WARNING......long, many pictures
OK, a two yearly!!! update for anybody interested who hasn't been following on the ww2aircraft
Vent Control added under starboard coaming, Oxygen Stopc ock added, (also added a "Cockpit Heat" control which actually controls oxygen flow height) and an undercarriage warning horn cancell switch...all functional. The wires for these are all hidden in the pipework so everything mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic or cabled appears to work like that and not by electrical toggles, pots, encoders or limit switches as they actually do.
Relasered some gauges (notably the AH) , added all the pipework (mostly from aluminium but some polyethelene and some brass), added proper gun button (thanks again Tony!!) all to tighten up on the details...
Added a couple of PRU specific items (mudflap release on starboard , Amp and OAT gauges next Landing Lamp Control)
And also some general tidy up work, fuse boxes and the start of the Mk V modifications..(fuel pump switch, Oil Dilution Pushbutton and guard)
I have a ground/air switch here but I am still trying to confirm whether they were actually on the Mk V originally or have been added to the modern restorations.
Anyway, enjoy...
Also awaiting the final work on the door mechanism (hopefully soon) so that I can build the door and finish the whole thing.
I wanted to maintain the "constantly upgraded/converted" theme and so I have left the Landing Lamp control in place, along with the Reflector sight switch and labels....but the sight is gone (impossible to see the reticle against a bright screen anyhow) whilst retaining the gunsight bulbs. Also, I added a gun camera footage unit as yet another "left behind" item. This gives the feel that a quick bit of work turns her into a fighter recon.
Now added are a fake seat adjustment handle (right of seat), Gwyn's marvellous Drop Tank Valve/Release unit, the heavey silver braided radio control (TR 1143) cable.
The lights are all now functioning...Undecarriage, Low Volts, Fuel Pressure Warning and the PRU control lights...2 on the Type 35 and 3 on the Camera Selector. (unfortunately most are too hard to see in the photo as the flash washed them out) The Type 35 has also moved forward to the more "traditional" upfront mounting.
Another real item has been received, this time a Magneto Switch pair.
Two views of the whole thing. Camera Selector Box prominant low and left.
The view "in the door"
The view from the pilot's seat:
Left wall froward from the seat.
Low on the panel, the twin "deviation" cards (with slipper tank and without) and the compass which now has a whisky compass inset ... at some stage I may hack this up to build a better representation of a P8 but lots to do first.
The Type 35 in place:
Camera Selector
The Drop Tank Control (and a good idea of as close as I could get to the seat colour)
Right, right rear and seat
Left rear, Seat and Fuse Boxes
Fake Seat adjustment handle and right wall detail.
Finally, the dual scale ASI. (and the altimeter and new Gyro laser cut) This took some serious brainwork and gearing by Gwyn but with 944 steps on the stepper motor, there was adequate room to add a second 290 degrees to give the second revolution. The gauge now functions exactly as the real thing, outside circle read the first revolution and then as you pass into the second revolution, you read the inside circle of numbers. It takes a little getting used to, particularly diving from altuitude when you are not always sure which "lap" you are on
The compass. The spider is mounted on a stepper motor and board hacked from a Flight illusion cessna compass that used to just be mounted in the main compass body. That compass was a whisky type and so the spider needed to be made to fit on top and the compass card had to be removed altogether.
The outer ring rotates to set course, the stepper turns the spider and it all works just like the original...which is NO compliment, I assure you!!!
Cockpit and new screen also the extra Navigation Panel with ADF and the "second engine" panel on the right (detachable for when just flying as the Spitfire.
A nice aquisition , the rare and, in this case still fully functional, Harness Recoil Reel. This will make the Sutton Harness fully functional and allow for the extra cockpit check on takeoff and landing.
A small detail but it all helps..the Cabin heat label now on (this encoder actually controls oxygen flow altitude/rate)
The Primer mechanism...a slide pot which will use FSUIPC to send "open", "pump" and "close" codes to the sim via FSUIPC at different points on the axis. (now ditched in favour of a magnetic proximity switch which will send a signal when pump handle is pulled out.)
The hardest job so far, really, the door latch. The latch handle and rods were made for me (swapped for some laser work) but I've finished them from the rough blanks. The latches themselves were a lathe/mill combination job,my very first!!! with the square hole of the latch guide being hand finished. The claws are made from round and square steel stock and threaded together (saving me using an independant 4 jaw chuck to turn them and mill them from a single square piece.
I'm quite happy for a first try at "fitting". Making things "mate" is not at all easy
The whole assembly so far:
The (front) claw and guide assembled... square holes are fun!! The finish is reasonable but not perfect..it does look a bit better "in person", the light of the flash does emphasise the ares that are not perfectly smooth....still, no excuses.
The claw of the rear latch..the second guide is still to be machined when I get some time.
Some very rough work on the door. This has proved to be a real challenge in that the factory drawings were inaccurate in the cockpit area so the whole sim is an inch too long. I have managed to "make" the door latch stretch but the proportions look a little off..never mind.
The real door is quite a work of art, very thin and strong and with a beautiful piano hinge base that pivots the whole thing out. It also fits snuggly into a designed recess, which was beyond me whilst using a wooden frame and plastic skin. It took me a wasted wooden blank, a small sheet of ali and about an hour to work out I was NEVER going to get it made like it really is!! So I settled on an "outside" fit of the skin, along the edge of the door "hole" in the sim and will use two or three ordinary door hinges. I wanted the door to "look" thin from the inside of the cockpit, so I made it thick enough to be strong but then made an inner skin which makes the whole thing LOOK thin when viewed from each side (and also gave me a useful cavity to hide all my dodgy joins, crossbraces and gluing!!)
I also found that to "look" square, the thing actually had to be made "out of plum" which was REALLY annoying until the outside skin went on and then it all LOOKED square...amazing and I can't explain it...just don't put a set square near it!!
So....The door itself, outside view.
And inside.
The Door latch, now attached to the top spar and complete except for fitting the aft latch claw and guide. The latch claw is made but the guide is this weekend's problem (hopefully).
The way it works..pivot point in the centre and rotates away, retracting the claw.
The door with more detail and the bottom rail and hinge fitted. Tomorrow I will paint it after finishing the last latch guide.
Why I haven't finished the last latch guide...
Not sure whether it is "completion anxiety" or attention to detail (let's call it attention to detail, eh??) but I decided today that I didn't like the nice chromed head nuts that I had used on 1/4 bolts to secure the links in the door latch...so I spent the time available designing making and installing four brass cotter pins, as per the original.
These are 20mm long, to fit 4.6mm diameter hole and the end hole for the split pin is 2mm!! Obviously I am not going to win any machining contests just yet but I am pleased with the way they came up and all four are machined pretty much identical specs.
Temp fitted....
Oh well......
I guess I will just have to admit it is "completion anxiety" after all. After a late night and, um, a single drink (or maybe two) which went to my head I couldn't face the guide today....
But I DID notice that the cupscrew that is the axle for the door latch did not look right...so I turned a faux locking cap for the axle and it came up quite well.
I did manage to break my parting tool in the process (on aluminium no more/less!!) but that was not wholey uexpected as it was never quite "right" for my lathe. I will now search for a new one.
The real thing:
And a quick start to the paint jo for the door:
Will it never end???????
Alright, anybody who has done a million metalwork jobs, gets bored easily or thinks I just like to hear myself type, tune out now....long post, large number of pictures alert!!!
Having said that...I have now finished the door, its associated locks and the door pier and slots for the fitting. I confess that until recently (last year) I really ahd NO idea how solid chunks of metal became"things". I guess there are not THAT many people who have been living under rocks or exclusively in an office, (like I have) for 30- 40 years but for those who have, I thought I would post somee shots of the door latch guide making process.
To start I drilled the 16mm hole in the end of the bar stock, which hole will eventually become the square hole in
the guide.I did this first as last time I learned that the cut down guide is not very stable in the vice, after
large portions of material have been removed. Then I began to carve away the centre of the latch guide.
You can just see the edge of the hole in the right of the picture as the cutting beins.
As material "disappears" the shape starts to look vaguely familiar.
The first (front) side finished, now time to start carving out the rear part.
(The middle swathe will be taken out last. On the front latch guide I used a 20mm cutter twice which caused some
vibration etc..so this time I used a 16mm with a slower speed and that worked better..but meant three sections had
to be cut instead of two. Time vs tool vs material..there is quite a bit to get your head around with this milling lark!!)
The job starts to look even more like a latch guide. (about an hour and a half to here with setting up, measuring and cutting)
Next, testing size, position and general comparison to the front guide.
Domed rear end of guide started (at this point there is still over 1mm finishing cut to be taken off one side, you
can see the hole is not central) This just fit with the bar stock size and not having to trim BOTH sides of the
bar (another simple thing I had to learn LAST time!!)
The small cutter machining and fine hand filing begin to convert the round 16mm hole into an 18mm x 16mm rectangular hole with squared corners.
An hour, some fine hand filing and two broken 4mm cutters later, the claw starts to get close to fitting into the
(only now) "squaring" hole.
Finished, fitted and painted. The door on half lock.
And full...
A very snug (MUCH to my relief!) fitting door and latch.
And the view from afar....
(if you don't mention that the door is a different colour, even though from the same tin of paint, due to the main body floor seal coating fading over time, then I won't..
A lot has been happening here, none of it really sim related..but I did get some time a couple of weeks ago to start the Throttle Upgrade.
This will be the last major work on the Spitfire, bringing her up to full Mk I/II converted to Mk V converted to PR IV "ish" standard.
All of the bits made so far, fitted and ready to wire and paint.
The throttle grip:
This has an integral switch (camera button) which took a bit of brainwork for a non tradie such as me!! It was turned on the lathe in three parts..main body, end cap, recessed to take and retain button..and the button itself. Having had a bit of a play now, I decided to make the button concave to accept the finger endand this turned out OK.
The undercarriage warning horn switching unit:
Tony's (Rocketeer) marvellous casting milled out to accept the switches and buttons. The milling is a little untidy as I was getting used to the resin..very different to metal or plastic.
The switch and buttons. The top button was made in the lathe, the horn cancel button on the milling machine
And finally, the first coat on the main throttle grip body.It should finish up with a high gloss black sheen.
I put back on the original mixture lever handle Gwyn made me as well..looks better with the black throttle than my wood one I made to match the wooden handle ..the old ones;
The next job will take more time as I need to remove the throttle altogether from the wall and pull it apart to add Tony's Chassis Indicator Horn Control unit to a newly made bracket and I will need to remake the UC Indicator switch housing to the fore as well.
The real thing, it will look like this eventually but with the black PRU throttle grip I've just made.