Simviation Forum - Cockpit Construction Continued (Part 5)

Apr 4^th, 2004 at 6:48pm

JBaymore Offline
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Renamed this topic to fit the ongoing updates format of the CCC (Part x) stuff that I started

Custom Instrument Panels

As I am laying out the "generic" simpit I'm building..... I have found that I can custom make the various panels for many of the flight controls.... since I am not "tied" to re-creating an exact duplicate of some real aircraft. So that opens up many possibilities.

I do want to stay pretty close to existing aircraft panels and layouts..... so that the simpit will look pretty real. But the limitations of fs2004 and FSUIPC and the hardware I can currently afford are placing some restraints on the design.

By the same token, I feel that occasionally I can improve a tiny bit on the layout of a particular panel that I have seen in a real cockpit that seems to not make too much sense at times. And I can "steal" the best features that I see in many different aircraft and combine them in one panel.

As to how each of these panels are fabricated, please see the photo details in the "Cockpit Construction Continued (Part 3)" thread in this forum. In looking at the graphic layout it is important to note that there is a black background of the panel that will extend about 1/8" further around all the edges of the black mask you see.

In photo #1 below you can see the panel "mask" for my Ice Protection panel that will mount on the overhead.

The green dots will be green LED assemblies, the larger white circles are the places that toggle switches will go, the one medium white circle is a momentary pushbutton, and the two small circles on either side of the aircraft schematic are the center points for mounting four position and six position rotaries.

PHOTO #1

A number of the functions will actually work in the simulation either via direct controls in the sim itself or via FSUIPC. The LED's will light appropriately thru the use of double pole switches.

I just loved the schematic representaion of the aircraft anti-ice status I saw on one aircraft panel and combined it with ideas from some others.

In photo #2 below, you can see the flight data recorder and the emergency locator tramsmitter panel for the overhead. These are really simply cockpit "eye candy" since they wikll not have any real function in the cockpit. The LED's will light when the switches are activated....... but that is about it Wink

.

PHOTO #2

In photo #3 below is the wipers and window heat panel again for the overhead. Again it is a combination of a couple of aircraft's designs. Again much here is "eye candy", although activating the wipers will cause a sound file of wipers to play thru a speaker located in the panel structure.

In fact by using FSUIPC and some simple programming in VB6..... I can get any switch to activate any sound file I want.... so the washers and the repellent buttons may also add some sounds.

PHOTO #3

The designs are being done in a drawing program (Serif DrawPlus 7.0) and then output to either a laser printer or a color inkjet printer. Then the paper "masks" are being laminated to the mdf backings (see other thread).

So...... a bit more documentation of this project for you all to take a look at.

best,

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

« Last Edit: Apr 17^th, 2004 at 8:40pm by JBaymore »

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Reply #1 - Apr 23^rd, 2004 at 11:15am

P-40_Warhawk Offline
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This series is great! Keep these coming!

Some say my pinky toe was replaced with a fountain pen, and that I love to ride on nuclear bombs with a saddle. All I know is.... I'm called THE STIG!!!!

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Reply #2 - Apr 26^th, 2004 at 11:32pm

JBaymore Offline
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P40_Warhawk,

Thanks.

I plan on posting a lot of the stuff I am doing.

I hope others will follow this idea and share photos of their ideas. The more the merrier. Grin

best,

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

Intel i7 960 quad 3.2G LGA 1366, Asus P6X58D Premium, 750W Corsair, 6 gig 1600 DDR3, Spinpoint 1TB 7200 HD, Caviar 500G 7200 HD, GTX275 1280M, Logitec Z640, Win7 Pro 64b, CH Products yoke, pedals + throttle quad, simpit

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Reply #3 - Apr 27^th, 2004 at 11:35am

P-40_Warhawk Offline
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I will prob. copy youre design when i make my simpit. (I have no electrical expertise at all.) Can you post a general pic of how it looks with all the components that are made in place?

Some say my pinky toe was replaced with a fountain pen, and that I love to ride on nuclear bombs with a saddle. All I know is.... I'm called THE STIG!!!!

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Reply #4 - Apr 27^th, 2004 at 11:39am

P-40_Warhawk Offline
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The Stig
Savona New York

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BTW-can you put up some diagrams of wiring? (like the status panels)

Some say my pinky toe was replaced with a fountain pen, and that I love to ride on nuclear bombs with a saddle. All I know is.... I'm called THE STIG!!!!

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Reply #5 - Aug 21^st, 2004 at 2:48pm

JBaymore Offline
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Here are a couple more of the designs for the custom panels that will populate the center console pedestal in my simpit.

This panel below is mainly for the rudder trim function..... but it also houses a couple of other functions. The first image is the panel facing itself. It will get switches, led's, and rotary potentiometers for the control circuitry.

The dark grey rectangles on the left of the main panel facing are the places that a pair of curved 1/4" MDF "shields" will be mounted that project outward at a 90 degree angle from the panel facing. This is to prevent accidental mis-adjustments of this control.

The rectalinear white box above all the other stuff is for the actual rudder trim gauge readout. This space will simply be cut out to make an opening. Then a small piece of 1/8" MDF will be cut to make a "frame" around the opening with about a 1/4" wide band of material framing the opening....to make it look more like a real gauge assembly.

The second image below the panel facing is the "gauge" that will go behind the rectalinear cutout in the panel facing. It will be printed via an inkjet printer on transparent film so that light will come thru it. That's why the nice "boeing Blue" Wink

. The upper part with the numbers and labels will be mounted between the "frame" and the main panel structure like the glass in a real gauge.

The little strip of blue with the white "pointer" will be mounted behind the first image so that it is alligned to the small clear strip along the bottom of the numbers and calibrations. This will be able to slide back and forth and move the pointer along the calibration. So you'll have a little white moving pointer in the field of blue.

This thin strip will be attached to the potentiometer the way old radio tuning dials were configured.... with a string system to move them. As the rudder trim potentiometer is turned........ the string wraps or unwraps and hence moves the pointer on the dial face back and forth.

Mechanical pictures of the "tuning" stuff later in another thread.

SO...... some more stuff for ideas or copying for ya'.

best,

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

Intel i7 960 quad 3.2G LGA 1366, Asus P6X58D Premium, 750W Corsair, 6 gig 1600 DDR3, Spinpoint 1TB 7200 HD, Caviar 500G 7200 HD, GTX275 1280M, Logitec Z640, Win7 Pro 64b, CH Products yoke, pedals + throttle quad, simpit

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Reply #6 - Aug 21^st, 2004 at 8:57pm

JBaymore Offline
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Hi gang.

Here are yet some more of the instrument panel facings for the controls in my simpit.

The first one below is for the main controls for the various general cockpit lighting. All toggle switches on this one except for the "dome" one will suppy 12V dc to the various illumination lights.

The "dome" light circuit will be controlled by a 110VAC switch that will control a bright overhead florescent "working light" for use when I want really bright lights in the enclosed cockpit area.

A couple of the 12V dc circuits will drive an array of multiple led's run off a 5V variable voltage regulator circuit I am building to control the brightness with a dimmer potentiometer located elsewhere on the panels (center pedestal).

The second panel below is for the REAL cooling functions for the various cockpit electronics. Heat generation in the enclosed panels is an issue....and has to be dealt with.

I won't need to have the "fake" cooling fan noise that comes with some add-on aircraft panels in this simpit.

This panel facing will be mounted on the overhead panel and will integrate into the other "simulation" controls. Each automotive style rocker switch here will be an internally lighted 12V dc circuit that will send current to a 12V dc boxer fan located in each one of different equipment "bays". There will also be a real temperature readout display on the overhead of a couple of the more "sensitive" consoles.... like the one housing the main computers.

The last control panel facing below will be on the glareshield just to the left of the Goflight MCP and EFIS controls that you can see in the "Cockpit Construction Continued (part 7)" thread elsewhere. It will go where the "dummy" is located in the existing pictures. The functions should be self explanatory Wink

.

So...... more food for thought.

best,

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

Intel i7 960 quad 3.2G LGA 1366, Asus P6X58D Premium, 750W Corsair, 6 gig 1600 DDR3, Spinpoint 1TB 7200 HD, Caviar 500G 7200 HD, GTX275 1280M, Logitec Z640, Win7 Pro 64b, CH Products yoke, pedals + throttle quad, simpit

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