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#3062289 - 07/28/10 11:04 PM Re: . New Simpit build ***** [Re: PropNut]  
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PropNut Offline
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New Update on the "Never Ending Simpit Build"!

Conundrum: I wanted trims for my elevator, rudder and Ailerons but whenever I tried to make some they were way to "touchy". A very little movement of my levers resulted in huge movement in trims. Soooo, I built something that would allow alot of movement in the levers a very little on the pots.



The pit is a bit torn apart right now as I have been experimenting with options for my control layout. You can see that I moved the throttle assembly back about five inches, leaving a gaping hole. I will think of something to cover it up. The two levers (large knobs) on the left side are the rudder and elevator trims, the aileron trim is on the right.


There were several issues that I had to work out;

1. how to get one turn of the knob to equal about a mm of travel on the pots,

2. The system that I worked out works but turning too hard on the knob would result in breaking my new gear assembly so I made the gear assembly free standing, or not attatched to anything other than the knob. This allowed the assembly to be rotated if it reaches the end of its travel.

3. how to attatch the knob to the assembly and yet make the entire assembly to be ridgely affixed to the simpit.

The final assembly looks like this:





A run on the CNC gave me those black (actually a recycled plastic material)bearing housings which bolt to the inner panel of the simpit (either inside or outside as you notice from the first picture). More of the recycled plastic connected the 2-56 threaded rod on the assembly to the 1/4 bolt for the knob, both ends being tapped for the proper thread size. For now I put a bit of hard foam behind the knobs to create a stiff resistence to movement which will keep them from turning accidently.

The assembly itself is made of two gears, one standard and the other a worm gear. The CNC was again used to make the assembly plates (I ran it a bit fast resulting in the plastic melting to the bit and "buffing" the edges of the cut..which is where that white blemishing comes from...the cut was otherwise perfect.

A few closeups of the assemblies:








The system works to perfection. I took up a brewster Buffalow and an ME109G both trimed out to level hands off flight with a cuple of turns each on the trims.

My Simpit is starting to look a bit like Frankensteins monster but when I get everything working and in place for comfort of movement I will build Simpit MKII from what I learned on this one.

David

Last edited by WH_PropNut; 07/28/10 11:05 PM.

F/A-18C Hornet cockpit build project:

http://hornetpits.org/index.php?topic=15.0
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#3062346 - 07/29/10 12:08 AM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: PropNut]  
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HitchHikingFlatlander Offline
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Thats awesome love the home engineering aspect, I have to do that on my projects too!


I've got a bad feeling about this.....
#3062895 - 07/29/10 05:10 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: HitchHikingFlatlander]  
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f15sim Offline
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That looks great! I spy some yellow ny-rod in there too. smile

g.


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http://geneb.simpits.org - the Me-109F/X Project
#3063006 - 07/29/10 07:03 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: f15sim]  
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PropNut Offline
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HHF, thanks.

Gene, I had toyed with the idea of making the assemblies remote from the levers. Long nyrod (Sullivan Gold-N-Rod) would work perfectly. Unfortunatly I would still have had the issue of turning the worm gear too far and screwing it up (pun intended). Having the assemblies attachted to the knobs allowed them to move freely (twist with the knob) if it is turned past the end point.


F/A-18C Hornet cockpit build project:

http://hornetpits.org/index.php?topic=15.0
#3063038 - 07/29/10 08:14 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: PropNut]  
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f15sim Offline
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Graham, WA
When I built the trim & flap wheels for the 109, I put bolts into the gear faces that would hit a stop and prevent the gear from being over-rotated.

g.


Proud owner of 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://geneb.simpits.org - the Me-109F/X Project
#3063050 - 07/29/10 08:31 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: f15sim]  
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PropNut Offline
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Greenville, Michigan
I thought of that, but the gears are pretty light weight and the torque from the large handle/knob would easily overwealm any stops I put on the gear and or pot. This was teh compromise between precision (keeping the assembly/connecting rod/handle in sync) and safety (not breaking anything). Overall it works very very well. It takes a full turn of the trim handle/knob to have any noticable affect on the plane....almost exactly what I was shooting for.


F/A-18C Hornet cockpit build project:

http://hornetpits.org/index.php?topic=15.0
#3081146 - 08/27/10 04:08 AM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: PropNut]  
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PropNut Offline
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New updates:

I redid the instrument panel to have all the buttons my little heart desires:

The toggles have LED's so I can tell when they are in the up position.

The bodnar boards mounted under the 'hood'







I redid the 'hood' to better reflect the early engine access panels:



the CNC machine made me some great backlit panels. I also used the CNC to make the framework that the panels are mounted into (see the pictures above).







F/A-18C Hornet cockpit build project:

http://hornetpits.org/index.php?topic=15.0
#3081314 - 08/27/10 12:36 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: PropNut]  
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Sakai Offline
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Amazing, If I ever tried to build one of those my girl would have kittens! And she just had to human babies so that's saying something!!!! Great Job, can't wait to see more!

#3081397 - 08/27/10 01:52 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: Sakai]  
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f15sim Offline
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Graham, WA
That is just a pit packed full of Epic Awesome! VERY nice job!

I would strongly suggest you invest in some wire management classes however. biggrin

(Go buy yourself a roll of waxed lacing cord, you'll thank me later)

biggrin

g.


Proud owner of 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://geneb.simpits.org - the Me-109F/X Project
#3081403 - 08/27/10 02:00 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: f15sim]  
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PropNut Offline
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Originally Posted By: Gene Buckle
That is just a pit packed full of Epic Awesome! VERY nice job!

I would strongly suggest you invest in some wire management classes however. biggrin

(Go buy yourself a roll of waxed lacing cord, you'll thank me later)

biggrin

g.


OH I KNEW you were going to jump in on that one! lol

Beleive me, that is way more organized than it was the first time. Believe it or not most of the wires that you see jumbled up are not part of the controller setup. Looking close you can see the controller (buttons, etc) are nicely bundled and organized. Some of the wires are to the controllers but they are axis wires that I need to properly bundle (I have black cable sleeve on order from Xoxide.com). The majority of the wires that you see are mostly from my frankenstiened PSU setup. I took a Dell 750watt PSU and cut off all of the propietary cabling (the plugs) and replaced them with standard plugs but never got around to organizing them properly...one of these days I will.

Edit: I looked up lacing cord and found this very interesting website, thanks for the tip Gene.
http://www.dairiki.org/hammond/cable-lacing-howto/


Last edited by WH_PropNut; 08/27/10 02:05 PM.

F/A-18C Hornet cockpit build project:

http://hornetpits.org/index.php?topic=15.0
#3081435 - 08/27/10 02:42 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: PropNut]  
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f15sim Offline
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That lacing tutorial is very handy indeed. I scored a 250yd roll off of eBay for about $10 some years ago. I normally use it like you would a wire-tie. I don't do a full length lace - I haven't needed to as yet. Because it's waxed, a double granny knot is sufficient to keep it in place. If you look at the wiring of the panels I've built for the F-15, you can see what I mean. The switch panel for the 109F/X was done the same way.

g.


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http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://geneb.simpits.org - the Me-109F/X Project
#3081676 - 08/27/10 07:40 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: f15sim]  
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Reschke Offline
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So Gene how much would you charge someone to wire up a board and do a lacing harness??? I just don't want to make time to do something like that...hahaha

Seriously though you guys have made pits that inspire us other nut jobs but you also blow us out of the water.


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#3081680 - 08/27/10 07:50 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: Reschke]  
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f15sim Offline
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Reschke, if you have to ask, you can't afford it. biggrin

The only advantage we've got is that we've been nut jobs longer than you. smile
Keep working at it long enough and you too can get funny looks from people that Don't Get It(tm). smile

Using lacing tape is cheaper in the long run than using nylon wire ties and you don't have to worry about the lacing tape catching on anything like a wire tie "head" will.

g.


Proud owner of 80-0007
http://www.f15sim.com - The only one of its kind.
http://geneb.simpits.org - the Me-109F/X Project
#3081688 - 08/27/10 07:55 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: f15sim]  
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PropNut Offline
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You think this is bad? You should see my tinfoil headgear collection. (They really are out there you know). :P


F/A-18C Hornet cockpit build project:

http://hornetpits.org/index.php?topic=15.0
#3081698 - 08/27/10 08:03 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: PropNut]  
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Reschke Offline
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Well someone just posted this over on the Ace's High BBS in one of the threads there.

http://www.combatconsole.com/index.htm

This just might fit the bill for what I was wanting to do and would seem to work wonders for my console in front of me in my small pit I just started. Price is reasonable as well @ $129 USD for all three versions.


Star Citizen Referal Code
STAR-MP6J-VFH7

i7-13700K @ 3.40GHz
32GB RAM
GeForce 3060RTX
MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk
lots of SSD's and a good old fashioned 1TB HDD
Samsung G9 Odyssey 49"
TrackIR 5 with Track Clip Pro
Windows 11 64bit
Warthog #1397...compliments of SimHQ
#3081810 - 08/27/10 11:02 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: Reschke]  
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PropNut Offline
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Hmm.....I can beat that price, and customize it for you too! smile


F/A-18C Hornet cockpit build project:

http://hornetpits.org/index.php?topic=15.0
#3081834 - 08/27/10 11:45 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: PropNut]  
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Brandano Offline
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Caput Mundi (well, it used to ...
Hmm, 32 buttons, the microcontroller to handle them and all the wiring job. I don't think the margin would be very high, but I am sure you could come up with a more pleasant layout. But just considering the solder joints that's a couple of hours of work, stripping, tinning, soldering the wires and testing the whole.
I think you can get a much higher margin and a greater peace of mind if you were to make this thing as a kit.

Last edited by Brandano; 08/27/10 11:46 PM.
#3081846 - 08/28/10 12:01 AM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: Brandano]  
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PropNut Offline
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TO be honest, Brandano is correct, I cannot make that for the price. It almost seems too good to be true. I was looking at the details of the combat console, all steel construction, etc. Nice.


F/A-18C Hornet cockpit build project:

http://hornetpits.org/index.php?topic=15.0
#3081857 - 08/28/10 12:18 AM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: PropNut]  
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Brandano Offline
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Caput Mundi (well, it used to ...
I suppose they have the material in bulk and some jigs to get everything in the right shape. The front panels must be machine cut. the wiring must be the scan of an 8 * 4 grid, I imagine fed to a custom programmed microcontroller acting as an HID. key assignment will likely be in software via the drivers. Wire can be pre-stripped to proper lengths automatically. The price still seems low, I wonder how many of these you'd have to sell to break even. Still too much work for someone working alone, the cost of the man hours is too big.

#3082088 - 08/28/10 12:13 PM Re: . New Simpit build [Re: Brandano]  
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Reschke Offline
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Yep and I sent them an email yesterday asking for particulars such as; how does it connect to the computer? Any known issues with various Windows operating systems? etc...

I may buy one just to get the panel and the other parts.

I noticed that they also have panels that they cut out for instruments to be added into.

As for the work they have a waterjet machine for all the metal cuts and a press brake for the bending so while it takes some time you don't have as much clean up and reset time as you would with a CNC in a per piece setting.


Star Citizen Referal Code
STAR-MP6J-VFH7

i7-13700K @ 3.40GHz
32GB RAM
GeForce 3060RTX
MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk
lots of SSD's and a good old fashioned 1TB HDD
Samsung G9 Odyssey 49"
TrackIR 5 with Track Clip Pro
Windows 11 64bit
Warthog #1397...compliments of SimHQ
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