website updated, new parts added, check it out. www.splash-one-bandit.com

Steve

Nice work. The dogfitht switch and speedbrake look great. Those hats are well done. Don't think I am being fussy, but where is the china hat?

That should come in handy for those looking for custom joystick controllers, and the prices are very affordable.

You're still working on your 4 way switches, right? I would buy a few when you get it worked out. You might save me all the trouble of making - trying to make is more appropriate - my own.

Thanks Monter, yep i have china hats available, but didn't place them on the site. you think i should sell those also?? i also did the TMS switch hat. The Cougaar did those 2 hats correctly and at this stage i was thinking only folks wanting to "authenticate" their Cougar would buy the better DMS, CHAFF/FLARE and MIC hats. but if anyone is interested in a replacement China hat or TMS hat, i have those available, PM me for info.
still working on the 4 way switch. i have some crude ones done, but i'm not too happy with them, they work, but ugly. maybe another 2-4 weeks and i'll have them ready.

Thanks...Steve

Not everyone owns a Cougar, my friend!

And you know there are a lot of people customizing their controllers for use with Black Shark - what I am currently brainstorming on - as well as the fact there is no affordable market collective out there.

See how small my brain is, it only thinks in 1 dimension.

what would a good collective for black shark look like?? the only one i have any experience with is the blackhawks.

Difficult question to answer. Basically, ANY collective that worked would be a good collective.
As you know there have been quite a few people there crazy enough - and I am one that is contemplating following in their footsteps! - to invest time and money into making their custom controllers, in this case collectives, specifically. The first one that comes to mind is GrizzlyT's RAH-66 Comanche simpit, which needs no introduction anymore.
I just did a quick search on the Blackhawks' cockpit, and its collective looks worthy enough of me!
What is interesting is the implementation of different people's ideas.
In the end, there is no such thing as THE ideal collective. A lot people have come up with very sound, yet different solutions to their problems. While there are quite a number of HOTAS setups out there (which can be flown with different sims) there are yet to be any affordable and advanced collective sticks. And simmers out there have done a great job trying to find their own solutions.
Now, don't forget, no matter how much love, passion or madness one puts into such a project one still has to make sure it is compatible with future helo sims.
So, to me an authentic replica of a cockpit will not really cut it. DCS have announced they would - at a much later date - release an Apache helo, just as they announced the A-10. Can you picture yourself flying the Apache with a cockpit replica of the BS?
At best, it will be an incentive for such passionate simmers to create a new simpit.

A few examples ...

A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-5DI0Ouu08&NR=1 ('HOCAS', check this guy's collective, it can be locked into position)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0cfvmx-CZk (all metal)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9YiVcy2X74 (collective - check also this guys panels)

And of course

http://home.comcast.net/~timothyboldt/simulator.htm (Aw'sum' )

great links monster. making a universal collective grip wouldn't be a problem, but making the actual collective mechanism might be.

Yep, there sure is a lot of work involved.

Why do you think some companies charge you thousands for a rudimentary helo pit?

www.Hovercontrol.com is another very nice resource on helo add ons and SIMPITS/CONTROLLER MODS

It's a privilege to have access to these guys' work. Many have done most of the work for the more inapt guy out there, cutting R&D for the hobby simmer to a minimum.
Question now is, which implementation is the right one for me?

[EDIT] http://www.flightlink.com/hardware/rotorwing/

A rough finish of the RADAR Cursor control. Should be ready for distro in a week or 2.