Fuel Management Overhead Panel

Tonight I got to working on another one of the overhead panels.  The basic functions of the panel are modeled after the fuel system on the BAe 146-200........ loosely.

This panel is one of the more complex of the bunch I've done so far.  The LED indicators will be powered via local 12 VDC from the simpit main avionics buss.  It will have some in-sim functions that are controlled via the main flight sim computer with the Hagstrom KE-72 connected to that machine.   Other switch functions in the sim will hook to the Phidgets 8/8/8 interface that is bundled with the TextLCD unit which is on machine #2 on the network.  And the Annunciator lights (not done yet) will be lit by a Phidgets LED64 card also on machine #2.  


Below is the rear of the panel as I get started routing and soldering the wires onto the switches and indicator LEDs.




In this shot below you can see the light housings that I have constructed for the "steam gauges" that are at the top of the panel.  These round gauges are really "eye candy" since they do not actually move.  But they are set up as indicators of active fuel pumps on each engine....... when the pumps are on, the backlighting will come on.  In another location on the overhead I have a digital readout of the levels in the tanks on the Phidgets TextLCD display.

The backings for the gauges here are PVC pipe caps, drilled to hold a 1100 mfd white LED in the center.  The LED has had the tip end filed flat and then the whole thing "frosted" with 220 grit silicon carbide paper to give a more even light dispersion in the space.  The LED's have a 1K Ohm resistor soldered in the circuit to control the current.




Below you can see one of the "lights" powered up to test the function.  It gives a nice even light with the "frosted" LED inside the white pipe cap.




Here is the back of the panel almost completed.  Looks like a plate of spaggetti, doesn't it?    The blue Cat 5 cable connects to the Hagstrom KE-72.  The straight wires heading to the top of the image will connect to the Phidgets 8/8/8 which is located directly above this panel on the overhead.  The screw connector on the left is the main 12 VDC connection from the avionics buss.




And below is the panel with power applied to test the connections.  Looks good.  Engine pump #3 is not switched on so you can see the difference between the lit steam gauges and the unlit ones.




So......... next is to re-mount it onto the overhead and then start programming the functions.  Then once the Annunciators arrive....... mount and wire them.

More as it happens.

best,

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

PS:  Still having problems with my digital camera in close pictures... sorry.

Steve,

No plans to make them active at the moment...... but you never know  .


best,

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

So when do you sell this to BAe, John?

Quote:


Jake,

Rob banks.    No....seriously.........

I am a professional ceramic artist and adjunct professor of ceramics.  I am a rather late career artist at this point (read that as old).... and through years and years of persistence and determination have finally reached a point of some measure of "success".  

My clay work is in collections public and private, is in art museums in Japan, and published in a number of books and magazines.  In the ceramic art world, my name is known pretty well.  You can go here to see a bit of my work:

http://www.ceramicstoday.com/potw/John_Baymore.htm

In fact, I recently got mentioned (unknown to me beforehand) in a HISTORY book done by Yale University Press called "A Dictionary of New England".  So I guess I am now officially "history".  Now I really feel old!   8)

I am by NO means affluent.....few living artists are.  And the cockpit, ........ while certainly better called a "money pit"....... has not cost me all that much.  

I am a good scrounger.  All of the computers except the main FS machine are freebies.  ALLof the wood, screws, and glue for the whole frame and panels and such cost no more than $300.  Most of the switches are from a local surplus electronics place at no more than $1 each.  Most of the wire is surplus stuff too.  And so on.  It is amazing what some craftsmanship and a coat of the right paint can do  .  

The most expensive single component is the Goflight MCP.  

I look at people who buy payware afer payware after payware plane and scenery.  That adds up fast too.  I don't do that.  My "payware" is a single physical plane.....my pit.   This also is my main and only real "hobby".  So I am not spending disposable income on a lot of other stuff like fancy cars, windsurfing gear, Adidas high top sneakers, and so on.

I carry a General Class ham radio licence...... KA1HLI.... and have for many many years. So some of the electrronics knowledge comes from that background.  Plus I am a craftsman....and that kind of eye-hand coordination carries over into design and fabrication of most anything.

I too am a tad envious of the guys that can afford to go out and buy exact A320 replica backlit panels, throttle quadrants from old 747s, the noses out of real Embraer aircraft, and use six LCD projectors to set up the outside displays in the HUGE dedicated sim room.  Some of those sims cost as much as a used Cessna.  

But I am REALLY happy with what I have accomplished so far.  It is fun to fly in it.  And the total cost is NOT all that high when you consider that it has been my entiire "hobby" budget for about four years now.  

I get lots of "bang for the buck" out of it.


best,

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

You are my inspiration, J... glad to see you're still plugging away at this amazing project.
Are you doing all this without a Dremel tool? I bought my first one a few months ago and it changed my life...

I'm almost ready to start mine, but other than finishing my projector, I'm still a bit hung up on the design, because I'm trying to make my pit as generic as possible, yet still be workable with a variety of different models. Then there's the expandibility factor: I don't want to have to start over to add active mechanical gauges, etc. later on (I really want to go with the VC gauges at first, because for me, the look of each plane's VC is what really gives me the immersion I'm looking for; we'll see, though, if the image quality makes that workable. I guess that's why i want to make the projector first).
I might post some design sketches soon, to see what you guys think... it's going to be a little different from what I've seen out there so far.

Wow john, not only are you good at building cockpits and flying, but you are one hell of an artist!

see, instead of spending an arm, a leg, and your first born to get an exact replica of a cockpit, i find it more satisifying to build your own, so you can tweak any little thgins you want or dont want

Cant wait to see the latest!

Ramos