I currently have a cockpit laid out like that of the A-10, but I'm not too happy with my ergonomics so I'm thinking of re-doing my pit... and maybe try an F-16 configuration. It won't be 100% accurate and I don't have a small fortune to spend on this so concessions will have to be made. I will hope to get some knobs and switches and buttons set up though, to make things a bit easier, but this is not an uber-project.

I was wondering if anyone here if flying in an F-16 pit too? I am looking for any help/advice you can give regarding layout and panels. I am looking for measurements of the front console, center pedestal, and side consoles, as well as measurements of the center part of the cockpit, namely the dimensions of the ACES seat in relation to the floor. My build will substitute a bucket seat for the ACES seat, but I hope to replicate the ergonomics of the seat-and-floor assembly. I will also stop at the side consoles and will not build the "outer shell" of the F-16. As for the front console, I will not build the center pedestal but I will find a way to mount an ICP... the challenge is here because I plan to have a 22" or bigger LCD monitor on the front panel and have it display the cockpit instruments and maybe other things via Helios.

With the weather here in GBR warming up, and with a week's holiday coming in two weeks, I hope to be able to build my cockpit in that time.

Again, I am looking for any measurements of the side consoles, front console, center pedestal, and ACES seat-to-floor. Any help appreciated.

PS. I know about viperpits.org, I've signed up but still no admin approval (yes, I sent the email too), but from what I understand, people there are SELLING the plans which are apparently CNC'ed. No cash for that, as I'll be building this pit by hand.

Thanks!

I think the most comprehensive online F16 cockpit resource will be http://www.xflight.de/ .
Right now the front page is replaced by an anti-ACTA banner, but the rest of the site seems to be working properly. The site is in German, but if you scroll the left toolbar to the bottom there is an option to switch to English, though not all pages are properly translated.

I found a few pages that shows measurements, but zooming in and could not see the actual numbers. I've emailed the guy though.

try also F16 net is not really simulation oriented but is a gold mine if you need info on modern fighter jets.

Info, yes. Unfortunately I need measurements.

Here is a Sketchup Model I did a while back.
Its unfinished, The model is a mess there are a lot of parts there that were there to help me plan, other parts that were to replace the temporary parts placed on the main build. Dimentions are not acurate, but are aproximate. Also the Center Console and specially the space for the ICP are altered (narrowed) since I was planing to have a single 18,4 inch widescreen monitor to drive all of the front dash (both MFDs RWR DED etc). Its also the reason the Glare shild was taking the shape and size it has. And of course it's inspired by the ABC design, although it has little in common with it. It was also a design made to be very close to the ground.
Anyway thought it might be a good starting point for you if you are tottaly lost for measures.
Also have a look at XFLIGHT.DE I think he only has measurements fot the "Tube" and center console there, and they are not acurate. But if you are going for funccionality and not 1:1 replica it might work for you. Also he has prints of the panels there that I belive are 1:1, you can use those not only to print your panels but also to take good estemates at panel sizing.

Hope this helps and have fun at your project, I really want to go down this road too, but it's a bit impossible at the moment.

I just started learning Sketchup as well. Incidentally, I have found xflight.de and found some of the plans. I've not seen the panel plans, where are they located?

Have you finished this pit build? I do not mind a "low to the ground" approach, but I am particular about being "sat properly" which means the ACES seat has to be right and the dimensions of the panels and parts should be as close to accurate as possible.

You said this are approximate... where did you approximate the measurements from?

Thanks for the help!

For the seat you can use the plans at simpits.org

Unless you are talking about a different site, what I've found is a site that's not been updated since 2010. The other one talks about F-15s...

You could always click on the "Simpits Article Archive" and then click on "How to build your own ACES II Ejection Seat" It's hard to find. It's the 5th entry down after all. *rolls eyes*

You're right, I haven't updated the site since August of 2010, but then again nobody has exactly beaten down my door offering up things to put online...

g.

Was that your work, Gene? Thanks! And no need to roll eyes on me dude, I got your PDF safely tucked away with the rest of my research material.

Hello again ICE,

XFLIGHT has no plans for the panels, it has printouts for the panels wich are 1:1 or very near to, so you can get a good aproximation. Like I said I haven't started that build no, and if I actually get to build something it will be more generic and less F-16. You don't have to take those plans to the letter, and you can easely add height, even though you dint mind the low height aproach, you ,may prefer diferently, I think at the thime I was designing it that way to build on top of a bunk bed (not very high ceiling).
On those plans if you check you'll find that the seat Position and general ergonomics do aproach that of the F-16 closely.
As for the measurements I got them from various sources, a lot from Viperpits.org, sure there are people there selling plans that are extremly acurate, but you can also find a lot of Measurement information on some of the build treads themselfs.
It's a lot of work to browse through them, as most of the treads easily span several dozen pages. But it's there.
I though the sketchup file could be usefull to you if you want an aproximation of the F-16 cockpit ergonomics that are easy to build, but if you want go near to the actual thing you need to do further research. Take the plans on xflight as an example, they are way off the actual thing, but the guy built in the past a perfectly functional and aproximate cockpit (that I would love to have) on those plans. If it's functionality and ergonomics you are after, those general dimentions should not fail you.

PLeeeease update the site (or send me a PM with your sfs control box measures).

Hello Sapper,

Yes, I am finding xflight to be an excellent resource, though one has to do quite a bit of digging. His initial cockpit plans are a bit off, I had to revise them based on further research from viperpits. Unfortunately, seat dimensions are quite rare and no claims to accuracy so I guess I'll have to make-do with very close approximations.

Funny how I am after functionality and ergonomics, but want to be as close to the real thing as possible. I guess I want to know how it is in reality, then "modify" from there.

Ice, download the Aces II construction plans from simpits and then use these drawings:
http://www.geneb.org/acesii/aces-ii-seat.dwg
The DWG file contains some design improvements, but the assembly goes pretty much as Chris's original design.
The F-15 seat pan design that i added is also applicable to A-10 seats (they both use the same edition of the ACES II)

The dimensions on the seat plans are all in millimeters. This is important to know for the next step...

Break the CAD file up so you've got one part per file.

You can then import those cad files into SketchUp to use as parts. Here's a video that illustrates how you can do this:
http://support.google.com/sketchup/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=86648

The gross seat dimensions are pretty accurate, but this is still a "low fidelity" base design - you can add all the greebles you want to improve the way the seat looks.

The smartest way to build this thing would be to find a local shop that's got a CNC router and have them cut the parts for you.

g.

Sorry, were you telling me to build an ACES seat in CAD? I saw the .dwg file and it was just plans for the seat.

If you want an ACES II seat, use the drawing I posted. If you want to see what it would look like after you build it, import the drawing into SketchUp.

g.

Excellent. I guess I'm left with no option but to "build" one then, even if it's just a basic drawing

Any confirmation on the accuracy of those plans? And thanks for bringing to my attention that Sketchup can import .dwg files, I didn't know that!

Ice, the drawings are pretty accurate.
The seat pan changes were taken directly off of a 1/6 scale ACES II seat I have. Unless you're planning on dropping it into a real F-16 cockpit tub, you don't have anything to worry about.

There should be a thread around here somewhere that have very good pics that I took of that model.

g.

Thanks Gene. I'm learning more and more of Sketchup every time I use it, and will put that to good use soon