Paint and Layout Planning

I have finally had some time to do just a little more work on my simpit.  I gave the whole basic ugly mdf panel setup a good coat of a neutral grey acrylic paint.  What a difference that makes!

The general cockpit color scheme will pretty much be grey with black panels....... mainly chosen to allow me to integrate some "basic black" Goflight instrument panels into the setup and not have them stand out like a sore thumb.

In photo #1 you can see the main panel, the glareshield, the sidestick area, and the center pedestal with a basic coat of grey paint.  The leg well area has been painted flat black.  This area will eventually get a rear panel to cover the wall behind it, and a center support that sits between the rudder pedals.  The floor will get carpeted or have a ribbed plastic matting on it.

In order to check the positioning of the various screw-on control panels that will be constructed for this "generic" large jet sim, I have used a bunch of paper printouts of the various panels and gauges that I am planning to use.  I run these off the computer.... from real panel photos or from designs I am making....... and then check the sizing, fit, and my ability to reach the control switches/buttons from being seated in the cockpit.


Photo #1  Painted Main Panel Components





In photo #2 below you can see the paper cutouts rearranged a bit from the way they were in photo #1 above.  In photo #1 you can see an enlarged-to-scale photo of a real PFD/ND control panel taken from an AirlinersNet photo.  Then in photo #2 you can see the same panel idea.......but redesigned to match the available control functions in the FreeFD glass cockpit PFD and NAV displays and the capabilities of the Hagstrom keyboard encoders.  The large white circles and squares on the panels are the eventual locations of switches and buttons to be mounted.

Eventually I will try setting these various panels up as being backlit.... by using a facing of black vinyl (done by company called FastSigns from my panel pdf files....... about $8 per panel....ouch!) with the lettering itself being cut out (negative or reversed).  This black vinyl laminate will then get put over white acrylic plastic panels, and then white leds will be mounted behind the panel with a dimmer circuit.  

THAT will have to wait til generation #2 of this thing  .

If you look closely, off to the far right on photo #2 (the 6th "panel" from the left) you can see an actual fabricated simulation panel .......minus all the switches and leds and such being "test fit" into place.

To the left of that panel is a paper mockup of a Goflight Autopilot module.  This unit will sort of be the "kingpin" of the glareshield control units.  The Goflight stuff is pretty nice for solving the more complex components like the autopilot and the radio stack.

Below the glareshield you can see the basic "test" locations for the PFD and the ND displays that will be realized by using the "glass cockpit" concept using FreeFD software (which is as it's name  suggests....."free".).  There will be monitors located behind the flat main panel facing that will simulate actual control displays.  There will be other gauges located here as well as some switches and other such stuff.


Photo #2  Paper Templates for Positioning





In photo #3 you can see the actual fabricated small status indicator panel (1/8" mds whiteboard with paper laminate) that will show the current configuration of the spoilers and the reversers.  I used surplus (1$ each) small panel mount led units with dropping resistors that will be powered from the 12V DC bus and controled from a second set of poles (DPDT) on the switches that activate the spoilers and reversers.


Photo #3  Small LED Indicator Panel





So.......... hope this serves as more fuel for your own ideas.  Someone else get going on a simpit and get some photos of your efforts up here too  .

best,

...................john


PS:  I have put a new message in each of the older threads on my simpit construction project so far so that they will be near the top again.

John

Looking good , what sort of Sim flying do you enjoy/want to use it for ?
Currently I am using the excellent VFR for England and so have been tempted down the low and slow route.
On one flight I was at 1000ft and was half way between LandsEnd and the Iseles of Scilly and it was kind of spooky not seeing any land and hoping the heading I guessed from a road map was right !
regards paul

EFIS Panel with Hardware Assembled


I have been working on some of the panels that will be installed in the cockpit for quite a while.  A lot of planning is necessary to figure out "what and how".  Not only layout.... but what type of switches will be used and what they will connect to.  And the routing to the multiple computers used in the "glass cockpit" setup.

I will be using FreeFD Glass Cockpit gauges for the main flight controls.  So I had to look carefully at the functions that software supported and plan things  accordingly.  Then I looked at many images of real EFIS panels form numerous types of aircraft.  Then I designed the panel layout that gives me the controls for FreeFD and also looks a lot like a "real" one.  Some realism had to be sacrificed....cause certain display issues will not be possible for me unless I get an EPIC card ($$$$$).

The EFIS panel material is 1/8" mdf whiteboard from Home Depot.  Cheap stuff.  It cuts and sands easily and the outer face is smooth for painting.

I then printed out the panel design I came up with off my laser printer.  This "panel" was cut out and applied to the already painted surface of the whiteboard "panel" with a material called "ModPauge"....which is used for decopauge....applying paper and fabric to various objects.  It works great, and protects the outer surface too.  It is an acrylic polymer material.  I used the matte version.

Once the Modpauge is fully dry (it's been weeks since I put the paper facing on) the panel is then punched for accurate drilling (see Photo #1).

Photo #1




Looking at Photo #2, I am supporting the panel well so that it does not crack, and the punched holes are carefully drilled one by one to accept the switches.  The ragged edges it leaves are cleaned up with a fine round file.

Photo #2





In Photos #3 and #4, you can see the front of the assembled EFIS panel that will be mounted on the glareshield almost directly in front of the pilot.  Mainly it will control all the functions of the ND display.  At this point this lettering is not backlit (see notes on this in the thread above).

Photo #3




Photo #4





IN Photo #5 below, you can see the rear of the EFIS panel.  The hard part is still to come........ getting all the wiring straight.

Photo #5





EDIT:  It is going to take 31 discrete inputs on a 72 input Hagstrom keyboard encoder card to interface this EFIS panel to the ND computer....almost half the card's capacity.   


More to come as it happens.


best,

...................john

Construction of Pilot Seat Support Base

I constructed the wooden support base for the pilot's seat today.  This was designed to set my viewpoint so that I can see "out the windscreen" at the correct level.  It is also designed to alter the "tilt" that was constructed into the seat frame for the Ford Aerostar.  I find the corrected angle much more comfortable for flight sim work.

Photo #1



As you can see above in Photo #1, like in all of the other wooden modules for this cockpit the fabrication is "screwed and glued".  In this case however the main structural elements are 2" x 4" stud wood.  This is because this will bear the weight of the pilot and will occasionally have the forces of leaning around in the seat to contend with.


Photo #2



Photo #3




In photos #2 and #3 above, you can see that the wood structural framing is then covered with "cosmetic" mdf (medium density fiberboard).....with 1/4" thickness being used for the sides, and 1/2" being used for the top surface.  These sheets too are "screwed and glued" onto the 2x4's.



Photo #4



In photo #4 above you can see the basically completed "box" unit.   The seat from the Ford Aerostar will be securely lag bolted onto the top surface of this "box".  The box itself will then be mounted onto a set of "sliders" mounted on the floor of the "aircraft" that will allow a long travel of forward and back movement ............. so that getting into the pilot's seat with the yoke assembly coming up from the floor will be possible.



Photo #5




In photo #5 above you can see the 10"  60 Watt RMS woofer speaker that is mounted in the base (on clearance sale at Radio Shack right now....$20).  This speaker will be used with a low freq crossover network and power amplifier to induce some vibration into the floor of the seat.... in order to "up the realism" a bit.  There will likely be other electromechanical vibration units mounted in this seat base too to simulate the "thunk" of the gear deploying and retracting....and so on.



Photo #6




Photo #6 above shows the "box" unit being "test fit" before drilling the holes for the seat mounting.  Next it gets a coat of grey paint.


Edit........3/22/04.....


Photo #7




In the last photo (#7) you can see the seat now mounted securely on the painted base pedestal.  It is VERY stable now and I can lean this way and that without it tipping.....and it is not yet securely affixed to the wood base at all.

As it turns out I think that there is enough adjustment in the normal Aerostar driver's seat adjustments so that I can just mount the wooden base in a single position and adjust the distance to the yoke as needed with that control.  That will simplify things a bit.


So..... it continues...........  watch for a "Part 4" thread coming eventually.


best,

....................john

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Guess I never did grow up   .


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I have a Radeon 9800XT... it supports two (or now three w new drivers).  My preliminry plan is a projector for the out the front windscreen, and two lcd displays for the two side windows.  Until I get that (big $)........ it'll be a 19" monitor I already own.  The monitor on top in the photos is an old used one from my daughter's old computer........ that will eventually be a glass cockpit gauge setup.


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The problem with those is that I can't use them with the simpit.  It'd block out the view of the actual pit  .

best,

..................john