Simviation Forum - My Homebuild Project

May 6^th, 2007 at 2:11am

RitterKreuz Offline
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Well... months after my original post i have finally sat down and put pen to paper not only to come up with some sort of estimated cost, but to ink in some plans for this thing!

So far here is what i managed to come up with...

since i pretty much always fly the King Air or something similar to it i decided to base my simpit on a Twin Turboprop.

another thing i wanted to do is somehow incorporate a setup for two pilots instead of just one, the downside is that this doubles my cost. Im not sure if i can always find someone to occupy the other seat so i have not really committed to this setup just yet.

my plans call for the panel to measure 36 inches in height from the ground to the top of the panel... the panel itself (if two pilot setup is used) will be 64" wide.

I have made plans for a center pedestal measuring 10 inches acrross, 20 inches tall and 10 inches wide which will house the throttle quadrant as well as the audio panel, one navcom radio, one DME and transponder from Simkits controlled by FS via USB.

I wrestled with the option of using smaller LCD screens for the panel, or springing for the hardware to have hard, tangible gauges in front of me. With the LCD screen i have a way of making a poor mans EFIS setup for the attitude and heading indicator... otherwise it will be all steam gauges if i got with the USB controlled hardware.

I have also decided to incorporate some sort of cooling for the pilot(s)... probably some eyball vents with computer fans or similar as the wind force.

for visuals im trying to decide between 2 or 4 LCD monitors, and im leaning toward two for the time being and configuring the panel so that 2 more could be added later.

Its nice to have plans down on drafting paper! finally. They look good, and it looks fairly easy to build as far as the panel work goes... once we get down to the electronics im thinking it wont be so easy... but hopefully my electrical engineer friend will be willing to assist Wink

One thing that strikes me though is how LONG TERM a project like this really is... by my estimates, it will take me somewhere along the order of 2 and a half years of work to complete this thing... and most of that work is simply acquiring the parts needed. Shocked

hopefully though i will have the continued time and finances to make this a reality and will be able to post photos of the progress as time goes by.

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Reply #1 - May 6^th, 2007 at 9:06am

JSpahn Offline
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Good luck on the project. Sounds awesome look forward to any progress you can show us

I currently have 4 12.1 inch LCD monitors from ebay specials total cost around $250, could save you quite a bit of money & fsxpand for instance, is coming out with better looking gauges.

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Reply #2 - May 6^th, 2007 at 2:08pm

RitterKreuz Offline
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hmmmmmm

thanks im also looking at a single pilot setup to save dough

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Reply #3 - May 8^th, 2007 at 11:14pm

beaky Offline
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Advice: computer case fans will not work with a ducted eyeball vent. Maybe right behind it, if you have room. I didn't. Yes, I tried it. Grin

If you haven't looked at my simpit thread, you should look at the pics of my ventilation system: the fit and finish leave a lot to be desired, but it works, and the fan was free. Well, I paid $15 for it about three years ago... Grin

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1167777545

Also, dig this really fine Baron simpit project:

http://home.exetel.com.au/flightsim/photo_gallery.htm

And this one:

http://www.baron58.com/Picture_overview.htm

The King Air 'pits I have seen use actual King Air fuselage parts... see this page for links to those and many others.

http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/simpit_links.htm

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Reply #4 - May 9^th, 2007 at 7:45am

JSpahn Offline
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Give a blower a shot:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/CF-270/220/12_VDC_97_MM_CENTRIFUGAL_B...

May need one with a bit more power but you could hook this one up to a pc power supply

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Reply #5 - May 9^th, 2007 at 8:07am

JBaymore Offline
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JSpahn wrote on May 9^th, 2007 at 7:45am:

Give a blower a shot:

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item/CF-270/220/12_VDC_97_MM_CENTRIFUGAL_B...

May need one with a bit more power but you could hook this one up to a pc power supply

Here is a picture from an older thread in the development of my pit:

Does not produce "wind"........ but works OK.

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 - May 10^th, 2007 at 7:08am

JSpahn Offline
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That hammer has seen better days!

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Reply #7 - May 10^th, 2007 at 9:20am

tunatuk Offline
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The older a tool is, the better it knows how to do its job

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Reply #8 - May 10^th, 2007 at 9:33am

JBaymore Offline
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tunatuk wrote on May 10^th, 2007 at 9:20am:

The older a tool is, the better it knows how to do its job

I jsut have to say...... "nail that" and it just immediately gets up and does it. 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 #9 - May 10^th, 2007 at 6:40pm

JSpahn Offline
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Nice!

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Reply #10 - May 27^th, 2007 at 3:24pm

RitterKreuz Offline
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great advice guys thanks a lot... new ideas brewing already.

now what is the best material to use to actually make the panel?

i was considering plywood but that stuff is very heavy depending on thickness... what about some sort of painted particle board? ideas?

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Reply #11 - May 27^th, 2007 at 5:15pm

SilverFox441 Offline
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Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

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Most folks are using MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) for construction these days, cheaper than ply and a finer "grain" than particle board... much easier to work with than either material for most uses.

If you've been following John's build he has used MDF for almost the entire pit, some corner reinforcements made from wood sticks are about the only non-MDF pieces involved.

Steve (Silver Fox) Daly

&&

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Reply #12 - May 27^th, 2007 at 6:22pm

JSpahn Offline
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Also MDF paints up really nice. Personally Im planning on tons of MDF and plexi glass for some of the panels!

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