Simviation Forum - Cockpit Construction Continued (Part 17)

May 16^th, 2005 at 6:42pm

JBaymore Offline
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Control Panels Mounted Onto Overhead

I have started to "populate" the overhead panel frame rails with the various control panels which will reside there. This is a long slow process, as each individual panel is assembled and then mounted. The documentation of how the individual panels are made is in another much earlier thread in this absurdly l...o...n...g series......... so I won't repeat it here.

Unfortunately my digital camera seems to have just "given up the ghost"........ and the auto focus function seems to have completely died on me. So these photos are quite blurry. My apologies. I'll get better shotts here ASAP. But you can get the general idea of how it is looking right now.

The closer it gets...... the further it seems away Wink

.

Photo #1

The extreme right side rail contains the following panels (

from top to bottom

) fuses, main simulation 110VAC power, ground power / APU controls, battery / metering, electrical with warning annunciators, avionics fans, then open space .....panel content is pending here.

The middle rail contains the following panels (

from top to bottom

) fuses, fire protection, flight data recorder / ELT, engine start, an open space that will be the bleed air / packs, high pressure pumps / valves.

The extreme left side rail contains the following panels (

from top to bottom

) fuses, oxygen, hydraulics, fuel, cockpit voice recorder, and then open space that will get ice protect and windshield controls.

Photo #2

Photo #3

The exact arrangement of "what goes where" is subject to some revision as I get it all up there. I already know that I am very tight on "real estate" up there due to simpit size design constraints...... so some stuff may have to be left out. One of the first things to "go" will be some of the circuit breaker panels.... since about 50 percent of the units will just be eye candy anyway.

So.... continuing slowly along.............

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 #1 - May 17^th, 2005 at 2:26am

SilverFox441 Offline
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Now What?
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

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Sweet!

Are the blue coloured "steam guages" functional or decorative?

I'm guessing decorative...but you've been pretty good at surprising me so far.

Steve (Silver Fox) Daly

&&

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Reply #2 - May 17^th, 2005 at 12:48pm

JBaymore Offline
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Steve,

Of course they are fully functional!

Yeah ... right. At the moment they are "eye candy". All will be backlit with a LED. Some will always be just eye candy ........... since, for example, the sim does not keep track of any vairiable that measures / monitors the oxygen storage pressure/volume.

The four wing fuel tank gauges might someday get driven by servos...... but I'd have to hit the lottery first. Ditto for the hydraulic accumulator pressures. Might go digital up there for them with a Phidget TextLED display.... don't know. I will have that info on the "glass" portion of the cockpit anyway.

The cockpit voice recorder VU indicator might someday be part of a real "junker" mini tapedeck that will hook up to it. No real "need"....... just for fun.

There is one analog meter that IS fully functional.... it is on the right side and is in the "metering" panel. It is switch selectable and will show the voltage on the various busses that will power the pit (post fusing). I will have 3V, 5V, 9V, and 12V all powering various things. The stock 0-15V DC panel meter was modified by adding a grain of wheat 12V light to illuminate it.

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 - May 17^th, 2005 at 12:50pm

Hype Ex Member

I assume you'll be opening this sucker up for tours to those of us who live in the northeast once it's done? lol

You're my hero!

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Reply #4 - May 17^th, 2005 at 12:55pm

Fly2e Offline
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KFRG

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AMAZING

Shocked

Intel Core i7 Extreme Processor 965, 4.2GHz/8MB L3 Cache, Asus P6T Deluxe V2 Intel X58 Chipset Cross
Fire & SLI Supported, Mushkin Redline 6GB (3X2GB) Memory, eVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285, Vista 64.

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Reply #5 - May 17^th, 2005 at 2:39pm

_82nd_Spitfire Offline
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82nd VNS
Wales, UK

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hey, really nice job your doing.
One question though,

How much is it Costing you to build that ???

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Reply #6 - May 23^rd, 2005 at 10:21am

JBaymore Offline
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First of all....... sorry for the fuzzy pictures. Digital camera is still not working right.

One of the things I decided very early on in this project was that in an enclosed wooden box full of plastic cases and electronics...... I wanted some sort of fire detection that was REAL.

I also want some sort of fire supression system..... but that comes a bit later.

The fire detection part of the "real world" cockpit system involves two mini home smoke detectors that get "canabalized" a little bit. One will be mounted inside the top of the main instrument panel in the "path" of the ventialtion air flow for the entire panel. The other will be mounted at the top of the overall simpit enclosure "box".

The 9V battery supply has been completely removed from the smoke detector and wire leads are soldered in place to be fed by a 110V AC powered 9V DC supply. This power supply will be on the "hot battery buss"...... it will never be off.

The power supply for these two units has indicator leds on the "Fire Detect" panel on the overhead. So even when the "plane" is sitting at the gate overnight awaiting it's next flight...... those leds will be glowing and the fire detection systems will be "on".

The smoke detector's "test" switches have also been removed and another pair of wire leads has been soldered in place. These leads are connected to a center off DPDT momentary toggle switch which is also located on the overhead "Fire Detect" panel. Flipping the switch to each fire detect circuit sounds the smoke detector's internal alarm (if they are working correctly).

I did not add an "alarm silence" switch to these......... I want them to scream loud and clear if there is a real fire. Wink

Althougfh both that and also a "battery backup with trickle charge" might come later.

Another real necessity in a simpit is dealing with all the heat generated by the CRT monitors (unless you can afford LCD displays) as well as the computers, cockpit lights and indicators, and other stuff.

So REAL "avionics" colling fans are a kinda' a must have item too. In my case, there will be five sets of fans (a couple "paired") in strategic locations. There will be three located in the MIP, two in the center pedestal, one in the glareshield, one on the overhead and two near the LCD projector. The sizes and types of fans / blowers will be different in different locations to meet specific needs.

In the MIP I am using standard computer case ventilation muffin fans. The fans mainly pull air IN.... and the outward venting is through passive ports in the structure which mainly direct the heat upward toward the top of the enclosure to exit out the open top area (3" gap to the room's ceiling).

The fans are connected to a panel of five separate lighted rocker switches which are located on the overhead panel in the "electrical" portion of the panels. When the fans are "on" the lights will be "on" too.

Here are the switches that control the above items on the overhead panel:

SO.... there you have a little more work done on this behemoth. It is a slow business...... about like building an airplane from a kit.

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 #7 - May 23^rd, 2005 at 10:59am

JBaymore Offline
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Quote:

hey, really nice job your doing. One question though, How much is it Costing you to build that ???

82nd_Spitfire,

Thanks for the kind words.

As to the cost.............

Well..... costs are probably more than I would really LIKE to spend on it........ but quite a bit less than it might appear. Probably on a "per year" basis, it is no more expensive than other hobbies that people pursue. Remember here that you are looking at about 3 years of work so far.

First of all I don't really count in the "cost" of the main flight sim computer nor the joystick/yoke/pedals and so on. I would have those even if I weren't a demented, sick addict. Grin

That is sort of a "base line" cost of flight simming.

One of the best tactics to keep costs down .... it to NOT try to duplicate a real aircraft. The minute you make that decision...... you have saved yourself a BUNDLE on the project. Duplicating real panels and knobs and switches and so on kinda' places you in the realm of the "money to burn" set Wink

. Some people are spending about what it would cost to buy a REAL Cessna to build some of the really "slick" heavy jetliner simpits. Hey... if ya' got it... go for it!

Some stuff that sounds expensive in my pit is not. For example, this simpit will use an additional four computers beyond the "main" sim machine to run it. Sounds awful, doesn't it? But every one of those machines is a "junker"...... old used unit that is free. The external cockpit display gauges are no where NEAR as demanding on the hardware as the sim itself. I think I had to buy a NIC card for two of them...... about a $20 cost there.

But some stuff that seems like it should be cheap... is NOT. For example, the toggle switch guards for certain switches I just cannot find anywhere cheaply. So every one of them costs about $5 to $7. Luckily I don't need too many of those.... and I will limit myslef on using them too. Another "expensive" item is the little annunciator lights from Flight Deck Solutions. They are $3 a piece. They add up fast because there are a lot of them. But they add a really beautiful sense of realism....I will "splurge" on these.

Another example of appearances being deceiving is the overhead panel. There is not a scrap of aluminum in there. All the individual panels are painted MDF wood. The wood for ALL the panel facings for the whole overhead cost about $5. I'd have to check for the exact amounts, but ALL of the wood for the whole pit including the full enclosure probably cost me about $300.

It REALLY helps to be a "scrounger".

Amassing the parts over a long period of time allows you to snag stuff cheap or for free. You also have to be looking for the deals. I frequent EBay for aircraft parts....and only buy really cheap ones. I have a computer surplus place about 1/2 hour from my house that has GREAT deals. Want a 15" monitor capable of 1024 x 768 resolution for a glass display in your MIP and don't have one? It'll cost you $5 there. A brand new VGA data switch I just picked up to allow me to have switchable ND/EICAS monitors in the MIP just cost me a whopping $6 there.

Another electronics surplus place near me sells surplus switches of all sorts....... average about $1 a piece. They also have tons of other stuff. So 100 switches in the overhead from there costs about $100. 100 switches is enough to keep most people happy Grin

. (You just have to keep going there periodically to see what stuff they have this week Wink

.

Probably the most expensive stuff in the pit are the various Goflight modules. And they are worth every penny for the ease of installation and the functionality they bring to the pit.

So.......... NO... it is not "cheap". But it is also not "expensive" either. It certainly is not something to undertake if you are already having trouble making ends meet...... but it is not strictly the domain of the terribly affluent.

If it was.... I wouldn't be doing it.

best,

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

PS: Now if you want to count the VALUE OF THE LABOR HOURS. PRICELESS!

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 #8 - May 27^th, 2005 at 11:48pm

beaky Offline
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Newark, NJ USA

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You are totally out of control. I salute you.
Very nice, even with the blurry pictures!

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Reply #9 - May 29^th, 2005 at 12:54am

JBaymore Offline
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rottydaddy,

I'll take that as a compliment! Thanks. Grin

Yes... I am one sick puppy. 8)

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 #10 - May 29^th, 2005 at 12:55am

JBaymore Offline
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And... now on to Part 18

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 #11 - Jun 1^st, 2005 at 4:03pm

flyboy 28 Offline
Colonel
Jacksonville, FL

Posts: 13323

*cries softly to self*

Amazing John. A beer to you.

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Reply #12 - Jun 4^th, 2005 at 1:39pm

JBaymore Offline
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hombuilt cockpit!

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Hustler,

I'll take a nice Japanese Kirin, thanks. Wink

And thanks for the kind words.

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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