Hello Hornet Pit Builders...
Time to time I get PM asking me what are the dimensions of the Hornet cockpit to get them started on building? Alot of these questions were answered at Frugalsworld.com But they are long gone.
And also given the fact there is tons of info on how to build a Viper pit and absolutely nothing on the F/A-18 Hornet. I decided to start this thread.

I will help you if I can and If you have anything to contribute plz post here. Thank you.


To Start:
This is the front end of a real Hornet that the Navy Loaned and all my pit measurement came from. It is long gone now. The Navy sold it to a museum.



This is an early rough patch of of my "C" pit. Posted in an earlyer thread. BTW: The only real Hornet part in this picture is the Ejection seat pull ring.



The Bucket, With center stick

Getting started......
The easyest Ive found with out having a real Hornet in your garage was to find a Hornet NATOPS flight manual in PDF format. Find the cockpit foldout sections in the back. Take the one you want to a print shop and inlarge it to 400%. Yes 400. And have it printed. When you are done you with have the basic demenshions of the pit layout.
When we took the real Honret parts and layed them on the inlarged print it was a perfect match as could be.

This is a DDI Bezel layed on the enlarged print. Close enough for me

Remeber the Foldouts have the Side Panels...Print them to!



Cut out and seperated. 3D

Some more basic dimensions.

Center Stick: All steel with self centering actuators.

DDI MFD Bezels and Hud combinder

Ive managed to get some real Hornet stuff. Like the Gear handle, Chaff/Flare center panel, Canopy eject handle and weapons jettison Button on instrumnet panel.

I have all the knobs and switches. The only hangup I have with my project is makeing or finding the individual Instrument panels.

Another setback was.. I bought some Thrustmaster Cougar F-16 MFD to take apart to use in my Hornet Bezels. But when I took them apart they were way to complicated to break up and make them work

Cheers !
/O Pretzel

This is some incredible work, thank you for sharing.

Pretzel, can you provide more details on (what appears) to be a gas spring that you're using for the stick centering mech? I'm going to be totally rebuilding how I did the stick centering system in the F-15 and I like how compact your set up is.

Thanks!

g.

[Accidental duplicate post]

Fantastic stuff, Pretzel.

Wow amazing! Here's hoping for DCS-F18!

That looks amazing!
One -small- nitpick: the glass in your combiner is in upside-down.

*looks up at the F-15 HUD*

Yep. The bottom glass is installed upside down. The cockpit placement diagram above shows the same thing.

g.

Parts display....

From the top

Canopy Bow handles
Hud Camera
Hud Controler/recorder
Up Front controller
DDI Bezels
Weapons Store jettison button
Canopy ejection handle
MFD - MAP display
Standby instrument bezels
Wheel brake handle
Tail Hook Handle
Wings fold handle
Jettioson select knob
Center flight stick

Real Parts...

Love them gear handles Master cauton panel, O2 regulator. Counter measures control panel



Military switches - Circuit Breakers



Aviation knobs - Hornet style

Thanks I will flip em over - Frosty edge side up.

If you find the time to shoot some footage of the self centering stick mechanism, I'd take the time to watch it. Very nice!

Wrong kind of flip The "coffin" shape of the lower combiner glass should point "down" so that you see something like the following when looking through it:

/----\
| |
| |
\____/
[edit: Proportional spacing for fonts totally ruin fancy ASCII art. ]
The arrangement looks like this:

http://www.f15sim.com/images/newglass_left_sm.jpg

g.

Incredible. This is going to be a good one!

The F-18 combiner bottom glass is chamfered at both ends - the top half is fully double-layered. It does look like the bottom edge has a smaller chamfer (ie the glass is less pointy at the bottom), and appears to be in the correct orientation. The flip I was referring to is 'frosty edge down', so that the edges disappear when you're looking through them correctly.

That's really weird because the F-15 combiner glass is not chamfered(sp) at both ends - the HUD core is pretty much the same between the two as well. Either Kaiser or Canada/Marconi is the OEM. I don't recall which off the top of my head though.

[I did some digging and I'm wrong - the F/A-18 uses a full combiner glass on the lower and a half on the upper whereas the F-15 uses a half on the upper and a 3/4 on the lower]

g.

This build just oozes quality! And that's a kings ransom of switches you've collected there Pretzel!

I see ViperPits has 11 F-18 Hornet Panel for sale. A few F-16 panels will crossover like the KY58. I think these are the same ones sold at the SimulatorStore..........Steve?
http://www.thesimulatorstore.com

Link.
http://shop.viperpits.org/index.php?cPath=39

Hey Pretzel
Fantastic job on the pit.. Your post here is a big help in getting things together to start my pit. I do have one question. For the ribs on the fuselage. sorry if it's a silly question but how and what did you use to get the curve on the fuselage..

Thanks
Mark

Nice!!!!!!

What they said! Great stuff!

I forget the name of the Jig that was use to measure the hull curve. The Lex was removed and you pressed it against the side of the Hornet and lock it in.
Then it was layed on a print and drawn it out at increments.
My Hull has no ribbs (fake ones be added later on the inside) It is made from blown fiberglass as well as the side panels..and soon to be instument panel.

Cheers!

wow!! Alot of work but worth every bit of effort. Thanks for the reply..

Just wanted to say hello to fellow Hornet pit builders and tell you a little about my progress.

I'm building a F/A-18C pit. I got almost all of the left and right console panels from ebay. The replica panels cost me 18 usd per panel and they can be backlit (lucky me!). I am currently attaching switches, pots, rotary encoders and knobs to the panels (70% done). I bought IO cards from Leo Bodnar and they are in the mail.

I bought all the C-model compatible panels from Viperpit.org shop (Mike) and I'm currently attaching those to my pit frame. I had an idea to use real dzus rail but it seems to be impossible task to find compatible dzus screws for my panels. This means that I have to replace the rails or drill the metal wire off from the dzus holes (I will propably do the drilling). It's kinda sad to waste good dzus rail. I did order dzus replicas from simworld.pl but haven't heard back from them yet. Hopefully they will ship my order soon.

The front pit frame and many other nice parts are available from Steve (www.thesimulatorstore.com). I heard rumors that more parts will be available soon.

I am searching for the following items (real or replica) and would love if some of you could help me out:

MFD Bezels - Friend working on these
Map display bezel
Integrated Fuel/Engine Indicator bezel
AOA Indexer
Left Threat display - Planning to order from Steve
Attitude Reference Indicator
Azimuth Indicator
Standby Airspeed Indicator
Standby Altimeter
Vertical Speed Indicator
Canopy Jettison Lever
Standby Magnetic Compass
ECM Control Panel
Clock
Altimeter (pressure Compartment)
UFC (up front control panel)
Brake Pressure Indicator
Hydraulic Pressure Indicator
3x mirrors
Indicator panel bezel (which is for the nose, left, right, flaps etc indicators)

...and ejection seat kit (NACES or similar) - FOUND ACES 2 and modding it to look like NACES.

Alot of things to do but I did have time to test drive my pit with the Seven-G demo and it was FUN!

Hey Chain,
I hear you about the dzus fastners. I ended up making mine form a mold. Plastic injected with black color.
Im just going to drill a hole at the corner of each panel and glue them in. Thats why they have a stem on them.
Im not doing the rail thing.

I dont have the mold anymore . lots was lost in the move. But I need to get back into it.

Cheers!
Pretzel~

I got an ACES 2 replica today and I'm planning to paint it black and modify it to look more like NACES-seat. I also received my 5 meters of led strip and a dimmer for back-lighting my panels. Simworld.pl shipped my order of dzus replicas and rotary encoders. I'm going to be busy next week

Where did you get the ACES from?

Also, what search did you put into ebay to find those panels, stuff like that seems tough find.

I bought the ACES2 from a F-16 pit builder about 20km where I live. It cost me 45 euros with the cushions I found the panels by just searching ebay motors with "simulator panel". I was really lucky that time.

Does this guy make ACES replica on order or this was a one shot thing?

Unfortunately this was one shot thing. He wanted a more comfortable chair and I offered to help him get rid of the ACES2

Today my order arrived from Simworld.pl. The dzus replicas look nice (they have boeing style paint on them). These are plastic but seem very durable. Not bad for the price. Now I'm just waiting for the I/O-card and then I get to finish my panels

Hi Guy's
I finally got my pit out of the garage and into the house (with a lot of sweet talking to the wife may I add) Anyways, just finished the tub and started putting it together so I can start setting it up or at least what i have so far. I see others pits and am very impressed on what I see. I would loved to have purchased the panels from the sim store but can't really afford it as RL things comes first.

The tub and side panels are made with 5/8 particle board and the benzels as well as the avionics panels are made from 1/4 inch MDF and 1/8 MDF to give it some depth. At times I really wish I would have learned the trade of sheet-medal but never did.

The glairshield was the most difficult to construct and bend to the shape. I know it's not split like the really one but to me it looks close.

Now that i have it in the house is where all the fun begins placing all the switches in and getting them to work correctly. I purchased the A10 HOTAS to get the split throttle am now at a loss of what to do. The throttle is just way to bulky and I am very temped to pull it apart and place the switches where they belong.
Still trying to decide on what to use for an interface board. Probably will end up going with X-key board unless someone has any other recommendations I can look at.

At the moment I'm experimenting with what software to program all this with.

Anyways here are a few pics for you.

I have the same problem with the throttle. I was thinking about doing extension parts for the throttle arms. Not sure if the throttle arm throw would be near to the real one though (and I don't have the necessary tools to make this happen).

Btw check this out:
http://aerotronicsllc.com/f18throttle.htm

Thanks Chain

Wow that is great. Funny i was thinking of extending the throttle arm as well and placing the throttle under the left panel and just bringing the throttles through with the extensions. I sent them an email to see what the cost is so once I see the price that will be the deciding factor.

Mark

I was wondering if the pot movement area will decrease if we just extend the throttle arm. Perhaps we need to bend it a little. I need to do some calculations

Here is one example of my panels. Almost all of the side console panels are now complete. I still need few more special pots. Panels still need some paint and few small fixes but otherwise they are ready to be wired.

Be ready to be disappointed. Think 4 figures.....

you got that right. Just recieved and email from them and the run from $2400 up to $9000.00. so looks like I'll be extending the throttle.

Chain

Very nice.

Not to sure on that. Looks like i'll start taking it apart tomorrow and see where it goes.



Very nice.

This is what I mean with the decreasing movement area of the pot. I don't know if it's a problem or not. What do you guys think?

It will be fine after calibration, to determine the min-max values. Spiking, when it eventually occurs, would be stronger, but by then you would already be thinking of replacing the pot.

Built my left and right console today. Here's a pic of my progress...



Sorry for the bad image quality....iPhone...

Opened up a C-130 Hercules landing gear control box and took out the handle/lever mechanism (left one switch in for the I/O). Now the "gear" part needs sanding and some red and black paint. Next I will cut the shaft and add a turn mechanism. This thing was really neatly built by the manufacturer. It was a pleasure to disassemble.

Nice.. Looks great

Nice panels, diy or did you buy them?

Most of the side console panels are from Ebay. Most of the AUX panels are from Mike/Steve. Other panels I made myself.

Here ya go Chain,



The bottom corner line is supose to be 9mm not 2.3cm...

Direct link for bigger pic:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/Pretzel/mcp.jpg

Pretzel, can you tell me a bit about your stick? I assume you are going to use hall sensors? Can you shed some light on where you got the Hornet grip?

Thanks Pretzel,

This part is hard to come by and you helped us alot.

Right now I have the thrusmaster pots working with it. I may change to something more up to date.

The grip is a copy of the real thing...its solid plastic. I plan on using the Suncom stick and throttle in my pit because of the ease of use.

The throttle will be mounted flush and Im going to use only the grip with buttons on my metal stick group.

Pretzel, I can see that the pitch axis on your stick has self centering actuators but how did you do the roll axis? I am currently puzzled about this.

If you look close you will see (2)actuators. One mounted above the other. The lower is connected to the bellcrank. The stick pivot point is in the middle for roll, which move a lower connecting rod hooked to the same bellcrank.

If you have any more hi-rez pics of that it would be greatly appreciated. I had that design in mind when making a center stick this winter, but just dont have the engineering mind to figure out how to do it.

Ah now I got it. Pretzel, what kind of gas springs are these (force / retention force N)? I am currently making my stick mechanism and this info would help me alot.

HI could you give me the measures of the control stick mechanism and the travel in degrees on each axis?
For the throttle you can use only the upper part of the assembly discarding the box base.

Pretzel,

First of all that is some great stuff. What I really could use are the tub constuction prints.(Ribs,bulkheads, ect.) The tub in the
pictures looks great!

this may be of some interest to you guys the price has dropped from $6000.00 he may be willing to deal
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Simulator-Seat-/230709692628?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b75e88d4

wmcsat this is the best I can do.









You can also do a search on the internet for Hornet Cut-away-view and you will find things like this.

This pic might be useful to someone

Ill try to dig that info up...I had a HD crash and lost everything
I still have some stuff on paper.

Cheers!
Pretzel~

It's pretty quiet here! Do any of you guys have VRS Superbug? I would love to try it online and talk about pit building! Send me a PM if you are interested!

Pretzel, I got the prints done at a local printer. Are there any plans for the front console? How oyu did the layout and the different layers/setbacks of the different screens. Thanx, Kklix

The F/A-18 pit conversation has spread to SimHQ, VRS, Seven-g, Eagle Dynamics, Thesimulatorstore.com and few more forums that I can't remember now. It would be nice to have one place to talk about F/A-18 pit building.

This thread seems to be dead. I wonder how many have given up on building a F/A-18 simpit. I am still trying my best to complete mine

Does anyone know the manufacturer or P/N of the canopy bow chart light?

-Chain

Hello,
I got the front panel layers measurement from a real Hornet.

Pretzel~

Hello,
Here are a few pixs of the the VRS Superbug software running in the Microsimulators sim pits. The 2 sims were used at the Air show called Sun-n-Fun located in Florida the last week of May.

The sims have been around since 1999 but have been newly fitted with FSX and VRS SuperBug along with the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS.

We only had 4 candid missions because of the short time frame before the show. We did 4 Television shoots which was cool. I Did a 3 wire trap for them









Tsukasa "TUKA" Furukawa all the way from Japan got some special stick time after the show.

Youtube video here..watch in High Def.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLOGtCwbG70&feature=plcp

Some more shots:



Perfect HUD overlay

Very nice pics Pretzel, thanks.

Do you have any new images of your simpit?

I have a guy making the side panels..Soon as he is done I can start putting it together.

Hi together

I am building a hornet-pit too.
In the future i will share new information about my cockpit in the forum of my website: http://fa18simulator.weebly.com/forum.html#/project-reports/

Here is the link to the site: www.fa18simulator.weebly.com
This site is for collecting information about F/A-18 cockpits.

At the moment it hasn't got much information there, only a few links and measurements of the SJU-17 seat, but in the next time i will share my detailed plans with you.
I think next week i can post all important measurements for the cockpit.

Regards,
Hawkeye

The most important cockpit measurements are now here available: http://fa18simulator.weebly.com/fa-18-cockpit-information.html
Information about the panels and more detailed measurements will follow.

Hello together

Correct sized panel documents now available:
http://fa18simulator.weebly.com/fa-18-panel-information.html

Looking good Hawkeye_CH! I am currently moving to a new house and finally I have a decent size room where to put my F/A-18C simpit. Ugh it's quite a job to disassemble everything.

Have any of you guys thought about making a platform with wheels for your simulator? Would help a lot if you want to move your simpit around the house.

you could use the same king of wheels used in arcade cabinets something like this just build a base for the cockpit with some strong plywood.

Hello,
I finally got the button/switches in for the DDIs and they are a perfect fit. All 60

Backside..base of switch fits in channel



Front with mock screen and knobs



/O Pretzel~

Nice!

I'm at the same situation. I have the MFD bezels and buttons planted but I still have to figure out how to do the wiring.

How are you planning to do the wiring?

Hello Chain,

Button Box Interface BBI-32 is for buttons only.


http://www.leobodnar.com/products/BBI-32/




Im going to use the Universal Controller BU0836X

One board can take 32 button inputs to USB..plus some rotary and joystick inputs.

http://www.leobodnar.com/products/BU0836X/

Hi together

Update:


@Pretzel
Where are your MFD Bezels and knobs from?

Looks good!

I made the bezels long time ago from a real MFD. I just have the parts..... no molds

I got the knobs from the simulatorstore.com


These are the parts I made from the real Hornet



Cheers!

Pretzel, Where did you get the Ejection seat handle for the FA-18? I have been trying to find one everywhere but had no luck

PVT message sent

Do you have CNC plans for this pit available ?

would it be possible to display a screen behind you for the mirrors? Maybe curved 3 screens so you could also look back and see wings and good rear view.. not sure if you can drive thatt many screens

You could use three mirrors and a rear projector, I imagine...

Well, there goes my project

Boeing builds Super Hornet digital displays for possible 2015 upgrade

http://defensetech.org/2012/09/17/boeing...e-2015-upgrade/


Video
http://www.boeing.com/Features/2012/07/bds_f18_enhancements_07_10_12.html

one big touch 24" and you are all set the easiest cockpit in the world (after the f35), personally i still prefer physical buttons in my pit. You should stay with the current revision.

It wouldn't be worth chasing down unless you got the NATOPS for that particular revision of aircraft.

g.

Wouldn't get too down - remember there won't be any hi fidelity sim software for this until say, 2025, so your pit has a bit of life in it yet!

Hello,
Ok..A major hurdle was overcome today...
I finally sat down and cleaned up (Removed switches..ect) from the side panels in the NATOPS manual.
Off to see the laser engraver.

The complete set.



/O Salute!
Pretzel~

Whoa! very nice work. If BMS or DCS ever come out with a Hornet I think I'll redo my pit. Any plans on making these available to the community . . . ?

BMS will have the F-18C in their upcoming 4.33 release

Pretzel, you could save me a lot of work if you want to share your CAD files. I have already imported the vectors from the NATOPS PDF but as you mention; it will take a while to clean them up

Hello,
Were still testing with the Laser. It takes longer to setup and run than I thought.

I made a new ground texture tile for Precision Strike Fighter F/A-18 Hornet...Proply the sim I will run in my pit 1st.

I'm confused. April Fool's day was yesterday but it looks like you posted this today? I would almost switch back to PSF (from JF18) if it looked that good!

Wizard