and feel, well "like the real pilots do"? Not quite - but it was a beginning. I soon realized that the Thrustmaster cockpit concept did not fully suit my needs. The panels were large, flat planes that - even when covered with switches and buttons - would still look rather flat and uninspiring. So I started to extensively rework the whole structure to make it look more like real cockpit interiors. I integrated joystick, throttle and rudder pedals, made space for additional monitors and -- anticipating the ever increasing weight of the setup - reinforced all joints. The Design Process Next I sat down and started to think what all those empty spaces inside the cockpit should contain. A glass cockpit was no option - years would pass before Project Magenta became available. So I simply looked at all the flight sim programs I used at that time (MS-FS4, ATP, Falcon3, Flanker and Tornado) and drew up a list of the commands I used most frequently in all of them. I decided to build a generic cockpit that I could use to fly a Cessna, a Tornado or any other plane. As a result, my panels would have a weapons control unit and a King autopilot sitting peacefully next to each other - everything crammed into the replica of an F-16 cockpit. The panel design process was a flight of fancy. Using Corel Draw I invented what I thought I needed, trying to combine form and function. Since I had no real airplane nearby as a reference, I used photos. But above all, I used my imagination. Even today, after a major upgrade that made my cockpit look much less generic and closer to the real thing, I still tell visitors: "If I were an aircraft engineer, this is how I would build a cockpit!". Complications So far, things had been relatively simple; mainly pleasant carpentry and PC based design work. Progress was fast and the results were visible almost immediately. That changed when a DHL parcel arrived, containing the electronics I would use as an interface between the cockpit and my PC: the EPIC card and modules. While scanning the manual I got the distinct feeling that this was way over my head: diodes, data leads and modrows, binary encoded rotaries, a C-like programming language - to me it all sounded like Chinese. But people on the net, among them Ralph Robinson, told me it would work and that others before me had mastered the skills needed to tame the EPIC beast. I read the manual from cover to cover, re-read it and than re-read it again. Slowly I started to understand the concept. But now I wanted hard evidence that EPIC really works: I soldered a pushbutton to a data lead and a modrow cable and wrote my first lines of epl code. And yes, it did work! Each press of that button produced the letter "g" in notepad, and only moments later - after firing up Flight Simulator - the same buttonpress raised my landing gear. Sounds like no big deal, but all who have gone through this process will agree: Success in making these first steps with a new and almost alien technology creates a feeling of euphoria and achievement that is hard to describe - and even harder to relay to others: Imagine that freshly soldered button hanging in the air over your workspace, suspended from its two wires. And me, with a sparkle of elation in my eyes (and looking more than ever like the mad scientist), pointing happily at a simple letter on the screen. But now I had my proof: the buttons worked, and after some more soldering, so did the LEDs and the 7-segment displays. Now it was time to get serious. Hard Labor By now, more parcels had arrived, containing different flavors of pushbuttons, toggle switches, rotaries, displays, diodes and of course wire, lots of wire. It was time to put it all together. What followed was hard labor. Making all these panels I had dreamt up kept me soldering for months, many months (remember, only 12 of these make a year!). It often left me cross-eyed, tired and sometimes wondering if it all was worth the effort. Progress was small, often imperceptible. I think it is at this stage where so many cockpit projects fail. No matter how big the enthusiasm in the projecting phase, it is during the panel building when builders have to muster all their determination and patience to keep going on and to finish the job. It became clear that my original 1 year estimate for completing the simulator was obsolete. 18 months had passed and I was nowhere near the end. In those days, there was clear and present danger for my project. But I was determined not to end up with a room full of useless scrap. To ensure long term motivation I started to take long, planned breaks. During these, I dedicated my time to other activities and cleared those panels from my mind and the soldering vapors from my lungs. And once I finished a panel, I connected and used it. I drew fresh energy from flight testing each new component. It really helped to renew my determination when I felt the new buttons click under your fingertips and something happened in my cockpit that - only weeks before - had required keyboard interaction. The Code Unfortunately, wires and switches are only one part of the story. In order to make them perform their function within the simulator, programming is needed. I had never written a single line of coding before, and for all I knew, Basic, C or FORTRAN could as well have been the names of Saturn's moons. So I was off to a rather difficult start. I already knew that the EPIC stuff worked in principle; now it was time to go deeper. Using the cryptic EPIC manual and more than a little help from friends on the net, I made my first attempts to write real code. And the old saying proved itself again: "You can do it, if you put your mind to it!" Weeks later, after many sleepless nights and countless moments of total frustration, I began to see the slow but steady development of my programming skills. Suddenly, the press of a button could do more than just produce a character on the screen. After discovering variables, flags and "If - Then" functions (and the fact that they can be nested), there was no stopping me. I happily programmed the nights away and my code became so intricate that I was usually unable to understand the next day what I had written just one night before. But I started to program my own logic into my panels, and I found that to be a very enjoyable creative process. The convenient thing about programming is that it can be done everywhere, as long as there is a computer around. I found myself writing code for my cockpit on airplanes or sitting in my hotel room in the lonely evenings of business trips. The Never-Ending Story It took me 3 years to finish the cockpit - the first stage of the building process, to be precise. There it was in my workroom, with an imposing footprint of six by six feet. I had built all those switches and displays into their panels. I had three monitors in front of me, displaying a synchronized view of the outside world. 4000 lines of EPIC code (no pun intended) made it all work. The stage was set for happy flying. But it did not take me long to realize that I was not done yet. I wanted a full enclosure. When flying at FL35, few things are more distracting than turning your head and looking at your neighbor mowing his lawn. I decided to construct a jetfighter-like canopy and to enclose the three monitors, using plywood. Again, I underestimated the time this would take, but one year later it was done. Then Project Magenta with its true to life glass cockpit instruments came along and I knew that another upgrade was about to happen: More PC's, more monitors, and a completely reworked cockpit interior. Throw in a new EPIC card (USB now) and the rewriting of my EPL code, and the inclined reader will understand how another 2 years came to pass. Last year I moved to a new location, so the simulator had to be disassembled. After arriving at the new place I was about to put it all back together again -- but then I hesitated. With everything taken apart - wasn't this the perfect occasion for some long due upgrades? Only 12 months later it was done. New instruments and panels grace a cockpit that looks more sophisticated than ever. It was during this year when I noticed with a mixture of shock and nostalgia that none of the first generation panels survived the various upgrades of the last decade. But aviation is changing, and so is the technology behind homebuilt cockpits. The temptation to make yet another modification is always present. But for the next couple of years I plan to spend my time using this amazing piece of equipment sitting in my workroom. No more upgrades. Or maybe just some very, very small ones. Here I will end the account of my cockpit building endeavor, and it is a good moment to make a point: For those who get into this hobby, it is not only about enhancing the flight sim experience - it is also about the creative act of building something unique. . . and to see how far you can get. And no, I've got nothing better to do with my time! Hans Krohn www.hanskrohn.com -
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How To...Build Your Own Home Cockpit By Mike Smith The time had come. After 6 long years of playing Microsoft Flight Simulator at my desk, using a slow computer and a joystick, I was now ready for the ultimate flight simming experience. Building my own cockpit. Oh, I had kicked the idea around many times but never really had the motivation to actually do it.... until now. It was to be the greatest of all home cockpits ever built. (At least in my mind!) When I finished, I didn't want people to think I had lost my mind. I wanted them to be absolutely certain of it. To them, it was just a silly computer game. To me though, it was my escape to the skies when I couldn't really fly for real. (After building this thing, I'm so broke; I may never be able to fly a real plane again.) As a certificated private pilot, I can only wish for those every other day flights to far away places in my rented Cessna 172. It is a real treat if I get to go up once a month just to stay comfortable in the air. The rest of the time, it's Microsoft Flight Simulator to the rescue. I rave to anyone who will listen about how invaluable MSFS has been to me in obtaining my pilot certificate. The realism of the controls, the real world weather, interactive air traffic control, and the realistic scenery make this a program that goes beyond the "gaming" level. It truly helps real pilots stay proficient when they can't really be in a real plane. I lost track along time ago, but I must have 400 hours using MSFS and I am certain I am a better pilot because of it. Anyway, back to the home cockpit. I spent months plotting and planning every detail of this project. By the time I was actually ready to begin construction, I had already "built" this thing in my mind about five different ways. The planning definitely paid off when it came time to put it together. Think about where you will put this thing since it will invariably wind up quite large when you are finished. Mine wound up being @ 4'W x 6'L x 6'H. I have no idea how much it weighs, but it's fairly heavy. I decided on the basement since it would be the most out of the way place and I wasn't about to give up my parking spot in the garage. (Weeks of begging wouldn't convince my wife to give up hers either.) My biggest problem now is that this thing was built in the basement and is never coming out. It would have to be carefully disassembled and I hope that won't be necessary anytime soon. With the cockpit now usable I can honestly say that even though I was an avid flight simmer before, this has taken the experience to a much higher level. More comfort, more realistic controls with the use of rudder pedals, bigger display. Now it really is "as real as it gets". In the pages that follow I will try to document the entire process I followed while planning and building my cockpit. I hope that you decide to take the plunge too. It really was a lot of fun. Just to see the look on peoples faces when they see it, especially other pilots, it was worth every minute. Search the web sites I have listed, ask pilots for suggestions until you find the design that fits your needs and budget. Just remember; It's your dream, make it as big as you want! I broke the entire process down into three phases: planning, design, and construction. Phase One: Planning How far do you want to go? How much money do you have to blow on this thing? Single seat or two? Build your own seats or get them from a car? What kind of display? (I would have loved a 46" Plasma Screen TV/monitor but a national search for a rich uncle yielded no results, so I opted for the 20") These are all good questions that will have to be answered before you can begin. Personally, I told myself right up front that if I was going to do this, I wanted to see peoples jaw drop when they saw it. Obviously, I also had to make it as realistic as I could afford to. Here is a listing of the final product and the approximate costs: Feature Cost Materials (Lumber, hardware, paint, etc.) $325.00 Seats/Seatbelts FREE Switches, electronics 50.00 Used aviation intercom, 2 headsets 200.00 Computer 475.00 Used 20" monitor 175.00 5 pc. speaker system w/ subwoofer 35.00 Mini USB keyboard 45.00 Handheld trackball mouse 25.00 Yoke and Rudder Pedals 265.00 Cup holders 10.00 Certificate holder (don't want to get busted on a FAR!) 3.00 Map pockets 20.00 Moldings, door edge guard 20.00 Printing (warning labels, graphics, etc. 25.00 Total $1673.00* *Plus one other incidental that was needed since I built this in the basement. A dehumidifier, which set me back $150.00. As you can see, even though I kept it fairly simple with instrumentation and gadgets the cost can get up there very quickly! Keep in mind; I started acquiring these things months ahead of time so the cost was split up over the course of several months. Sources like eBay proved to be invaluable when trying to locate items like a real external PTT microphone like you'll find on a rear plane, and used headsets. They can usually be had at a pretty cheap price too. Otherwise, your local home improvement store, auto supply store, and Radio Shack can supply you with everything else you will need to build your masterpiece. Phase Two: Design Obviously, I wanted something that would look like an airplane but wouldn't take up the entire basement. I searched the web sites and got some ideas and then started sketching my own designs until I found a good alternative. I wanted a two seater with a "hooded" area for the monitor to focus all visual attention on the monitor. I also decided against anything fully enclosed, too hot inside during the summer months and I sure as hell wasn't going to add the air conditioning option. Instead I opted for the "hooded" area which I made using black fabric (a black bed sheet purchased at a local department store), which can also be pulled tight over the entire top enclosing you in a realistic night environment which makes for some pretty cool night flights. The end result wound up being sort of a fastback design which looks very cool. The panel design I went with was very simple. I couldn't afford to outfit it with real instruments and gadgets but couldn't resist adding the ignition key lock and master switch. I also made my own labels with the usual warnings found in the real cockpit. Seat and panel placement was done using the actual measurements from a Cessna 172 I fly regularly. The seat height, panel height, distance to yoke, etc. are all true to the original. I have already had several comments from people about how "real" it feels while sitting in the pilot seat. I think so too. One thing you won't find anywhere is a set of plans to build one of these. I looked everywhere! Unless you want to spend $50,000.00 or something on a manufactured simulator, you're on your own. Once you have a visual idea of what you want and some drawings, you start making everything from scratch. Not to fear though. With a little creativity and hard work you'll have a simulator you can show off with pride. The most important thing to remember is plan, plan, plan. As mentioned earlier, you will practically have it built in your mind before you ever start construction. Phase Three: Construction The construction phase had several segments and I tried to list them in the order I actually completed them: * Preparing the seats and seatbelts Lucky for me, I am in the car business so finding seats and seatbelts was easy. The main thing to remember is that the seat width can't be more than @ 22". Space is pretty limited so seats out of an old Buick Roadmaster just ain't gonna fit. I used a pair of reclining bucket seats from an old Mazda Protégé that fit perfect. I think any compact size car would work. If you have no connections in the car business you can always try picking up an old junker in the classifieds or try the salvage yards. Once you find them, their gonna need a good scrubbing first. Before After Whatever seats you find you will have to be modifying them on the bottom so they will sit flat. The rails are normally all different shapes to fit the contour of the cars floor where they bolt in so this will take some work but it's not that difficult with a hacksaw and lots of muscle. The seatbelts took some real creativity. I needed something that pulled from between the two seats like a real Cessna. The post had to be mounted and braced so it would not loosen after repeated use of the seatbelts. A 4X4 porch post proved the perfect start. (See what I mean about getting creative!) Anchoring the top of the belt Anchoring the retractors The finished product The rest is pretty self explanatory in the photos but since every seatbelt will be a little different, you'll have to come up with a slightly different design. Good Luck! * Building the platform base/installing the seats The platform was a piece of cake. Just a basic 48" X 72" rectangle with evenly spaced studs in the center. 3/8" Wafer board was used on the top and the bottom making it more than strong enough to hold the weight of everything. I added heavy duty wheels to the bottom also in case I needed to move it around the basement. I also thought if I got really bored my wife could push me around to practice taxi instructions. (For some reason she didn't see the humor in that!?) Anyway, once the platform is built just use cheap flooring adhesive and cover it with your gray carpeting. I mounted the seats on top of pieces of 4X4 which gave me the perfect height based on my actual Cessna 172 measurements. (see diagram #1) Your placement depends on your actual size and the fact that you want to be able to slide the seat forward and back. This takes a few tries before doing the final anchoring but you'll get the right fit. Once the seats are anchored you can then mount and brace the seatbelt pillar in the rear center of the platform. * Framing the monitor shelf Framing of the monitor shelf is pretty simple. Just use 2X3's to form three rectangles with one being anchored at each outboard edge and the final one centered. (see diagram #2) Once they are completed just install a piece of the 3/8" wafer board as a shelf and use your adhesive and carpeting again to cover the shelf. * Building and installing the "foot" area and instrument panel The panel was simple, just use 1X3 to make an outer frame and then a piece of luan plywood for the panel itself and attach to the top of the three monitor shelf studs. The foot hole board was cut from the 3/8" wafer board according to diagram #3. The panel board is painted gray while the foot hole board is carpeted. Be sure to paint any exposed wood surfaces with black paint before you proceed with the next step. Otherwise, you'll need a chiropractor to straighten you out after you have to crawl inside the belly of this thing to paint it. * Exterior panel construction, painting the interior The exterior panels were cut from Luan plywood using a simple saber saw. After a few measurements to figure out the angles and curves you're ready to cut. I actually used an old round serving tray to cut the curved areas where you step in. (Hey, that's all I could find.) Mark everything out on your 4X8 sheet of luan then cut away as soon as you're happy with the look of things. The left and right sides are the time consuming parts. The front and back are just straight cuts. After your finished cutting, get the gray paint out again. You'll need to coat all the interior sides with a couple good coats and let them dry before you can proceed. Don't worry about the exterior sides for now. Well get to that later. * Framing the "hood" and installation Framing the hood was just a matter of building two identical side pieces (see diagram #4) that anchor to the top of the monitor shelf. The fabric is then stapled over the top of these pieces and they also serve as another anchoring point for the front panel. Again, paint the side pieces black and let them dry before you tack the fabric on. * Painting and detailing the exterior, striping, etc. I went around the entire exterior edge with basic door edge guard from the local auto supply store. One roll did the trick. This turned out to be a nice touch and will keep the slivers to a minimum. I painted the exterior with three coats of gloss white and true to the Cessna Skyhawk SP, I used the blue, gray, and yellow striping colors found on newer 2001 models. Striping was done using my eyeball and a roll of masking tape. Having nothing to go by except a picture from the internet the striping took awhile but looked awesome when it was done. The N-number is done professionally in vinyl lettering. I went with the number of the plane I passed my private pilot check ride in. It seemed the obvious choice. A few quick measurements to insure both sides would be even and sticking it on was a breeze. For the final touch a couple of US flags on the tail and that was it, perfect. There were few other little touches I had to add. The real scanner antenna on the back, the phony plate, etc. Why not...we live once! * Wiring it all up Wiring will vary based on what you decide to put in your cockpit. I chose to install an AC cord through the side panel that went to the keyed ignition switch and then through the master switch. The two switches, when on, supplied power to the two power strips inside the belly where everything would plug in. I encountered two problems though. First, after hours of wiring up the two switches my son came to the basement (His mother probably sent him down to make sure I wasn't going to blow up the house.) and immediately saw the cool ignition lock with the key. He grabbed hold of it to turn it and got shocked. Of course he was barefoot on the damp concrete floor while I had been sitting in the cockpit the whole time I was working on it so I never got zapped. After calming him down and convincing him his mother needed to know nothing about this little "incident", I disconnected the metal ignition switch and will leave it there for show. Secondly, the very first time I had some people over to "unveil" the flight simulator, a pilot friend of mine was in the middle of the flight when he looked down and said "hey look, this thing even has a real master....." click. Well, I'm not sure what happened but after he killed the power to everything by turning the switch off, it took an hour and a half and a full reinstall of the game make it work again. Anyway, that switch is now disconnected as well. Basically I have two cool looking switches that don't have any functional purpose anymore. I now have everything safely wired and grounded so no one needs to worry about getting shocked. Next came the sound. No problem there, just hooked my audio switch to the computer sound card, plugged the speaker system into one side of the audio switch and the intercom system into the other. Now, with the push of a button you can have booming external sound or put the headsets on and talk to your passenger while all the game sound gets piped through the headsets as well. The sound thing was a little confusing to rig up. I actually had all the components about a month before I started building and hooked it all up to figure out how it worked so there would be no surprises later on. * Constructing the center console The center console is crucial for realism. Other pilots instinctively reach down for the trim wheel before they realize there really isn't one there. To give you an idea on difficulty building the console, it took me one day to build the platform, the monitor shelf and foot hole. The console took me three days to build, install the intercom and mount in the cockpit. All the graphics and labels were created right on my PC and printed out with a color laser printer. (Courtesy of Kinko's) I carefully trimmed them out and stuck them on using ordinary lamination sheets. It worked great and the visual effect "suspends disbelief". * Installing the yoke and rudder pedals For budget reasons I opted to start with a single yoke and rudder pedals. Due to the control wheel shaft that goes through the yoke I had to install it directly into the panel. I used great patience and time measuring for this cut. Remember, we are now working on the finished product and a screw up here means re-doing a whole lotta stuff. Nonetheless, the yoke installed flawlessly and I used another item from the auto supply store to finish the edges, wheel trim molding. The pedals just sit on the floor. I installed a block of 1 X 3 in back of them so they can't slide anywhere while being used. One little flaw was the fact that once the yoke was installed It was off center by @ 1 1/2" to the left. This may not sound like a lot but trying to fly this way was very uncomfortable. So, there goes another Sunday. Both the seats came back out and I moved them both the proper distance to the outboard edge to fix the problem. Thank god I had the space to work with; it would have driven me insane to look at it like this. * Computer selection and setup Computers, what can I say. When they work we love em'. When they don't, well you know. Deciding on the right computer for this project was easy. Get the best. I worked too hard up till now to use some old computer or skimp on a new one and hate the way everything worked. Having said that, my plan was to get enough computer to make this thing work great today with every display setting maxed out and have enough for when the next version of MSFS comes out so all I'll have to do is install the discs and keep right on flying. So, I scoured the classifieds for weeks waiting and finally, there it was. This is what I wound up with: Athlon 1300 processor 512 MB RAM 64 MB GeForce 2Video 20 GB Hard Drive 52X CD ROM USB 10/100 Ethernet Card Windows XP Home Edition It works great, smooth, great scenery. The goal was to stay ahead of the curve as best I could afford and I think that has been achieved. Other computer details to consider: Windows XP & USB: A must have. With Windows XP I don't think there is a device invented that this wont detect and install automatically. No drivers to fool around with, stuff just works as soon as you plug it in. This was especially important to me since I was using a USB Keyboard, USB Mouse, the yoke and the rudder pedals all hooked into a cheap $15.00 4 port USB hub. No bother though, I turned the computer on and plugged in the hub and that was it. Anti Virus Software: Another must have. I don't know about you but I download a lot of aircraft, panels, etc from the internet and I sure would hate to lose it all because somebody gets into my computer. Back Up Files: I always keep a backup folder with all my aircraft, gauges, and flights in it. In the event the game crashes and you need to do a reinstall it takes just a few minutes to get yourself right back where you left off. Well worth taking a few minutes to do this. Broadband Connection: If you don't have it, get it. Downloading real world weather or an aircraft online takes seconds instead of hours. Worth every dime. Well folks, that's about it. There are dozens of other details and comments I could share but let's do this instead. Email me at msmith31@twcny.rr.com with your comments, questions, suggestions, or criticism. I truly had a great time building this thing and I know you would too. I'm not sure I'll ever really be finished. My future plans include: adding inter-connected yokes and rudder pedals, and adding a multiple monitor video card. I'm sure I'll be the first in line for Flight Simulator 2022 when it comes out so I hope this thing lasts. Until then, think big and go for it. The skies the limit! (I have also added my very own instructor station which utilizes the software on the professional edition.) Mike Smith msmith31@twcny.rr.com Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is to be used at your own risk. I make no claim of fitness for any product, service, website or endorse any manufacturer, company, product, or web site. Use all proper precautions when using power tools and don't drink and fly. -
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How To Fly The Biggest Desk In The Office By Peter Kodis Figure 1 Introduction. What Are We Talking About It's a dream of a lot of our fellow simmers to have a cockpit of their very own, to fly to places and make this virtual adventure have more reality to it. Many simmers have built cockpits and submitted them to the web and they look great, but have a price tag in the hundreds or thousands of dollars with multiple computers or various displays or the use of a real aircraft body or one fellow using a car chassis to make a 747...wow, a car! Some cockpits are of the Boeing jet style while others are a single seat jet fighter but while fitting the need of the simmer the limitations are greater and I find it a theme with many simulators that will not bend to various needs. I'm basically a boneyard pilot meaning I fly aircraft that are outdated and used for non VA roles such as fire bombers, bug sprayers and just vintage charter flights. These aircraft can span from a Douglas DC-3s all the way up to the Douglas C-133s...that's a pretty large range of aircraft that also includes Lockheed Connies and C-130s, Beech 18s and the Cessna 400 series. Building a cockpit that fits all the roles of a multi-role simmer becomes a matter of just dropping the authenticity and just accepting it's going to be a virtual cockpit... Figure 2 Where Do I Start? Start With No Money! My adventure started with a dream and the spark that ignited this mission was when my wife gave my computer desk to my son. She offered to buy me a new desk but my response was "NO", how about I make my own desk. It will look like an airplane but it's really a desk. The response was "in the basement", with an additional demand that "it will cost nothing to build too". Wow, is that a tall challenge to beat. Not really. My cockpit is completely made from salvaged wood from pallets and packing materials that by traveling through any industrial park can be found. Besides wood there is copper pipe for the yoke, a few bungy cords, variable resistors from a tape deck and old video equipment, a doorway rug, a speaker from the stereo, sheet rock screws and house paint. Have you ever watched "Junkyard Wars" on The Learning Channel....Here's the parts just build it! Make an airplane cockpit. I've started, but I'm in need ideas? Go look at airplanes! Figure 3 First thing is to get an idea and the best way is to visit an aircraft junk yard. There is one at my local airport in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Albert Audette the President of Aircraft Repairs Unlimited took my picture along with some fine items to study (Figures 1-2). Oh, would I love to buy one and take it home but besides the size and price they are impossible to fit into the basement. Albert told me he does sell them to flightsimmers for cockpits but it's a lot of work. I agree, as I crawled through some old Cessna 172s and Piper Aztecs and sat in these carcasses. I got the feel of the dream...the feel is claustrophobic. That's the secret, it's not the computer displays, the multiple LAN fed Pentiums or if you run FS2000 or Fly! it's the tightness of the cockpit. In WWII student pilots sat in a box and were spun around and had a few gauges...it worked then. Also look on the web. The main thing is that many simmers think these real world simulators are these complex video worlds where in fact they are a training device and can be as simple as a panel with switches. Here's a picture (Figure 3) from the USCG maintainance facility for the HU-25 Falcon. As you can see there are no multiple monitors or virtual worlds to look at; the main thing is to get the pilot to figure out how everything works. No overkill, just the basics. Figure 4 Figure 5 OK, I had an idea but it seems difficult to build? Expect the unexpected! My project started out as a Cessna 402 cockpit and slowly just began to lose the plan of design quickly. The center section is the 402 in design but as the windshields went in it became more like a DC-3 (Figure 4). As the sides went in it got more Connie or DC-6 in size. Basically, keep in mind it's a desk and seeing I fly all surplus aircraft it's now just a cockpit with no real theme except to run sim programs. Figure 6 Where do you get the controls? Make them yourself. The yoke is purely based on looking at aircraft in the boneyard. This is the heart of any sim. It's not the software or the plane. If you have a bum joystick the flight of fantasy becomes just movements of a object in 3D space. I have found no joystick, analog or digital, that fits my needs. You can't make plastic act like steel...no plastic box will replace a yoke sticking out of a dash board. My yoke is made out of copper pipe, "not steel", because it was easy to solder and the fittings were left over from a plumbing job. It is mounted through the dash and is linked to potentiometers through various linkages. Figure 5 is a picture of the setup. It looks like a mechanical nightmare and it really was. Besides using bungy cords for tension the linkage has to be tweaked so the yoke works correctly. The wire job uses 24 gauge wires and is fused. The reason is I have had a short circuit years ago with a Packard Bell system and a home brew joystick. The voltage regulator on the sound card proceeded to supply 5 amps of current to the wires and they burned (big time!). Using 1/4 amp fuses and thin wire should if any short happens be quick and break. The drawback is I've had a few flights cut short because the wire broke from the yoke movements. On the yoke it also becomes a trick of dressing the wires with a little slack for movement. The throttle is a wipe control from a piece of video equipment but it's basically a pot on its side with a T handle and a tension brake. This is not to scale running a twin or four engine bird but for simplicity it works. For the purist I'll say the on board computer running the engine management system only requires one throttle. It will be on future Airbuses probably. The rudder pedals (Figure 6) are made from a Mad CatZ pedal unit and are expanded with external rudder pedals. The Mad CatZ uses 2-50K pots in a cross wiring pattern. Many simmers over think this by adding linkage or trying to move one pot. The Mad CatZ has each pedal with one pot and as you push each pedal it increases or decreases from the 50K ohms measured center. So actually the left pedal goes from 50K to 10K ohms if pushed and the right goes from 50K to 80K ohms if pushed. Figure 7 The sound system consists of a big speaker under the dash for engine rumble and the PC speakers act as high end. The rumble speaker located above the pedals gets its sound from an old stereo amp mounted in the center console; being all plywood construction the speaker vibrates through the whole cockpit and is picked up in the (copper) yoke...try that with a plastic joystick. Using the BIGBIRD sound file makes Connie flights come alive. Putting it all together, the floor is a giant shipping pallet with furniture wheels added and other disassembled pallets slowly built the outer structure. All the salvaged plywood supplied to build the seats and another little neat device that the sim world needs, the caddy (Figure 7). How many of you have the stick on the desk or even stick it between your legs and try to shoot down BF-109s in CFS? Pretty tiring! I have used these for years now. Basically build a box to mount the joystick on, put it in front of your desk chair and build another for the throttle too. The center console (Figure is the heart of the unit and supports all the shelving to hold the monitors, computers and other equipment. The boxy construction and 2x4s have a purpose though. Possibly in the future 2-3 computers will be connected though a LAN system and run front and side view monitors and basically though not correct the heavy construction allows the mounting of SVGA monitors for these views. Are We There Yet? No Only Half Way! This project is not even close to being done but rather is an ongoing project. At any time I can work on it or shut it off and walk away for a week; it does not spoil or need gas. The keyboards (Figure 9) are mounted over head and work out great for flightsim use...always a button over your head to push. The yoke has a piece of plexiglas to hold FAA sectional charts and a magazine holder is to the left to hold all my other charts. Once again this may or may not be correct but you can always reach over and pull an FAA airport directory or chart out in flight. Add a old Cessna microphone and a head set and a piece of pipe insulation across the dash and she starts to look like an airplane desk. Figure 8 Figure 9 The roof center panel has switches and lights and will operate in the future but for now it's more ornamental. It comes down to just building it...the desk is 40 inches wide and 60 inches long without the seat (basically a double pallet), so it's not really larger than a office desk and stands no higher then the back of a computer center. It has wheels so you can move it to vacuum behind it or remove panels for maintenance. And by the end of this how to you may think it's not authentic or it's not a 747 but I never intentioned it to be anything more than an airplane desk. Pete Kodis straker@flightsim.com Cockpit web site: http://home.attbi.com/~fs-cockpitsimulator Bone yard pictures and flying old planes in FS sims: http://home.attbi.com/~fs-boneyard -
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MY OWN HOME-BUILT COCKPIT By Francisco Garcia Garrido. Valencia - Spain frangarcia.matradi@ono.com INTRODUCTION STARTING POINT THE FURNITURE THE PILOT'S SEAT: HOW TO SAVE YOUR MONEY IN A SCRAP YARD EXTERNAL VIEWS: THE WORLD FROM A PILOT'S POINT OF VIEW FRESNEL LENS THE PANEL: HOW TO SAVE YOUR TIME WITH A 14" MONITOR WORKING WITH ANALOGIC JOYSTICKS THE YOKE AND THE TRIM WHEEL MY HOME BUILT PEDALS SWITCHING BETWEEN MONITORS AND KEYBOARDS OTHER ELEMENTS THE BUDGET 1.- INTRODUCTION In September 2000, I read the issue number 7 of PC PILOT magazine... I was impressed with an article about "home built cockpits". This article showed three different cabins, from very simple to more complex ones, built by flight simulators fans. Immediately, I started thinking about it. "How can I make my own cockpit?" "How much money can I spend?" "Where can I install it?" (Well, questions number two and three were quickly answered by my wife...) In the following weeks, I thought about it every day and wherever I was. I started making drawings, looking for materials, and so on. I finished my virtual cockpit in May or June of 2001 (although you never really finish it, because you are constantly thinking about new improvements). I understand that six or seven months may seem like a long time. But unfortunately, I had very little free time and sometimes I could only dedicate one or two hours per week. Well... I was happy while constructing my cockpit, and now I am happy flying in it. I don't think it is the "passport to another virtual world", but I can tell you that is more real than a simple joystick put over a computer's table. You can do a flight of an hour or two, comfortably sitting in your pilot's seat, with a wide view of the terrain in front of you, and feeling involved with your pedals, trim wheel, panel, yoke, sound and so on... 2.- STARTING POINT The first step was to think about what I could and what I couldn't do. As I said before, I had not much free time and I didn't want a cockpit with hundreds of switches and knobs... I knew this was a very exciting project, but I was sure that I would never finish it. So, I started designing a very simple cockpit. Perhaps it is more a "flying desk" than a cockpit, but I think you really get a very realistic sensation without spending a lot of money. I wrote a list of the conditions that my cockpit had to satisfy: 1.- It had to be easy. 2.- It had to be cheap (or, at least, compared with other habitual home-built cockpits). 3.- I am interested only in civilian flights. I use Flight Simulator 2002 with light aircraft: Cessna or Mooney Bravo. 4.- Take advantage of the elements I had: A good computer, a graphic card with dual-screen option, a CH Flightsim Yoke, home built pedals that I built three or four years ago... 5.- Some obsolete monitors from my company. 6.- Not to move the computer from its position (a typical computer table), to enable a dual use of it, so that I could use it also for work, Internet, text editor... If you are a fan of combat flight simulators, don't worry, you can build this cockpit and replace the yoke with a joystick. I think it is pretty good also for you. 3.- THE FURNITURE I started with a photograph of myself, sitting in a car seat (temporarily dismounted from my car) and with a joystick in my hands, everything in the position I wanted. I used this photo to make measurements on it. The first step: Take a photo of yourself in the position you want. The final result. You can see the computer on the left side. Then I made a lot of drawings, thinking about where to put the two monitors, the pedals, the keyboard (this was an authentic problem) and so on. Of course, the cockpit is designed bearing in mind my height (1.76 m) although it is useful for almost everybody, because you can move the seat forward and backward, like in real planes and cars. The car seat with the furniture under construction. The support for the 14" monitor You can move the tray up and down to facilitate sitting. The furniture is separated in two parts, to facilitate handling I designed the furniture in conglomerated wood, with a thickness of 19 mm and a beech surface. I was not very experienced with work in wood, but I consider myself a skillful man and it was not too difficult... I am lucky, because near my house there is a hypermarket (Leroy-Merlin) where you can buy wooden sheets cut to the size you want, so that you only have to stick the edges and assemble it with special screws. Tools on the right: 1.- Allen key for screw #2 2.- Assembling screw for 19 mm wood 3.- Drill-bit for screw #2 4.- Allen key for screw #5 5.- Assembling screw for 16 mm wood 6.- Drill-bit for screw #5 7.- Allen key for drill-bits. These are some of the tools that you will need... The only condition was "To buy a wood board or half board" (a wood board has a size of 244x122 cm). So that I bought one and a half boards: As you can see in the "Cutting scheme of pieces" below, the grey surface is the remaining wood (not a lot). My recommendation is this: If you are not very sure about your own capability, look for a carpenter to make it. Perhaps it will cost you slightly more money, but it is worth the price. In this case, it is important that you prepare good drawings and, if needed, a scale model of the furniture in cardboard. As I said before, probably you will have to make a lot of drawings, measurements, photographs and so on... It depends a lot on the size of monitors that you are going to use. But if you believe that you can build a cockpit exactly equal to mine... go ahead! (Don't forget to send me photos when finished!) You can click over each image to enlarge, then right-click again over the enlarged image and select the "Save this image as..." option. Print this image on paper and you will have a pretty layout (not to scale). Scheme of the different parts. The cockpit with the seat and the monitors. The tray and the fresnel lens without the cover. The cover, the keyboard, the joystick and myself. Cutting scheme of pieces. Cross section with measurements. Top view without most of elements. 4.- THE PILOT'S SEAT: HOW TO SAVE YOUR MONEY IN A SCRAP YARD My wife became a little frightened when I told her that I was going to buy a car seat in a scrap yard. So, I carried it directly from the scrap yard to the laundry... It cost me only $25 ! A new car seat, bought in a garage as a replacement piece could cost you as much as $500, and on the other hand, you can find almost new seats in the scrap yards (from car accidents, usually free of blood) with prices betwen $25 and $80, so that it is worth taking the first option. 5.- EXTERNAL VIEWS: THE WORLD FROM A PILOT'S POINT OF VIEW In Flight Simulator 2002 (and I think in most flight simulators) you have eight possible views from the pilot's seat: Front, front-right, right, right-back, back... Each of these views covers an angle of 45 degrees of your field of vision, so that you can cover 360 degrees with the eight views. If you want a virtual cockpit with the maximum realism in the external views, then you need a very big screen. The bigger the screen, the more realistic the feeling. The optimum screen is the one that covers an angle of 45 degrees of your field of vision. If you want to know how big your screen must be, you can take a look at this table: Distance from your eyes Size of the screen 35 cm 15" 40 cm 17" 50 cm 21" 100 cm 40" 200 cm 80" As you can see, you need a big screen, unless you put the screen very close to your eyes. But if you do so, then your eyes will be focussing on an object that you feel is very near. You will not feel like you are in a plane looking at a landscape in front of you, with your eyes focussing on the infinite. I think the distance between your eyes and the screen must be at least 1 meter. With this distance, your eyes start feeling as if you are looking at the infinite. So that the optimum screen is a 40" one... How can I get an image 40" big? I think there are several options: The best solution (and probably the most expensive) is a projection monitor that projects the image from the computer to a screen in front of you. Prices start out $2000... perhaps too much for many flightsimmers. Another disadvantage is that you need a lot of space and some darkness in the room (forget about putting the cockpit in your living room...). Another solution is a standard TV, connected to your computer with a video output graphic card. You can buy a 28" TV and put it 1 meter from your eyes. (Of course, a 28" TV is much cheaper than a 28" monitor). But there are some severe disadvantages: 1.- A standard TV has an image frequency of only 50 times per second, while your monitor has between 70 and 90. This means that your eyes will become tired after some minutes. 2.- The TV has a resolution of only 720 (approximately) lines, while a typical monitor could have 1024 or more... This means that the image looks slightly blurred, and you will have trouble reading the program menus. If you want, you can try to do this experiment: Put a chair in the middle of the living room, and try to watch TV for an hour or two from a distance of only one or one and a half meters... (Please, advise your family beforehand, so that they don't think you have gone crazy). You will notice that it is very uncomfortable after a while. The third solution is a plasma monitor: I am not very sure of what a "plasma monitor" is (this expression reminds me of science-fiction films) but I think it is a very good solution... if you have a lot of money. Probably too expensive for many flightsimmers too. Another option is a Fresnel lens. You can read about this device in the next section. I think that another condition to get a realistic feeling is this: The horizon's height in the screen must be equal to your eye level. Or if you prefer, your eyes must look at the center of the screen totally horizontal. In this question my cockpit has a little mistake: As you can see in the photos, the screen is slightly higher than my eyes. I made a lot of tests and understood that it was impossible to solve... 6.- FRESNEL LENS A fresnel lens is a transparent plastic sheet with fine round grooves on the surface. It acts exactly like a magnifying lens, but with a reduced thickness and weight. It produces two effects on the image on your screen: It makes the image look greater (about 40%) and it makes the image look further (about 20%). This is a very interesting effect for flightsimmers: You will look at the external view in front of you, and your eyes will focus on a point situated far from you. You will also see a greater image that covers a wide range in your field of vision. The 21" monitor without the fresnel lens. The fresnel lens with the black cardboard cover The fresnel lens without the cover It means more realism without spending a lot of money. If you are interested in including a Fresnel lens in your cockpit, you can take note of these measurements applied to the model I have. (Most of them come from my own experimentation and could be a little "subjective") 1.- The distance from my eyes to the lens is 68 cm. The optimum distance is about 60 cm. If you have a distance bigger or smaller than this, then the apparent size decreases, although the difference is slight. 2.- The distance from the lens to the monitor is 31 cm. This is very important, because the bigger the distance, the bigger the image. But you can not separate it too much, because then it starts looking blurred (like any magnifying lens). I have mine at the maximum possible distance. 3.- My 21" monitor is then at a distance of 99 cm from my eyes, but thanks to the lens, it looks like a 34" monitor (it looks bigger) and the apparent distance is 115 cm (it looks further). 4.- The size of the lens is 53 x 42 cm I have a vision angle of 32º, far from the optimum 45º. But I think the apparent increase of size is very interesting, and the saving of money is important if you think about the price of a 34" monitor... I have covered my lens with a cardboard box painted in black. It also adds another effect that makes you feel more "inside" the action: Like in the cinema, you see the image with a surrounding dark area, so that you don't see the room, the frames on walls, the light in the ceiling... You feel more "involved" by the action. I forgot to say... I bought the lens from RC Simulations. You can pay them with your VISA card and they send it to you by mail. I suppose that you could get a lower price buying directly from a manufacturer, but I have no idea who makes these kind of devices! The aproximate price of the lens is $147 plus shipping. I think you can find fresnel lenses in many other places: For example, in lighthouses (too big, too heavy and difficult to steal), in "transparent sheet" projectors (you have to dismount the projector, of course) and I have seen it also in car supermarkets, as a special plastic piece that you put in the back glass, (if you have a mono-volume car) to facilitate parking (very cheap but too small). 7.- THE PANEL: HOW TO SAVE YOUR TIME WITH A 14" MONITOR I have seen web pages with photos of wonderful panels with hundreds of switches and small lights... I suppose that there are people in the world so fortunate that they have time to spend several hours every day on their cockpit's construction... But I am not one of them. The solution came with the graphic card Matrox Millennium G400 Max, Dual Head, 32Mb. You can right-click over the panel in the FS2002 screen, then select the "undock window" option and drag it to the second monitor... It is so easy! (Well, you will have to configure your card after installation, of course. But it is very easy). Obviously, the bigger this second monitor, the easier to read gauges and numbers. I usually fly in default Mooney Bravo IFR, and I can read everything in the panel with my humble 14" monitor, so I think it is enough. You will also find 14" second hand monitors very easily and very cheap. I like the effect when you look at the panel and then to the external view: Your eyes appreciate the different distance, so that you feel like you are looking "inside" and "outside" the plane, adding a pleasant realistic effect. The Matrox card configuration menu. The well known FS2002 Mooney Bravo IFR panel. 8.- WORKING WITH ANALOGIC JOYSTICKS I think that analogic devices are useless nowadays, because everybody prefers the USB port (I don't know why). But my analogic yoke lets me do a lot of things: I have added home-built pedals (that I built three or four years ago) and a trim wheel. I don't know if this is possible with a USB connection... If you want to make experiments with your control device (joystick or yoke) then you only have to follow these steps: 1.- Look at the joystick or yoke connector: It is a 15 pin connector with the pins numbered from 1 to 15. 2.- We are going to insert devices between the computer and the yoke. Basically, a yoke or joystick consists of a device with potentiometers and switches than you can manage. If you add other potentiometers, then you can have your own home built pedals and trim wheel, adding realism to the flight simulation. 3.- You can do this in different ways. Perhaps the easiest one is to buy two DB15 pin connectors (male and female) in an electronic supply store, and then connect with wires almost all the pins between both connectors (#1 with #1, #2 with #2, and so on), except those that I will describe to you below. 4.- Once again I recommend this to you: If you don't feel very sure handling the welder, look for a electronic supply and ask about welded wires with special connectors: They will make almost anything you ask, if you bring them a clear scheme. 5.- You are adding new devices between the pins that remain free, so that your computer will "believe" that you have pedals, trim wheel and so on... Don't worry, it is easier than it sounds. 9.- THE YOKE AND THE TRIM WHEEL Basically, an analogic yoke (like an analogic joystick) is a mechanism that lets you vary the electric resistance by using potentiometers. Most of the time, with a maximum resistance of 100 kohm. I like my CH Flightsim Yoke, but I found it too hard when you make slight corrections in level flight, so that I thought: "Why don't I try to make a trim wheel?" The idea is quite simple: Your yoke varies the resistance between 0 and 100 kohm (approximately), so that I added another potentiometer between the yoke and the computer, with a resistance of 47 kohm (the minimum they fabricate). The trim wheel is a simple cardboard circle stuck on a 47 kohm potentiomenter. This potentiometer is managed with a 24 cm cardboard circle, simply stuck on the axis of the potentiometer. You can move it with your right hand comfortably sitting in your seat. When I fly level flights and I have no turbulence, I control the height only with the trim like in real planes. You will have to weld the wires for your trim wheel between pins number 6 in male and female connectors. (See the scheme below). Some advice about the trim: 1.- The potentiometer must be linear 2.- When calibrating your yoke, you must push the yoke and simultaneously move the trim wheel nose-down. Then, pull the yoke and move the trim simultaneously nose up. 3.- You will have to use a shielded wire to connect the trim. The shield must be welded to the pin number 4 (Don't ask me why). 4.- If you have never managed a real aircraft, keep this in mind: When you push the top border of the wheel, the nose of the plane must go down. When you pull the top border of the wheel, the nose of the plane must go up. 10.- MY HOME BUILT PEDALS Nowadays you can find dozens of pages in the web talking about home built pedals. So I will not go on at length. In this case you are not adding a potentiometer between the computer and another thing. You are simply adding a potentiometer between two free pins in the connector (the pins numbered 9 and 11). The potentiometer is a 100 kohm one. (See the scheme above) The part of the pedals that makes me feel most proud is the back-to-the-center system. It is brilliant! (excuse me for my little modesty). I hope these photos let you understand it. If you don't understand something, ask me. The pedals dismounted from the cockpit. Here you can appreciate the springs system. I am very proud of this "back to the center" mechanism. All the components of the pedals are easy to get: little springs, wood, screws, little aluminum sheets, hinges... Some advice about the pedals: 1.- As in the trim, the potentiometer must be linear. 2.- As in the trim, you will have to use a shielded wire to connect the pedals. The shield must be welded to the pin number 4 (Don't ask me why). 3.- If you have never managed a real aircraft, keep this in mind: While taxiing, if you push your right foot, the plane must turn right. If you push your left foot, the plane must turn left. 11.- SWITCHING BETWEEN MONITORS AND KEYBOARDS As I said before, I wanted the computer to be at its own table, so that I had to put three different monitors in the room. I discovered (thanks to my computer supplier) that a little switcher box existed: It lets you select between two different sets of monitor, keyboard and mouse (you can have a computer with two sets, or two computers with a set). This switch box lets me choose between the table monitor and the cockpit ones. This is another great advantage on my cockpit: You can select with a simple click when to use the computer for work and when for fun. As you can see in the scheme above, the 14" monitor is always connected to the 2nd output of the graphic card. (Although you don't need to have this monitor turned on if you are working at your computer's table). All the wires in this assembly were bought full finished and they are not too difficult to find. 12.- OTHER ELEMENTS I have talked to you about the furniture, the seat, the pedals... These are the most important elements in my cockpit. You can see other less important elements in the photos. For example: I put a little stand under the 21" monitor to raise it to the exact level I wanted. It is built with 16 mm conglomerated wood painted in black. You can do this in a more simple way by putting bricks, wood blocks or any other hard thing below the monitor. I recommend that you wait for the last moment to build this stand, because the height will depend on the appearence of both monitors from your pilot's point of view. You can see a blue bulb behind the 21" monitor in the photos. It projects a blue light in the ceiling, creating a certain "sky effect". The little box besides the yoke and the keyboard is used for connections, microphone and speakers (or headphones) plugs, and a potentiometer to regulate a little lamp over the cockpit, so that I can reduce the ambient light level when I am, for example, flying at night. I have some free space in it, so I hope to include here other improvements in the future. The speakers are quite simple and they are mounted beside the 14" monitor. The tray where the yoke is fixed is a wooden piece that I found in a hardware store, cut with the exact size and shape that I was looking for. It is part of a pre-fabricated system to easily build your own shelves. Side view of the tray with the yoke, keyboard and little box for plugs. You can free the tray by pulling the trigger. I invented a system that fixes the tray in the up position to facilitate getting into the cockpit: When you are seated, you pull the trigger and the tray goes down. (I understand this is the less realistic part in my cockpit, but it is not very important, because you use it when you haven't started). You can also see two black wooden blocks under the seat. I have put them to raise the seat 7 cm. You may or may not have to put something like this, depending on your seat size and profile. 13.- THE BUDGET These are the approximate prices I paid for each component in the cockpit. I give you this information only to facilitate your decision making. If you do not want to spend all the money at the beginning, you can build your cockpit little by little: Start with the furniture, a cheap joystick, the dual-head graphic card, your actual monitor in the main position and a second hand 14" or 15" monitor in the secondary position. Later, you can buy the Fresnel lens, the pedals, the yoke, a bigger monitor and so on... For this reason, I recommend you not to buy all the material at the beginning. It's better to buy those materials that you need at the appropiate moment. Good luck and come on! The reward is worth the effort! Aproximate prices (Ask your dealer in each case) Concept US$ € pta £ Wooden sheets, fitted carpet, screws, drill-bits, hinges, alluminum bars, glue, paint and other hardware store material. 130 138 23.000 86 Car seat, including laundry (1) 40 47 7.800 30 Fresnel lens 150 159 26.500 100 Transportation (Bristol to Valencia) 30 34 5.700 20 Graphic card 130 144 24.000 90 14" monitor (1) 100 120 20.000 75 21" monitor (1) 290 250 42.000 400 Keyboard + mouse 20 24 4.000 15 Switch box + wires 40 42 7.000 26 Yoke 150 156 26.000 100 Pedals (2) 150 156 26.000 100 Notes: (1) Second hand. (2) As you have read above, my pedals are home-built, but I put here the price of typical, fully finished pedals. You can send me any comment, suggestion or criticism. frangarcia.matradi@ono.com -
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How To Build Your Own Cockpit by Kev Saker INTRODUCTION I think you will agree that the flight sim world is moving forward at an incredible pace. It is now possible to build a flight simulator that would compete with many professional systems in use today. There is a firm in the UK that can supply a full motion platform and a visual system to match. This linked to say six networked machines would provide the ultimate flight sim experience. Needless to say this will cost a lot of cash. I believe that most people find it hard to keep one system up to date with the latest graphics cards, chips, etc. So, I would like to show in this short article that it is possible with nothing more than time, enthusiasm, and a little cash to build a realistic and capable flight simulator based on a single P.C. system. Also, this same P.C. will still be available for other tasks such as e-mail, games etc. I will try to describe how I built my sim and what it is capable of doing. My simulator is a fixed base cockpit mock-up comprising left seat, centre consul, overhead system panel, flight controls and a simple seat motion system. The sim is modelled on the Boeing 757-200 twin-jet transport. FLIGHT CONTROLS All flight controls work from two stripped down P.C. joysticks. First joystick: elevator, aileron, gear and toe brakes. Second joystick: throttle, rudder, nose wheel steering and flaps up, flaps down. Secondary flight controls, speed brakes, reverse thrust, parking brake and elevator trim all work through a simple computer interface which I will describe later. Finally, all radios, ADF, VOR 1, VOR 2, COM 1 and transponder along with all autopilot functions and engine start/stop work through the computer interface. Naturally I did not want a keyboard in the flight simulator; I wanted all the functions to be controlled from the correct switch panel etc. There are now two ways you can do this, firstly I will describe my way. My computer has two keyboards, the first for normal use, the second is used solely by the sim. All you need is a data switcher, (the type used for running two printers from one computer). This enables you to switch between normal keyboard and the flight simulator. The second keyboard is shut away in a cabinet. Over the keyboard there is a plastic plate with 102 holes drilled in it which correspond to all the keys on the keyboard. On this plate are attached small keyswitch solenoids with plastic rods that go down and rest on each key. I use approximately 35 solenoids to control all the switched functions on Microsoft Flight Sim 98. By also controlling the ctrl key and or the shift key with a solenoid you can double the number of functions controlled. Just about any type of small low voltage solenoid can be used; model railway points controllers for example are very inexpensive, The solenoids get their power from two model railway type 12volt transformers. Now we come to the interesting bit...The one thing that FS98 lacks is any systems panel simulation, generators, hydraulics, A.P.U. etc. So, if we run the power supply through the generator control panel switches to the solenoids the transformers now become the aircraft's engine driven generators. The generators will not supply power unless the switch panels are correctly set. All the solenoids can be connected up in the same way by running them through the various systems panels. This makes the simulator much more realistic as you now need to go through all the checklists to ensure every thing will work, as it should. This system is very simple and inexpensive to build, I have used it on two sims over the last few years and it has proved very reliable and could be used on any type of flight sim program. Because of the way keyboards are made the solenoids do not require any return springs etc. I have included a photo of my interface cabinet. From the bottom this shows the keyboard and the solenoid tray, above you can see the two transformers that power the solenoids and a single 12 volt transformer that powers the cockpit lights, next to that is a sound system amplifier. The top shelf has a small tape deck, which has pre-recorded verbal checklists. This is useful, for example, when you taxi out for take off. Just flick a switch on the left side panel and you will hear the relevant checklists. Finally, a transformer that powers the seat motion system and the auto throttle. The second method is now available commercially. It is called an EPIC device. This is a card that goes in a spare slot on your computer's motherboard and has terminals that you can connect all your cockpit switches to. This will cost a bit more than my system but it is a good alternative if you don't fancy trying my idea. Details can be obtained from rrelect@cris.com Tel- (301) 699-5277. VISUAL SYSTEM The visuals for my sim are provided by a 25" Fresnel lens. I have one 21" monitor with my computer on a desk next to my sim (see photo). This desktop extends along the front of the sim, so when I wish to use the simulator I flick the changeover switch for the keyboard and slide the monitor along the desktop to the Fresnel lens. The lens gives me the captain's flight instrument panel and the forward view; the only draw back of this system is that you do need a large monitor, although I made do with a 17-inch for some time. (Photo shows 17-inch monitor.) The cockpit structure is made of wood but all areas that you might touch including the floor are covered with very thin Alum sheet. All system panels are made from plasticard which can be obtained from model shops etc. All the lettering on the panels is done using Lettereset transfers. Knobs, switches and micro switches can be obtained from electronics stores etc. The flight controls are all hand made. The yoke is a piece of copper pipe bent and welded to get the shape. Pipe is good because its strong and hollow, which is useful when you come to wire up the switches (trim, mike button and autopilot cut out). The pipe is covered with car body repair filler paste, which is then sanded to shape. This takes time and it is necessary to fill and sand repeatedly until you get the shape you want. If you use this method you can model a very accurate yoke for any aircraft. The throttles and rudder pedals are made from alum sheet. All flight controls are then connected up to the potentiometers from the stripped down joysticks. Of course it is possible to use commercially available yokes and rudder pedal set-ups if you prefer. Recently I have fitted a tracker ball on the left side console next to the nose wheel steering tiller. This is used to set the altimeter QNH and adjust the rate of climb on the autopilot M.C.P. panel. If anybody has a keyboard shortcut for these two functions I would love to hear from them. RADIOS Changing radio frequency on flight sim using a keyboard can be a bit of a pain; my idea is simple and makes it much easier. Each radio panel has a standby button and a single rotary knob. To change a frequency you just press the standby button and rotate the knob to set the frequency. It works like this: the standby button, for example, on the com panel is connected to a solenoid over the C key. The rotary knob has two micro switches under the panel, one for rotate left, one for rotate right. These are connected to solenoids over the + and - keys. The beauty of this is that all the radios in flight sim use the +and - keys for changing frequency. This means you only need one solenoid for each radio. SEAT MOTION I will now try and describe how I built the seat motion system. For a long time I have wanted to build a simple motion system, in particular some form of effect that would cause the seat to vibrate and bounce around on touchdown. On the back of my seat pan there is a metal arm which has a low voltage motor driving a small flywheel with an off centre weight attached. This is all enclosed in a box. By adjusting the voltage to the motor this produces some interesting effects, a kind of a shake rattle and roll! Now, the hard bit is getting something to drive this. The answer like most things was simple: a disco sound to light unit, only not sound to light but sound to a relay which controls the motor. These units are cheap to make or you could buy them from a music store ready built. I then changed the wave file in flight sim from a screech on touchdown to a deep rumble. This sets off the motion system on touchdown, and also picks up other sounds and gives the odd twitch of movement which adds to the effect. For example, when you raise or lower the gear, select reverse thrust or crash all produce different effects. I believe you can get thunder sounds on some programs this will produce a turbulence effect too. I have recently fitted a simple autothrottle to the sim. When this is engaged if you pull the stick back the throttles will advance, when you push forward they will return to idle, also a simple EPR setting for reduced thrust takeoffs. WHAT IT COSTS People have asked me how much I have spent on the project. It is difficult to say but not including the computer approx. £500 would about cover it. My first simulator was based on an F4 Phantom. This was built in the same way as above, however I included a small air compressor which, when you heaved back on the stick would inflate a G-suit I obtained from a surplus stall at an air show. I have included two photos of the F-4. That about covers it for the moment. If I can help in any way with your simulator don't hesitate to contact me. If you have built a sim I would like to hear from you, it would be good if we can pool all ideas. Any questions or suggestions please contact me at kevin.saker@virgin.net The Fresnel lens can be obtained from "R.C. Simulations" http://www.rcsimulations.com or e-mail Mary@rcsimulations.com I would dearly like to get a copy of a flight manual or extracts from one for the Boeing 757-200, if you can help please contact me. Finally, I would just like to say thanks to FlightSim.Com for allowing me to share my ideas with you. Bye for now, Kev Saker Southport, U.K. -
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