Here's progress of mine being done.



















Jay

Will all that stuff function? I seriously respect all you people who make all that fully functioning stuff, too time consuming for me, maybe a WWII plane, but an F-16? Lots of lights to make and switches and stuff, no thanks, thats not a weekend project lol

Yeah, the completely realistic builds really impress the hell out of me.

WOW

I am impressed a medal construction. Very Nice
I wish that I had the tools to do a metal one.

Yes, everything will fully function. That HOTAS, as well as 98% of the items in this pit are from an actual F-16. They are real parts. ALL of which will fully function within the capabilities of the flight software. Most of which I have already tested on the bench and have shown to fully work. I actually hooked up the HOTAS to another guys pit a few years ago and we flew sample runs during a museum big to do. It worked great...needed a bit of tweaking, but worked really well. Even had a viper driver fly it and he was amazed how accurate the feel was.

Hardware wise, interfacing is really quite easy. I use the Beta Innovations Gamma Ray for inputs and the Electron Flux for outputs. All my round instruments are fully functional. I will have a fuel flow, altimeter and compass functional very shortly. The two instrments that might propose a challenge are the ADI and the HSI. Those will be tricky, but I do believe they are doable. I have the magnetic type switches funtional, solenoids and inductive loads functional. Everything will work. I even figured out a way to implement the oxygen system and g-suit cueing.

Yes, not a project that happens in a weekend. I've spent 7 years in planning and that last year building. All the electronics have been tested, it's just a matter of me wiring them up.

Jay

I actually used Jason Englishs plans from viperpit.org. He spent, probably, around 1500 hours cadding out the pit. He did a special version for me so I could use metal. I had all the parts cut on a flow jet. The aux, center and right side panels are real items. The left console I got from Martin Schmitt in Germany. Excellent work he did.

There are some angle brackets that are welded in place using a TIG welder. Otherwise, everything else is riveted together.

Jay

Very nice work!!!
It's cool to see clecos instead of c-clamps, for a change. It's one of the few metal hull constructions out there....
Other than Gene's F-15 re-build of course. (Although, he seems to be more of a CE than an AE, lately. )

Very professional and realistic but expensive. With rising metal costs, you must have deep pockets, or the patience of a saint!!!
I (unfortunately) have neither. I would love to skin my helo pit in metal but short of selling one of my grand-kids, on the black market, that's not gonna happen. Also, I'm probably 4 years into my build and the frustration of incompletion is already driving me friggin' crazy!!!

So.... you have my respect, on several different levels.
Thanks for sharing! Keep us posted.

Thanks for the kind words. That you see there represents years of planning and waiting. I, with you, am tired of not having the thing done. It's this year or bust for me.

Jay

Just got my new stick and have it up and working

Hello

Very nice stick, Steven.


Thats my "new Steuerknüppel".

Hi
Steven190 and Boandlgramer how much were the K13 Sticks, are they both simulationscockpit.de sticks?

I got mine from Tarmac

A very nice unit and the support has been good

Cool, is that the one that doesn't self center?
How does it handle in IL2 etc?

You get use to it


It is a lot different than a desktop and is a workout

I am getting use to it and liking it very much


I kinda miss the force feedback from my MSFFB2, wondering if it could be incorportated in this stick, something maybe like an eddy dampener, or dics coils.

Maybe something to look into.

Like Steven said.

It´s a differnt flying with such an "Steuerknüppel".
The arm is needed to move the stick, not just the hand .
It´a great feeling.

And no, i have my Stick not from "Tarmac Aces".

I just finished the ventilation system and thought it was time for some new pics.

I found a couple of aircraft vents mis-listed on eBay, for cheap. I replaced the gaskets and felt washers (which were rotted), cleaned up the inner iris ring, and re-painted them.
Then, riveted them to a couple of steel plates and mounted them to the front of the pit's frame.

The fan is a 10" AC fan in a MDF enclosure, with PVC fittings and 2" hose running back to the vents.
The whole thing sits underneath the monitor deck, on the front electronics cabinet.



SIDE VIEW


FRONT VIEW


CLOSE-UP


ORIGINAL VENTS

I spy a REAL FLCS (both stick and throttle)!!!!!!

Nice


The rest of the pit looks great too.

Question though - where'd you go about obtaining those two sacred pieces? I would love to get my hands on one of those transducers they use for the microstick to umm... place inside my Cougar throttle.

Heck, the whole assembly would be nice.

Latest addition:

I love finding little gems like that on ebay that are mis-listed. Makes you feel like finding a Rembrandt at an Estate auction hidden under the Velvet Elvis.

Jay

Good eye. Yes, they are both real and both work...well, not in the present form, but they have been tested.

The transducer for the microstick is a nice little piece. With the help of Mike Powell, I got that working and interfaced to the cougar electronics as well. All the HOTAS will run off the cougar "guts".

As for where I got them...well, timing is everything and I happen to be at the right place at the right time next to the right person. They are hard to find and once in a blue moon they show up on ebay. The throttle arm I got off ebay and the rest was obtained from someone selling their extensive collection.

Jay